As an alternative to our Docker images, you can use the packages available at dl.photoprism.app/pkg/linux/ to install PhotoPrism on compatible Linux distributions without building it from source.
These binary installation packages are intended for experienced users and maintainers of third-party integrations only, as they require manual configuration and do not include tested system dependencies. Since we are unable to provide support for custom installations, we recommend using one of our Docker images to run PhotoPrism on a private server or NAS device.
Also note that the minimum required glibc version is 2.35, so for example Ubuntu 22.04 and Debian Bookworm will work, but older Linux distributions may not be compatible.
You can download and install PhotoPrism in /opt/photoprism by running the following commands:
sudo mkdir -p /opt/photoprismcd /opt/photoprismwget -c https://dl.photoprism.app/pkg/linux/amd64.tar.gz -O - | sudo tar -xzsudo ln -sf /opt/photoprism/bin/photoprism /usr/local/bin/photoprismphotoprism --version
If your server has an ARM-based CPU, please make sure to install arm64.tar.gz instead of amd64.tar.gz when using the commands above. Both are linked to the latest stable release.
Since the packages currently do not include a default configuration, we recommend that you create a defaults.yml in /etc/photoprism next, in which you configure the paths and other settings that you want to use for your instance.
As an alternative to the plain tar.gz archives, that you need to unpack manually, we also offer .deb packages for Debian-based distributions such as Ubuntu Linux. Note that these packages are not fully mature yet and will install -dev packages to satisfy library dependencies. This may result in more packages being installed than are actually needed in production environments.
On servers with a 64-bit Intel or AMD CPU, our latest stable release can be installed as follows:
xxxxxxxxxxcurl -sLO https://dl.photoprism.app/pkg/linux/deb/amd64.debsudo apt install --no-install-recommends ./amd64.deb
If your server has an ARM-based CPU, such as a Raspberry Pi, use the following commands instead:
xxxxxxxxxxcurl -sLO https://dl.photoprism.app/pkg/linux/deb/arm64.debsudo apt install --no-install-recommends ./arm64.deb
This installs PhotoPrism to /opt/photoprism, adds a /usr/local/bin/photoprism symlink for the CLI command, an /etc/photoprism/defaults.yml file and the required system dependencies (omit --no-install-recommends to also install MariaDB, Darktable, and RawTherapee).
Thomas Eizinger additionally maintains AUR packages for installation on Arch Linux. They are based on our tar.gz packages and have a systemd integration so that PhotoPrism can be started and restarted automatically.
To update your installation, please stop all running PhotoPrism instances and make sure that there are no media, database, or custom config files in the /opt/photoprism directory. You can then delete its contents with the command sudo rm -rf /opt/photoprism/* and install a new version as shown above.
If you have used a .deb package for installation, you may need to remove the currently installed photoprism package by running sudo dpkg -r photoprism before you can install a new version with sudo apt install ./package.deb or sudo dpkg -i package.deb.
In order to use all PhotoPrism features and have full file format support, additional system dependencies must be installed as they are not included in the packages we provide, for example exiftool, darktable, rawtherapee, libheif, imagemagick, libvips, libjxl, libjxl-tools, ffmpeg, libavcodec-extra, libde265, libaom, libvpx, libwebm, mariadb, sqlite3, and tzdata. The actual names may vary depending on what distribution you use.
Keep in mind that even if all dependencies are installed, it is possible that you are using a version that is not fully compatible with your pictures, phone, or camera. Our team cannot provide support in these cases if the same issue does not occur with our official Docker images. Details on the packages and package versions we use can be found in the Dockerfiles available in our public project repository.
Run photoprism --help in a terminal to get an overview of the command flags and environment variables available for configuration. Their current values can be displayed with the photoprism config command.
Global config defaults can be defined in a /etc/photoprism/defaults.yml file. When specifying paths, ~ is supported as a placeholder for the current user's home directory, e.g. ~/Pictures. Relative paths can also be specified via ./pathname.
If no explicit originals, import and/or assets path has been configured, a list of default directory paths will be searched and the first existing directory will be used for the respective path. To simplify updates, we recommend not to store any media, database, or custom config files in the same directory where you installed PhotoPrism, e.g. /opt/photoprism, and to use a different base directory for them instead, for example /photoprism, /var/lib/photoprism, or a path relative to each user's home directory.
Note that all configuration changes, either via UI, config files or by setting environment variables, require a restart to take effect.
defaults.ymlGlobal config defaults, including the config and storage paths to use, can optionally be set with a defaults.yml file in the /etc/photoprism directory (requires root privileges). A custom filename for loading the defaults can be specified with the PHOTOPRISM_DEFAULTS_YAML environment variable or the --defaults-yaml command flag.
A defaults.yml file affects all users and should only contain values for options for which you want to set a global default, e.g.:
xxxxxxxxxxConfigPath"~/.config/photoprism"StoragePath"~/.photoprism"OriginalsPath"~/Pictures"ImportPath"/media"AdminUser"admin"AdminPassword"insecure"AuthMode"password"DatabaseDriver"sqlite"JpegQuality85DetectNSFWfalseUploadNSFWtrueFor a list of supported options and their names, see https://docs.photoprism.app/getting-started/config-files/#config-options.
When specifying values, make sure that the data type is the same as in the documentation, e.g. bool values must be either true or false and int values must be whole numbers without any quotes like in the example above.
options.ymlDefault config values can be overridden by values specified in an options.yml file as well as with command flags and environment variables. To load values from an existing options.yml file, you can specify its storage path (excluding the filename) by setting the ConfigPath option in your defaults.yml file, using the --config-path command flag, or with the PHOTOPRISM_CONFIG_PATH environment variable.
The values in an options.yml file are not global and can be used to customize individual instances e.g. based on the default values in a defaults.yml file. Both files allow you to set any of the supported options.
For detailed information on specific features and related resources, see our Knowledge Base, or check the User Guide for help navigating the user interface, a complete list of config options, and other installation methods:
If you need help installing our software at home, you are welcome to post your question in GitHub Discussions or ask in our Community Chat. Common problems can be quickly diagnosed and solved using our Troubleshooting Checklists. Silver, Gold, and Platinum members are also welcome to email us for technical support and advice.