Build a photo gallery/management tool using IMMICH in Windows

IMMICH is an open-source, self-hosted photo and videos management tool that is both free to use and performance-oriented, with a strong emphasis on privacy. The user interface is user-friendly, making it an ideal choice for managing your media.

For the official installation guide, please visit: https://immich.app/docs/install/docker-compose

I'll provide a step-by-step guide based on my experience, focusing specifically on the Windows 11 environment.

1. Download Docker Compose

Download Docker Desktop on Windows.

To use it in MSYS2, it's recommended to add the Docker path to the $PATH environment. If you're using zsh, update ~/.zshrc and add the following line:

export PATH=/c/Program\ Files/Docker/Docker/resources/bin:$PATH

2. Download IMMICH configurations

mkdir immich-app
cd immich-app
wget https://github.com/immich-app/immich/releases/latest/download/docker-compose.yml
wget -O .env https://github.com/immich-app/immich/releases/latest/download/example.env

3. Start the containers

docker-compose up -d

Now, open http://localhost:2283/ in your browser to access the app.

4. Add a External Library

In my case, I have a folder that stores all the photos from my phone. To avoid uploading photos one by one to the server, I need to add an External Library.

Refer to the official guide for detailed instructions: https://immich.app/docs/guides/external-library

I've just added these two lines to the docker-compose.yml file:

services:
  immich-server:
    volumes:
      - ${UPLOAD_LOCATION}:/usr/src/app/upload
+      - ${EXTERNAL_LOCATION}:/mnt/media/my-media:ro

  immich-microservices:
      volumes:
+      - ${EXTERNAL_LOCATION}:/mnt/media/my-media:ro

and updated the .env file with:

EXTERNAL_LOCATION=/f/S22/照片

Afterward, run

docker-compose up -d

to restart the service.

5. Troubleshooting

If you got error hints like this：

error during connect: Get "http://%2F%2F.%2Fpipe%2FdockerDesktopLinuxEngine/v1.47/containers/json": open //./pipe/dockerDesktopLinuxEngine: The system cannot find the file specified.

try if you have start the docker service in your local. You might open your docker desktop to start it.

Port confliction：

Error response from daemon: Ports are not available: exposing port TCP 0.0.0.0:2283 -> 0.0.0.0:0: listen tcp 0.0.0.0:2283: bind: An attempt was made to access a socket in a way forbidden by its access permissions.

Run this in your MSY32 terminal:

net stop winnat

Windows NAT Driver service has been stopped。

and try again.