How to Install PhotoPrism on Debian 13

---

PhotoPrism is an AI-powered photo management application that helps organize, browse, search, and share your photo collection. It supports automatic indexing, facial recognition, object detection, RAW image support, and video management.

Prerequisites

---

• Access to the Debian 13 command line terminal.
• Root privileges or a user account with sudo access.
• At least 4 GB RAM and 4 GB swap recommended.
• A domain name (optional, for production deployments).

Step 1 - Update the System

---

Update package repositories and installed packages:

apt update
apt upgrade -y

Step 2 - Install Docker

---

Install required packages:

apt install -y ca-certificates curl gnupg lsb-release

Add Docker GPG key:

install -m 0755 -d /etc/apt/keyrings
curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/debian/gpg -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc
chmod a+r /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc

Add Docker repository:

echo \
  "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc] \
  https://download.docker.com/linux/debian \
  $(. /etc/os-release && echo $VERSION_CODENAME) stable" | \
  tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list > /dev/null

Update package index:

apt update

Install Docker Engine and Docker Compose:

apt install -y docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin

Verify installation:

docker --version
docker compose version

Step 3 - Create PhotoPrism Directories

---

Create the required directories:

mkdir -p /opt/photoprism
mkdir -p /opt/photoprism/storage
mkdir -p /opt/photoprism/originals
mkdir -p /opt/photoprism/import

Move into the application directory:

cd /opt/photoprism

Step 4 - Download the PhotoPrism Compose File

---

Download the official Docker Compose configuration:

wget https://dl.photoprism.app/docker/compose.yaml

Verify the file exists:

ls -lah compose.yaml

Step 5 - Edit the Configuration

---

Open the compose file:

nano compose.yaml

Locate and modify the following values:

PHOTOPRISM_ADMIN_PASSWORD: "StrongPasswordHere"

Change the storage locations if required:

- "/opt/photoprism/originals:/photoprism/originals"
- "/opt/photoprism/import:/photoprism/import"
- "/opt/photoprism/storage:/photoprism/storage"

Save and exit the editor.

Step 6 - Start PhotoPrism

---

Start the containers in the background:

docker compose up -d

Verify the containers are running:

docker compose ps

Output:

NAME                      IMAGE                          COMMAND                  SERVICE      CREATED          STATUS          PORTS
photoprism-mariadb-1      mariadb:11                     "docker-entrypoint.s…"   mariadb      54 seconds ago   Up 48 seconds   3306/tcp
photoprism-photoprism-1   photoprism/photoprism:latest   "/init"                  photoprism   52 seconds ago   Up 48 seconds   0.0.0.0:2342->2342/tcp, [::]:2342->2342/tcp, 2442-2443/tcp

Step 7 - Access the Web Interface

---

Open the following URL in your browser:

http://SERVER_IP:2342

Login using:

Username: admin
Password: StrongPasswordHere

Step 8 - Upload or Import Photos

---

Copy your photos into:

/opt/photoprism/originals

or

/opt/photoprism/import

After uploading photos, start indexing from:

Library → Index

Alternatively, run:

docker compose exec photoprism photoprism index

The system is now running PhotoPrism on Debian 13 and can be accessed via port 2342.