How to Install and Setup PhotoPrism on Raspberry Pi

PhotoPrism is a self-hosted platform that helps you manage and organize your photos on a private server. It keeps your photos saved by storing them in your home folder only. It works similar to Google Photos but includes additional features such as identifying duplicate photos, removing noise from the images, securing photo-sharing and much more.

In this article, you will find the method to set up PhotoPrism on Raspberry Pi.

Setup PhotoPrism on Raspberry Pi

To setup PhotoPrism on Raspberry Pi, you will need to execute the below-mentioned steps:

Step 1: Update Raspberry Pi Packages

Ensure the packages on the Raspberry Pi are updated using the following command:

$ sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade

Step 2: Install Docker and Docker Compose

In this step, you will require installing Docker and Docker compose on your Raspberry Pi, as this will allow you to configure the PhotPrism and enable us to use all software services through a single command.

To install Docker, execute the following curl command:

$ curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com -o get-docker.sh

Then use the following sudo command to get the Docker on Raspberry Pi.

$ sudo sh get-docker.sh

After the installation, you can check the docker version by using the following command:

$ docker --version

Next, to install Docker compose on Raspberry Pi, issue the following command:

$ sudo apt install docker-compose

Step 3: Enable Raspberry Pi OS 64-Bit Kernel

Next, we need to enable the 64-bit kernel on Raspberry Pi OS. However, before doing this operation, first, check the kernel version using the following command:

$ uname -a

From the above command, we will see that our Raspberry Pi uses armv7l which is a 32-bit architecture. Now to change this, open the configuration file using the below-mentioned command:

$ sudo nano /boot/config.txt

Add the following line at the end of the document:

arm_64bit=1

Save the file using the “Ctrl+X” keys together, add “Y” and press Enter.

Reboot the device to make the changes.

After the device reboots, check the architecture again using the following command:

$ uname -a

The above screenshot ensures that Raspberry Pi OS includes the 64-bit version.

Step 4: Install PhotoPrism

Now, to install PhotoPrism, first create a directory of PhotoPrism using the following command:

$ mkdir photoprism

Then enter the created directory by using the following command:

$ cd photoprism

Now, get the docker-compose yml file of PhotoPrism in the created directory by using the following command:

$ wget https://dl.photoprism.org/docker/arm64/docker-compose.yml

Step 5: Change Password

After the installation, you will have to change the PhotoPrism admin password from the docker-compose file which can be opened using the following command:

$ nano docker-compose.yml

Identify the below-given line in the file:

PHOTOPRISM_ADMIN_PASSWORD: "insecure"

Replace insecure with the password of your choice and save the file.

Step 6: Launch PhotoPrism services

In this step use the following command to start launching PhotoPrism services and set up process:

$ sudo docker-compose up -d

Wait till the process completes the installation and when the terminal prompt is back to you, use the following command to check the status of 2 docker containers included in the compose file.

$ sudo docker ps --format "table {{.Names}}\t{{.Ports}}\t{{.Status}}"

If they are running fine, proceed to the next step.

Step 7: Open PhotoPrism Web Interface

In the final step, use your Raspberry Pi IP address to open the PhotoPrism Web interface in the browser tab. To check the IP address, issue the following command in the terminal:

$ hostname - I

Then use the address http://<Pi_IPaddress>:2342 in the browser to open the PhotoPrism web interface.

Use Name as “admin” and type the password you have set in Step 5. Click on the “Sign in” button to proceed.

This will open the PhotoPrism dashboard on the browser.

Click on the highlighted “upload” in the image below to start uploading your images on the PhotoPrism dashboard.

There are also multiple options available for you on the left side of the interface, where you will be provided with options of uploading videos, creating an album and more. This completes the installation of PhotoPrism on Raspberry Pi.

Conclusion

PhotoPrism is a perfect web photo organizer that can handle your photos or video on a self-hosted platform. The above instructions will assist you in setting up PhotoPrism on Raspberry Pi by first installing Docker and Docker-compose utilities and then changing the architecture to begin the installation of PhotoPrism through the yml docker file. Afterward, you will be able to access the web interface of PhotoPrism on the browser using the IP address of your Raspberry Pi device.