picpeak/docs/single-container.md

PicPeak all-in-one (single container)

One docker run, one volume, working PicPeak. Built for NAS boxes (Synology, UGREEN, QNAP) and small VPSes where standing up a four-service compose stack is the thing that makes people give up and go back to a SaaS.

If you already run PostgreSQL, or you expect several photographers hitting the admin UI at once, use the compose stack instead. This image is the small end of the range, not a replacement for it.

Run it

docker run -d \
  --name picpeak \
  -p 3000:3000 \
  -v picpeak:/data \
  -e JWT_SECRET="$(openssl rand -base64 48)" \
  ghcr.io/picpeak/picpeak/aio:stable

Open http://<host>:3000. The first visit lands on the setup wizard, which asks for a one-time token:

docker exec picpeak cat /data/db/SETUP_TOKEN

The token is also printed to the container log on first start.

JWT_SECRET is the only variable you must set. Generate it once and keep it — changing it invalidates every existing session and gallery link.

What is inside

One Node process. No supervisor, no nginx, no PostgreSQL, no Redis.

The backend serves the built frontend directly and applies the same security headers the nginx container applies in the compose stack — same CSP, same X-Frame-Options, X-Content-Type-Options, Referrer-Policy and Permissions-Policy, plus the same cache tiers (hashed assets immutable, index.html never cached).

SQLite is the default, deliberately. It is a library inside the process writing one file on your volume: no second daemon, no credentials, no startup ordering, and no pg_upgrade dance when you pull a newer image. The engine is resolved and logged at boot, so docker logs always tells you which database you are actually on:

Database engine: sqlite (/data/db/picpeak.db)

Redis is absent — nothing in the backend needs it at runtime.

The volume

Everything that must survive a container replacement lives under /data:

Path	Contents
/data/db	picpeak.db (+ -wal/-shm) and SETUP_TOKEN
/data/storage	originals, thumbnails, archives
/data/logs	application logs
/data/backup	built-in backup output (/backup is symlinked here)

One mount point is the whole point. Back up /data and you have backed up the install.

Upgrades are docker pull + recreate the container; migrations run at start. The volume is what carries your data across, so never bind-mount a directory you are about to delete.

Environment

Only JWT_SECRET is required. Everything else has a working default.

Variable	Default	Notes
JWT_SECRET	—	Required. Long random string.
PORT	3000	Listen port inside the container.
FRONTEND_URL	—	Optional override for the public URL. Normally you set this in the setup wizard instead (it proposes the address you opened), and it is editable later under Settings → General. Setting it here pins the value and makes that field read-only.
SMTP_*	—	Optional override for outbound email, which is normally configured in the setup wizard / Settings → Email. Without either, PicPeak runs fine but sends nothing.
DATABASE_CLIENT	sqlite3	Set to pg to use an external PostgreSQL. Required — the image declares sqlite3, and the boot resolver treats a declared client as an explicit instruction, so DB_* alone will not switch engines.
DB_HOST, DB_USER, DB_PASSWORD, DB_NAME	—	Connection details, used when DATABASE_CLIENT=pg.

Using an external PostgreSQL

docker run -d --name picpeak -p 3000:3000 -v picpeak:/data \
  -e JWT_SECRET="…" \
  -e DATABASE_CLIENT=pg \
  -e DB_HOST=10.0.0.5 -e DB_USER=picpeak -e DB_PASSWORD=… -e DB_NAME=picpeak \
  ghcr.io/picpeak/picpeak/aio:stable

The image waits for the database to accept connections before running migrations, exactly as the compose backend does.

TLS

None is included. Terminate TLS in front of it — your NAS's reverse proxy, Caddy, nginx, or a Cloudflare Tunnel. Put the public https://… address in Settings → General (or re-run the setup wizard) so generated links match — FRONTEND_URL does the same thing but pins it outside the admin UI.

NAS notes

Synology (Container Manager) and QNAP (Container Station) can both run this from the registry UI: pull ghcr.io/picpeak/picpeak/aio:stable, map a host port to container port 3000, and add one volume mapping to /data. Set JWT_SECRET under Environment.

Point the volume at a folder on your data pool, not the system partition, and prefer a folder you own — the container starts as root only long enough to adopt the directory, then drops to UID 1001.

Outgrowing it

A single-container install is never a dead end. When you need the full stack:

1. Settings → Backup → Export .picpeak (include photos).
2. Stand up the compose stack with PostgreSQL and run its setup wizard.
3. Settings → Backup → Restore the .picpeak file.

SQLite → PostgreSQL restore is supported (#1041); the reverse is not. Your galleries, settings, customers and photos come across.

Health

/health returns 200 when the database is reachable and 503 when it is not, and the image's HEALTHCHECK uses it — so docker ps showing healthy means the app can actually serve, not merely that a socket is open.

docker inspect --format='{{.State.Health.Status}}' picpeak

Limits

• SQLite means one writer. Fine for one photographer plus guests browsing; if several admins upload simultaneously all day, move to PostgreSQL.
• No built-in TLS or reverse proxy.
• No Redis, so nothing here scales horizontally — run one container.
• No face recognition. "People in this gallery" needs a separate ML container this image does not include, and running detection alongside thumbnail and preview generation in one container would slow everything down rather than fail cleanly. The toggle in Settings → Features is disabled here and says so. Use the multi-container deployment if you want it.