The Tool Desk
Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →This guide installs Piwigo natively on Ubuntu Server 24.04 LTS with Nginx, PHP-FPM and MariaDB. You will finish with a gallery at https://gallery.example.com, HTTPS, image processing, uploads and a database account that is separate from MariaDB root.
The architecture is:
Browser → HTTPS → Nginx → PHP-FPM → Piwigo → MariaDB
Requirements and planning
- A fully updated Ubuntu Server 24.04 LTS system and a sudo-capable account.
- SSH access and a domain or subdomain such as
gallery.example.com. Point DNSAand, where applicable,AAAArecords at the server. - Storage for original photos, generated multiple-size images, thumbnails, the database and backups. Piwigo’s generated cache can consume substantial additional space.
- A backup destination on different storage from the live server.
Piwigo currently documents Nginx or Apache, MariaDB 10.1+ or MySQL 5.6+, PHP 8.2+, and ImageMagick or GD. See the current requirements. As of August 18, 2026, the GitHub repository listed 16.4.0 (released May 3, 2026), but use the official download page rather than embedding a release number in commands.
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Native installation or Docker?
This article uses the full archive and system services. It gives direct Ubuntu paths, logs and service controls. Docker offers isolation and repeatability but requires Docker, persistent-volume and reverse-proxy administration; follow Piwigo’s Docker guide for that architecture. NetInstall is convenient, but a browser-downloaded installer script must be removed afterward.
Update Ubuntu and install the stack
sudo apt update
sudo apt full-upgrade -y
sudo rebootReconnect, then install Nginx, MariaDB, PHP-FPM, database and image extensions:
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sudo apt install -y
nginx mariadb-server php-fpm php-mysql php-gd php-imagick
php-curl php-xml php-mbstring php-zip php-intl
imagemagick unzip curlUbuntu 24.04 commonly supplies PHP 8.3, but do not assume that minor version permanently. Check what is installed:
nginx -v
php -v
mariadb --version
php -m | grep -E 'curl|gd|imagick|intl|mbstring|mysqli|mysql|PDO|xml|zip'
systemctl list-unit-files --type=service | grep fpmEnable services, substituting the FPM service name shown on your system:
sudo systemctl enable --now nginx
sudo systemctl enable --now mariadb
sudo systemctl enable --now php8.3-fpmFind the actual FastCGI socket before writing Nginx configuration:
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sudo mariadb-secure-installationRemove anonymous users, disallow remote root login, remove the test database and reload privilege tables. Then create a dedicated database and account:
sudo mariadbCREATE DATABASE piwigo
CHARACTER SET utf8mb4
COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;
CREATE USER 'piwigo'@'localhost'
IDENTIFIED BY 'REPLACE_WITH_A_LONG_RANDOM_PASSWORD';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON piwigo.* TO 'piwigo'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;Use localhost, user piwigo, database piwigo and table prefix piwigo_ in the web installer. Piwigo’s manual guide recommends a prefix, particularly when a database is shared. Do not expose port 3306 publicly.
Download and install Piwigo
Use the official download page so the command remains current:
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cd /tmp
curl -L 'https://piwigo.org/download/dlcounter.php?code=latest' -o piwigo.zip
unzip piwigo.zip
find . -maxdepth 2 -type f -name 'index.php' -printMove the extracted directory (rename a versioned directory if necessary) to a stable path:
sudo mkdir -p /var/www
sudo mv piwigo /var/www/piwigoKeeping release numbers out of paths prevents upgrades from changing the public URL. A straightforward permission model is:
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/piwigo
sudo find /var/www/piwigo -type d -exec chmod 755 {} ;
sudo find /var/www/piwigo -type f -exec chmod 644 {} ;This is simple, but broad ownership gives the web account control of application code. A hardened deployment can keep code owned by root and grant www-data write access only to the directories Piwigo actually needs, especially /var/www/piwigo/_data/. Recheck those directories after upgrades.
Configure Nginx and PHP-FPM
Create /etc/nginx/sites-available/piwigo:
server {
listen 80;
listen [::]:80;
server_name gallery.example.com;
root /var/www/piwigo;
index index.php index.html;
client_max_body_size 256M;
location / {
try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$args;
}
location ~ .php$ {
include snippets/fastcgi-php.conf;
fastcgi_pass unix:/run/php/php8.3-fpm.sock;
}
location ~ /.ht {
deny all;
}
}Replace the hostname and socket with your values. The try_files rule routes unknown URLs to Piwigo; Apache directives such as AllowOverride and .htaccess rules do not belong here. The upload limit is only one half of upload sizing; PHP must allow at least the same amount.
sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/piwigo /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/piwigo
sudo rm -f /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/default
sudo nginx -t
sudo systemctl reload nginxDo not reload unless the test reports syntax is ok and test is successful.
Open the firewall
sudo ufw allow OpenSSH
sudo ufw allow 'Nginx Full'
sudo ufw enable
sudo ufw status verboseIf the profile is unavailable, allow 80/tcp and 443/tcp explicitly. UFW is Ubuntu’s standard firewall tool; see its firewall documentation. Never open MariaDB unless remote access is deliberately restricted.
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Run the Piwigo installer
Open http://gallery.example.com. Enter:
- Database host:
localhost - Database user:
piwigo - Database password: the random password created above
- Database name:
piwigo - Table prefix:
piwigo_
Create a strong webmaster password and provide an administrator email. After completion, check for installer remnants and remove only confirmed scripts:
sudo find /var/www/piwigo -maxdepth 2 -type f
( -name 'install.php' -o -name '*netinstall*' ) -print
sudo rm -f /var/www/piwigo/install.php /var/www/piwigo/piwigo-netinstall.phpEnable HTTPS
For an internet-facing gallery, obtain a trusted certificate. DNS must resolve correctly and ports 80 and 443 must be reachable:
sudo apt install -y certbot python3-certbot-nginx
sudo certbot --nginx -d gallery.example.com
sudo nginx -t
sudo systemctl reload nginx
sudo certbot renew --dry-runCertbot normally adds HTTP-to-HTTPS redirection. Use an internal CA for private organizational sites; self-signed certificates are for testing, not production, as Ubuntu explains in its certificate guidance. Behind Cloudflare or another TLS-terminating proxy, ensure the proxy forwards the original HTTPS scheme and uses a compatible TLS mode to avoid redirect loops.
Set PHP upload limits
Edit the FPM php.ini, commonly /etc/php/8.3/fpm/php.ini:
upload_max_filesize = 256M
post_max_size = 256M
max_execution_time = 300
max_input_time = 300
memory_limit = 256MThese are starting points, not Piwigo requirements. Choose values for your image sizes and available memory; post_max_size must be at least upload_max_filesize.
sudo systemctl restart php8.3-fpm
sudo nginx -t
sudo systemctl reload nginxVerify uploads and image processing
For a temporary execution test:
echo 'Visit https://gallery.example.com/php-test.php and verify PHP executes, MySQL support exists, GD or Imagick is loaded and limits are suitable. Remove it immediately:
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sudo rm /var/www/piwigo/php-test.phpThen create an album, upload a photo and confirm a thumbnail, resized image and expected EXIF data are produced. Piwigo recommends ImageMagick for image processing; GD is a practical alternative. exiftool may be needed by metadata plugins and ffmpeg by VideoJS:
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php -m | grep -E 'gd|imagick'Troubleshooting
502 Bad Gateway
Check that FPM is running and that Nginx uses the existing socket:
systemctl status php8.3-fpm
ls -l /run/php/
sudo journalctl -u php8.3-fpm -n 100 --no-pager
sudo tail -n 100 /var/log/nginx/error.logUpdate fastcgi_pass after PHP upgrades if the socket name changed.
Nginx test failure
Run sudo nginx -t and correct missing semicolons, duplicate names, stale symlinks, an incorrect root or socket. Never reload a failing configuration.
Database connection errors
sudo systemctl status mariadb
sudo mariadb -e "SHOW DATABASES;"
mariadb -u piwigo -p -h localhost piwigoVerify the host, database, username, password and the 'piwigo'@'localhost' restriction.
Permission errors or failed uploads
sudo namei -l /var/www/piwigo
sudo find /var/www/piwigo -maxdepth 2 -type d -name '_data' -ls
sudo tail -n 100 /var/log/nginx/error.log
sudo journalctl -u php8.3-fpm -n 100 --no-pagerConfirm writable data directories. Recursive chown -R www-data:www-data is a broad convenience repair, not the preferred hardened policy.
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Missing thumbnails
Check ImageMagick/GD, restart FPM after installing extensions, inspect ImageMagick policy restrictions, verify _data write access and consider memory or execution-time limits. Corrupt or unusually large source files can also fail.
Large uploads rejected
Align Nginx client_max_body_size with both PHP limits, and check any CDN, reverse proxy or provider limit.
Subdirectory installations
https://example.com/photos/ can work, but a subdomain is simpler because base paths, rewrites and asset URLs require less customization.
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Back up the database, originals, configuration, plugins/themes and generated data if you want to avoid regenerating thumbnails. Store backups elsewhere:
sudo mariadb-dump --single-transaction piwigo
| gzip | sudo tee /var/backups/piwigo-$(date +%F).sql.gz >/dev/null
sudo rsync -aHAX --delete /var/www/piwigo/ /backup-location/piwigo/Before upgrades, back up both database and files, record plugins and themes, read Piwigo release notes, check PHP and plugin compatibility, and test an important gallery in staging. Ubuntu security updates may be automatic, but Piwigo, plugins, themes and your operational configuration remain your responsibility. Useful logs include:
/var/log/nginx/access.log /var/log/nginx/error.log /var/log/php8.3-fpm.log
sudo tail -f /var/log/nginx/error.log
sudo journalctl -u nginx -f
sudo journalctl -u php8.3-fpm -fPHP-FPM log names vary with the installed PHP version. Resource needs depend on photo count and dimensions, concurrent users, plugins, video processing and thumbnail workload; there is no universal RAM or CPU minimum.
When self-hosting is the wrong fit
Self-host when you need control over storage, networking and Nginx and are comfortable maintaining Linux services. Piwigo Cloud is a better fit when you want the gallery without maintaining the server, certificates, backups and updates; Piwigo advertises a 30-day trial with no credit card on its cloud page. Organizations that want self-hosting with vendor assistance can review professional support, listed at €990 per year excluding tax. VPS providers such as DigitalOcean, Hetzner and OVHcloud provide infrastructure, not Piwigo operations; compare storage, backups, bandwidth, IPv4/IPv6, location and support before choosing.
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