Immich on TrueNAS – Docker/VM vs. integrated Kubernetes
reddit / selfhosted

----------------------------------------------------------------------
positron-- · 2023-11-29 17:58

Hello r/selfhosted,
I'm currently building a new NAS on TrueNAS, and want that to become
the new primary NAS.
Have had a look at Immich recently, and it seems to be quite amazing.
But I'm torn between hosting it directly as a TrueNAS App (using the
built-in k3s stack) and using docker-compose, as is
[recommended](https://immich.app/docs/install/docker-compose) by the
Immich devs.

I'm also running a bunch of services (VPN, Reverse Proxy, Home
Automation, ...) on a single-board ARM computer with Portainer. I love
the comfort of Portainer for docker-compose stacks, and the easiest
way for me would be to have a portainer agent running on the new
TrueNAS system and deploy Immich via docker-compose there.
But it seems that running portainer (or any docker-compose stuff for
that matter) is a pain on TrueNAS Scale, as seen
[here](https://www.truenas.com/community/threads/truecharts-
integrates-docker-compose-with-truenas-scale.99848/) or in several
other reddit posts.


So as I see it, there are two options to go for:


\- Run a VM on TrueNAS Scale and deploy Portainer in there, adding
significant (and unnecessary) overhead.
\- Use the Immich TrueNAS app without really knowing what k3s does in
the background and configure it to use an existing ZFS dataset.


What do you think is the best way to go about this? If possible, I'd
like to avoid a VM running 24/7 with no purpose other than running
docker containers - kind of defeats the purpose of containerization in
the first place. But I'm much more familiar with docker-compose and
don't know how well the Immich app on TrueNAS is supported. Would love
some advice, thanks!

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Vyerni11 · 2023-11-29 20:23

I personally have a Debian VM running on Scale, that's only purpose is
running all my docker containers. I have NFS shares configured on
TrueNAS and those shares are made accessible within the compose files,
and then mapped to the required services.


I prefer this option personally, as it avoids any issues with breaking
apps on TrueNAS upgrades, like has done in the past. It's also easy to
replicate the ZVOL if you want, implement snapshots and all of that.


May not be the most efficient way, in terms of resources. But if I
include my time in getting it working and/or fixing it when it breaks,
then it comes out to be a much more efficient option for me.