---
title: "Deploy Pixelfed on Pethost in one click"
description: "Photo sharing without ads or algorithms, an Instagram alternative that federates with Mastodon. A template for Pethost: in a minute or two the app is live on your machine, with HTTPS at its own address and nightly backups."
---

[← All templates](https://pethost.dev/templates/)

# Deploy Pixelfed on Pethost in one click

Photo sharing without ads or algorithms, an Instagram alternative that federates with Mastodon

[Deploy on Pethost](https://console.pethost.dev/?template=pixelfed)

## What happens

1. You sign in to Pethost or make an account, with a passkey, GitHub or Google.
2. No machine yet? You pick a plan, and we prepare one for you. The link waits in your browser until it is ready.
3. New project opens at the app. You fill in what it asks for and click Create project: **Username**, **Email**, **Admin password**.
4. In a minute or two the app is live at its own address with HTTPS. Its secrets are made for it at random, and its data is in the nightly backup.
5. It is a project like any other: its compose.yaml, its .env, its logs and a terminal are in the panel, and your agent can change it, roll it back or restore it.

## First steps

Sign in with the email and the admin password you gave. Sign-ups are closed: open them in the admin dashboard, or make accounts there. The address can’t change later, as other servers know the accounts by it.

## What it runs

The template is this compose.yaml and the variables it writes into the project’s .env. Pethost runs the file as it is written.

```
# What the app, its queue worker and its scheduler all read.
x-pixelfed: &pixelfed
  image: ghcr.io/pixelfed/pixelfed:v0.14.4
  restart: unless-stopped
  environment: &env
    APP_NAME: Pixelfed
    APP_ENV: production
    APP_DEBUG: "false"
    APP_KEY: ${APP_KEY}
    APP_URL: ${URL}
    APP_DOMAIN: ${HOST}
    ADMIN_DOMAIN: ${HOST}
    TRUST_PROXIES: "*"
    # Accounts are made by the admin; ENFORCE_EMAIL_VERIFICATION would need mail.
    OPEN_REGISTRATION: "false"
    ENFORCE_EMAIL_VERIFICATION: "false"
    OAUTH_ENABLED: "true"
    IMAGE_DRIVER: vips
    ACTIVITY_PUB: "true"
    AP_REMOTE_FOLLOW: "true"
    AP_INBOX: "true"
    AP_OUTBOX: "true"
    AP_SHAREDINBOX: "true"
    DB_CONNECTION: mysql
    DB_HOST: db
    DB_PORT: 3306
    DB_DATABASE: pixelfed
    DB_USERNAME: pixelfed
    DB_PASSWORD: ${DB_PASSWORD}
    REDIS_CLIENT: phpredis
    REDIS_HOST: redis
    REDIS_PASSWORD: "null"
    REDIS_PORT: 6379
    SESSION_DRIVER: database
    CACHE_STORE: redis
    QUEUE_DRIVER: redis
    BROADCAST_DRIVER: log
    MAIL_MAILER: log
    PHP_POST_MAX_SIZE: 100M
    PHP_UPLOAD_MAX_FILE_SIZE: 100M
    PHP_OPCACHE_ENABLE: "1"
    AUTORUN_ENABLED: "false"
    AUTORUN_LARAVEL_STORAGE_LINK: "true"
    AUTORUN_LARAVEL_CONFIG_CACHE: "true"
  # Media, the OAuth keys and the logs, shared by the three.
  volumes:
    - storage:/var/www/html/storage
  depends_on:
    db:
      condition: service_healthy
    redis:
      condition: service_healthy

services:
  pixelfed:
    <<: *pixelfed
    environment:
      <<: *env
      AUTORUN_ENABLED: "true"
      AUTORUN_LARAVEL_MIGRATION: "true"
      AUTORUN_LARAVEL_MIGRATION_ISOLATION: "true"
      AUTORUN_LARAVEL_EVENT_CACHE: "true"
      AUTORUN_LARAVEL_ROUTE_CACHE: "true"
      AUTORUN_LARAVEL_VIEW_CACHE: "true"
      ADMIN_USERNAME: ${ADMIN_USERNAME}
      ADMIN_EMAIL: ${ADMIN_EMAIL}
      ADMIN_PASSWORD: ${ADMIN_PASSWORD}
    # After the migrations: the OAuth keys and the instance's actor once, and the admin
    # from the fields while the instance has none.
    command:
      - sh
      - -c
      - |
        [ -f storage/oauth-private.key ] || php artisan passport:keys
        php artisan instance:actor
        php -r '
          require "vendor/autoload.php";
          $$app = require "bootstrap/app.php";
          $$app->make(Illuminate\Contracts\Console\Kernel::class)->bootstrap();
          exit(App\Models\User::where("is_admin", true)->exists() ? 1 : 0);
        ' && php artisan user:create --name="$$ADMIN_USERNAME" --username="$$ADMIN_USERNAME" \
          --email="$$ADMIN_EMAIL" --password="$$ADMIN_PASSWORD" --is_admin=true --confirm_email=1
        exec frankenphp run --config /etc/frankenphp/Caddyfile --adapter caddyfile

  horizon:
    <<: *pixelfed
    environment:
      <<: *env
      # One worker per supervisor for all its queues, not one per queue: a quarter of the memory.
      HORIZON_BALANCE_STRATEGY: "false"
    command: [php, artisan, horizon]
    # The image's own healthcheck asks the web server, which runs in pixelfed only.
    healthcheck:
      test: [CMD, php, artisan, horizon:status]
      interval: 10s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 3

  scheduler:
    <<: *pixelfed
    command: [php, artisan, schedule:work]
    stop_signal: SIGTERM
    healthcheck:
      test: [CMD, healthcheck-schedule]
      start_period: 10s

  db:
    image: mariadb:11.8
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      MARIADB_DATABASE: pixelfed
      MARIADB_USER: pixelfed
      MARIADB_PASSWORD: ${DB_PASSWORD}
      MARIADB_RANDOM_ROOT_PASSWORD: "1"
    volumes:
      - db:/var/lib/mysql
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "healthcheck.sh", "--connect", "--innodb_initialized"]
      interval: 5s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 30

  redis:
    image: redis:8-alpine
    restart: unless-stopped
    command: [redis-server, --appendonly, "yes"]
    volumes:
      - redis:/data
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "redis-cli", "ping"]
      interval: 5s
      timeout: 3s
      retries: 20

volumes:
  storage:
  db:
  redis:
```

[compose.yaml](https://pethost.dev/templates/pixelfed/compose.yaml)[See it on GitHub](https://github.com/pethost-dev/templates/tree/main/pixelfed)

Pethost · Stephan Gomer · NIP 1133096755

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