How to Install PiGallery 2 on Windows 11

PiGallery 2 is an open source web gallery that enables you to host and browse your digital photos online. In this tutorial, we will guide you on how to install PiGallery 2 on your Windows 11 machine.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have the following:

  • A Windows 11 machine with an internet connection.
  • A web browser installed, preferably Google Chrome.
  • An administrative access to the machine.

Step 1 - Install WampServer

WampServer is a Windows web development environment that allows you to create web applications on your local machine. We will use it as our web server to run PiGallery 2. You can download WampServer from the official website at https://www.wampserver.com/en/download-wampserver-64bits/.

  1. Once downloaded, run the installer and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation.

  2. Open WampServer by clicking on the icon on your desktop.

  3. Once the app is loaded, click on the green WampServer icon in the taskbar, and make sure that the "Put Online" option is selected.

Step 2 - Download PiGallery 2

  1. navigate to https://github.com/bpatrik/pigallery2/releases on your web browser.

  2. Click on the latest release of PiGallery 2.

  3. Download the zip file that is appropriate for your operating system.

  4. Extract the downloaded zip file to any directory of your choice. In this tutorial, we will use the directory C:\pigallery2.

Step 3 - Configure PiGallery 2

  1. Open your file manager and navigate to C:\pigallery2\config.

  2. Rename the config.template.json file to config.json.

  3. Open the config.json file with a text editor such as Notepad.

  4. Locate the baseDirectories section in the file and replace its value with the directory where your photos are stored.

    "baseDirectories": [
        {
            "dir": "C:/Users/Username/Pictures",
            "title": "My Pictures",
            "thumbnailSize": 240
        }
    ]
  1. Save and close the config.json file.

Step 4 - Run PiGallery 2

  1. Open your web browser and navigate to http://localhost/pigallery2/.

  2. PiGallery 2 will start the installation process, and it will create the necessary database tables and check for dependencies.

  3. After the installation process is complete, you will be redirected to the PiGallery 2 dashboard.

Conclusion

Congratulations, you have successfully installed PiGallery 2 on your Windows 11 machine. You can now browse your photos online by visiting http://localhost/pigallery2/ on your web browser.