Docker

Docker is the recommended way to run WAMF v0.4.0.

The official WAMF container image is published on the GitHub Container Registry:

ghcr.io/wamf-project/wamf:0.4.0

WAMF stores its configuration, database and archived media outside the container so that they persist when the container is updated or recreated.

Requirements

Before installing WAMF, ensure that you have:

• A Linux host with Docker installed.
• A working Frigate installation.
• An MQTT broker accessible to both Frigate and WAMF.
• Network access from WAMF to the Frigate HTTP API.
• At least one Frigate camera configured to detect the bird object.

See Frigate Configuration for the Frigate requirements.

Create the WAMF Directories

Create a directory for WAMF and its persistent data:

mkdir -p ~/WAMF/config ~/WAMF/data ~/WAMF/media
cd ~/WAMF

These directories are used for:

Directory	Purpose
config/	WAMF configuration and authentication settings
data/	WAMF database
media/	Archived snapshots and clips

Docker Compose

Create a docker-compose.yml file in the WAMF directory:

services:
  wamf:
    image: ghcr.io/wamf-project/wamf:0.4.0
    container_name: wamf
    restart: unless-stopped

    ports:
      - "7767:7767"

    environment:
      TZ: Europe/London

    volumes:
      - ./config:/app/config
      - ./data:/app/data
      - ./media:/app/media

Change the TZ value if required for your location.

Start WAMF:

docker compose up -d

Check the container:

docker compose ps

To view the logs:

docker compose logs -f wamf

First Start

On the first start, WAMF automatically creates the files required for initial configuration.

Open the WAMF web interface:

http://<wamf-host>:7767

If valid administrator credentials do not already exist, WAMF generates an initial administrator password during bootstrap.

The temporary password is displayed in the container logs.

Retrieve it with:

docker compose logs wamf

Sign in using the generated password and change it after logging in.

A new installation starts in setup mode until the required Frigate and MQTT settings have been configured.

Continue with the Quick Start guide to connect WAMF to Frigate.

Persistent Data

The container can be stopped, removed, updated or recreated without losing WAMF data as long as the following directories are preserved:

config/
data/
media/

Do not store important configuration or media only inside the container filesystem.

See Backup & Restore for backup recommendations.

Portainer

WAMF can also be deployed as part of a Portainer stack.

When using Portainer, absolute host paths are recommended for bind mounts.

Example:

services:
  wamf:
    image: ghcr.io/wamf-project/wamf:0.4.0
    container_name: wamf
    restart: unless-stopped

    ports:
      - "7767:7767"

    environment:
      TZ: Europe/London

    volumes:
      - /home/your-user/WAMF/config:/app/config
      - /home/your-user/WAMF/data:/app/data
      - /home/your-user/WAMF/media:/app/media

Replace /home/your-user/WAMF with the location you want to use on the Docker host.

Deploy the stack and then open:

http://<wamf-host>:7767

The same first-start setup process applies to both Docker Compose and Portainer deployments.

File Ownership

WAMF v0.4.0 currently runs as root inside the container.

Files created in bind-mounted config, data and media directories may therefore appear as owned by root on the Docker host.

This is expected behaviour in v0.4.0.

Take file ownership and permissions into account when manually editing, copying or backing up these directories.

Stopping WAMF

For Docker Compose:

docker compose down

Persistent configuration, database and media files remain in the bind-mounted directories.

To start WAMF again:

docker compose up -d

Next Steps

Continue to the Quick Start guide to configure WAMF and verify your first detection.