I'm running Frigate on Ubuntu 22.04 using Docker, and Frigate reports that its shared-memory (/dev/shm) allocation needs to be increased. I was wondering whether Docker has a graphical management interface that could be installed on my existing setup without removing or disrupting anything. If a GUI is unnecessary, I'd also like to know the correct way to update the existing Frigate deployment and where its Docker Compose file is usually located.
3 Answers
You can install a management interface such as Portainer alongside the current Docker installation, but it won’t change the shared-memory allocation by itself. Portainer is a web-based tool for viewing and managing containers, images, volumes, and Compose applications. For this particular issue, editing the Compose file is safer and more direct. Other tools such as Dockge can also manage Compose projects, but none of them is necessary.
Docker itself does not include a graphical interface. Docker Desktop provides one, but on Linux it runs Docker inside an additional virtual machine and usually isn’t the best choice. If you want a web interface, tools such as Portainer, Dockge, or Dockhand can be deployed separately. They won’t be required for changing Frigate’s shared-memory setting, though; learning the Docker CLI and Compose is usually simpler for this kind of maintenance.
The usual fix is in the Docker Compose file used to start Frigate. Add `shm_size: '512m'` under the `frigate` service, at the same indentation level as `image`, `volumes`, and `ports`. The exact amount depends on your cameras and resolutions. For example: `services: frigate: image: ghcr.io/blakeblackshear/frigate:stable shm_size: '512m'`. Then run `docker compose up -d` from the directory containing the Compose file. Docker must recreate the container for the new limit to apply; simply restarting it is not enough. Existing configuration and recordings should remain intact as long as the volume mappings are preserved.
The file is commonly named `compose.yml`, `compose.yaml`, or `docker-compose.yml`, and it is often in the directory where the Frigate installation commands were run. The snippet you posted does look like the relevant Compose file. Make sure the indentation is correct, since YAML depends on it, and add `shm_size` directly below the `image` line or alongside the other service properties.
Compose is worth learning here because the deployment settings stay in a readable YAML file. You can change the configuration and recreate only the affected service instead of deleting the whole Docker installation.