Setup has been a Nightmare
Ok, so, I love Plex for my personal media library. I’ve gathered a ton of old old shows and movies I watched as a little kid for my nephews to watch my Mom and I were unable to find anywhere on DVD. When I saw they have photo library support I was super stoked and tried it, but turns out their app is complete trash and can’t handle videos at all. So I decided to look for a different server for my photos. I was recommended to use Immich and thought, how hard could it be, I figured out Plex, I can figure out Immich. NOPE! A full day later, I have accomplished absolutely NOTHING! Wasted my life! Took HOURS to setup, then got locked out of my account because of stupid password manager generated passwords not saving, which added another hour or so of pain. Turns out their guide was completely useless and ChatGPT only goes in loops and is a total idiot. Then when I finally got the thing up and running, turns out all my files for some absolutely untold reason are corrupt?! Oh, and the ones that aren’t, they magically duplicated??? And on top of that a whole bunch of mysterious photos just SHOWED UP out of NOWHERE. Pictures of people I have no idea who the heck they are and never met, and app icons I never downloaded. Couldn’t even find them in my files! The folder structure is beyond a nightmare and at that point I was losing it and not wanting to comb through 4k+ photos so, I’m stuck with duplicates and mysterious creepy close up photos of strangers in my library, and mostly corrupt photos that refuse to show up on Immich, totally what I wanted and makes sense when they all are JPEG, PNG, and .MOV files… So, if you actually know code and actually understand the lingo, you might have a chance, but this was a lost cause on a thousand levels. I love the idea, you definitely beat PleX, but the setup and porting in photos from an existing folder, nightmare and impossible.
4 Replies
:wave: Hey @Leah Dykema,
Thanks for reaching out to us. Please carefully read this message and follow the recommended actions. This will help us be more effective in our support effort and leave more time for building Immich :immich:.
References
- Container Logs:
docker compose logs docs
- Container Status: docker ps -a docs
- Reverse Proxy: https://immich.app/docs/administration/reverse-proxy
- Code Formatting https://support.discord.com/hc/en-us/articles/210298617-Markdown-Text-101-Chat-Formatting-Bold-Italic-Underline#h_01GY0DAKGXDEHE263BCAYEGFJA
Checklist
I have...
1. :ballot_box_with_check: verified I'm on the latest release(note that mobile app releases may take some time).
2. :ballot_box_with_check: read applicable release notes.
3. :ballot_box_with_check: reviewed the FAQs for known issues.
4. :ballot_box_with_check: reviewed Github for known issues.
5. :ballot_box_with_check: tried accessing Immich via local ip (without a custom reverse proxy).
6. :blue_square: uploaded the relevant information (see below).
7. :ballot_box_with_check: tried an incognito window, disabled extensions, cleared mobile app cache, logged out and back in, different browsers, etc. as applicable
(an item can be marked as "complete" by reacting with the appropriate number)
Information
In order to be able to effectively help you, we need you to provide clear information to show what the problem is. The exact details needed vary per case, but here is a list of things to consider:
- Your docker-compose.yml and .env files.
- Logs from all the containers and their status (see above).
- All the troubleshooting steps you've tried so far.
- Any recent changes you've made to Immich or your system.
- Details about your system (both software/OS and hardware).
- Details about your storage (filesystems, type of disks, output of commands like fdisk -l and df -h).
- The version of the Immich server, mobile app, and other relevant pieces.
- Any other information that you think might be relevant.
Please paste files and logs with proper code formatting, and especially avoid blurry screenshots.
Without the right information we can't work out what the problem is. Help us help you ;)
If this ticket can be closed you can use the /close command, and re-open it later if needed.Your /usr/src/app/upload volume should point to a new location just for immich (default being the ${UPLOAD_LOCATION} environment variable) . This is where files uploaded to immich get stored, and existing files are ignored.
For existing files, you should add a second volume mount to you Plex photos, then, in the Immich app, add an external library. External libraries are for accessing separate files that aren't added/controlled by Immich
It might be best to delete the PostgreSQL database and start from scratch, to avoid bringing through anything that may have been misconfigured there. Only delete it if it isn't shared by other services, or was put into some shared folder. It should be entirely on its own.
Either what CJPeckover said with the external library or import them via the cli.
Don't just point the
/usr/src/app/upload to your existing photos. Immich has it's own folder structure and does not like anyone other than immich touching that. You could map your existing plex stuff to something like /external-media/plex or something and access this via external library in immich. If you just trying to 'learn' immich and discover first, you might be better off with a smaller set of images first.
Immich does reject 'exact duplicates' from being uploaded (not in external library)
Follow the docs on https://immich.app/docs/overview/introduction/, ask questions here. Don't be too dramatic with stuff like 'Wasted my life!'.
We are here to help :)
(P.S. don't forget backups)