Immich•4w ago

Validation external libaries

I have a Windows 11 laptop with Docker and an Immich 1142 server that works for simple photo retrieval from an existing photo folder, but scanning an entire drive on the laptop and validating paths to external libraries don't work. Volume mounts work (Docker sees files), but validation consistently fails. Documentation suggests it should work. Is this the same as the issues (#6786, #11972)? Does anyone have a solution, or is this simply not possible?

19 Replies

Immich•4w ago

:wave: Hey @PhotographicNarrativesFvv, 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. :blue_square: verified I'm on the latest release(note that mobile app releases may take some time). 2. :blue_square: read applicable release notes. 3. :blue_square: reviewed the FAQs for known issues. 4. :blue_square: reviewed Github for known issues. 5. :blue_square: tried accessing Immich via local ip (without a custom reverse proxy). 6. :blue_square: uploaded the relevant information (see below). 7. :blue_square: 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. [Issue] Problem with external libraries (immich-app/immich#6786) [Issue] External Library not finding new files (immich-app/immich#11972)

Sergey Katsubo•4w ago

Could you uploaded the relevant information (see auto-post above)? In particular: compose, .env, storage info (df -h) Could you elaborate: what you tried, what you expected, what you observed.

works for simple photo retrieval from an existing photo folder,

So there is a working external library / import path, right?

but scanning an entire drive on the laptop and validating paths to external libraries don't work.

Are those two - "scanning an entire drive on the laptop" and "validating paths to external libraries don't work" - distinct issues or related?

Volume mounts work (Docker sees files), but validation consistently fails.

Does it happen when configuring import paths? There will be an exclamation mark in UI when validation failed. Hover over it, a popup should appear - what does it say?

PhotographicNarrativesFvvOP•4w ago

services: immich-server: container_name: immich_server image: ghcr.io/immich-app/immich-server:release volumes: - D:/Photos:/usr/src/app/upload/library - upload:/usr/src/app/upload environment: - DB_HOSTNAME=database - DB_USERNAME=postgres - DB_PASSWORD=postgres - DB_DATABASE_NAME=immich - REDIS_HOSTNAME=redis - UV_THREADPOOL_SIZE=4 ports: - "8080:3001" depends_on: - redis - database restart: always mem_limit: 2g cpus: 4 redis: container_name: immich_redis image: redis:6.2-alpine restart: always database: container_name: immich_postgres image: tensorchord/pgvecto-rs:pg14-v0.2.0 environment: - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=postgres - POSTGRES_USER=postgres - POSTGRES_DB=immich - POSTGRES_INITDB_ARGS=--data-checksums volumes: - pgdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data restart: always volumes: pgdata : upload:

PhotographicNarrativesFvvOP•4w ago

env

PhotographicNarrativesFvvOP•4w ago

I have a complex system, but the core of the problem seems to be that Immich ( i am on Windows11) cannot scan for instance my D:/ drive to search for photo file, like .jpg .tif and so on no seems to be different issues any path i tried to create for external libaries, on a different PC, failed i just have installed the newest version, however that doesn't solve my problem. i have 9 disk with approx 90000 photo files so i am looking for a solution to slideshow specific set of files after a scan of the total i tried to find a solution with the support of AI but the conclusion seems to be that i cannot, probebly due to the specific windows environment ?

Sergey Katsubo•4w ago

Thanks for the answers And back to this one, to better understand your current state:

works for simple photo retrieval from an existing photo folder,

So do you have a working external library / import path already? Like "D:/Photos" maybe?

PhotographicNarrativesFvvOP•4w ago

no i simple can upload a photo from my laptop or from my desktop via a assigned Z Disk, but i cannot scan my D drive local on laptop

Sergey Katsubo•4w ago

I see. Then I would suggest to stop your current stack and set everything up from scratch with Immich's default / recommended compose and .env. Are you deploying with "docker compose" commands or through Docker Desktop? Anyway, get compose+env files from latest release (https://immich.app/docs/install/docker-compose#step-1---download-the-required-files - links from the doc) - https://github.com/immich-app/immich/releases/latest/download/docker-compose.yml - https://github.com/immich-app/immich/releases/latest/download/example.env - save it as .env Do not modify their content, let it run with defaults. Start it as usual using your preferred method. Check if everything works on http://localhost:2283 If that works, then Add this line to volumes in docker-compose.yml similarly to your previous config. Here I suggest a different internal path and moounting read-only (ro)

      - D:/Photos:/mnt/d/photos:ro

      - D:/Photos:/mnt/d/photos:ro

Apply changes: docker compose up -d or through Docker Desktop if you use it. Follow https://immich.app/docs/guides/external-library to create new external library and use /mnt/d/photos as import path.

PhotographicNarrativesFvvOP•4w ago

Ok Thank you Sergey, I asume you expect that it would work. I use docker desktop. I will follw your advies and let you know how that goes. Thanks again

PhotographicNarrativesFvvOP•3w ago

i got a validation ok with /mnt/d/photos however, when i scan there is no import at all and this command docker exec -it immich_server ls /mnt/d/photos shows an empty line

message.txt

Sergey Katsubo•3w ago

Got it, thanks.

ls /mnt/d/photos shows an empty line

Now it looks more like Docker-on-Windows issue, not specific to Immich. Next could you share outputs of

docker info
docker inspect immich_server

docker info
docker inspect immich_server

I see you mounted whole disk - D:/:/mnt/d/photos:ro, in theory it should be fine, no big difference D:/ vs D:/Photos, but who knows how it's in reality. Unfortunately I have no Windows box to verify. Related: - https://docs.docker.com/desktop/settings-and-maintenance/settings/#file-sharing (Hyper-V mode vs WSL 2 mode) - https://forums.docker.com/t/automatically-permit-sharing-for-mounts/141124/2

PhotographicNarrativesFvvOP•3w ago

Dear Sergey, I am working on this item for a couple of days now. It seems te be hard ( impossible) to create a working Immich/Docker on a windows system. Do you have any knowledge of people that solved the problem. I used Claude AI to find solution, but the response is: better stop it it will never work. I cannot believe so that is why I raise this qusetion.

Sergey Katsubo•3w ago

Hey @PhotographicNarrativesFvv Seems it was tough, sorry for that frustrating experience. I've seen posts on Immich Reddit about windows setups: both successes and struggles; a few guides in comments or links to youtube videos, though maybe outdated. As far as I understand, you managed to set up Immich and have working image upload through web UI. That's success already, no? The remaining thing is External Library setup to view existing photos in Immich, without uploading them, right? And here we stuck. Below I wrote an action plan to attack that thing. 1. Have Immich up and running with default compose+.env. Go to http://localhost:2283, upload an image, make sure it works. 2. In Immich directory create "img" folder and put a few images there. It will play a role of a small external library for testing. Expected directory layout:

your-immich-app-directory
├── .env
├── docker-compose.yml
├── img    <-- put a few images here
├── library
└── postgres

your-immich-app-directory
├── .env
├── docker-compose.yml
├── img    <-- put a few images here
├── library
└── postgres

3. Add the following 5 lines with various volume mappings to docker-compose.yml (copy-paste these 5 lines with proper indentation). Hopefully at least one of them will work.

services:
  immich-server:
    volumes:
      ...
      - ./img:/media/img
      - 'D:\Photos:/media/photos1:ro'
      - "D:/Photos:/media/photos2:ro"
      - "/mnt/d/Photos:/media/photos3:ro"
      - "/mnt/d/photos:/media/photos4:ro"

services:
  immich-server:
    volumes:
      ...
      - ./img:/media/img
      - 'D:\Photos:/media/photos1:ro'
      - "D:/Photos:/media/photos2:ro"
      - "/mnt/d/Photos:/media/photos3:ro"
      - "/mnt/d/photos:/media/photos4:ro"

4. Apply changes Apply changes: docker compose up -d or through Docker Desktop as you did before. Check: docker exec immich_server find /media -maxdepth 2 It should list some images if at least one volume mapping from "Step 3" works. 5. Go to: Admin > External Libraries. - Create an external library and add import path: /media. - "Save". Then "Scan All Libraries". 6. Go to: Admin > Jobs - Check for running/waiting jobs. If your large photo archive mounted successfully, there should be non-zero values. 7. Go to the Timeline (Photos), refresh the page.

PhotographicNarrativesFvvOP•3w ago

Thank you Sergey I will give a go tonight. Thanks Dear Sergey, ik think a have a working version now and can scan the C en D drive, so now I can work on a version that kan scan multiple drives. Is there a know limit of Immich ? THANKS!!

Sergey Katsubo•3w ago

Cool! Could you share your immich-server volumes part of compose to help others with similar questions in the future? As for the limits, there are no hard-coded limits to either number of external libraries or number of import paths in a library. I think tens is reasonable. Hundreds or thousands shall work too, but needs testing. As for the number of assets, supposedly 1M will be fine. 10M - depending on your hardware.

PhotographicNarrativesFvvOP•3w ago

i created a readme file trust that will help

README.md

PhotographicNarrativesFvvOP•3w ago

Is this sufficient ?

Sergey Katsubo•3w ago

Great, thanks a lot So this volume syntax worked, good to know

  immich-server:
    volumes:
      - "C:/Users:/media/c_users:ro"
      - "D:/Photos:/media/d_photos:ro" 
      - "D:/Downloads:/media/d_downloads:ro"

  immich-server:
    volumes:
      - "C:/Users:/media/c_users:ro"
      - "D:/Photos:/media/d_photos:ro" 
      - "D:/Downloads:/media/d_downloads:ro"

PhotographicNarrativesFvvOP•3w ago

yes and even just /media worked fine,, however then you will get every picture there is on your system 🙂

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