Help with setting up Immich on a VM within Proxmox
Hi, I originally started immich on an LXC running docker. This is not supported and i think ive understood why... too many issues!
I have now decided to go the VM supported route, spun up a VM with docker. To pass my
/upload location which is a dataset on my hdd array, I have mounted an NFS mount point. /mnt/immich-library. My NFS server is actually on the Proxmox PVE itself,
UPDATE: I have fixed the permissions issue, I am now able to start up immich and I can sucesfully see the mount mounted onto it. However .... immich has decided to create all the files in the mount location when ive explicitly told it to use the current installed directory where it was installed in ....
UPDATE 2: Ok it seems immich creates all the folders even in the upload location, but it seems to only write the encoded videos / thumbs onto the library within the docker install, is this behaviour expected, I would ONLY like the mount to have the actual RAW pictures?
.env file:
docker-compose.yml
my mounted folder (on PVE HOST):
my immich-app folder (on VM):
49 Replies
:wave: Hey @elco,
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. :ballot_box_with_check: 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).
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- 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.Hi @elco looks like your final version is the right one for local everything except raws
Do you have any questions left?
Hi, so in my mounted folder, doesit have to have all of those other folders in there as well, can it not just be the upload and library folder ? thanks
and for multiple users I believe their names will be added under /library.
Another question sorry. I have another folder within that zpoo which I will mount to this immich VM. Now that folder has sub folders with the names of our family, so myself , mum dad etc. within these folders are more folders based on the date of the backup. Is there a way to move these over to the /library folder with their names, or is this an automated process. what would the best way be and to make the format nice and clean? thank you
It sounds like you'd want that as external library more than uploading it
There is no way to keep the folder structure, at best a one level album can be made through the CLI.
You CAN however use storage templating, it is possible to have it stored by date and some other parameters, but that will mean the metadata of the file will need to be correct
https://immich.app/docs/administration/storage-template
https://immich.app/docs/features/libraries
i will take a look of that, I dont mind moving the pictures I would prefer to have just one folder where all of our pictures are grouped by name, thanks
hi @Mraedis ive had a backup of my upload locaiton
/library/musaab stored on my hdd, ive now copied that to the immich folder , itdoesnt seem to show all the files, ive made it do the migration job again but no luck
and to ad to that issue., ive uploaded a image on the immich app right now dated 2025, using ls on the mount i do not see any 2025 folder being made !Is your storage template using years? They will still be under library/user-storage-id/2025
that is right
And you can't copy the library on it's own, it needs to be in the database as well
oof right, hmmmmm
so is there no way to do this unless i do a manual upload ?
Not if you want it managed by immich no
got it
thanks
just to confirm, if my
library/userid folder is copied to somewhere, I then also need to backup the databse. to restore everything I would restore the DB first, then copy paste the user id into /library and do a scan ?
i hope i am right after reading the backup and restore docs
im also thinking how do i make everything neat right now
This is my current setup on HDD storage
Ofcourse immich stores it through a differnt method, as you said I cannot convert it so I would have the only option of manually uploading everything
ive also noticed a slight issue
When reviewing duplicates, i review them. save/del whatever. Now when i go back to it again it comes back review duplicates. it seems this isnt working ?Are the duplicates from your phone? They may be getting re-uploaded. There's no blacklist yet to tell the device not to re-upload assets deleted via the web
i have not set my phone up yet
ive confirmed when I go to trash and click delete, It does get deleted from my mount (ofcourse not with these because i decide to keep all, theya re not duplicates)
sorry just bumping this, any ideas guys ? Need to start the journey of backing up but want to fix this duplicate issue
I have an inkling the keep function is not functioning as intended
Feel free to open an issue for this 🙂
on github ?
seems im not the only one, 5hr ago already an issue
Tracking in #15868
Thanks I will keep a track of this
does immich really take up this much space? its eaten up all 4G of assigned memory andn ow ive got errors it seems
at the start it didnt have much memory, does it keep certain things in RAM even after reboot?
Minimum recommended is 6gb. The machine learning model can eat up ram quite quickly
daym, ok
nice now imich says its a new install .... (after i stopped the machine and increased the ram)
whath the hell man, all of my user info is gone
backups folder also got wiped, everything just got reset somehow , still have my mounts though
Probably means your mounts did not... mount
either before or after restart
no,immich restarted and it thinks its a new install
i had to create admin account and everything
I understand yes
something must have happened with the database, the database backup file is gone, it thinks its a new install, the thumbs and encoded videos are there however
where is your DB_DATA_LOCATION
and is there anything inside it
might have created, because ive logged in as a new admin now
It will always create even before you log in
is the
ls -la date right now or from beforethe only thing i done was
docker compose down, shutdown the vm, increase ram to 6G, start it back up, docker compose up -d half way through i ctrl + c it becasue i needed to run it logged, docker compose up could it be i ctrl c it half way ?Probably not no
some of it is from now, some are from 11 in the morning
the database backup file is goneWhat do you mean?
so in /immich/library there is a backup folder, before there was a file in there i remember, now its just vanished, i thought i could use that to backup ....
Anything inside of the log directory there?
there is , so i typed that message at 17:26
most latest log is 17:17 ?
171754.log
Alright so that was the DB shutdown you did there
It doesn't seem to have started again after that 🤔
Which would mean your DB_DATA_LOCATION is not mounted
I'd try simply doing a compose down + compose up again
ok, would it be overwitten with me logging in as new admin now ?
ooooo
it fixed
interesting
thank you
If a volume doesn't mount it will create these folders inside the container
Works just as well, but if you update then all your data is gone... 🙃
This is also why there are .immich file checks for your library
And why you should never ignore mount checks at startup unless you know what you are doing
got it, glad i didnt do a full update!
now just to sort out this pesky duplciate bug, seems it only happens to keep pictuers, if i actually send one to the trash it does infact go and then delete and not show but thats for the team to look at ill keep eye on that issue thread
To be clear it only deletes your data if you do it wrong from the start
sorry me again, does the storage space not increase when you use external libraries ? seems to be stuck on 15mib despite importing 1000s of pics/videos
i assume this only shows uploaded storage and not external libraries ?
I think this is a consequence of you mounting the main libarary/upload on the network share
thumbs and encoded video are local
and yes, external libraries are not counted here
This is also not "immich space"
it's the amount of free space on the volume your UPLOAD_LOCATION is
gotcha, thanks again