Cannot get set up - a normie needs help!

[Paddy5150]

hi everyone,
Immich is a great way to get away from big tech, so I've tried to set it up on my linux 'always on' mini-pc. I have to say, as a normie-keen-to-learn it wasn't easy. There is quite a bit of assumed knowledge in the instructions.

I kind of got it going initially, but the 'upload location' was on a usb drive and that seemed to cause problems. I put a bunch of photos in that library folder but immich did not see them... I was expecting it to be like Jellyfin - point it at a library and it displays that stuff.

anyway, I tried to re-set the upload location in the .env file to be in the same directory as the immich-app directory. But now the server will not start properly (it tries, but keeps cutting out).

I get an error:
"Failed to read upload/library/.immich: Error: ENOENT: no such file or directory"

My upload location is set, in the .ENV file, to:

./immich-app/library

[I've also tried removing the "." and replacing it with the full path (/home/username/) but nothing works.]

The upload location has got full rwx permissions for my username and the group too.

The other parts of the container start up and stay up, it's just the server part that keeps dropping, with that error. It seems it cannot write that hidden .immich file. Does anyone know how to get past this?

[bo0tzz]

It's erroring because it can't find that file. That's a safety feature to prevent starting up Immich with the files missing, which would cause issues. You have two options: Either move the files belonging with this installation into the current UPLOAD_LOCATION, or delete the postgres data to start completely fresh.

I was expecting it to be like Jellyfin - point it at a library and it displays that stuff.

Nope, Immich expects its UPLOAD_LOCATION to be an empty folder at first start. If you want to point at existing files you want https://immich.app/docs/features/libraries/. I agree that this can be made clearer in the setup docs.

[Paddy5150]

Hi, Thank you. That makes sense, but what's not clear is 1. Exactly what files (name, file extension) I should create in the library directory, and whether they are there or in a sub-folder called "encoded-video" as the error suggests. 2. How to delete the postgres database data. Is that literally just deleting everything inside the postgres directory? From a normie perspective, it would be great if the docs contained a 'delete everything and start again' section 😁 Patrick

…

________________________________ From: bo0tzz ***@***.***> Sent: Tuesday, February 25, 2025 12:49:44 PM To: immich-app/immich ***@***.***> Cc: Paddy5150 ***@***.***>; Author ***@***.***> Subject: Re: [immich-app/immich] Cannot get set up - a normie needs help! (Discussion #16312) It's erroring because it can't find that file. That's a safety feature to prevent starting up Immich with the files missing, which would cause issues. You have two options: Either move the files belonging with this installation into the current UPLOAD_LOCATION, or delete the postgres data to start completely fresh. I was expecting it to be like Jellyfin - point it at a library and it displays that stuff. Nope, Immich expects its UPLOAD_LOCATION to be an empty folder at first start. If you want to point at existing files you want https://immich.app/docs/features/libraries/. I agree that this can be made clearer in the setup docs. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub<#16312 (comment)>, or unsubscribe<https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/BEKC5USLRGHDSKLQECNQ3ML2RRRGRAVCNFSM6AAAAABX2KWQQ6VHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43URDJONRXK43TNFXW4Q3PNVWWK3TUHMYTEMZRGI4DCMY>. You are receiving this because you authored the thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[bo0tzz]

1. You shouldn't create anything. You should either copy the files that Immich already created in the old location, or wipe everything
2. Yes

it would be great if the docs contained a 'delete everything and start again' section

They do: https://immich.app/docs/FAQ/#how-can-i-purge-data-from-immich

[Paddy5150]

ok fantastic! the purge data guide was just what I needed. I was expecting to see that sort of info in the Troubleshooting section not the FAQ. I deleted all folders in the immich-app directory, and the containers/volumes.

The other thing missing was my knowledge of what a dot means in a file path in linux. i see now that it refers to 'the place where you currently are' i.e. where the .env file is, i.e. the immich-app directory. Knowing that I left the paths at their defaults and it all works now. Thank you!

Adding external libraries looks a bit long winded so I'll try that later, but thank you for your help!

[Paddy5150]

I've now added two directories as external libraries and it kind of works, and then doesn't.

Both directories are on an external usb drive, the path to which Docker has been mapped in the virtual drives section.

I listed the locations in the yaml file, and for each one put the same 'immich location' path. By this I mean the weird path that is used as the library path, after the : in the location line in the yaml file.

e.g. /media/user/5tbDrive/Photos_library/Photos_archive:/mnt/media/old-pics:ro so in this case the 'immich location' is /mnt/media/old-pics

This part is not explained well at all in the guide.

Then when I create the library in the Immich web interface the external library photos briefly show up (for about a minute) and then disappear!

Does anyone know what's going on with that?
Could it be to do with putting the same immich location for two directories?

[bo0tzz]

for each one put the same 'immich location' path

Don't do that.