Managing External Libraries

What is an external library

An external library is a collection of photos that aren’t managed by immich but can be viewed and edited through it.

Each external library belongs to 1 user and then shows in the timeline for that user.

Creating a external library

So, you first need to mount the external folder into the docker container. This is very implementation specific but for this example the following values are true.

Immich’s files are installed at /opt/immich Immich is installed with a Docker Compose file

Setting up the server

1. SSH into the server running immich using the normal approach
2. Escalate to root
3. Mount the external library in a way of your choice using /etc/fstab
4. Change directory to /opt/immich
5. Edit docker-compose.yml. Add add a volume mapping, In a stripped down file it will look something like this:

services:
  immich-server:
    container_name: immich_server
    image: ghcr.io/immich-app/immich-server:${IMMICH_VERSION:-release}
    volumes:
      - ${UPLOAD_LOCATION}:/data
      - /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro
      - /mnt/synology/:/mnt/media:ro
      # Add new mounts here!!!
    env_file:
      - .env
    ports:
      - '2283:2283'
    depends_on:
      - redis
      - database
    restart: always
    healthcheck:
      disable: false

And a new volume mapping would look like: - <<HOST PATH>>:<<PATH IN CONTAINER>>:ro. To break this down further.
<<HOST PATH>> is the path where the library is mounted to the server
<<PATH IN CONTAINER>> is the path where immich will be able to find it
:ro mounts it as read only so Immich can’t accidently overrite media (for safety)\

6. Run docker compose down and then docker compose up -d

Setting up Immich

Now we need to tell immich to scan for the libary and import it. You will need to be an admin for this

1. Visit https://<IMMICH SERVER URL>/admin/library-management
2. Click “Create Library”
3. Choose the user based on their name from the dropdown
4. Click create
5. Press “Rename” and give it a description
6. Press the Add folder button
7. Enter the full absolute path (in the case of the file mount example above it is /mnt/media/Photo/2.PHOTO) IT IS CASE SENSITIVE
8. Press Add
9. Press the Scan button
10. Wait! It may take a while to generate metadata and thumbnails depending on the size of the library.

Adding a folder to an external library

1. Visit https://<IMMICH SERVER URL>/admin/library-management
2. Click on the library you want to edit
3. Click on the Add button next to the folders
4. Follow the same steps as above from step 7