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Setting Up Immich to Index Your Existing Image Library (External Drive or Folder)

Setting Up Immich to Index Your Existing Image Library (External Drive or Folder)

📦 What is Immich?

Immich is a powerful self-hosted photo and video management app that looks and feels similar to Google Photos. It supports:

  • Automatic backup from mobile apps
  • AI-based tagging and face detection
  • Multiple user support
  • External storage indexing

🧰 Installation Options

Before indexing your existing photo library, you first need to install Immich.

You have two primary options:

  1. Clone Immich's Docker config:
git clone https://github.com/immich-app/immich.git
cd immich
  1. Start Immich:
docker-compose up -d

This sets up Immich with PostgreSQL, Redis, Typesense, and the Immich services.

✅ Option 2: TrueNAS SCALE App (Easier Setup)

  • TrueNAS SCALE offers Immich as an official app under Apps → Discover Apps.
  • It handles all backend services like PostgreSQL for you.
  • Choose your storage mounts during app setup.

🔐 Initial Setup & First Login

  1. Access Immich via your local IP (e.g. http://192.168.1.100:2283)
  2. Register your first admin user.
  3. After login, you'll see a familiar UI like Google Photos.

🛠️ Indexing an Existing Photo Library

To have Immich scan and index photos from an external drive or existing folder, follow these steps:

1. 📂 Make Sure the Directory is Mounted

Make sure your folder or drive with photos is:

  • Mounted to the host machine (Docker or TrueNAS SCALE)
  • Mapped into the Immich container

For example, in docker-compose.yml, under the immich-machine-learning and immich-server services:

volumes:
  - /mnt/mydrive/photos:/mnt/photos

In TrueNAS SCALE:

  • During App install/edit → Add a new Host Path Volume
  • Map e.g. /mnt/your-dataset/photos to /mnt/photos inside container

2. ⚙️ Go to Immich Administration

From the Immich UI:

  • Click your profile icon (top right)
  • Select Administration
  • Navigate to External Libraries

3. ➕ Add a New Library

Click "Add External Library" and configure:

  • Name: e.g., GooglePhotosArchive
  • Path: e.g., /mnt/photos (should match your mounted folder)
  • Recursive: ✅ (to scan all subfolders)

Click Create to add it.

4. 🔍 Let Immich Scan Your Library

  • Immich will begin scanning and indexing all photos and videos.
  • You’ll see it pick up files and begin categorizing them.
  • Depending on your photo count and hardware, it may take several hours or up to 1–2 days.

⏱️ Example: For a 271GB Google Photos archive (~100,000+ images), Immich indexed everything successfully after ~1.5 days.

✅ Notes & Tips

  • You do not need to move or duplicate your photos; just mount the folder.
  • Immich will not modify your original files.
  • The scan runs automatically but can be re-triggered by editing the library and clicking Rescan.
  • Face recognition, metadata, and object detection happen asynchronously in background.
  • You can monitor logs via:
docker logs -f immich-machine-learning
docker logs -f immich-server

📌 Final Thoughts

Once indexed, your external photos become fully searchable and browsable in Immich — just like Google Photos. Features like albums, tags, and face clustering work even on externally indexed images.