DO NOT USE PGDATA as variable inside docker-compose file

[albert748]

The bug

DO NOT USE PGDATA as variable which will overwrite the internal one(postgres pre-defined) , lead the container to create the database you defined at $PGDATA and leave /var/lib/postgresql/data empty

this is why every time upgrade database cause breaking.

try use PG_DB_DATA

volumes:
- ${PG_DB_DATA}:/var/lib/postgresql/data

The OS that Immich Server is running on

Arch

Version of Immich Server

latest

Version of Immich Mobile App

latest

Platform with the issue

• Server
• Web
• Mobile

Your docker-compose.yml content

version: "3.8"

#
# WARNING: Make sure to use the docker-compose.yml of the current release:
#
# https://github.com/immich-app/immich/releases/latest/download/docker-compose.yml
#
# The compose file on main may not be compatible with the latest release.
#

name: immich

services:
  immich-server:
    container_name: immich_server
    image: ghcr.io/immich-app/immich-server:${IMMICH_VERSION:-release}
    command: [ "start.sh", "immich" ]
    volumes:
      - ${UPLOAD_LOCATION}:/usr/src/app/upload
      - ${EXTERNAL_PATH}:/usr/src/app/external
      - /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro
    env_file:
      - .env
    ports:
      - 18099:3001
    depends_on:
      - redis
      - database
    restart: always

  immich-microservices:
    container_name: immich_microservices
    image: ghcr.io/immich-app/immich-server:${IMMICH_VERSION:-release}
    extends:
      file: hwaccel.yml
      service: hwaccel
    command: [ "start.sh", "microservices" ]
    volumes:
      - ${UPLOAD_LOCATION}:/usr/src/app/upload
      - ${EXTERNAL_PATH}:/usr/src/app/external
      - /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro
    env_file:
      - .env
    depends_on:
      - redis
      - database
    restart: always

  immich-machine-learning:
    container_name: immich_machine_learning
    image: ghcr.io/immich-app/immich-machine-learning:${IMMICH_VERSION:-release}
    volumes:
      - ${MODEL_CACHE}:/cache
    env_file:
      - .env
    restart: always

  redis:
    container_name: immich_redis
    image: redis:6.2-alpine@sha256:b6124ab2e45cc332e16398022a411d7e37181f21ff7874835e0180f56a09e82a
    restart: always

  database:
    container_name: immich_postgres
    image: tensorchord/pgvecto-rs:pg14-v0.1.11@sha256:0335a1a22f8c5dd1b697f14f079934f5152eaaa216c09b61e293be285491f8ee
    env_file:
      - .env
    environment:
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: ${DB_PASSWORD}
      POSTGRES_USER: ${DB_USERNAME}
      POSTGRES_DB: ${DB_DATABASE_NAME}
    volumes:
      - ${PG_DB_DATA}:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    restart: always

Your .env content

# You can find documentation for all the supported env variables at https://immich.app/docs/install/environment-variables

TZ=Asia/Shanghai

# The location where your uploaded files are stored
UPLOAD_LOCATION=./photo/
EXTERNAL_PATH=/rocket/data/photo/
MODEL_CACHE=./model_cache/
PG_DB_DATA=./pgdata/

# The Immich version to use. You can pin this to a specific version like "v1.71.0"
IMMICH_VERSION=release

# Connection secret for postgres. You should change it to a random password
DB_PASSWORD=

# The values below this line do not need to be changed
###################################################################################
DB_HOSTNAME=immich_postgres
DB_USERNAME=postgres
DB_DATABASE_NAME=immich

REDIS_HOSTNAME=immich_redis

Reproduction steps

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Additional information

No response

[bo0tzz]

Is there a bug to report here, or are you just posting it as a warning for others?

[albert748]

It's absolutely a defect here, please try it, your postgres database volume left be empty and you'd lose db data whenever you upgrade postgres image.
or want me to fill a pull request for this bug?

[jrasm91]

You can choose to pass environment variables to the postgres container however you want. Passing PGDATA via an .env file or directly in the compose file both work fine.

And yes, setting PGDATA to a location that you don't actually create a volume mount for sounds like a bad idea. Alternatively we can delete the .env file usage for the database container since that's not needed (and then you can use PGDATA if you wanted to in the compose file)

[happyTonakai]

What is the purpose of EXTERNAL_PATH? Can I just mount UPLOAD_LOCATION to an external path for example /rocket/data/photo/ in your case?

In the document, the description for UPLOAD_LOCATION is Host Path for uploads. I think this should be mounted to the path you mentioned.