vps/docs/immich-backup-implementation.md

Immich Photo Backup Implementation

Date: 2026-01-25 Status: ✅ COMPLETED Completion Time: ~5 minutes

Summary

Successfully implemented automated daily backup of Immich photo library (34,694 files, 39.34GB). The backup runs every day at 04:00 German time and uses rsync with hardlinking for space efficiency.

What Was Done

1. Created Backup Script

Location: /home/phil/docker/backup/backup-immich-photos.sh

Features:

• Incremental backup using rsync
• Hardlinking unchanged files to save space
• 30-day retention policy
• Detailed logging to /var/log/immich-photo-backup.log
• Backup metadata (file count, size, date)
• Automatic cleanup of old backups

2. Installed Required Software

• Installed rsync package on VPS
• Restarted affected services (containerd, cron, docker)

3. Configured Automation

Cron Job:

0 4 * * * /home/phil/docker/backup/backup-immich-photos.sh >> /var/log/immich-photo-backup.log 2>&1

Schedule: Daily at 04:00 German time (automatically adjusts for CET/CEST)

4. Performed Initial Backup

• Files: 34,694 photos, videos, and thumbnails
• Size: 39.34GB
• Duration: ~4 minutes
• Speed: 164 MB/s
• Location: /mnt/backup/immich-photos/20260125_160319/

Current Backup Schedule

Time	Job	What	Location
02:00	Databases	PostgreSQL + volumes	/mnt/backup/
04:00	Photos	Immich photo library	/mnt/backup/immich-photos/

Backup Structure

/mnt/backup/
├── latest -> ../20260125_134216                    # Database backup symlink
├── 20260125_134216/                                 # Database backups
├── immich-photos/
│   ├── latest -> 20260125_160319                   # Photo backup symlink
│   ├── 20260125_160319/                             # Latest photo backup
│   │   ├── upload/                                  # Original photos
│   │   ├── encoded-video/                           # Transcoded videos
│   │   ├── thumbs/                                  # Thumbnails
│   │   ├── library/                                 # Library files
│   │   ├── profile/                                 # Profile photos
│   │   └── backup-info.txt                          # Backup metadata
│   └── (previous backups, retained for 30 days)

Performance

First Backup (2026-01-25)

• Time: ~4 minutes
• Throughput: 164 MB/s
• Space Used: 39.34GB

Subsequent Backups

• Time: ~1-2 minutes (only changed files)
• Space Efficient: Uses hardlinks for unchanged files
• Incremental: Only copies new/modified files

Monitoring

Check Backup Status

# View latest backup
ls -lah /mnt/backup/immich-photos/latest/

# Check backup info
cat /mnt/backup/immich-photos/latest/backup-info.txt

# View backup log
tail -f /var/log/immich-photo-backup.log

# List all backups
ls -lah /mnt/backup/immich-photos/

Example Output

Backup Date: So 25. Jan 16:07:20 CET 2026
Hostname: vps1
Source: /home/phil/docker/immich-app/library
Destination: /mnt/backup/immich-photos//20260125_160319
Files: 34694
Size: 37G
Type: Immich Photo Backup

Restore Procedure

Restore All Photos

# Stop Immich first
cd /home/phil/docker/immich-app
docker compose stop

# Restore photos
rsync -av /mnt/backup/immich-photos/latest/ /home/phil/docker/immich-app/library/

# Restart Immich
docker compose start

Restore Specific Date

# List available backups
ls -lah /mnt/backup/immich-photos/

# Restore specific backup
rsync -av /mnt/backup/immich-photos/20260125_160319/ /home/phil/docker/immich-app/library/

Restore Single File

# Find file in backup
find /mnt/backup/immich-photos/latest/ -name "filename.jpg"

# Copy file back
cp /mnt/backup/immich-photos/latest/upload/path/to/file.jpg \
   /home/phil/docker/immich-app/library/upload/path/to/file.jpg

Retention Policy

• Retention: 30 days
• Automatic Cleanup: Old backups deleted automatically after 30 days
• Space Management: New backups use hardlinks to minimize space
• Expected Growth: Only new photos consume additional space

Storage Requirements

Current Usage

• Photo Library: 39.34GB
• Daily Database Backups: ~83MB
• Total Daily Backup: ~39.4GB

With 30-Day Retention

• Photos: ~39GB (hardlinks make additional days minimal)
• Databases: ~2.5GB (30 × 83MB)
• Total: ~42GB for complete 30-day backup set

Available Space

• Total Disk: 1TB (1006GB)
• Used: 92GB (9%)
• Available: 863GB (91%)
• Sufficient for: Years of backups with current retention

Security Considerations

✅ Backup Permissions:

• Script owned by phil user
• Log file: phil:phil with 664 permissions
• Backup directory: phil:phil with 755 permissions

✅ Data Integrity:

• rsync with --archive preserves all attributes
• Hardlinks ensure file integrity
• Backup metadata verifies completion

⚠️ Recommendations:

• Consider remote storage mount for off-site backups
• Test restore procedure quarterly
• Monitor disk space usage
• Keep backup script secure (600 permissions)

Troubleshooting

Backup Not Running

# Check cron job
crontab -l

# Check backup log
tail -50 /var/log/immich-photo-backup.log

# Run manually to test
/home/phil/docker/backup/backup-immich-photos.sh

Slow Backup Performance

# Check disk I/O
iostat -x 5

# Check available disk space
df -h

# Check rsync process
ps aux | grep rsync

Out of Space

# Check what's using space
du -sh /mnt/backup/*

# Manually clean old backups (if needed)
find /mnt/backup/immich-photos/ -maxdepth 1 -type d -name "*_*" -mtime +30 -exec rm -rf {} \;

Integration with Existing Backups

The Immich photo backup complements the existing database backup:

Backup Type	Time	Script	Data
Database	02:00	backup.sh	Immich DB, Netbird, Gitea
Photos	04:00	backup-immich-photos.sh	Immich library (39GB)

Total Coverage: ✅ All Immich data backed up daily

Next Steps

Completed

• Create backup script
• Install rsync
• Configure cron job
• Perform initial backup
• Test backup integrity
• Document procedures

Optional Enhancements

• Mount remote storage to /mnt/backup for off-site backups
• Configure backup failure notifications
• Set up automatic backup testing
• Implement backup rotation based on disk space

Files Modified

Created:

• /home/phil/docker/backup/backup-immich-photos.sh
• /var/log/immich-photo-backup.log

Modified:

• crontab - Added 04:00 daily job
• /home/phil/Schreibtisch/Privat/vps/vps1-todo.md - Marked as completed
• /home/phil/Schreibtisch/Privat/vps/docs/deployment-summary.md - Updated backup section

System Changes:

• Installed rsync package
• Restarted services: containerd, cron, docker

Success Criteria ✅

• Backup script created and tested
• Automated via cron (04:00 daily)
• Initial backup completed successfully
• All 34,694 files backed up
• Logging configured and working
• Retention policy implemented
• Restore procedure documented
• Disk space sufficient (863GB free)

Conclusion

The Immich photo backup system is now fully operational and automated. Your 39GB photo library is backed up daily at 04:00 German time with 30-day retention. The system uses efficient incremental backups with hardlinking to minimize storage overhead.

All critical data is now protected with automated backups.

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Last Updated: 2026-01-25 Status: ✅ Production Ready