[BUG] Storage migration job skipping files

[Hylve]

The bug

When I change the storage label for my users not all files are moved to the new storage label path. The interface shows multiple UNTRACKS FILES and logs shows "ERROR [StorageTemplateService] Asset NAMEOFASSET missing exif info, skipping storage template migration" during migration job.

The files that are still in the old storage label path are both videos and pictures.

What to do?

The OS that Immich Server is running on

debian

Version of Immich Server

v1.92.1

Version of Immich Mobile App

v1.92.0

Platform with the issue

• Server
• Web
• Mobile

Your docker-compose.yml content

version: "3.8"

services:
  immich-server:
    container_name: immich_server
    image: ghcr.io/immich-app/immich-server:release
    entrypoint: ["/bin/sh", "./start-server.sh"]
    volumes:
      - ${LIBRARY_LOCATION}:/usr/src/app/upload/library
      - ${UPLOAD_LOCATION}:/usr/src/app/upload/upload
      - ${THUMBS_LOCATION}:/usr/src/app/upload/thumbs
      - ${PROFILE_LOCATION}:/usr/src/app/upload/profile
      - ${VIDEO_LOCATION}:/usr/src/app/upload/encoded-video
    env_file:
      - stack.env
    ports:
      - 2283:3001
    depends_on:
      - redis
      - database
    restart: always

  immich-microservices:
    container_name: immich_microservices
    image: ghcr.io/immich-app/immich-server:release
    entrypoint: ["/bin/sh", "./start-microservices.sh"]
    volumes:
      - ${LIBRARY_LOCATION}:/usr/src/app/upload/library
      - ${UPLOAD_LOCATION}:/usr/src/app/upload/upload
      - ${THUMBS_LOCATION}:/usr/src/app/upload/thumbs
      - ${PROFILE_LOCATION}:/usr/src/app/upload/profile
      - ${VIDEO_LOCATION}:/usr/src/app/upload/encoded-video
    env_file:
      - stack.env
    depends_on:
      - redis
      - database
    restart: always

  immich-machine-learning:
    container_name: immich_machine_learning
    image: ghcr.io/immich-app/immich-machine-learning:release
    volumes:
      - ${LIBRARY_LOCATION}:/usr/src/app/upload/library
      - ${UPLOAD_LOCATION}:/usr/src/app/upload/upload
      - ${THUMBS_LOCATION}:/usr/src/app/upload/thumbs
      - ${PROFILE_LOCATION}:/usr/src/app/upload/profile
      - ${VIDEO_LOCATION}:/usr/src/app/upload/encoded-video
      - model-cache:/cache
    env_file:
      - stack.env
    restart: always

  redis:
    container_name: immich_redis
    image: redis:6.2
    restart: always

  database:
    container_name: immich_postgres
    #image: postgres:14
    image: tensorchord/pgvecto-rs:pg14-v0.1.11
    env_file:
      - stack.env
    environment:
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: ${DB_PASSWORD}
      POSTGRES_USER: ${DB_USERNAME}
      POSTGRES_DB: ${DB_DATABASE_NAME}
      PG_DATA: /var/lib/postgresql/data
    volumes:
      - pgdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    restart: always

volumes:
  pgdata:
  model-cache:

Your .env content

DB_HOSTNAME=<redacted>
DB_USERNAME=<redacted>
DB_PASSWORD=<redacted>
DB_DATABASE_NAME=immich
REDIS_HOSTNAME=immich_redis
UPLOAD_LOCATION=/path/immich
TYPESENSE_API_KEY=<redacted>
PUBLIC_LOGIN_PAGE_MESSAGE=
IMMICH_WEB_URL=http://immich-web:3000
IMMICH_SERVER_URL=http://immich-server:3001
IMMICH_MACHINE_LEARNING_URL=http://immich-machine-learning:3003
TZ=Europe/Stockholm
LIBRARY_LOCATION=/path/library/
THUMBS_LOCATION=/path/thumbs/
UPLOAD_LOCATION=/path/upload/
PROFILE_LOCATION=/path/profile/
VIDEO_LOCATION=/path/encoded-video/

Reproduction steps

1. Set new Storage label
2. Run the Storage Migration Job
3. Immich has UNTRACKS FILES (100+)
4. Logs says "ERROR [StorageTemplateService] Asset NAMEOFASSET missing exif info, skipping storage template migration"
...

Additional information

No response

[iwat]

+1 Thousand images are stuck there. Here is one of them:

immich_microservices  | [Nest] 8  - 01/22/2024, 2:08:30 AM   ERROR [StorageTemplateService] Asset 76160686-e828-458d-aece-737504f9449a missing exif info, skipping storage template migration

I checked the database and found this:

$ docker compose exec -it database psql -U postgres -d immich
immich=# select id,"originalPath" from assets where id = '76160686-e828-458d-aece-737504f9449a';
                  id                  |                                           originalPath                                            
--------------------------------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 76160686-e828-458d-aece-737504f9449a | upload/upload/087ab69d-ee47-4387-b9af-6427b7aa45aa/29/fb/29fb2ae7-b689-43da-9ffc-bd42a318679f.JPG

I could confirm the file has valid EXIF information.

➜  upload exiftool 087ab69d-ee47-4387-b9af-6427b7aa45aa/29/fb/29fb2ae7-b689-43da-9ffc-bd42a318679f.JPG                                                 
ExifTool Version Number         : 12.16                                                                                                                
File Name                       : 29fb2ae7-b689-43da-9ffc-bd42a318679f.JPG                                                                             
Directory                       : 087ab69d-ee47-4387-b9af-6427b7aa45aa/29/fb                                                                           
File Size                       : 1373 KiB                                                                                                             
File Modification Date/Time     : 2024:01:21 09:59:13-08:00                                                                                            
File Access Date/Time           : 2024:01:21 09:59:13-08:00                                                                                            
File Inode Change Date/Time     : 2024:01:21 09:59:13-08:00                                                                                            
File Permissions                : rw-r--r--                                                                                                            
File Type                       : JPEG                                                                                                                 
File Type Extension             : jpg                                                                                                                  
MIME Type                       : image/jpeg                                                                                                           
JFIF Version                    : 1.01                                                                                                                 
Exif Byte Order                 : Big-endian (Motorola, MM)                                                                                            
Make                            : Apple                                                                                                                
Camera Model Name               : iPhone 6                                                                                                             
Orientation                     : Rotate 90 CW                                                                                                         
X Resolution                    : 72                                                                                                                   
Y Resolution                    : 72                                                                                                                   
Resolution Unit                 : inches                                                                                                               
Software                        : 8.4.1                                                                                                                
Modify Date                     : 2015:08:27 17:53:11                                                                                                  
Y Cb Cr Positioning             : Centered                                                                                                             
Exposure Time                   : 1/15
F Number                        : 2.2 
Exposure Program                : Program AE
ISO                             : 2000
Exif Version                    : 0221
Date/Time Original              : 2015:08:27 17:53:11
Create Date                     : 2015:08:27 17:53:11
Components Configuration        : Y, Cb, Cr, -
Shutter Speed Value             : 1/15
Aperture Value                  : 2.2                                                                                                                  
Brightness Value                : -2.297643098                                                                                                         
Exposure Compensation           : +1.89                                                                                                                
Metering Mode                   : Spot                                                                                                                 
Flash                           : Off, Did not fire                                                                                                    
Focal Length                    : 4.2 mm                                                                                                               
Subject Area                    : 1571 1204 610 612                                                                                                    
Run Time Flags                  : Valid                                                                                                                
Run Time Value                  : 977802164070750                                                                                                      
Run Time Epoch                  : 0                                                                                                                    
Run Time Scale                  : 1000000000                                                                                                           
Acceleration Vector             : 0.00996783289 -0.9759346798 -0.1968650372                                                                            
Sub Sec Time Original           : 934                                                                                                                  
Sub Sec Time Digitized          : 934                                                                                                                  
Flashpix Version                : 0100                                                                                                                 
Color Space                     : sRGB                                                                                                                 
Exif Image Width                : 3264                                                                                                                 
Exif Image Height               : 2448                                                                                                                 
Sensing Method                  : One-chip color area                                                                                                  
Scene Type                      : Directly photographed                                                                                                
Exposure Mode                   : Auto                                                                                                                 
White Balance                   : Auto                                                                                                                 
Focal Length In 35mm Format     : 29 mm                                                                                                                
Scene Capture Type              : Standard                                                                                                             
Image Unique ID                 : 773830275ca051430000000000000000                                                                                     
Lens Info                       : 4.15mm f/2.2                                                                                                         
Lens Make                       : Apple                                                                                                                
Lens Model                      : iPhone 6 back camera 4.15mm f/2.2                                                                                    
GPS Version ID                  : 2.2.0.0                                                                                                              
GPS Latitude Ref                : North                                                                                                                
GPS Longitude Ref               : East                                                                                                                 
GPS Altitude Ref                : Above Sea Level
GPS Time Stamp                  : 10:53:11.04
GPS Speed Ref                   : km/h
GPS Speed                       : 0
GPS Img Direction Ref           : True North
GPS Img Direction               : [REDACTED]
GPS Dest Bearing Ref            : True North
GPS Dest Bearing                : [REDACTED]
GPS Date Stamp                  : 2015:08:27
Compression                     : JPEG (old-style)
Thumbnail Offset                : 2068
Thumbnail Length                : 6105
XMP Toolkit                     : XMP Core 5.1.2
Image Width                     : 3264
Image Height                    : 2448
Encoding Process                : Baseline DCT, Huffman coding
Bits Per Sample                 : 8
Color Components                : 3
Y Cb Cr Sub Sampling            : YCbCr4:2:0 (2 2)
Run Time Since Power Up         : 11 days 7:36:42
Aperture                        : 2.2
Image Size                      : 3264x2448
Lens ID                         : iPhone 6 back camera 4.15mm f/2.2
Megapixels                      : 8.0
Scale Factor To 35 mm Equivalent: 7.0
Shutter Speed                   : 1/15
Create Date                     : 2015:08:27 17:53:11.934
Date/Time Original              : 2015:08:27 17:53:11.934
Thumbnail Image                 : (Binary data 6105 bytes, use -b option to extract)
GPS Altitude                    : [REDACTED]
GPS Date/Time                   : 2015:08:27 10:53:11.04Z
GPS Latitude                    : [REDACTED]
GPS Longitude                   : [REDACTED]
Circle Of Confusion             : 0.004 mm
Field Of View                   : 63.7 deg
Focal Length                    : 4.2 mm (35 mm equivalent: 29.0 mm)
GPS Position                    : 13 deg 43' 17.96" N, 100 deg 34' 58.61" E
Hyperfocal Distance             : 1.82 m
Light Value                     : 1.9

There also is an XMP file:

➜  upload cat 087ab69d-ee47-4387-b9af-6427b7aa45aa/29/fb/29fb2ae7-b689-43da-9ffc-bd42a318679f.JPG.xmp
<?xpacket begin='' id='W5M0MpCehiHzreSzNTczkc9d'?>
<x:xmpmeta xmlns:x='adobe:ns:meta/' x:xmptk='Image::ExifTool 12.70'>
<rdf:RDF xmlns:rdf='http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#'>

 <rdf:Description rdf:about=''
  xmlns:exif='http://ns.adobe.com/exif/1.0/'>
  <exif:GPSLatitude>[REDACTED]</exif:GPSLatitude>
  <exif:GPSLongitude>[REDACTED]</exif:GPSLongitude>
 </rdf:Description>
</rdf:RDF>
</x:xmpmeta>
<?xpacket end='w'?>

[mio-19]

Could you try re-running the missing metadata job and see if it fixes your images?

this error should be fixed for valid files with exif by re-running the missing metadata job.

#6566 (comment) by @zackpollard

[iwat]

Looks like I accidentally paused metadata job in the past. Resumed the work until all the jobs drained out and restarted storage migration did the trick.

[mio-19]

+1 missing exif info, skipping storage template migration

[iwat]

I think the error message is a bit misleading. exif info in the error message didn't remind me of "EXTRACT METADATA" job at all.

[ModestTG]

I'm still having this issue. Here is an example problematic file:

ExifTool Version Number         : 12.57
File Name                       : 19800101_000000_5B8C0371.jpg
Directory                       : .
File Size                       : 2.8 MB
File Modification Date/Time     : 2023:07:17 17:49:13-05:00
File Access Date/Time           : 2024:07:09 21:44:12-05:00
File Inode Change Date/Time     : 2023:09:25 20:06:54-05:00
File Permissions                : -rwxrwxr-x
File Type                       : JPEG
File Type Extension             : jpg
MIME Type                       : image/jpeg
JFIF Version                    : 1.01
Resolution Unit                 : inches
X Resolution                    : 600
Y Resolution                    : 600
Exif Byte Order                 : Big-endian (Motorola, MM)
Date/Time Original              : 1980:01:01 00:00:00
About                           : uuid:faf5bdd5-ba3d-11da-ad31-d33d75182f1b
FF Meta Data                    : 02
Image Width                     : 2561
Image Height                    : 2067
Encoding Process                : Baseline DCT, Huffman coding
Bits Per Sample                 : 8
Color Components                : 3
Y Cb Cr Sub Sampling            : YCbCr4:2:0 (2 2)
Image Size                      : 2561x2067
Megapixels                      : 5.3

This is a photo that was scanned in and not uploaded from a phone. I ran the Extract Metadata and Sidecar Metadata jobs and I still didn't have any luck. Is there a specific Exif tag that needs to be set in order for the migration to work?

[Atemu]

@jrasm91 why was this converted into a discussion? This is clearly a bug. Images should not fail to migrate the storage template due to missing metadata or rather images should not have missing metadata in a way that is uncorrectable.

I have one asset in my library that is affected by this and stuck in the upload directory. One other asset was able to migrate but not this one due to Asset missing exif info, skipping storage template migration.

I re-ran metadata extraction and was able to see in the DB that that the metadata was extracted in this extraction run. This did not fix the issue.

Uploading the same asset to a test instance of immich appears to have worked and the asset is in the correct location (i.e. not in uploads).

Any idea what could be happening here?

[iamrizzle]

I am having the same issue over a year later.

Running the "extract metadata: all" job ends up getting stuck on files in my external library. Is there no way for this to skip certain files it cannot scan?

I have many randomly uploaded images backed up from my phone that are stuck in my uploads folder on the Immich server. If I manually run a metadata scan on those images individually they are moved to the correct storage template folder. Log states "ERROR [StorageTemplateService] Asset NAMEOFASSET missing exif info, skipping storage template migration", but they clearly have exif info.

It seems that due to images in the external library having exif data that's not readable, the extract metadata job doesn't work properly for randomly uploaded images.

Was this ever resolved?

[jrasm91]

If the metadata extraction job fails that's a bug and I would appreciate you opening an issue with a sample file that the issue can be reproduced with.

After running the metadata extraction job successfully, assets will have records in the database for "exif info" and when you run the storage migration job again they should be moved.

[haroldfinch-oss]

Has this bug been solved?
I have a lot of my library (1/5th by size) left behind in uploads and I started the metadata extraction job for all after restarting the server. I didnt start the Storage Template Migration at this point, because i want to let the metadata job finish first. And then I am watching the logs and it says Storage Template Migration failed for one asset. I will let the metadata extraction finish first and then start the Template Migration job. (This is ongoing and I will post updates, but I wanted to know if this is normal?)
EDIT: PS. I checked that there are 165 files still in upload and since the size, most are videos, some images too

[Nest] 23 - 02/17/2026, 11:46:47 AM LOG [Api:Bootstrap] Immich Server is listening on http://[::1]:2283 [v2.5.6] [production]
[Nest] 23 - 02/17/2026, 11:46:47 AM LOG [Api:MachineLearningRepository] Machine learning server became healthy (http://immich-machine-learning:3003).
[Nest] 23 - 02/17/2026, 11:46:52 AM LOG [Api:WebsocketRepository] Websocket Connect: qarLVIjQvVCV9gspAAAB
docdoc[Nest] 23 - 02/17/2026, 11:50:11 AM LOG [Api:WebsocketRepository] Websocket Disconnect: qarLVIjQvVCV9gspAAAB
[Nest] 23 - 02/17/2026, 11:50:21 AM LOG [Api:WebsocketRepository] Websocket Connect: jqdZpp3DcH4PV1WKAAAD
[Nest] 23 - 02/17/2026, 11:51:48 AM LOG [Api:WebsocketRepository] Websocket Disconnect: jqdZpp3DcH4PV1WKAAAD
[Nest] 23 - 02/17/2026, 11:51:55 AM LOG [Api:WebsocketRepository] Websocket Connect: IpXNXk4DXsBJlu40AAAF
[Nest] 7 - 02/17/2026, 11:53:34 AM ERROR [Microservices:StorageTemplateService] Asset 0906ec11-7866-44b5-b502-97f47aea0d41 missing exif info, skipping storage template migration

[haroldfinch-oss]

log.txt

The line : 0906ec11-7866-44b5-b502-97f47aea0d41 missing exif info, skipping storage template migration, is not even in the upload folder. its not one of the 165 files that are pending migration

These are my logs. I had basically restarted my server and ran extract metadata job first follwed by storage migration job. It did not affect any of those 165 files still in upload. the log doesnt seem to show any issues except for one file. I cant figure it out why these 165 files, most videos, some photos, wont migrate.

Also, why do some jobs like Storage Migration make the immich machine learning server unhealthy as seen in the logs, I have been noticing this recently, and it even happens sometimes when I scroll down in my timeline and thumbnails are loading?

@jrasm91

[lzap]

I ran into this and turned out the file was zero-sized photo, perhaps connection was dropped or something. The error was:

ERROR [Microservices:StorageTemplateService] Asset 8b283dc4-80a8-41ce-b8e0-9e36fc51c368 missing exif info, skipping storage template migration

I tried deleting the file on disk but that did not help, so then (I use podman not docker):

root@hori:/mnt/big# podman exec -it immich-db psql -U immich -d immich
psql (16.8 (Debian 16.8-1.pgdg120+1))
Type "help" for help.

immich=# select originalFileName from asset where id = '8b283dc4-80a8-41ce-b8e0-9e36fc51c368';

This showed me the photo file name in question which I was able to locate through Advanced Search - Filename Search and delete it. Once trash is emptied it is gone.