Deploy a new version of Immich using Ansible and Podman

This post outlines the process for deploying a new version of Immich, a self-hosted photo and video backup solution. The deployment is managed using an Ansible playbook.

Prerequisites

• Access to the server where Immich is deployed.
• Ansible installed and configured to manage the target server.
• The Ansible playbook update-immich.yaml.

Deployment Procedure

The deployment process is automated using the provided Ansible playbook (TODO: Publish to github). The playbook performs the following key steps:

1. Stop Existing Containers: The playbook begins by stopping all running containers defined within the media01.pods variable. This ensures a clean state before deploying the new version.

   - name: Stop a container
     containers.podman.podman_container:
       name: "{{ item.name }}"
       state: stopped
     loop: "{{ media01.pods }}"
   

2. Update Immich Server Container: A new container for the Immich server is created or updated with the specified release_version. The playbook uses the podman_container module to manage the container lifecycle.

   - name: Update immich to "{{ release_version }}"
     block:
       - name: Create immich_server container {{ release_version }}
         become_user: "{{ media01.container.default.user }}"
         containers.podman.podman_container:
           name: "{{ media01.pods.2.name }}"
           image: "{{ media01.pods.2.image }}:{{ release_version }}"
           state: started
           restart_policy: always
           volume:
             - /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro
             - "{{ media01.pods.2.name }}_library:/usr/src/app/upload"
             - "{{ media01.pods.2.name }}_external_libraries:/usr/src/app/external:ro"
           recreate: true
           network:
             - immich_network
           ports:
             - 2283:2283
           env:
             DB_PASSWORD: "{{ media01.pods.0.environment_variables.POSTGRES_PASSWORD }}"
             DB_HOSTNAME: "{{ media01.pods.0.name }}"
             DB_USERNAME: "{{ media01.pods.0.environment_variables.POSTGRES_USER }}"
             DB_DATABASE_NAME: "{{ media01.pods.0.environment_variables.POSTGRES_DB }}"
             REDIS_HOSTNAME: "{{ media01.pods.1.name }}"
   

   Key configurations for the immich_server container include:

   • Image: The container image is updated to the specified release_version.
   • Restart Policy: The restart_policy is set to always, ensuring the container restarts automatically if it fails.
   • Volumes: Mount points are defined for /etc/localtime, the application’s upload directory, and external libraries.
   • Network: The container is connected to the immich_network.
   • Ports: Port 2283 is mapped to the host.
   • Environment Variables: Database and Redis connection details are passed as environment variables.

3. Update Immich Machine Learning Container: Similar to the server container, the immich_machine_learning container is updated to the new release_version.

       - name: Create immich_machine_learning container {{ release_version }}
         become_user: "{{ media01.container.default.user }}"
         containers.podman.podman_container:
           name: "{{ media01.pods.3.name }}"
           image: "{{ media01.pods.3.image }}:{{ release_version }}"
           state: started
           volume:
             - "{{ media01.pods.3.name }}_remote:/cache"
           recreate: true
           network:
             - immich_network
           env:
             DB_PASSWORD: "{{ media01.pods.0.environment_variables.POSTGRES_PASSWORD }}"
             DB_HOSTNAME: "{{ media01.pods.0.name }}"
             DB_USERNAME: "{{ media01.pods.0.environment_variables.POSTGRES_USER }}"
             DB_DATABASE_NAME: "{{ media01.pods.0.environment_variables.POSTGRES_DB }}"
             REDIS_HOSTNAME: "{{ media01.pods.1.name }}"
           generate_systemd:
             path: "{{ media01.container.default.volume.systemd_container_path }}"
             restart_policy: "{{ media01.container.default.restart_policy }}"
             time: 120
             names: true
             container_prefix: container
   

   The immich_machine_learning container is configured with:

   • Image: Updated to the specified release_version.
   • Volume: A volume is mounted for caching purposes.
   • Network: Connected to the immich_network.
   • Environment Variables: Database and Redis connection details are configured.

Running the Playbook

To execute the playbook, navigate to the directory containing the update-immich.yaml file and run the following Ansible command:

ansible-navigator run --eei localhost/role-dev-ee -m stdout update-immich.yaml -i inventory/inventory.yaml

Ansible will connect to the target host (mediaserver) and execute the tasks defined in the playbook.

Verification

After the playbook execution completes, verify the successful deployment by checking the running container versions. This can be done using podman ps on the target server. Ensure the immich_server and immich_machine_learning containers are running with the expected release_version.