formatting

docs/docs/features/libraries.md

@@ -90,6 +90,16 @@ This feature - currently hidden in the config file - is considered experimental
 
 If your photos are on a network drive, automatic file watching likely won't work. In that case, you will have to rely on a periodic library refresh to pull in your changes.
 
+#### Troubleshooting
+
+If you encounter an `ENOSPC` error, you need to increase your file watcher limit. In sysctl, this key is called `fs.inotify.max_user_watched` and has a default value of 8192. Increase this number to a suitable value greater than the number of files you will be watching. Note that Immich has to watch all files in your import paths including any ignored files.
+
+```
+ERROR [LibraryService] Library watcher for library c69faf55-f96d-4aa0-b83b-2d80cbc27d98 encountered error: Error: ENOSPC: System limit for number of file watchers reached, watch '/media/photo.jpg'
+```
+
+In rare cases, the library watcher can hang, preventing Immich from starting up. Unless a configuration file is used, this will prevent the user from disabling the library watcher. In that case, we have an emergency stop environment variable, `IMMICH_STOP_LIBRARY_WATCHER` that can be set to `true`. In the standard docker deployment, put this variable in the `.env` file. When Immich boots with this variable set, it will disable the library watcher configuration and exit. Remove the environment variable, and Immich can be started normally.
+
 ### Nightly job
 
 There is an automatic job that's run once a day and refreshes all modified files in all libraries as well as cleans up any libraries stuck in deletion.

server/src/domain/library/library.service.ts

@@ -67,6 +67,17 @@ export class LibraryService extends EventEmitter {
 
   async init() {
     const config = await this.configCore.getConfig();
+
+    if (process.env.IMMICH_STOP_LIBRARY_WATCHER === 'true') {
+      this.logger.warn('Initiating emergency stop of library watcher');
+      config.library.watch.enabled = false;
+      await this.configCore.updateConfig(config);
+      this.logger.error(
+        'Library watcher configuration has been disabled, remove IMMICH_STOP_LIBRARY_WATCHER env variable and restart immich',
+      );
+      process.exit(1);
+    }
+
     const { watch, scan } = config.library;
     this.watchLibraries = watch.enabled;
     this.jobRepository.addCronJob(