[WARN] image commit error 1 error occurred, invalid cross-device link

[tigerInLuck]

I deployed Remark42 through the Dock.

Docker-compose.yml file:

services:
remark42:
image:  ghcr.io/umputun/remark42:latest
container_name: remark42
hostname: remark42
restart: always

ports:
- "127.0.0.1:8080:8080"

env_file:
- /etc/remark42/.env

volumes:
- /var/lib/remark42/data/bbolt.db:/srv/var/db/bbolt.db
- /var/lib/remark42/pictures:/srv/var/pictures
- /var/lib/remark42/avatars:/srv/var/avatars
- /var/lib/remark42/backup:/srv/var/backup
- /var/log/remark42:/srv/var/logs

logging:
driver: json-file
options:
max-size: "10m"
max-file: "5"

When I test posting a photo comment, I found an error message in the log:

remark42  | 2025/10/13 04:01:45.073 [WARN]  image commit error 1 error occurred:

remark42  | * failed to commit image email_83c59b80baf222e8912c581696e095d681887ead/ d3mbtfspjegs72v9dhk0: failed to commit image email_83c59b80baf222e8912c581696e095d681887ead/d3mbtfspjegs72v9dhk0: rename var/pictures.staging/ email_83c59b80baf222e8912c581696e095d681887ead/90/d3mbtfspjegs72v9dhk0 var/pictures/email_83c59b80baf222e8912c581696e095d681887ead/90/d3mbtfspjegs72v9dhk0: invalid cross-device link

remark42  | 2025/10/13 04:10:54.691 [INFO]  remove staging image var/pictures.staging/email_83c59b80baf222e8912c581696e095d681887ead/90/d3mbtfspjegs72v9dhk0, age 14m9.622725285s

error: invalid cross-device link

My picture is lost! How can I solve this problem?

[tigerInLuck]

It's OK:

volumes:
      - /var/lib/remark42:/srv/var

[umputun]

The issue is caused by a filesystem boundary problem with the Docker volume mounting configuration.

Looking at backend/app/store/image/fs_store.go:63, the code uses os.Rename() to move images from staging to permanent storage:

  if err := os.Rename(stagingImage, permImage); err != nil {
      return fmt.Errorf("failed to commit image %s: %w", id, err)
  }

The os.Rename() system call only works within the same filesystem. When you try to rename/move a file across different filesystems, it fails with the error invalid cross-device link (EXDEV).

Why This Happens with Your Docker Setup

In your docker-compose.yml:

• Pictures directory (/srv/var/pictures) → mounted to /var/lib/remark42/pictures (external volume/filesystem)
• Staging directory (/srv/var/pictures.staging) → NOT mounted, stays on container's internal filesystem

When Remark42 tries to commit an image, it attempts to rename from:

• Source: /srv/var/pictures.staging/... (container filesystem)
• Destination: /srv/var/pictures/... (mounted volume filesystem)

These are two different filesystems, so os.Rename() fails.

Quick fix for you - Mount the staging directory as a volume too

moved to discussion, because this is not really a bug report

[tigerInLuck]

Thank you.

By the way, I tried to test: added the
- /var/lib/remark42/pictures.staging:/srv/var/pictures.staging to my docker-compose.yml, but it still report the same error info(invalid cross-device link). And I tried to test the filesystem info, these status are bind:

docker exec -it remark42 sh -c 'ls -ld /srv/var /srv/var/pictures /srv/var/pictures.staging; echo "---"; stat -c "Path:%n\nDev:%d\nInode:%i\nMode:%a\nUID:%u GID:%g\n" /srv/var/pictures /srv/var/pictures.staging'
drwxr-xr-x    8 app      app           4096 Oct 13 10:06 /srv/var
drwxr-xr-x    3 app      app           4096 Oct 13 08:24 /srv/var/pictures
drwxr-xr-x    3 app      app           4096 Oct 13 10:10 /srv/var/pictures.staging
---
Path:/srv/var/pictures\nDev:2049\nInode:1298004\nMode:755\nUID:1001 GID:1001\n
Path:/srv/var/pictures.staging\nDev:2049\nInode:1557045\nMode:755\nUID:1001 GID:1001\n

docker inspect remark42 --format '{{range .Mounts}}{{printf "%s -> %s (Type:%s)\n" .Source .Destination .Type}}{{end}}'
/var/lib/remark42/pictures.staging -> /srv/var/pictures.staging (Type:bind)
/var/lib/remark42/avatars -> /srv/var/avatars (Type:bind)
/var/lib/remark42/backup -> /srv/var/backup (Type:bind)
/var/log/remark42 -> /srv/var/logs (Type:bind)
/var/lib/remark42/data/bbolt.db -> /srv/var/db/bbolt.db (Type:bind)
/var/lib/remark42/pictures -> /srv/var/pictures (Type:bind)

ls -ln /var/lib/remark42
total 20
drwxr-xr-x 3 1001 1001 4096 Oct 13 12:59 avatars
drwxr-xr-x 2 1001 1001 4096 Oct 13 12:54 backup
drwxr-xr-x 3    0    0 4096 Oct 13 12:54 data
drwxr-xr-x 3 1001 1001 4096 Oct 13 13:24 pictures
drwxr-xr-x 3 1001 1001 4096 Oct 13 15:10 pictures.staging

I use the config, it's OK now.

volumes:
  - /var/lib/remark42:/srv/var