frigate can't read the database file when using volumes

[aristosv]

Following the Common Docker Compose storage configurations guide, I installed frigate like this:

  frigate:
    image: ghcr.io/blakeblackshear/frigate:stable
    container_name: frigate
    hostname: frigate
    restart: unless-stopped
    privileged: true
    shm_size: 512mb
    stop_grace_period: 30s
    environment:
      - PUID=1001
      - PGID=1001
      - TZ=Europe/Nicosia
    ports:
      - 8971:8971
      - 5000:5000
      - 8554:8554
      - 8555:8555/tcp
      - 8555:8555/udp
    volumes:
      - ./config/frigate:/config
      - ./config/frigate/media:/media/frigate

The container starts without any issues and I can see my cameras just fine. But after a while the logs are filled with the following:

2025-11-11 05:59:13.974860519      |     raise exc
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974862315      |   File "/usr/local/lib/python3.11/dist-packages/starlette/middleware/base.py", line 187, in __call__
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974863834      |     response = await self.dispatch_func(request, call_next)
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974865352      |                ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974867111      |   File "/usr/local/lib/python3.11/dist-packages/slowapi/middleware.py", line 124, in dispatch
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974868463      |     return await call_next(request)
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974869797      |            ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974871630      |   File "/usr/local/lib/python3.11/dist-packages/starlette/middleware/base.py", line 163, in call_next
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974872815      |     raise app_exc
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974874593      |   File "/usr/local/lib/python3.11/dist-packages/starlette/middleware/base.py", line 149, in coro
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974876148      |     await self.app(scope, receive_or_disconnect, send_no_error)
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974877982      |   File "/usr/local/lib/python3.11/dist-packages/starlette/middleware/base.py", line 185, in __call__
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974879278      |     with collapse_excgroups():
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974880834      |   File "/usr/lib/python3.11/contextlib.py", line 155, in __exit__
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974882222      |     self.gen.throw(typ, value, traceback)
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974884037      |   File "/usr/local/lib/python3.11/dist-packages/starlette/_utils.py", line 82, in collapse_excgroups
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974885315      |     raise exc
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974887148      |   File "/usr/local/lib/python3.11/dist-packages/starlette/middleware/base.py", line 187, in __call__
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974888704      |     response = await self.dispatch_func(request, call_next)
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974890222      |                ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974891889      |   File "/opt/frigate/frigate/api/fastapi_app.py", line 87, in frigate_middleware
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974893148      |     database.connect()
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974894834      |   File "/usr/local/lib/python3.11/dist-packages/peewee.py", line 3262, in connect
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974896148      |     with __exception_wrapper__:
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974897834      |   File "/usr/local/lib/python3.11/dist-packages/peewee.py", line 3088, in __exit__
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974899371      |     reraise(new_type, new_type(exc_value, *exc_args), traceback)
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974901037      |   File "/usr/local/lib/python3.11/dist-packages/peewee.py", line 196, in reraise
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974902371      |     raise value.with_traceback(tb)
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974904037      |   File "/usr/local/lib/python3.11/dist-packages/peewee.py", line 3263, in connect
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974905463      |     self._state.set_connection(self._connect())
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974906871      |                                ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974908445      |   File "/opt/frigate/frigate/db/sqlitevecq.py", line 14, in _connect
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974909982      |     conn: sqlite3.Connection = super()._connect(*args, **kwargs)
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974911537      |                                ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974913222      |   File "/usr/local/lib/python3.11/dist-packages/peewee.py", line 3604, in _connect
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974914759      |     conn = sqlite3.connect(self.database, timeout=self._timeout,
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974916315      |            ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974917778      | peewee.OperationalError: unable to open database file
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974919111      +------------------------------------
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974920148  
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974921611  During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974922630  
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974923852  Traceback (most recent call last):
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974925667    File "/usr/local/lib/python3.11/dist-packages/uvicorn/protocols/http/h11_impl.py", line 406, in run_asgi
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974927130      result = await app(  # type: ignore[func-returns-value]
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974928611               ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974930445    File "/usr/local/lib/python3.11/dist-packages/uvicorn/middleware/proxy_headers.py", line 70, in __call__
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974931833      return await self.app(scope, receive, send)
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974933222             ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974934982    File "/usr/local/lib/python3.11/dist-packages/fastapi/applications.py", line 1054, in __call__
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974936370      await super().__call__(scope, receive, send)
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974938130    File "/usr/local/lib/python3.11/dist-packages/starlette/applications.py", line 113, in __call__
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974939574      await self.middleware_stack(scope, receive, send)
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974941352    File "/usr/local/lib/python3.11/dist-packages/starlette/middleware/errors.py", line 187, in __call__
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974942500      raise exc
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974944222    File "/usr/local/lib/python3.11/dist-packages/starlette/middleware/errors.py", line 165, in __call__
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974945537      await self.app(scope, receive, _send)
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974947296    File "/usr/local/lib/python3.11/dist-packages/starlette/middleware/base.py", line 185, in __call__
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974948574      with collapse_excgroups():
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974950093    File "/usr/lib/python3.11/contextlib.py", line 155, in __exit__
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974951407      self.gen.throw(typ, value, traceback)
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974953167    File "/usr/local/lib/python3.11/dist-packages/starlette/_utils.py", line 82, in collapse_excgroups
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974954296      raise exc
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974956056    File "/usr/local/lib/python3.11/dist-packages/starlette/middleware/base.py", line 187, in __call__
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974957519      response = await self.dispatch_func(request, call_next)
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974958981                 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974960722    File "/usr/local/lib/python3.11/dist-packages/slowapi/middleware.py", line 124, in dispatch
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974962018      return await call_next(request)
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974963296             ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974965074    File "/usr/local/lib/python3.11/dist-packages/starlette/middleware/base.py", line 163, in call_next
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974966241      raise app_exc
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974967981    File "/usr/local/lib/python3.11/dist-packages/starlette/middleware/base.py", line 149, in coro
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974969463      await self.app(scope, receive_or_disconnect, send_no_error)
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974971241    File "/usr/local/lib/python3.11/dist-packages/starlette/middleware/base.py", line 185, in __call__
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974972630      with collapse_excgroups():
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974974167    File "/usr/lib/python3.11/contextlib.py", line 155, in __exit__
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974975518      self.gen.throw(typ, value, traceback)
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974977278    File "/usr/local/lib/python3.11/dist-packages/starlette/_utils.py", line 82, in collapse_excgroups
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974978426      raise exc
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974980204    File "/usr/local/lib/python3.11/dist-packages/starlette/middleware/base.py", line 187, in __call__
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974981685      response = await self.dispatch_func(request, call_next)
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974983148                 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974984778    File "/opt/frigate/frigate/api/fastapi_app.py", line 87, in frigate_middleware
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974985981      database.connect()
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974987592    File "/usr/local/lib/python3.11/dist-packages/peewee.py", line 3262, in connect
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974988852      with __exception_wrapper__:
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974990500    File "/usr/local/lib/python3.11/dist-packages/peewee.py", line 3088, in __exit__
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974992000      reraise(new_type, new_type(exc_value, *exc_args), traceback)
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974993611    File "/usr/local/lib/python3.11/dist-packages/peewee.py", line 196, in reraise
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974994889      raise value.with_traceback(tb)
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974996518    File "/usr/local/lib/python3.11/dist-packages/peewee.py", line 3263, in connect
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974997889      self._state.set_connection(self._connect())
2025-11-11 05:59:13.974999259                                 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
2025-11-11 05:59:13.975000778    File "/opt/frigate/frigate/db/sqlitevecq.py", line 14, in _connect
2025-11-11 05:59:13.975032944      conn: sqlite3.Connection = super()._connect(*args, **kwargs)
2025-11-11 05:59:13.975034778                                 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
2025-11-11 05:59:13.975036352    File "/usr/local/lib/python3.11/dist-packages/peewee.py", line 3604, in _connect
2025-11-11 05:59:13.975037778      conn = sqlite3.connect(self.database, timeout=self._timeout,
2025-11-11 05:59:13.975039203             ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
2025-11-11 05:59:13.975040537  peewee.OperationalError: unable to open database file

So basically it can't open the database file.

So I tried this

chmod -R 755 smarthome/config/frigate
chown -R 1001:1001 smarthome/config/frigate

and this

chmod -R 777 smarthome/config/frigate

But the issue persists.

Any guidance?

[hawkeye217]

Remove the following lines from your compose file:

      - PUID=1001
      - PGID=1001

Then rerun docker compose up -d.

See the officially recommended Docker compose in the documentation: https://docs.frigate.video/frigate/installation#docker