How To Install FileRun on Synology DSM NAS using Docker

Introduction

In this guide we will install FileRun on Synology DiskStation Manager (DSM), a Linux based software package that is the operating system for the DiskStation and RackStation products.

1. Installing Docker

This step is straightforward:

1. Open up the Synology DSM in your browser.
2. Open the Package Center app.
3. Search for Docker and install the found package.

2. Download the MySQL Image

Open up the Docker app, browse to Registry, search for MySQL, select the first result and click Download. When presented with the choice for the Tag, select latest (or at least 5.7):

The image will start downloading.

3. Launching MySQL

Once the MySQL image downloaded, you can select it under the Image section and press the Launch button.

Make sure the container's name is db:

Click the Advanced Settings button and configure the container like this:

Click Add Folder and select an empty folder, which will have the mount path set to /var/lib/mysql. This is where the MySQL data will reside.

On the Environment tab add the following variables:

• MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: filerun
• MYSQL_USER: filerun
• MYSQL_PASSWORD: filerun
• MYSQL_DATABASE: filerun

You might want to add also the following variables, to configure the Apache permissions, to mach the Synology user/group and ID, otherwise you might not be able to manage existing folder:

• APACHE_RUN_USER: user
• APACHE_RUN_USER_ID: 1026
• APACHE_RUN_GROUP: user
• APACHE_RUN_GROUP_ID: 1000

On the newer MySQL versions (8+), it's important to change the Execution Command from mysqld to mysqld "--default-authentication-plugin=mysql_native_password"

Click Ok to close the advanced settings panel and click Next to launch the container:

You should now see the container running:

4. Downloading the FileRun image

Just like we did for the MySQL image, search the Registry for filerun and download the image filerun/filerun.

If you cannot find it via the registry, add it from URL: https://hub.docker.com/r/filerun/filerun

The FileRun image will start downloading. It weighs about 700MB so it will take a short while to download.

5. Launching FileRun

Once the image downloaded, you can select it under the Image section and press the Launch button.

Click the Advanced Settings button and proceed with the configuration:

We want the container to auto-restart if problems are encountered.
I am also creating a shortcut on the DSM desktop to easily open FileRun in the future.

On the Volume tab, add two folders:

• For the FileRun application files. It can be located in any empty folder and must have the mount path set to /var/www/html
• And for the FileRun user files, with the mount path set to /user-files. If you want to have access to existing files on your NAS, you are not limited to a new and empty folder, you can select any folder you want:

Manage Access Permissions

In order to make other Synology folders manageable with FileRun, you need to follow these steps:

1. Create a Docker user and group

From the Synology Control panel, under Group create a new group, called docker. After you are done, under User create a new user, called the same docker and make sure you select the group docker for this user to be part of.

2. Find out the IDs of user and group docker

For this step we will be using SSH.

See: How to login to DSM with root permission via SSH/Telnet

You might need to follow this guide to enable SSH access.

Once connected:

Get the user information like this:

id docker  

From the output, you will see uid=1034, so your docker user ID is 1934.
You will also see 65537 (docker), so your docker group ID is 65537

3. Adjust Docker container permissions

Now you want to have the Docker container perform file access and operations using the newly creates user account and group.
On the Environment tab, when editing the Docker container, set the following variables:

• APACHE_RUN_USER: docker
• APACHE_RUN_USER_ID: 1034
• APACHE_RUN_GROUP: docker

• APACHE_RUN_GROUP_ID: 65537

  Do not copy the above numbers, use your own, the ones you got at the step above!

4. Give FileRun access to other folders

Via the Docker container's Volume tab again, for each folder that is set here, open its Permissions panel via Synology File Station, and add the group docker with read+write permissions.

Port Settings

On the Port Settings tab I am setting the local port 888 as perhaps later on I might want to host a website on the NAS. This means that I will be accessing FileRun in my browser using the URL: http://nas:888

Finally, on the Links tab, add the MySQL created container db with the alias db:

Click Ok to close the advanced settings panel and click Next to launch the FileRun container:

You should now see both the FileRun and the MySQL containers running:

And you're done! You can now start using FileRun.

Open a browser and point it to your NAS address, using the configured custom port number: http://nas:888

You should see the FileRun login prompt:

The default FileRun credentials are as follows:

• Username: superuser
• Password: superuser

It's important that you change these as soon as you sign in for the first time.

Troubleshooting

Having problems browsing your files, you might need to change the Apache user to use Synology user ID:

Conclusion

You have now successfully deployed FileRun on your own private and secure Synology NAS server. It's time to upload your files, photos, music, or work documents and start sharing.

For more information on FileRun features and settings, visit the documentation.