Synology

MeTube is a web GUI for youtube-dl, a command-line tool for downloading videos from YouTube and several hundred other sites. My goal for this project was to set up automation for downloading YouTube videos directly to my Plex library. The primary reason is that I can’t trust myself with YouTube Shorts. Once I open YouTube, I’m likely to spend at least a few minutes browsing through them. The simplest solution was to add friction to the process: I removed the YouTube app from all my devices and blocked the domain using my local DNS server. ...

Changedetection.io is a powerful open-source tool that monitors websites for changes. It’s incredibly useful for tracking updates on pages that don’t offer their own notification systems. This guide will walk you through setting it up on your Synology NAS using Docker Compose. Prerequisites Docker installed on your system by following the TrashGuides setup for Synology. Installation Append this configuration to your docker-compose.yml file. If you’ve followed the guide mentioned above, this file should be located in your Docker application data directory (e.g., /volume1/docker/appdata). ...

Prerequisites Before you start, you should have qBittorrent up and running using this guide. Implementation If you’ve used the guide linked above, the qBittorrent container is already running. There are two configuration files that we’ll need to edit: .env and docker-compose.yml. .env Make sure the LAN_NETWORK variable is set properly. If you haven’t modified it after the initial setup, it should be set to 192.168.x.0/24. Update it so that your Synology’s LAN IP is within the address range. Example: since my Synology’s LAN IP address is 192.168.1.110, I’ve replaced x with 1: 192.168.1.0/24. ...

Homarr creates a customizable browser homepage that lets you manage and interact with Docker containers running on your homeserver. Here’s my dashboard setup: Prerequisites Docker installed on your system (follow this Synology setup guide) Installation Append this configuration to your docker-compose.yml file: homarr: container_name: homarr image: ghcr.io/ajnart/homarr:latest restart: unless-stopped logging: driver: json-file options: max-file: ${DOCKERLOGGING_MAXFILE} max-size: ${DOCKERLOGGING_MAXSIZE} environment: - PUID=${PUID} - PGID=${PGID} - TZ=${TZ} volumes: - ${DOCKERCONFDIR}/homarr/configs:/app/data/configs - ${DOCKERCONFDIR}/homarr/icons:/app/public/icons - ${DOCKERCONFDIR}/homarr/data:/data ports: - 7575:7575 Start the container by running this command in your docker directory (typically /volume1/docker/appdata): ...

I run qbittorrent in a Docker container on my Synology NAS, with VPN configured at the Synology system level (Control Panel -> Network -> Network Interface) rather than the container level. For setup instructions, you can follow this guide. Even with killswitch enabled, I wanted to verify beyond the UI’s “Firewalled” status that my torrent traffic was actually routing through the VPN. To check this, SSH into your Synology NAS and run: ...

I’ve been using Synology for the past year, and during this time it’s become the center of my home computing. I’m still discovering new use cases, so I’ll keep this post updated. Today, I want to share how I ended up with this setup - the how and why. Here are the main things I use my NAS for: Media Server - My Synology stores and serves my entire collection of movies, TV shows, and music. Using Plex, I can stream this content to any device, creating a personalized Netflix-like experience. Usenet / Torrent Client - I have the standard *ARR stack setup for managing my media library. I can’t recommend it enough. This suite of apps is a crown jewel of the entire setup. HomeBridge - HomeBridge allows me to integrate non-HomeKit devices into my Apple HomeKit setup. Time Machine Backup Destination - My Synology serves as a Time Machine backup destination for all my Macs. This is a major improvement over manually connecting external HDDs. DNS Server - I run AdGuard Home on my Synology as a DNS server. Similar to Pi-hole, it blocks ads across all devices on my network. You can read more about it here. Personal Cloud Storage - While I use iCloud for critical documents, my Synology acts as a personal cloud for miscellaneous files. It’s a great way to keep less important documents accessible without cluttering my primary cloud storage. In the following sections, I’ll dive deeper into this setup, providing a high-level overview and sharing useful resources that have helped me create this system. ...

Setting up AdGuard Home as a Docker Container on Synology NAS In this guide, I’ll walk you through the steps to set up AdGuard Home (AGH) as a Docker container on a Synology NAS. This setup will allow you to use AGH both inside and outside of your home network. AdGuard Home is a network-wide DNS server that blocks ads and trackers for all devices on your network. It filters unwanted content before it reaches your devices, eliminating the need for individual ad blockers. With customizable rules and open-source flexibility, it offers comprehensive protection and can be installed on various platforms, including Raspberry Pi. ...

tl;dr: If your custom DNS does not work in Safari, you might want to try disabling Advanced Tracking and Fingerprinting Protection. A few weeks back, I set up AdGuard Home on my Synology NAS. I’ve been using it without any issues inside and outside of my home network thanks to Tailscale. There was one issue with this setup though: battery drainage on all of my mobile devices. I noticed that my battery usage went up by 25% on my phone. ...

In this article, I’ll describe how to set up your Plex server so you can access it remotely through Tailscale, with Remote Access completely disabled in Plex server settings. Prerequisites Have a Plex server running as a Docker container using this guide. When you’re done, you should have a docker-compose.yml and a .env file with all your environment variables. Have Tailscale set up and running on your Synology. You can use this guide. Make sure to disable the expiry for the IP address assigned to your Synology NAS in the Tailscale dashboard. ...