Run (almost) any Linux app on your NAS

YOU CAN DO A LOT MORE WITH YOUR NAS BY GOING BEYOND THE DEFAULT SELECTION OF APPS. HERE’S HOW.

HERE’S THE THING about current network-attached storage models: they’re all pretty much just Linux PCs, running a custom interface and a suite of standard services. That’s basically it. Given that, an experienced Linux user can install and run nearly any Linux app or service on them using secure shell (SSH) to remotely log in and enter Linux command lines. This is true even of consumer products like WD’s My Cloud devices.

For most of us, however, SSH is a terrifying throwback, a place of arcane command-line operators that only hardcore computer boffins understand. So rather than make us face that to install new apps, NAS providers build an app service into the main interface, with various Linux apps packaged and installable at the click of a button. For providers like Synology, Asustor and QNAP, the list of such apps has grown quite large — really most of the apps you might want are likely to be available in the App/Package Center. But if there is a Linux app you want to install that’s not listed, it’s still possible to install it — and, thanks to Docker, it’s not even that hard anymore. VIRTUALISATION AND DOCKER For a little while now, a number of NASes — especially those from QNAP, Synology, Thecus and Asustor — have included Virtualisation as part of the core set of features in the NAS. This lets you run an operating system on top of another operating system by creating a ‘virtual’ PC. Virtualisation has some pretty heavy system requirements, however, and NAS boxes aren’t exactly known for having a huge surplus of memory and processing power. But Docker solves that problem.

It still creates what’s known as a virtual namespace, but it can use the main operating system’s kernel to run the apps and can access the shared storage system; you can think of it as virtualisation lite. More importantly, Docker applications on Linux come with all the dependencies bundled together. No need to worry about dependencies, which makes deploying the apps on a NAS so much easier. FINDING AND STARTING DOCKER CONTAINERS Most pros are going to use command lines to create and start Docker containers (a container is the equivalent of a virtual machine), but we’re going to assume you just want to use a graphical interface. Below we’ve detailed how you can get most Docker containers up and running on Synology and QNAP NASs. The tools on both these platforms includes the ability to search the official Docker Hub Registry, which is a collection of published Docker packages.

Note that this is often just the beginning. Individual apps might have requirements, like command line parameters, network settings, volume settings (for accessing shared storage) and more — but this should get you started. INSTALLING A DOCKER CONTAINER ON QNAP Thanks to Container Station, installing Docker containers on QNAP is super-easy — though it’s not available on some cheaper NAS boxes. Just follow these steps. Go to the App Center and find and install the Container Station. If your NAS supports it, you should find it under QTS Essentials. Then run it to bring up the Container Station window. On the left, click on ‘Create Container’. In the search bar in the top right, type in the name of the container you want. This will search the official Docker Hub Registry. You can copy and paste the name from tools.linuxserver.io/dockers. You’ll get a list of matching entries. Find the one you want and click on Install. You’ll get a ‘third-party software’ warning. Next, you’ll see the Create Container options. Enter any command line switches into the Command field, then click Create. The container will appear on the left, under the container list. It should start automatically. If you click on it, you’ll see its current status and the text console of that Docker container. Clicking stop will stop the container, which is just like switching off a virtual machine. With something that has a web interface, you should be able access the web interface using the IP address of your NAS and the port number configured for SickRage (you should also see the URL in the container page). You’re good to go. SETTING UP A CONTAINER ON SYNOLOGY On Synology NASes, you instead use the Docker application, but the process is similar. Follow these steps: Go to the Package Center and find Docker. Install and open it. On the left-hand panel, click on Registry. This is where you can search the official Docker Hub Registry for the package you want. In the search field, type the name of the package you’re after. Select the one want and download it. Next, click on Image on the left. This will show you all the images you’ve downloaded. Click on the image name, then select ‘Launch with Docker Run’. You’ll now see the Docker Run parser. This is the command line that the app will issue when you start the container. It starts with Docker Run, which is the command line switch for Docker to start. If your selected app has command line switches, you can add them here. Click through the other settings. Click on Container on the left. This is where you’ll see all the containers you’ve created, along with on-off switches for each. Click on the container name to see its details and edit its settings. You can see the terminal output in the Terminal window.

With a lot of Linux apps, you can’t avoid the command line completely. You can enter command line switches here.

Creating a new container.

Just install.

Information on the container, as well as access to the console

This is actually just a Linux PC.

The information window for a Docker container.

You can search a collection of Docker images in the app.

Setting up the command line.