Any tutorials on how to install on my Synology NAS with Container Manager?

[lilcheeks]

For the last few years I've only installed docker containers using tutorials I found online. This is the first one that doesn't have one so I think its time for me to learn the more manual method of installing the pre built docker image. Does anyone know of any tutorials that walk you through the simple first steps listed below? I know how to create a new folder, but i want to use these commands because "chown" is new to me so i would like to use the commands as listed. Just not sure where to start.

mkdir -p data backups
chown -R 1001:1001 data backups

[dohsimpson]

HabitTrove Installation on Synology NAS with Container Manager

This tutorial will guide you through installing HabitTrove using a pre-built Docker image.

Important Considerations from the README:

• Beta Software: HabitTrove is in beta. Regularly back up your data/ directory.
• Permissions: The application inside the container runs as user ID 1001. The host directories mapped as volumes need to be writable by this user.

---

Step 1: Prerequisites on your Synology NAS

1. Install Container Manager:

   • Open Package Center on your Synology DSM.
   • Search for "Container Manager" and install it if you haven't already.

2. Enable SSH (Recommended for some steps):

   • Go to Control Panel > Terminal & SNMP > Terminal.
   • Check Enable SSH service. Click Apply.
   • You'll need an SSH client (like PuTTY on Windows, or Terminal on macOS/Linux) to connect to your NAS for a couple of commands.

3. Create Data and Backup Folders:

   • Open File Station.
   • Navigate to a shared folder where you want to store HabitTrove's data. A common choice is the docker shared folder. If it doesn't exist, Container Manager usually creates it, or you can create it manually (Control Panel > Shared Folder).
   • Inside the docker shared folder (or your chosen location), create a new folder named habittrove.
   • Inside the habittrove folder, create two subfolders:
     • data
     • backups
   • So, you'll have paths like:
     • /volume1/docker/habittrove/data
     • /volume1/docker/habittrove/backups
       (Replace /volume1 with your actual volume number if different).

4. Set Folder Permissions (Crucial - via SSH):

   • The README specifies that the data and backups directories need to be owned by user/group ID 1001. Synology's GUI doesn't easily allow setting specific numeric IDs.
   • Connect to your Synology NAS via SSH using your admin account.
   • Navigate to the parent directory you created:

     cd /volume1/docker/habittrove

   • Run the following command to set the correct ownership. You'll likely need sudo to execute chown:

     sudo chown -R 1001:1001 data backups

     Enter your admin password when prompted.
   • Note: If user 1001 does not exist on your Synology host, this command might show an error or not work as expected. Docker volume mounts can sometimes work around this if the Docker daemon itself (running as root) has access to manage the folder. However, to strictly follow the README, chown is recommended. If you encounter permission errors later, this step is the primary one to revisit. An alternative (less ideal but sometimes works) is to give "Everyone" or the "SYSTEM" internal user read/write permissions to these folders via File Station's properties, but this is less secure.

5. Generate a Secure Authentication Secret (AUTH_SECRET - via SSH):

   • While still connected via SSH, generate a secure secret key:

     openssl rand -base64 32

   • This command will output a random string. Copy this string immediately and save it to a temporary secure place (like a notepad). This will be your AUTH_SECRET. For example, it might look like aBcDeFgHiJkLmNoPqRsTuVwXyZ1234567890ab/CD==.
   • You can now close the SSH session if you wish.

---

Step 2: Create the Docker Compose File

1. Open a Text Editor: On your computer, open a plain text editor (like Notepad on Windows, TextEdit on Mac in plain text mode, or VS Code).

2. Create docker-compose.yml:
   Paste the following content into the text editor:

   version: '3.8' # Or a newer version if supported and preferred
   
   services:
     habittrove:
       image: dohsimpson/habittrove:latest # Or a specific version like v0.2.9
       container_name: habittrove
       restart: unless-stopped
       ports:
         - "3000:3000" # Host port : Container port
       volumes:
         - /volume1/docker/habittrove/data:/app/data
         - /volume1/docker/habittrove/backups:/app/backups
       environment:
         - AUTH_SECRET=YOUR_COPIED_AUTH_SECRET_HERE # Replace with your actual secret
         - TZ=America/Toronto # Optional: Set your timezone, find yours at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tz_database_time_zones
       # Healthcheck can be useful (optional)
       # healthcheck:
       #   test: ["CMD", "curl", "-f", "http://localhost:3000/api/health"]
       #   interval: 1m30s
       #   timeout: 10s
       #   retries: 3
       #   start_period: 40s

3. Modify the docker-compose.yml file:

   • image: You can change dohsimpson/habittrove:latest to a specific version tag if needed (e.g., dohsimpson/habittrove:v0.2.9). latest is usually fine for starting.
   • volumes:
     • Replace /volume1/docker/habittrove/data with the full absolute path to the data folder you created on your NAS.
     • Replace /volume1/docker/habittrove/backups with the full absolute path to the backups folder you created on your NAS.
   • environment:
     • Replace YOUR_COPIED_AUTH_SECRET_HERE with the actual AUTH_SECRET you generated in Step 1.5.
     • TZ (Timezone - Recommended): Uncomment and set your timezone. This helps with accurate timestamps for habit tracking and backups. A list of timezones can be found [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tz_database_time_zones) (e.g., America/New_York, Europe/London).

4. Save the File: Save the file as docker-compose.yml (ensure it's .yml not .txt).

---

Step 3: Deploy HabitTrove using Container Manager

1. Upload docker-compose.yml to your NAS:

   • Open File Station on your Synology NAS.
   • Navigate to a location where you want to store your compose file, for example, inside /volume1/docker/habittrove/ (alongside data and backups).
   • Upload the docker-compose.yml file you just created to this location.

2. Open Container Manager.

3. Create a Project:

   • In Container Manager, go to the Project section.
   • Click the Create button.
   • Project Name: Give your project a name (e.g., habittrove).
   • Source: Select Set up Docker Compose YAML.
   • Path: Click Browse and navigate to the location where you uploaded your docker-compose.yml file (e.g., /volume1/docker/habittrove/docker-compose.yml). Select the docker-compose.yml file itself.
   • Click Next.

4. Web portal settings (Optional):

   • Container Manager might offer to set up a web portal. You can configure this if you want a custom URL or port for accessing HabitTrove through DSM's application portal, or skip it and access directly via IP:PORT.

5. Summary and Deployment:

   • Review the settings.
   • If there's an option like "Start the project once it is created", ensure it's checked.
   • Click Done (or Create/Deploy).

   Container Manager will now pull the dohsimpson/habittrove image (if it's not already present) and start the container based on your docker-compose.yml configuration. This might take a few minutes.

---

Step 4: Access HabitTrove

1. Once the container is running (you can check its status in Container Manager > Container), open a web browser.
2. Navigate to http://<Your_Synology_NAS_IP>:3000.
   (e.g., http://192.168.1.100:3000)

You should now see the HabitTrove interface.

---

Step 5: Post-Installation & Maintenance

1. Check Logs (if issues occur):

   • In Container Manager, go to the Container section.
   • Select the habittrove container.
   • Click the Details button.
   • Go to the Log tab to see the container's output, which can help diagnose problems.

2. Backups:

   • Remember the README's warning: "HabitTrove is currently in beta. Please regularly backup your data/ directory to prevent any potential data loss."
   • The application itself has an automatic daily backup feature which will store backups inside the /app/backups container path, which you've mapped to /volume1/docker/habittrove/backups (or your chosen path) on your NAS.
   • You should also consider backing up this host backups folder (and the data folder) using Synology's Hyper Backup or another backup solution to an external drive or cloud storage.

3. Updating HabitTrove:

   • To update HabitTrove to a newer version:
     1. In Container Manager > Image, find the dohsimpson/habittrove image and delete it (this won't delete your data which is in the mapped volumes). You can also pull the new image first.
     2. Then, in Container Manager > Project, select your habittrove project.
     3. Click Action > Recreate. This will pull the latest image (or the specific version tagged in your compose file if you update it there) and recreate the container with the existing settings.
        Alternatively, if you only want to pull the latest tag specifically:
     4. Go to Container Manager > Project.
     5. Select your habittrove project.
     6. Click Action > Stop.
     7. Go to Image, find dohsimpson/habittrove:latest, click Clear (if available) or Delete. Then click Pull and search for dohsimpson/habittrove and select the latest tag.
     8. Go back to Project, select habittrove, and click Action > Start.
        A more robust way if you manage the docker-compose.yml file for versioning:
     9. Modify the image tag in your docker-compose.yml file if you want a specific new version.
     10. Go to Container Manager > Project.
     11. Select your habittrove project.
     12. Click Action > Recreate (or sometimes "Update" or "Re-parse compose"). Container Manager should detect changes or pull the new specified image version. Some versions of Container Manager require you to stop, then "Update the Docker Compose YAML" from the action menu if you edited the file directly.

[dohsimpson]

I used LLM to generate one above ^

Give it a try, and let me know if any steps is incorrect so we can fix it

[lilcheeks]

First, thank you very much for posting this. I never thought about using an LLM but this worked perfectly for what I needed. I ran into an issue but will post it in the issue section.