synology-docker

An unofficial but battle‑tested way to update Docker Engine & Docker Compose on Synology NAS

Originally forked from markdumay/synology-docker

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Why this exists

Synology ships Docker or, as they call it in later versions "Container Manager"... but it's OLD. Really old.

This repo gives you a repeatable, reversible, and reasonably safe way to:

• Update Docker Engine on Synology to the latest
• Update Docker Compose
• Escape Synology’s legacy db log driver
• Roll back if something goes sideways

If you’re comfortable with SSH and sudo, this is for you.

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⚠️ Important warnings (read these first)

This is not supported by Synology. You can absolutely break things if you ignore instructions. Always have backups.

Nvidia users

If you use the Nvidia runtime, you may need to re‑run:

nvidia-ctk runtime configure

or restart the Nvidia driver after running this script.

Portainer users (seriously, read this)

Portainer currently persists the original logging driver used when a container was created. This means:

• Containers created with the db logger will stay broken after upgrade
• You must recreate them to switch to local

👉 Fix your loggers before upgrading Docker or you’ll spend hours recreating containers anyway.

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What this script actually does

At a high level:

1. Downloads official Docker & Compose binaries
2. Backs up your existing Docker install
3. Stops Docker safely
4. Replaces binaries & config
5. Restarts Docker

Everything is scripted. Nothing is magic. Rollbacks are built‑in.

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Installation

SSH into your NAS and clone the repo:

git clone https://github.com/telnetdoogie/synology-docker.git
cd synology-docker

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🚀 First‑time upgrade (do this once, carefully)

TL;DR: Fix logging → recreate containers → upgrade Docker

Step 1: Switch Docker’s default log driver

sudo ./syno_docker_update.sh logger

This:

• Sets Docker’s default log driver to local
• Restarts Docker

Then check which containers are still using db:

./syno_docker_list_containers.sh

Example output:

Container            Compose_Location                               Logger
-------------------  ---------------------------------------------- -------
/transmission        /volume1/docker/downloader/docker-compose.yml  db
/jellyfin            /volume1/docker/jellyfin/docker-compose.yml    db
/dozzle              /volume1/docker/dozzle/docker-compose.yml      local

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Step 2: Recreate containers still using db

For each compose‑managed container using db:

cd /volume1/docker/jellyfin
docker-compose up -d --force-recreate

Re‑run syno_docker_list_containers.sh until everything says local.

Containers created via docker run will show a best‑guess recreate command. Verify it before running.

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Step 3: Upgrade Docker & Compose

sudo ./syno_docker_update.sh update

If you did the logger step correctly, containers should come back automatically.

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🔁 Future updates (easy mode)

Once you’ve crossed the logging hurdle, updates are simple:

cd synology-docker
git pull
sudo ./syno_docker_update.sh update

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Usage

sudo ./syno_docker_update.sh [OPTIONS] COMMAND

Commands

Command	Description
backup	Backup Docker binaries & config
download PATH	Download Docker & Compose binaries
install PATH	Install from downloaded files
restore	Restore from backup
logger	Update logging driver only
update	Full backup + update

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Options

Option	Description
--docker VERSION	Target Docker version
--compose VERSION	Target Compose version
--backup NAME	Backup file name
--force	Skip compatibility checks
--stage	Download only, no install

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Contributing

PRs welcome.

1. Fork
2. Test on real hardware
3. Explain why the change exists

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Credits

• Original work by @markdumay
• Extensive testing by @mrmuiz
• Network‑pain endurance by @CodeNodeNomad

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License

MIT

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Origin

Forked from https://github.com/markdumay/synology-docker