Hey folks. I know that on Synology we can run a proper virtual machine, not dockerized.
Why it’s not recommended way to go? I know that Docker is quick and easy to manage, but I guess VMs are officially supported platforms, and Synology with Docker is not and 18th version of Docker is not helping with that either. Shall we all just use VM version of Hass.io instead and enjoy full compatibility and no hacks at cost of a little more memory/CPU consumption?
Just a few weeks ago, when we had similar struggle, I asked the same question and got more or less the same reply. This way here provided an easy and convenient way to quickly set up HA and I’m glad that someone came up with this idea.
But somehow I got tired of always hearing that my setup would not be supported and therefore updating is risky. I’ve seen many github issues simply being closed saying ‘not supported - go somewhere else’. Also it’s still not clear, whether this approach can be used running DSM 7.
I have a system running in a VM on a PC and this works pretty fine. During the last days, I’ve converted an ext4 HDD to btrfs and ordered a RAM extension to be able to try a HA VM on a Synology. I’ve heard that some users experienced heavy CPU loads on the Syno running the VM, but others were totally happy. So I will give this a try.
It’s somehow funny that a friend tried to convince me to use OpenHab and I did not listen and told him how nicely HA can be used.
I think it started with the fact that there are great developers like @fredrike who also pass on their knowledge and try to make HA possible for as many users as possible.
On the other hand, I understand that HA developers only focus on the platforms they support.
What I don’t understand is why the developers of HA do everything they can to ensure that non-supported platforms no longer work.
As a user I am happy with my HA and don’t need any upgrades but the supervisor is automatically upgraded.
If I block the supervisor upgrade, for example, I am no longer offered Node Red in the add ons. Or I can no longer make a backup.
If I allow the automatic supervisor upgrades, some add ons no longer work after a restart.
A devil’s circle and this is where my understanding for the HA developers ends.
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Same, like. OK, notify us on the fact that platform is not supported etc. But, please, do not make more obstacles. But I guess they want that so people don’t stand even a chance to run it so never come for support 
Kinda makes sense but they definitely underestimate users that work around all those obstacles and still are coming back to their Github Issues
Anyway, 100 EUR RAM upgrade is on the way, my time worth way more than that, so I’ll just setup HA OS on VM and hope it will run smoothly without any hiccups. As I have DS218+ and default 2GB is not enough to run VMs, so a 4GB upgrade (min possible) is needed.
This is partially incorrect. Home Assistant can run in 2 different ways on Synology systems, that both are supported. 1) is using a VM, however, as some alright pointed out: That isn’t a viable option on all systems.
The other support method is using Docker: Home Assistant Container, documented in the official documentation even; Here: https://www.home-assistant.io/installation/alternative#synology-nas
The option offered in this topic/package is called: Home Assistant Supervised. Home Assistant Supervised is not viable to run on a Synology NAS, which is the main cause all the above problems everybody is experiencing.
Lastly, a Core Python application could be run as well. So from the 4 available installation methods, only 1 is not viable (which this topic however does cover). All others are viable options.
But if I understand it correctly only the supervised version enables addons and other stuff.
As without it, well, experience requires way more tinkering.
Currently, I run an unsupported version of the Supervised one, which basically got broken apart since the last update. So I end up running all the Mqtt and Mqtt2Zigbee and Node-red as separate manually launched in Docker instances, but the main thing that annoys me that I can’t show these tools Web UIs in HA UI, aside from iframe_panel which obviously doesn’t work with Nabu Casa as I need to make a proper Proxy config in HA. Is there any guide on how to modify the proxy of the HA server?
@frenck, I thought the Docker version of Synology is no longer up to date for HA. Now I am confused.
That is correct. So the only viable option for having add-ons on a Synology would be via a VM.
Is there any guide on how to modify the proxy of the HA server?
No there is not, as it is not just a proxy.
All in all, if you have a Synology, the general recommendation from our project is to use the Home Assistant Container installation method. Yes, you would have to install other third-party applications yourself in Docker as well (as there are not add-ons). However, these days, all applications general provide Docker containers and instructions.
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That is the reason I respond, because the installation method in this topic, is not the Docker version. It uses Docker, but isn’t the container version we offer.
There seems to be a confusion around this.
Running the Home Assistant Container installation method on Docker on a Synology, is supported and documented.
This native package presented in this topic: Home Assistant Supervised (previously known as Hass.io), however, is not supported. Home Assistant Supervised does use Docker as one of the moving parts of that installation method, but isn’t purely Docker.
The Home Assistant Container installation method is purely Docker, viable and supported to run on Synology.
See: https://www.home-assistant.io/installation/alternative#synology-nas
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Okay, I think I have now understood the different offers and their scope of services. Thanks for the clarification.
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Why I feel there is something not good between Homeassitant and Synology.
Do you make step by step against users of Hassio solution, i dont understand why.
You know that the Hassio solution is the best of what you offer as an alternatives.
The only thing left for most synologists is switching to solutions to other products than Homeassistant.
Let us know how you get on. I’ve got a 218+ as well and tried running the VDMK version in a VM but performance was abysmal and I went back to Docker. My NAS has 10Gb RAM
We don’t take active steps against Synology. We’ve always been clear on Home Assistant Supervised not being supported on Synology. We have been warning about it as well in various ways.
The problem is that Home Assistant Supervised is not designed to run on Synology. Furthermore, Synology uses quite a few heavily outdated packages that are problematic.
The only thing left for most synologists is switching to solutions to other products than Homeassistant.
That sounds weird, as there are more installation methods available, that are supported. However, if you feel that way 
Honestly, my personal opinion on this matter: Run something that is known as stable; instead of actively pointed out not supported… is something I recommend. If that means you are powering your house with a system that is supported and not Home Assistant, that is still a good choice IMHO.
eloquent response from a representative of HA
All I tried to say was: Run something recommend and stable.
If that is another system… that is fine, everybody has their own choice, preferences and free will. That is not up to anybody to decide on.
I, of course, prefer Home Assistant.
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This sounds bad Will try as soon as I get RAM stick. If it will be that bad, then I’ll just return 4GB of RAM and probably buy a Raspberry Pi, or shovel Linux on my old laptop that’s currently Plex server only (as Windows always reboots for updates T_T) and will let it be new home control server while letting Synology be just NAS (or maybe make it Plex server then?)
but your answer is rather that HA has hassio users completely … resp. we are min. group that is harassing you
so I’m asking, why does HA have a problem with Hassio?
resp. we are min. group that is harassing you
I’m here to help, I was not complaining about harassment of any kind? Not sure where that is coming from.
so I’m asking, why does HA have a problem with Hassio?
Well, Hass.io does not exists anymore but the thing discussed here is Home Assistant Supervised. And we don’t have a problem with it, however, it is not able to run correctly on Synology. It was never supported as it was not designed to run next to another application (DSM in this case).
As I stated above:
To sum it up, you are basically saying:
I run your application in a way, it wasn’t meant to be used in. You told us, but we ignored it. Now it stopped working. What is your problem with us?
That sounds weird, right? Let me be very clear on this: We did not put effort into all these warnings and signals to annoy or bully people, we did it because it was an actual issue.
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I had the same question as you after my HA didn’t work anymore after the update a few days ago. I’m now running a VM on my DS218+ with 10GB ram. It is working flawless without any issues or performance issues… yes, the CPU load is higher than with docker, but I can’t feel any difference, it is just the number … it works perfect for me.