Getting Started with Your Synology: Installing Plex

A Synology DiskStation NAS unit — A Synology DiskStation NAS. Photo: DYVER, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Plex, which is what we actually run on our own media server. This uses Container Manager’s Project feature. If you’re still on the older Docker package instead of Container Manager, the same compose file works, you’ll just paste it into a single-container setup a bit differently.

Written for DSM 7.2 and the official plexinc/pms-docker image. Plex’s setup flow changes rarely enough that this should hold up a while. We’ll flag it here if that stops being true.

Step 1. Make the folders

In File Station, create a docker/plex folder and a config folder inside it. Keep this off the same volume as your actual media if you can. Separating Plex’s config and database from the media library makes both easier to back up on their own schedule.

Step 2. Get a claim token

Go to plex.tv/claim while logged into your Plex account. It hands you a token starting with claim- that’s good for four minutes. Copy it right before you deploy the container, not ten minutes ahead.

Step 3. The compose file

In Container Manager → Project → Create, point it at the docker/plex folder and paste this in, adjusting the two volume paths to match where your media actually lives:

services:
  plex:
    image: plexinc/pms-docker:latest
    container_name: plex
    network_mode: host
    environment:
      TZ: America/Chicago
      PLEX_CLAIM: claim-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
      ADVERTISE_IP: http://YOUR_NAS_IP:32400/
    volumes:
      - /volume1/docker/plex/config:/config
      - /volume1/media:/data
    restart: unless-stopped

network_mode: host is what Plex wants here. It leans on local network discovery (GDM) so other devices find the server automatically, and that doesn’t work cleanly behind Docker’s normal port mapping. It also means Plex’s ports sit directly on the NAS, so this isn’t the container to experiment with on an internet-facing box.

Step 4. Deploy, then finish in the browser

Deploy the project, wait for the container to report healthy, then hit http://YOUR_NAS_IP:32400/web. The claim token should already have tied it to your Plex account. From there it’s normal Plex library setup: point it at the /data path you mapped, name your libraries, let it scan.

Step 5. Hardware transcoding, if your NAS has it

If your Synology model has a supported hardware encoder, Plex Pass unlocks hardware transcoding. That matters the moment more than one device is streaming something that needs converting on the fly. Check Synology’s compatibility list for your specific model first. Not every NAS in the current lineup has one.

Landed on Plex? Skip ahead to Backups and Snapshots →. Curious what Jellyfin looks like without committing to it? That guide’s here.

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