This article will show step by step how to install Synology DSM 6.2.3 on a Proxmox (KVM) Virtual Machine using a Xpenology DSM bootloader.
Requirements (at the time of the writing):
- Proxmox VE 6.2-12 (or later) installed
- Xpenology Jun's Loader 1.03b for ds3615xs ( which can be found in this forum)
- DSM 6.2.3 (25426) file named "DSM_DS3615xs_25426.pat" (here)
(warning: images-intensive article)
Warning
This system is for testing or educational purpose ONLY, and It is NOT recommended for use in production environment because it has no support and it has not been proven stable/reliable.
So if DATA LOSS happens by using this system, this is ONLY on your own responsibility.
If you are happy with the testing of this product, I would highly recommend you to go for an original Synology hardware especially for PRODUCTION environment where data is critical.
We recommend ...
... at least 512MB RAM
... at least 16GB of free disk space
Please, click on pictures to zoom.
Create a new virtual machine
General
Select :
- VM ID: 107
- Name: XpenoDsm62x
Click NEXT
OS
Select : Do not use any media
Guest OS, Select :
- Type: Linux
- Version: 5.x - 2.6 Kernel
Click NEXT
System
(Check "Advanced" checkbox at the bottom)
Select:
- Graphic Card: none
- SCSI Controller: Default (LSI 53C895A)
- BIOS: default (SeaBIOS)
- Machine: q35
Click NEXT
Hard Disk
(Uncheck "Advanced" checkbox at the bottom)
Select :
- Bus/Device: SATA 0
- Storage: local
- Disk size (GB): 16
- Format: Raw disk image (raw)
- Cache: Write back
- Discard: uncheck
Click NEXT
CPU
Select :
- Sockets: 1
- Cores: 1
- Type: Default (kvm64)
Click NEXT
Memory
Select :
- Memory (MB): 1024 (or 512)
- (In Avanced mode) Ballooning Device: Uncheck (or Check if bootloader support it)
Click NEXT
Network
Select
- Bridge: vmbr0 (or other of your proxmox)
- Model: Intel E1000 (or choose VirtIO if bootloader support it)
- Firewall: uncheck
Click NEXT
Confirm
Check config
Click on FINISH
Hardware - Serial Port
On Hardware tab,
Click on Add
button
Then Select Serial Port
Then Enter: Serial Port: 0
Click on Add
button to validate
Options - Boot Order
On Options tab,
Select on Boot Order
line
Then Click on Edit
button
Then Select:
- Boot device 1:
CD-ROM
- Boot device 2:
none
- Boot device 3:
none
Then Click on OK
button to validate
(Optional) Use tablet for pointer: No
Bootloader copy
Copy xpenology Jun's bootloader, previously downloaded, to proxmox server as /var/lib/vz/images/107/synoboot.img
.
For that, you can use ftp or scp (or pscp for older windows).
In example:
pscp.exe "synoboot_103b_ds3615xs_virtio_9p.img" [email protected]:/var/lib/vz/images/107/synoboot.img
scp.exe "synoboot_103b_ds3615xs_virtio_9p.img" [email protected]:/var/lib/vz/images/107/synoboot.img
VM conf manual modification
We will do custom configuration to add the bootloader as usb disk with high priority boot.
On proxmox server, open a shell as root
, and execute the following command: (Substitute your <VM ID> if not 107)
In the end, /etc/pve/qemu-server/107.conf
file should look like that:
Start VM
For the first run, we gonna start the vm in command line.
Open a terminal on proxmox server as root:
Press Ctrl + o
keys to exit from virtual terminal
If everything goes well, in the end, you should see "DiskStation login" prompt and the ip address acquired from dhcp, which is "192.168.0.29" in this case.
We are now ready to install Synology DSM.
DSM Install
Open internet browser and go to (the ip address previously found) : 192.168.0.29:5000
Click on Set up
button
Installation
Click on Manual Install
Click on Browse
and Select DSM_DS3615xs_25426.pat
file ( that you have already downloaded)
Click on Install Now
Read and Verify
Check I understand(...)all data(...)will be removed.
Click on Ok
Wait until installation complete.
Configuration
Enter your:
- server name
- admin username
- admin password
Then click Next
Click Skip this step
(link at the bottom)
Then, in the popup, Click Yes
Done
Uncheck checkbox
Then click on Go
That's it! Your synology is now ready to use!
Proxmox backup template
Restore backup
To make things easier, some nice guys did some proxmox backup :
- Download proxmox backup which can be found in this forum's thread
- Transfer backup in proxmox repository folder
- In proxmox ve web gui,
- go to your repository then content tab
- select the backup
- click
Restore
button
Boot to usb disk
These backups do not boot on usb disk but, instead, it boots the bootloader as normal sata disk.
If you want to change to usb disk boot :
- Detach "sata0: vm-107-disk-0.raw" (or comment it in conf file)
- Copy or Move "vm-108-disk-0.raw" to "synoboot.img"
- Change conf as explained previously in "VM conf manual modification" to add it as add usb disk
DSM Post-install
Desactivate auto update
First of all, I would recommend to disable automatic updates as follow:
- Go to "Control Panel" > "Update & Restore"
- On the "DSM Update" tab,
- Click on
Update Settings
- Then select "Notify me and let me whether to install new update"
- Click on
OK
to validate
Xpenology dsm update is done in the normal way with "Control Panel" > "Update & Restore" in web dsm gui.
However any update can break your xpenology, so before installing a new update :
- Check in this forum if someone already had successful update with similar configuration system
- Try in another VM the update and check that the system still work properly
Activate SSH terminal
On DSM web gui,
- Go to "Control Panel" and click on "Advanced Mode" (in top-right corner)
- Click on "Terminal & SNMP"
- In "Terminal" tab:
- Check "Enable SSH service"
- And enter a "Port" number (default 22)
- Click on
Apply
to validate
Change xpenology parameter in grub.cfg
In grub.cfg file of the bootloader disk, you can specify :
- vid/pid of the bootloader disk
- synology serial number (you maybe want to read this thead first)
- mac address
(Make sure, you did not eject usb disk from dsm gui)
Open a ssh terminal on xpenology server with an synology admin account
(or open a virtual terminal from proxmox server with qm terminal 107
with an synology admin account)
Reboot your xpenology server.
(Note: You may have a different IP from your dhcp if you have changed MAC address)
Power button install
In order to be able to properly shutdown xpenology vm from Proxmox VE, you need to install a package that will properly shutdown synology dsm when it receive a ACPI "power down" signal.
Download POWERBUTTON_6.2-0002.SPK file in this forum's thread.
On DSM web gui,
- Go to "Package Center" and click on "Manual Install" (in top-right corner)
- In popup:
- Click on
Browse
- Select POWERBUTTON_6.2-0002.SPK file (previously downloaded) then click on
Open
- Click on
Next
- In another popup about "unknown publisher", Click on
Yes
- Click on
- In "Confirmation settings" popup:
- Check "Run after installation"
- Click on
Apply
to finish
Hardware passtrough
You can pass a full pci (or pcie) device to your VM, like a PCI Sata Controller which have several disks plug on it.
It's now pretty straightforward in recent Proxmox VE.
Click on Add
Select PCI Device
In exemple, to passthrough a SATA controller on a PCIe port with disks attached on it:
- Device: Select SATA controller to passtrough in the dropdown list
- All Functions: Check, ROM-Bar: Check, PCI-Express: Check
HTH,
Michel.
Recommendation
- Keep a copy of the bootloader in case of active bootloader get corrupted
* in the same folder or somewhere safe and easy to access
* if active bootloader is corrupted, just copy (and replace) the backup bootloader to active bootloader
- Use bootloader as usb disk, if you can
- Install dsm OS in a dedicated virtual disk (8GB or 16GB should more than enough)
- do not use this disk as dsm storage disk (or storage pool)
- Install dsm without any additionnal disk (which can be add later)
- Backup your vm
- Then now you can add additionnal disks or passtrough a SATA controller
* configure it as dsm storage disks
* storage disks are separated from OS disk
* this way data are safer cause you can safely unplug data disks for update, manipulation (or OS corruption)
Reference
Forum Xpenology (xpenology.com)
Tutorial: DSM 6.x on Proxmox (Thread on xpenology.com)
Proxmox backup template (Thread on xpenology.com)
Xpenology running on docker (Thread on xpenology.com)
Install Xpenology DSM 6.1.x on Proxmox (uxora.com)
Tutorial to compile xpenology dsm driver (xpenology.club)
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