Skip to content

synology.md

Latest commit

 

History

History
161 lines (108 loc) · 5.39 KB

synology.md

File metadata and controls

161 lines (108 loc) · 5.39 KB
Raw

SMART Sniffer -- Synology DSM

Synology DSM

Synology NAS devices run DSM (DiskStation Manager), which does a few things differently from standard Linux. SMART Sniffer supports Synology, but the setup needs a couple of extra steps.

What's different about Synology

Two things trip up a standard install:

  1. Non-standard device paths. Synology uses /dev/sata1, /dev/sata2, etc. instead of the standard /dev/sdX paths. smartctl --scan doesn't find these proprietary paths on its own.

  2. Old smartmontools. DSM ships smartmontools 6.5, which doesn't support the --json flag the agent requires (needs 7.0+). The agent will log a clear error on startup if the version is too old.

Both are solved below.

Step 1: Install smartmontools 7.x via SynoCli

DSM's built-in smartmontools is too old. Install a newer version from the SynoCommunity package source.

  1. Open Package Center in DSM
  2. Go to Settings --> Package Sources
  3. Add a new source:
    • Name: SynoCommunity
    • Location: https://packages.synocommunity.com
  4. Back in Package Center, search for SynoCli Disk Tools
  5. Install it -- this provides smartmontools 7.4+

Verify the version:

/usr/local/bin/smartctl --version

You should see 7.4 or newer. The agent auto-detects this path since v0.5.5.1 -- it searches common binary locations even if the system PATH only finds the older version.

Step 2: Install the agent

SSH into your Synology (enable SSH in DSM under Control Panel --> Terminal & SNMP):

curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/DAB-LABS/smart-sniffer/main/install.sh | sudo bash

The installer handles Synology-specific setup automatically:

  • Detects DSM and probes for writable install paths
  • Finds the SynoCli smartmontools binary
  • Sets up the systemd service

Step 3: Run --discover

After install, run the discovery tool to detect your drives:

sudo smartha-agent --discover

This probes standard Linux paths (/dev/sdX) and Synology's proprietary paths (/dev/sata1 through /dev/sata8). It also tests protocol detection -- Synology drives typically need SAT (SCSI-to-ATA Translation) because the HBA presents them as SCSI.

Example output:

Probing drives...

/dev/sata1 -- WD Red Plus 4TB (WD-WCC7K1234567)
  Protocol: SCSI → SAT fallback succeeded
  SMART: Available

/dev/sata2 -- WD Red Plus 4TB (WD-WCC7K7654321)
  Protocol: SCSI → SAT fallback succeeded
  SMART: Available

/dev/sata3 -- WD Red Plus 10TB (WD-WMC1T0ABCDEF)
  Protocol: SCSI → SAT fallback succeeded
  SMART: Available

Found 3 drives. Write device_overrides to config? (Y/n)

Say yes. The tool writes device_overrides entries to your config.yaml so the agent uses the correct protocol on every scan.

Restart the agent to pick up the new config:

sudo systemctl restart smartha-agent

Step 4: Add the integration to Home Assistant

Same as any other setup:

  1. HACS --> Custom repositories --> https://github.com/DAB-LABS/smart-sniffer (Integration)
  2. Download SMART Sniffer --> Restart HA
  3. The agent advertises via mDNS -- HA should discover it automatically

If your Synology and HA are on different VLANs, use manual setup: Settings --> Devices & Services --> Add Integration --> SMART Sniffer with the NAS IP and port.

SHR / RAID considerations

Synology's SHR (Synology Hybrid RAID) is a software RAID implementation built on top of Linux MD RAID and LVM. The individual drives are still accessible as /dev/sataX block devices -- SHR doesn't hide them behind a hardware RAID controller. This means SMART Sniffer can read each drive directly, which is the ideal scenario.

No RAID= flags or special RAID config needed for SHR setups.

Troubleshooting

"smartctl version too old" on startup

The agent found the system smartmontools (6.5) instead of the SynoCli version (7.4+). Since v0.5.5.1, the agent searches common paths automatically. If it's still finding the old version:

which smartctl
/usr/local/bin/smartctl --version

If /usr/local/bin/smartctl shows 7.4+ but the agent isn't using it, you can set the path explicitly in config.yaml:

smartctl_path: /usr/local/bin/smartctl

No drives detected

Run smartha-agent --discover to see what the agent finds. If it shows drives but the running agent doesn't, the config may not have the device_overrides entries. Check /etc/smartha-agent/config.yaml (or the install path shown during setup).

Drives show as UNSUPPORTED

This usually means the agent is querying with the wrong protocol. Synology drives need SAT. Run --discover and let it write the config, or add the overrides manually:

device_overrides:
  - device: /dev/sata1
    protocol: sat
  - device: /dev/sata2
    protocol: sat

Example config

A typical Synology config.yaml:

port: 9099
scan_interval: 120
device_overrides:
  - device: /dev/sata1
    protocol: sat
  - device: /dev/sata2
    protocol: sat
  - device: /dev/sata3
    protocol: sat
  - device: /dev/sata4
    protocol: sat

Related