Update HA docker container

So I installed Home Assistant on a Synology NAS, using the official instructions. Now, one of my HACS Integrations started complaining about an update, but it required a newer version of Home Assistant, which I was not receiving. After a long search I figured out that using the ‘stable’ tag would not give me any updates for Home Assistant. I would have to use ‘latest’…
Unfortunately, you cannot change this in the downloaded docker Image.

So, what to do? My system was running for a month and I did not want to lose my config and history/data. Simple solution; I downloaded a new Image with the correct settings and pointed a new Container to the same /config folder on my NAS.

Since the instructions on the Home Assistant website were not quite correct for my version of Synology DSM 7.2.2-72806 Update 3, below the updated steps:

Install Home Assistant Container

Synology NAS

Synology with DSM now supports container management through the Container Manager package, allowing you to install Home Assistant without the need for command-line. For details about the package (including compatibility-information, if your NAS is supported), see https://www.synology.com/en-us/dsm/packages/ContainerManager
The steps would be:

  • (If needed, first install Docker “Container Manager” package on your Synology NAS)
  • Launch Container Manager-app and move to “Registry”-section
  • Find “homeassistant/home-assistant” within registry and click on “Download”.
    Choose the “latest” tag (…and not ‘stable’ as documented, see my comment above)
  • Wait for some time until your NAS has pulled the image
  • Move to the “Image”-section of the “Container Manager”-app
  • If you are changing from the ‘stable’ Image to the ‘latest’ Image like me, then first STOP your running ‘stable’ container
  • Move to the “Image”-section of the “Container Manager”-app; Select your ‘latest’ Image
  • Click on “RUN”
  • Choose a container-name you want (e.g., “home-assistant”)
  • SET resource limitation -> CPU priority: xxxx, Memory Limit: xxxx MB
  • Set “Enable auto-restart” (if you like)
  • Click Next
  • Port Settings -> Local port: 8123, Container Port: 8123, TCP (I am actually unsure if this step is needed since you select ‘Use same network as Docker Host’ later?)
  • Within “Volume Settings” click on “Add Folder” and choose either an existing folder or add a new folder (e.g. in “docker” shared folder, add new folder named “homeassistant” and then within that new folder add another new folder “config”), then click Select. Then edit the “mount path” to be “/config”. This configures where Home Assistant will store configs and logs.
    * HERE I SIMPLY POINTED TO MY ALREADY EXISTING FOLDER WITH CONFIG AND DATA.
  • To ensure that Home Assistant displays the correct timezone, under “Environment”, click the ‘Add’ button and add variable = TZ & value = Europe/Amsterdam choosing your correct timezone.
  • Under “Network” select “host” (“Use same network as Docker Host”)
  • Click Next
  • Ensure “Run this container after the wizard is finished” is checked and click Done

Your Home Assistant within Docker should now run and will serve the web interface from port 8123 on your Docker host (this will be your Synology NAS IP address – for example http://192.168.1.10:8123)

If you are using the built-in firewall, you must also add the port 8123 to allowed list. This can be found in “Control Panel -> Security” and then the Firewall tab. Click “Edit Rules” besides the Firewall Profile dropdown box. Create a new rule and select “Custom” for Ports and add 8123. Edit Source IP if you like or leave it at default “All”. Action should stay at “Allow”.

That’s all folks!
Have a nice day…