Synology NAS - Binary or Docker Agent?

[charles-997]

Description

I am running Bezel and looking to monitor a Synology NAS. For clarity, the Beszel Hub is not running on the Synology.

Is the binary install method or the docker method preferred for Synology? I am not sure if installing on Synology via the CLI will get removed after a reboot as sometimes this occurs when using appliance Linux operating systems.

I generally prefer using the binary install method - but has anyone tested this? Thanks in advance.

OS / Architecture

Docker container running on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS VM running on Proxmox host (hub), Synology DSM 7.2.x (agent)

Beszel version

0.9.1

Installation method

Other (please describe above)

Configuration

No response

Hub Logs

No response

Agent Logs

No response

[LucasJanin]

I installed the Beszel-Agent via Docker on my DS918+, and it's working perfectly.
Unfortunately, my second Synology DS218j (for remote backup) doesn't support Docker.
Any solutions would be welcome. Thanks

[henrygd]

Have you tried clicking the "Binary" tab when adding the system, then copying the Linux install script and running it on the NAS?

Let me know if you have any problems with this.

[LucasJanin]

Thanks for your quick reply.
I installed the binary version on my DS218j, but the connection with Beszel-Hub isn't working.
Here is my installation log with errors:

cat: /etc/os-release: No such file or directory
Warning: Please ensure 'tar' and 'curl' and 'sha256sum (coreutils)' are installed.
Creating a dedicated user for the Beszel Agent service...
./install-agent.sh: line 242: useradd: command not found
./install-agent.sh: line 245: usermod: command not found
Creating the directory for the Beszel Agent...
chown: invalid user: ‘beszel:beszel’
Downloading and installing the agent...
Downloading and installing agent version 0.9.1 from https://github.com ...
################################################################################################################################################################################ 100.0%
chown: invalid user: ‘beszel:beszel’
cat: /etc/os-release: No such file or directory
Creating the systemd service for the agent...

Loading and starting the agent service...
Created symlink from /etc/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants/beszel-agent.service to /etc/systemd/system/beszel-agent.service.

Would you like to enable automatic daily updates for beszel-agent? (y/n): y
Setting up daily automatic updates for beszel-agent...
systemctl: unrecognized option '--now'

Automatic daily updates have been enabled.
Error: The Beszel Agent service is not running.
● beszel-agent.service - Beszel Agent Service
Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/beszel-agent.service; enabled; vendor preset: disabled)
Active: activating (auto-restart) (Result: exit-code) since Tue 2025-02-11 17:22:13 EST; 5s ago
Main PID: 4547 (code=exited, status=217/USER)

Feb 11 17:22:18 MagicBackup systemd[1]: [/etc/systemd/system/beszel-agent.service:14] Unknown lvalue 'StateDirectory' in section 'Service'
Feb 11 17:22:18 MagicBackup systemd[1]: [/etc/systemd/system/beszel-agent.service:17] Unknown lvalue 'KeyringMode' in section 'Service'
Feb 11 17:22:18 MagicBackup systemd[1]: [/etc/systemd/system/beszel-agent.service:18] Unknown lvalue 'LockPersonality' in section 'Service'
Feb 11 17:22:18 MagicBackup systemd[1]: [/etc/systemd/system/beszel-agent.service:21] Unknown lvalue 'ProtectClock' in section 'Service'
Feb 11 17:22:18 MagicBackup systemd[1]: [/etc/systemd/system/beszel-agent.service:23] Unknown lvalue 'ProtectHostname' in section 'Service'
Feb 11 17:22:18 MagicBackup systemd[1]: [/etc/systemd/system/beszel-agent.service:24] Unknown lvalue 'ProtectKernelLogs' in section 'Service'
Feb 11 17:22:18 MagicBackup systemd[1]: [/etc/systemd/system/beszel-agent.service:25] Unknown lvalue 'ProtectKernelTunables' in section 'Service'
Feb 11 17:22:18 MagicBackup systemd[1]: [/etc/systemd/system/beszel-agent.service:26] Failed to parse protect system value, ignoring: strict
Feb 11 17:22:18 MagicBackup systemd[1]: [/etc/systemd/system/beszel-agent.service:27] Unknown lvalue 'RemoveIPC' in section 'Service'
Feb 11 17:22:18 MagicBackup systemd[1]: [/etc/systemd/system/beszel-agent.service:28] Unknown lvalue 'RestrictSUIDSGID' in section 'Service'

[henrygd]

Wow, I didn't realize how weird Synology is. Looks like they've stripped out basic linux commands and replaced them with their own for some reason.

I found a CLI guide (PDF) and it looks like they use synouser to manage users.

So you might be able to create a beszel user with the command below, then rerun the install script to see if it completes.

synouser --add beszel supersecurepassword

Otherwise you can follow the steps for Manual Download and Start to download the agent binary and run as whatever user you want.

Edit: If you're running docker containers then also put the beszel user in the docker group:

synogroup --add docker beszel

[LucasJanin]

FYI, the correct command to create a user on Synology is:
synouser --add beszel supersecurepassword "Beszel" 0 "[email protected]" "users"

I'm not sure if the rerun of the install script worked because I have a Headscale/Tailscale connection issue.
So, I followed the Manual Download and Start instructions, fixed my VPN issue, and now it's working.

The numbers appear accurate, except for the CPU, which may be due to an error in my formula.

Regarding the value of disk usage looks strange 1.19 GB is in Beszel vs 3.9 TB in reality.
But I may need to configure an additional-disks. Let me know

Strangely now the serve is down :-(
beszel-agent: Permission denied

sudo systemctl status beszel-agent.service
● beszel-agent.service - Beszel Agent Service
   Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/beszel-agent.service; enabled; vendor preset: disabled)
   Active: active (running) since Tue 2025-02-11 20:30:44 EST; 41ms ago
 Main PID: 15693 ((el-agent))
   CGroup: /system.slice/beszel-agent.service
           ‣ 15693 [(el-agent)]

Feb 11 20:30:44 MagicBackup systemd[1]: Started Beszel Agent Service.
Feb 11 20:30:44 MagicBackup systemd[1]: Starting Beszel Agent Service...
Feb 11 20:30:44 MagicBackup systemd[15693]: Failed at step EXEC spawning /opt/beszel-agent/beszel-agent: Permission denied
Feb 11 20:30:44 MagicBackup systemd[1]: beszel-agent.service: main process exited, code=exited, status=203/EXEC
Feb 11 20:30:44 MagicBackup systemd[1]: Unit beszel-agent.service entered failed state.
Feb 11 20:30:44 MagicBackup systemd[1]: beszel-agent.service failed.

[henrygd]

Sorry, I must have missed this when you first posted.

Docker is very easy and a good choice if you're already running docker.

The binary agent may have more capabilities in the future since it's not isolated in a container, but for now they should work the same on a Synology NAS.

If either install method has issues specific to Synology, please let me know and I'll try to get it fixed. Both should work fine as far as I'm aware.

[LucasJanin]

Hi @henrygd

I'm sorry for not getting back to you sooner.
This NAS (DS218j) does not support Docker.

Clarification ,the Manual Download and Start isn't using the service, so, normally, the service is down :-)

Because the service wasn't working, I am developing a better workaround using the Synology Task Scheduler.

1. Create a persistent startup script:

cat > /opt/beszel-agent/start_beszel.sh << 'EOF'
#!/bin/sh
# Check if the process is already running
if pgrep -f "beszel-agent -listen" > /dev/null; then
    echo "Beszel Agent is already running."
    exit 0
fi

# Start the agent in the background with nohup so it continues after terminal closes
cd /opt/beszel-agent
nohup ./beszel-agent -listen 45876 -key "XXXXXXXXX" > /opt/beszel-agent/beszel.log 2>&1 &

# Check if startup was successful
sleep 2
if pgrep -f "beszel-agent -listen" > /dev/null; then
    echo "Beszel Agent started successfully."
    exit 0
else
    echo "Failed to start Beszel Agent."
    exit 1
fi
EOF

chmod +x /opt/beszel-agent/start_beszel.sh

2. Configure a scheduled task in DSM:

a. Log in to your Synology's DSM web interface
b. Go to "Control Panel" > "Task Scheduler"
c. Click "Create" > "Scheduled Task" > "User-defined script"
d. Configure as follows:

• Task name: BeszelAgent
• User: root
• Enabled: Yes
• Run command: ⁠/opt/beszel-agent/start_beszel.sh
  e. In the "Schedule" tab:
• Run on boot: Yes
• Repeat daily: Yes (to ensure it restarts if stopped)
  f. Click "OK" to save

4. Run the task manually to test it:

• Select the task you just created
• Click "Run"

cat /opt/beszel-agent/beszel.log

2025/03/24 14:31:53 INFO Detected root device name=md0
2025/03/24 14:31:53 INFO Detected network interface name=eth0 sent=1785133797 recv=3977216076
2025/03/24 14:31:53 INFO Detected network interface name=tailscale0 sent=3647919315 recv=4246092432
2025/03/24 14:31:53 INFO Starting SSH server addr=:45876 network=tcp

The data is present in Beszel 🏆 !!

In the same way, I created a daily task to update Beszel.
Yes, it's not very elegant, but it's working :-).

I will monitor how this configuration supports the DSM update, NAS reboot, and Beszel update as well.

[henrygd]

Interesting, thanks for the details! I made a note to link this in the docs.

[LucasJanin]

Interesting, thanks for the details! I made a note to link this in the docs.

You are welcome. Thanks for developing this fantastic software 😀

For the Synology, ideally, someone with the best knowledge than myself can create a Synology package to do this more reliably.

[yichnal]

@LucasJanin
Thank you !

What are the steps before you install the script ?
I guess :

synouser --add beszel supersecurepassword "Beszel" 0 "[email protected]" "users"
mkdir /opt/beszel-agent

Maybe you can't get rid of the creation of a log file, if the NAS is configured to log everything already (from
https://kb.synology.com/en-af/DSM/help/DSM/AdminCenter/system_taskscheduler?version=7):

To enable script output:
On the Task Scheduler main page, click Settings.
Select Save output results and click Select a folder to specify the destination for saving the output results. You can also click Create Folder to create a new destination folder.
Run the script.
On the Task Scheduler main page, click Action, and select View Results to check the results of the script.

Thank you

[LucasJanin]

Hi @yichnal

What are the steps before you install the script ? I guess :

synouser --add beszel supersecurepassword "Beszel" 0 "[email protected]" "users"
mkdir /opt/beszel-agent

You're right; I forgot to mention it because the folder was created during my normal installation and create the user by hand.

Maybe you can't get rid of the creation of a log file, if the NAS is configured to log everything already (from https://kb.synology.com/en-af/DSM/help/DSM/AdminCenter/system_taskscheduler?version=7):

To enable script output:
On the Task Scheduler main page, click Settings.
Select Save output results and click Select a folder to specify the destination for saving the output results. You can also click Create Folder to create a new destination folder.
Run the script.
On the Task Scheduler main page, click Action, and select View Results to check the results of the script.

Thanks for the advice; I didn't think it was possible!

[luckman212]

So to summarize, what would be the preferred method for installing the Beszel agent on Synology NAS? Should we use Docker, or try to install the binary directly? (edit: for now, I chose the Docker method, seems to work fine on DSM 7.2.2 + DS1621+)

[LucasJanin]

Use Docker if your NAS supports it.
The binary is only necessary when Docker is unavailable.
A Synology package could be developed to simplify the process. Unfortunately, I don’t have the knowledge.