Update | Date |
---|---|
New guide published | 05/03/2022 |
Small amendment made to the environment variables to specify the use of a local database | 10/05/2022 |
Updated with DSM7.1 Steps and Screenshots | 23/06/2022 |
Changes to ‘latest’ image and update steps | 09/07/2022 |
Added new port settings and Docker Bridge Network | 23/07/2022 |
What is YouTubeDL Material?
YouTubeDL Material is nice web front end for YoutubeDL, This is a tool that is used to download video from YouTube and many other sites. This is useful for if you want copies of videos to watch locally offline or if you like to hoard entire channels!
Let’s Begin
In this guide I am going to take you through the steps to get YoutubeDL Material up and running in Docker on your Synology NAS
In order for you to successfully use this guide please complete the two steps below first.
Downloading the Container
Open up Docker within DSM and navigate to the ‘Registry’ tab and search for ‘tzahi12345’ in the keyword box.

Within the results right click and download the top result ‘, When it asks which version number to download select ‘latest’ as this has the most recent updates for this container.

Setting up the container
Now we have downloaded the image and got hold of our user IDs we can move onto the next stage.
Go back into Docker and click on the ‘Image’ tab, in the list of your containers select the image, and click on ‘Launch’

The first screen will ask how you want to set up the Docker network, we are going to use the ‘bridge’ network allowing us to amend ports later.

General Settings
Next you will be greeted with the General Settings screen, this is where you can start specifying some of your preferences.
You can change the name of the container to anything you like, and you may want to enable Auto Restart as this will ensure the container starts automatically if you reboot your NAS.
You will also notice a Configure capabilities button — don’t change anything in here!

Next up we are going to click on the ‘Advanced Settings’ button, this will take you to a new window with a number of tabs which we are going to work through.
Environment
Next we are going to set up a couple of environment variables that docker will use to allow the container access to our files and folders.
Click the Add button, and fill in the following details as per the table/screenshot, you will need to do one at a time.
Variable | Value |
---|---|
UID | The UID you obtained in the user setup guide |
GID | The GID you obtained in the user setup guide |
USER | youtube |
ytdl_default_downloader | yt-dlp |
ytdl_use_local_db | true |
write_ytdl_config | true |
ytdl_port | 9998 |

Links/Execution Commands
You do not need to set up anything on these tabs.
Press ‘Save’ to go back to the initial setup screen, then press ‘Next’
Port Settings
On this screen we are going to specify port 8889 to access YouTubeDL, this is in line with the Environment Variable set earlier. You only need to set the Local Port don’t change the Container Port. When done click Next.

Volume Settings
Where you store your downloaded videos can be changed based on your own preferences, I am basing this guide on the overall media setup and folder structure from our other guides.
Create a ‘youtube’ folder in /data/media and then add 4 subfolders
- audio
- subscriptions
- users
- video

We can now move onto the volume tab in which we will be specifying the directories where YoutubeDL will store its configuration files and where the video downloads will be stored.
Click on Add Folder, click on the ‘docker’ share and create a new sub-folder called ‘youtubedl’ click on this folder and click ‘select’

We now need to repeat this process adding the folders below one at a time. Your path settings should look like the table/screenshot below.
File/Folder | Mount path |
---|---|
/docker/youtubedl | /app/appdata |
/data/media/youtube/subscriptions | /app/subscriptions |
/data/media/youtube/users | /app/users |
/data/media/youtube/audio | /app/audio |
/data/media/youtube/video | /app/video |

Click Next to move to the final screen.
Summary
You have now completed the setup of the container.
You will be shown an overall summary of the settings we have specified, this is a good time to double-check everything is correct. Finally, click on Done and the container should start to boot.

You should now be able to access the web interface via the IP of your NAS followed by the port 9998
e.g. 192.168.0.40:9998

You can use the main screen to download individual videos by pasting the URL and selecting the quality, or if you want to add subscriptions to specific channels use the menu on the left.
Docker Compose
You can use the below code saved as youtubedl.yml in the ‘/docker/youtubedl’ share to do a much quicker setup than via the Synology UI. Not only that, but you will need to set up the folders as per the Volumes/Mounts section first. Ensure you change the variables to your own.
version: "3.8"
services:
youtubedl-material:
image: tzahi12345/youtubedl-material:latest
container_name: youtubedl-material
environment:
- UID=YOUR_UID
- GID=YOUR_GID
- USER=youtube
- ytdl_default_downloader=yt-dlp
- ytdl_use_local_db=true
- ytdl_port=9998
- write_ytdl_config=true
volumes:
- /volume1/data/media/youtube/users:/app/users:rw
- /volume1/data/media/youtube/subscriptions:/app/subscriptions:rw
- /volume1/data/media/youtube/audio:/app/audio:rw
- /volume1/data/media/youtube/video:/app/video:rw
- /volume1/docker/youtubedl:/app/appdata:rw
network_mode: synobridge
ports:
- 9998:9998/tcp
restart: unless-stopped
sudo docker-compose -f /volume1/docker/youtubedl/youtubedl.yml up -d
Throw me some bits or buy me a coffee?
If you have found my site useful please consider pinging me a tip as it helps cover the cost of running the site, you can even buy me a coffee 🙂
![]() | ![]() | ![]() |
2022-04-02T18:51:48.864Z INFO: Cannot find config file. Creating one with default values…
2022-04-02T18:51:48.897Z INFO: Beginning migration: 4.1->4.2+
2022-04-02T18:51:48.906Z ERROR: EACCES: permission denied, scandir ‘audio/’
2022-04-02T18:51:48.906Z ERROR: Migration failed: 4.1->4.2+
2022-04-02T18:51:48.907Z INFO: Beginning migration: 4.2->4.3+
2022-04-02T18:51:48.918Z INFO: 4.2->4.3+ migration complete!
2022-04-02T18:51:49.293Z INFO: Found new update for youtube-dl. Updating binary…
2022-04-02T18:51:50.763Z INFO: YoutubeDL-Material v4.2 started on PORT 17442
2022-04-02T19:00:26.259Z ERROR: ERROR: Cannot write metadata to JSON file video/CNCF Kubernetes and Cloud Native Associate Certification Course (KCNA) – Pass the Exam!.info.json
I setup the mounts as per your guide
Hey, it looks like it is failing to get permission to write to your folders, double check you set the UID and GID correctly as it can be easy to put them the wrong way around.
Yes they are set correctly. These are the detail I got and I set the uid and gid details the same.
uid=1026(gblades) gid=100(users) groups=100(users),101(administrators)
I have a calibre server running as the same user without issues. The only difference is the YouTube docker image is set to access a volume outside of /docker but I can’t imagine that would be an issue
Sorry I completely missed your reply, make sure the user has write permissions. If that fails try deleting the YouTubedl image and re downloading it just in case there is an issue with it.
I’m using NASInternal/Media/youtube/audio as one of the paths as an example. No spaces in any names. I don’t think capitals would be an issue but I remember reading something about it. Probably just to avoid issues with case sensitivity in Linux compared to windows.
I’ll have a play and setup new file paths to see if I can get it working on Monday. Thanks
To solve your problem, don’t use any path outside docker directory.