YouTubeDL Material in Container Manager on a Synology NAS

Last updated on 12 March 2024

I am no longer updating this guide as of 12/03/2024 – Use the TubeArchivist guide as it provides the same functionality and has much more active development.

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 – You can also subscribe to 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. We will be using the new Projects (Docker Compose) feature to get this running as it will save you time vs manual setup using the normal UI.

In order for you to successfully use this guide please complete the steps below first.

• Docker, Memory Recommendations and Limitations
  
• Step 1: Directory Setup Guide
• Step 2: Setting up a restricted Docker user
• Step 3: Setting up a Docker Bridge Network

Folder Setup

Let’s start by getting some folders set up for the container to use. Open up File Station create the following.

/docker/projects/youtubedl-compose
/docker/youtubedl

/data/media/youtube
/data/media/youtube/audio
/data/media/youtube/subscriptions
/data/media/youtube/users
/data/media/youtube/video

Container Manager

Next we are going to set up a ‘Project’ in Container Manager. Open up Container Manager and click on Project then on the right-hand side click ‘Create’.

In the next screen we will set up our General Settings, enter the following:

Next we are going to drop in our docker compose configuration, copy all the code in the box below and paste it into line ‘1’ just like the screenshot.

What on earth is a Docker Compose?
Docker Compose allows us to define how Docker should set up one or more containers within a single configuration file. This file is yaml formatted and Container Manager uses the Projects feature to manage them.

services:
  youtubedl-material:
    image: tzahi12345/youtubedl-material:nightly
    container_name: youtubedl-material
    environment:
      - UID=1234 #CHANGE_TO_YOUR_UID
      - GID=65432 #CHANGE_TO_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
    ports:
      - 9998:9998/tcp
    network_mode: synobridge
    security_opt:
      - no-new-privileges:true
    restart: always

Environment Variables

We are now going to amend some key variables to make sure the container has access to our folders and also knows where we are in the world. Any I don’t mention leave as they are.

Once you have made the edits you can click ‘Next’

You do not need to enable anything on the ‘Web portal settings’ screen click ‘Next’ again.

On the final screen click ‘Done’ which will begin the download of the container images and once downloaded they will be launched!

The images will now be downloaded and extracted. You should see ‘Code 0’ when it has finished.

Firewall Exceptions

(Skip if you don’t have the Firewall configured)

If you have enabled and configured the Synology Firewall you will need to create exceptions for any containers that have a Web UI or have any incoming or outgoing connections. This section covers the basics of how to add these. (Please note this is a generic section and will not show the specific ports used in this guide however it applies in the same way)

Also, I would like to refer people to the great guide on getting the Firewall correctly configured over on WunderTechs site.

Head into the Control Panel> Security > Firewall, from here click Edit Rules for the profile you set up when you enabled the Firewall.

Next click on Create and you will see the screen below. Source IP and Action will be automatically selected to All and Allow, I will leave it up to you as to your own preference on whether you want to lock down specific Source IPs from having access. In this example we will leave as All.

You will now choose ‘Custom‘ and then the Custom button

Now select Destination from the drop-down menu, most web based containers require TCP access but check the guide as it will show the port and protocol. Then add comma separated ports. Then press OK.

Click OK a couple of times to get back to the main screen. You will see by default the new rule is added to the bottom of the list. You must always have your Block All rule last in the list as the rules are applied top down so move your container up.

You have now completed the Firewall changes and can continue with the guide.

Container set up finished

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.

I recommend going into the advanced settings and amending the downloader to ‘yt-dlp’ if you have any issues pulling videos.

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