Personal Drive is a self-hosted alternative to Google Drive and Dropbox, empowering you to keep your data secure and under your control. Host your files on your own server for maximum privacy. Share files with password protection, expiration dates, and custom URLs, while managing shares through a convenient control panel to pause or delete them. Enjoy a built-in media player to view images, play videos, and preview text or PDF files, complete with slideshow functionality and keyboard shortcuts. Files are indexed with dynamically generated thumbnails, and you can upload multiple files or entire folders recursively. Select, download, delete, or share files individually or in bulk, with options to sort by size, type, or name across list or tile view layouts. Navigate effortlessly with breadcrumb navigation, rename files, and use drag-and-drop for uploads, with duplicate detection and overwrite or abort options. Edit text files directly and create new files with ease, all within a fast, user-friendly interface designed for efficient file management. In this step by step guide I will show you how to install Personal Drive on your Synology NAS using Docker & Portainer.

💡Note: This guide works perfectly with the latest Personal Drive v1.0 release.

• STEP 1

Please Support My work by Making a Donation.

• STEP 2

Install Portainer using my step by step guide. If you already have Portainer installed on your Synology NAS, skip this STEP. Attention: Make sure you have installed the latest Portainer version.

• STEP 3

Make sure you have a synology.me Wildcard Certificate. Follow my guide to get a Wildcard Certificate. If you already have a synology.me Wildcard certificate, skip this STEP.

• STEP 4

Go to Control Panel / Login Portal / Advanced Tab / click Reverse Proxy. Follow the instructions in the image below.

• STEP 5

Now click the “Create” button. Follow the instructions in the image below.

• STEP 6

After you click the Create button, the window below will open. Follow the instructions in the image below.

On the General area, set the Reverse Proxy Name description: type in Personal-Drive. After that, add the following instructions:

Source:
Protocol: HTTPS
Hostname: personaldrive.yourname.synology.me
Port: 443

Check Enable HSTS

Destination:
Protocol: HTTP
Hostname: localhost
Port: 8665

• STEP 7

On the Reverse Proxy Rules, click the Custom Header tab. Click Create and then, from the drop-down menu, click WebSocket. After you click on WebSocket, two Header Names and two Values will be automatically added. Click Save. Follow the instructions in the image below.

• STEP 8

Go to Control Panel / Network / Connectivity tab/ Check Enable HTTP/2 then click Apply. Follow the instructions in the image below.

• STEP 9

Go to Control Panel / Security / Advanced tab/ Check Enable HTTP Compression then click Apply. Follow the instructions in the image below.

• STEP 10

Go to File Station and open the docker folder. Inside the docker folder, create one new folder and name it personaldrive. Follow the instructions in the image below.
Note: Be careful to enter only lowercase, not uppercase letters.

• STEP 11

Now create two new folders inside the personaldrive folder that you have previously created at STEP 10 and name them db and storage. Follow the instructions in the image below.
Note: Be careful to enter only lowercase, not uppercase letters.

• STEP 12

Log into Portainer using your username and password. On the left sidebar in Portainer, click on Stacks then + Add stack. Follow the instructions in the image below.

• STEP 13

In the Name field type in personaldrive. Follow the instructions in the image below.

Note: Copy Paste the code below in the Portainer Stacks Web editor.

services:
 personaldrive:
  image: docker.io/personaldrive/personaldrive
  container_name: Personal-DRIVE
  healthcheck:
      test: timeout 10s bash -c ':> /dev/tcp/127.0.0.1/80' || exit 1
      interval: 10s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 3
      start_period: 90s  
  ports:
    - 8665:80
  volumes:
    - /volume1/docker/personaldrive/db:/var/www/html/personal-drive/database/db:rw
    - /volume1/docker/personaldrive/storage:/var/www/html/personal-drive-storage-folder:rw
  environment:
     APP_TIMEZONE: Europe/Bucharest
     APP_URL: https://personaldrive.yourname.synology.me
     DISABLE_HTTPS: false
  restart: on-failure:5

Note: Before you paste the code above in the Web editor area below, change the value for APP_TIMEZONE. (Select your current Time Zone from this list.)
Note: Before you paste the code above in the Web editor area below, change the value for APP_URL and type in your own synology.me DDNS with https:// at the beginning that you have previously created at STEP 6.

• STEP 14

Scroll down on the page until you see a button named Deploy the stack. Click on it. Follow the instructions in the image below. The installation process can take up to a few minutes. It will depend on your Internet speed connection.

• STEP 15

If everything goes right, you will see this message at the top right of your screen: “Success Stack successfully deployed“.

• STEP 16

🟢Please Support My work by Making a Donation. Almost 99,9% of the people that install something using my guides forget to support my work, or just ignore STEP 1. I’ve been very honest about this aspect of my work since the beginning: I don’t run any ADS, I don’t require subscriptions, paid or otherwise, I don’t collect IPs, emails, and I don’t have any referral links from Amazon or other merchants. I also don’t have any POP-UPs or COOKIES. I have repeatedly been told over the years how much I have contributed to the community. It’s something I love doing and have been honest about my passion since the beginning. But I also Need The Community to Support me Back to be able to continue doing this work.

• STEP 17

Now open your browser and type in your HTTPS/SSL certificate https://personaldrive.yourname.synology.me in my case https://personaldrive.mariushosting.synology.me Create your Administrator Account. Type in your own Username and Password then click Create Account. Follow the instructions in the image below.

• STEP 18

Click Set Root Folder. Follow the instructions in the image below.

• STEP 19

At the top right of the page, click New to add your files. After the files are uploaded, you can share them. Follow the instructions in the image below.

• STEP 20

Your Personal Drive app at a glance!

Enjoy Personal Drive!

🆘TROUBLESHOOTING

If you encounter issues by using this container, make sure to check out the Common Docker issues article.

Note: Can I run Docker on my Synology NAS? See the supported models.
Note: How to Back Up Docker Containers on your Synology NAS.
Note: Find out how to update the Personal Drive container with the latest image.
Note: How to Free Disk Space on Your NAS if You Run Docker.
Note: How to Schedule Start & Stop For Docker Containers.
Note: How to Activate Email Notifications.
Note: How to Add Access Control Profile on Your NAS.
Note: How to Change Docker Containers Restart Policy.
Note: How to Use Docker Containers With VPN.
Note: Convert Docker Run Into Docker Compose.
Note: How to Clean Docker.
Note: How to Clean Docker Automatically.
Note: Best Practices When Using Docker and DDNS.
Note: Some Docker Containers Need WebSocket.
Note: Find out the Best NAS Models For Docker.
Note: Activate Gmail SMTP For Docker Containers.

This post was updated on Monday / April 14th, 2025 at 11:31 PM