Castopod is a free and open-source podcast hosting solution made for podcasters who want to engage and interact with their audience. In this step by step guide I will show you how to install Castopod on your Synology NAS using Docker and Portainer.

💡Note: This guide works perfectly with the latest Castopod v1.3.5 release.

• STEP 1

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• 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 Castopod. After that, add the following instructions:

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

Check Enable HSTS

Destination:
Protocol: HTTP
Hostname: localhost
Port: 8848

• 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 castopod. Follow the instructions in the image below.
Note: Be careful to enter only lowercase, not uppercase letters.

• STEP 11

Now create five new folders inside the castopod folder that you created at STEP 10 and name them app, db, media, redis, web. Follow the instructions in the image below.
Note: Be careful to enter only lowercase, not uppercase letters.

• STEP 13

Right click on the castopod folder that you have previously created at STEP 10 then click Properties. Follow the instructions in the image below.

• STEP 14

Go to the Permission tab then click Advanced options. From the drop-down menu choose “Make inherited permissions explicit“. Follow the instructions in the image below.

• STEP 15

Select Everyone then click the Edit tab. Follow the instructions in the image below.

• STEP 16

Check all Read and Write Permissions. Click Done. Follow the instructions in the image below.

• STEP 17

After you click Done on STEP 16, check “Apply to this folder, sub-folders and files“. Click Save. Follow the instructions in the image below.

• STEP 18

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 19

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

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

version: "3.9"

services:
  app:
    image: castopod/app:latest
    container_name: Castopod-APP
    volumes:
      - /volume1/docker/castopod/app:/opt/castopod/public/media
    environment:
      MYSQL_DATABASE: castopod
      MYSQL_USER: castopod
      MYSQL_PASSWORD: changeme
      CP_BASEURL: https://castopod.mariushosting.synology.me
      CP_ANALYTICS_SALT: changeme
      CP_CACHE_HANDLER: redis
      CP_REDIS_HOST: redis
    networks:
      - castopod-app
      - castopod-db
    restart: always

  web-server:
    image: castopod/web-server:latest
    container_name: Castopod-WEB-SERVER
    volumes:
      - /volume1/docker/castopod/web:/var/www/html/media
    networks:
      - castopod-app
    ports:
      - 8848:80
    restart: unless-stopped

  mariadb:
    image: mariadb
    container_name: Castopod-DB
    networks:
      - castopod-db
    volumes:
      - /volume1/docker/castopod/db:/var/lib/mysql
    user: 1026:100
    environment:
      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: changeme
      MYSQL_DATABASE: castopod
      MYSQL_USER: castopod
      MYSQL_PASSWORD: changeme
    restart: always

  redis:
    image: redis
    container_name: Castopod-REDIS
    volumes:
      - /volume1/docker/castopod/redis:/data
    user: 1026:100
    networks:
      - castopod-app
  video-clipper:
    image: castopod/video-clipper:latest
    container_name: Castopod-VIDEO
    volumes:
      - /volume1/docker/castopod/media:/opt/castopod/public/media
    environment:
      MYSQL_DATABASE: castopod
      MYSQL_USER: castopod
      MYSQL_PASSWORD: changeme
    networks:
      - castopod-db
    restart: always

networks:
  castopod-app:
  castopod-db:

Note: Before you paste the code above in the Web editor area below, change the value numbers for user with your own UID and GID values. (Follow my step by step guide on how to do this.) 1026 is my personal UID value and 100 is my personal GID value. You have to type in your own values.

• STEP 20

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 21

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

• STEP 22

Go back to STEP 1 or you will deal with karma 🙂.

• STEP 23

Now open your browser and type in your HTTPS/SSL certificate like this https://castopod.yourname.synology.me/cp-install In my case it’s https://castopod.mariushosting.synology.me/cp-install If everything goes right, you will see the Castopod installation page. Type in your own Username, Email and Password then click Finish install. Follow the instructions in the image below. Note: If you forget to add /cp-install after your synology.me DDNS, you will get an error message.

• STEP 24

Type in your own Email Address and Password that you have previously created at STEP 23. Click Login. Follow the instructions in the image below.

• STEP 25

You will be automatically redirected to the Castopod Admin dashboard.

• STEP 26

On the left sidebar you can create your first podcast. Click New podcast. Follow the instructions in the image below.

• STEP 27

Remember that everytime you need to access the admin dashboard, you will find it at https://castopod.yourname.synology.me/cp-admin Note: If you forget to add /cp-admin after your synology.me DDNS, you will get a page without the possibility to log in as admin.

🔥Troubleshooting: Make sure RULE 5 and RULE 6 is correctly applied on your Synology NAS Firewall configuration.

Note: Find out how to update the Castopod container with the latest image.
Note: Can I run Docker on my Synology NAS? See the supported models.
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 Saturday / May 20th, 2023 at 4:19 PM