Invidious is a free and open-source alternative frontend to YouTube. It is available as a Docker container, or from the GitHub master branch. It is intended to be used as a lightweight and privacy-respecting alternative to the official YouTube website. One of the best things about Invidious is that you can watch YouTube videos without ADS. In this step by step guide I will show you how to install Invidious on your Synology NAS using Docker and Portainer. If you are looking for something faster and better than Invidious, check out my guide on How to Install Piped on Your Synology NAS.

💡Note: This guide works perfectly with the latest Invidious v2.2025-09-13 release.

💡Note: Check out my new guide on how to Install Invidious with Materialious UI.

• 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 Invidious. After that, add the following instructions:

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

Check Enable HSTS

Destination:
Protocol: HTTP
Hostname: localhost
Port: 7601

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

• STEP 11

Log into Portainer using your username and password. On the left sidebar in Portainer, click on Home then Live connect. Follow the instructions in the image below.

On the left sidebar in Portainer, click on Stacks then + Add stack. Follow the instructions in the image below.

• STEP 12

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

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

services:
  invidious-db:
    image: postgres:17
    container_name: Invidious-DB
    hostname: invidious-db
    security_opt:
      - no-new-privileges:true
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "pg_isready", "-q", "-d", "invidious", "-U", "kemal"]
      timeout: 45s
      interval: 10s
      retries: 10
    volumes:
      - /volume1/docker/invidiousdb:/var/lib/postgresql/data:rw
    environment:
      POSTGRES_DB: invidious
      POSTGRES_USER: kemal
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: kemalpw
    restart: on-failure:5

  invidious:
    image: quay.io/invidious/invidious:master
    container_name: Invidious
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "nc -z 127.0.0.1 3000 || exit 1"]
      interval: 10s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 3
      start_period: 90s
    hostname: invidious
    user: 1026:100
    security_opt:
      - no-new-privileges:true
    ports:
      - 7601:3000
    environment:
      INVIDIOUS_CONFIG: |
        db:
          dbname: invidious
          user: kemal
          password: kemalpw
          host: invidious-db
          port: 5432
        check_tables: true
        captcha_enabled: false
        default_user_preferences:
          locale: ro
          region: RO
        external_port: 443
        signature_server: inv_sig_helper:12999
        domain: invidious.yourname.synology.me
        hmac_key: e8b09fcc0882e8b646beab0135027f748c39f27acb142b339a9b199acd3b0a2b
        https_only: true
    restart: on-failure:5
    depends_on:
      invidious-db:
        condition: service_started
      inv_sig_helper:
        condition: service_started
        
  inv_sig_helper:
    image: quay.io/invidious/inv-sig-helper:latest
    container_name: Invidious_SIG_HELPER
    init: true
    command: ["--tcp", "0.0.0.0:12999"]
    environment:
      - RUST_LOG=info
    restart: on-failure:5
    cap_drop:
      - ALL
    read_only: true
    security_opt:
      - no-new-privileges:true

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.
Note: Before you paste the code above in the Web editor area below, change the value for locale and region. ro and RO are abbreviations for Romania. You should use your own locale and region abbreviations. For example, for the United States you should use locale: us region: US.
Note: Before you paste the code above in the Web editor area below, change the value for domain. Type in your own synology.me DDNS that you have previously created at STEP 6.
Note: Before you paste the code above in the Web editor area below, change the value for hmac_key. Generate your free hmac key using IT-TOOLS. Check out my screenshot to get an idea.

• STEP 13

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 14

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

• STEP 15

🟢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 16

Now open your browser and type in your HTTPS/SSL certificate like this https://invidious.yourname.synology.me In my case it’s https://invidious.mariushosting.synology.me If everything goes right, you will see the Invidious main page. Search for something then switch to Dark Mode. Follow the instructions in the image below.

• STEP 17

You can view your favorite video!

• STEP 18

You can change multiple settings by clicking the gear icon at the top right of the page. ⚠️Warning: Select Preferred video quality HD720 if you struggle to play video with the standard settings. Follow the instructions in the image below.

Enjoy Invidious!

Note: Find out how to update the Invidious container with the latest image.
Note: How to Back Up Docker Containers on your Synology NAS.
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 / September 20th, 2025 at 6:37 AM