Kimai is a free, open source and online time-tracking software designed for small businesses and freelancers. It is built with modern technologies such as Symfony, Bootstrap, RESTful API, Doctrine, AdminLTE, Webpack, ES6 and many more. In this step by step guide I will show you how to install Kimai on your Synology NAS using Docker and Portainer.

💡Note: This guide works perfectly with the latest Kimai v2.33.0 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 Kimai. After that, add the following instructions:

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

Check Enable HSTS

Destination:
Protocol: HTTP
Hostname: localhost
Port: 9805

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 kimai. 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 kimai folder that you have previously created at STEP 10 and name them data and db. Follow the instructions in the image below.
Note: Be careful to enter only lowercase, not uppercase letters.

STEP 12

Download (click on the blue link below) and upload the my.cnf file below in the db folder that you have previously created at STEP 11. Follow the instructions in the image below. 🔒Note: Support my work to unlock the password. You can use this password to download any file on mariushosting forever!

👉🏻Download my.cnf

STEP 13

Follow my step by step guide on how to activate SMTP for your Gmail account. This step is mandatory. Note: If you don’t want to use the easiest way for SMTP with Google and you already have SMTP details from your own Mail Server, you can just skip this STEP and use your personalized email SMTP details instead.

STEP 14

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 15

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

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

services:
  db:
    image: mariadb:11.4-noble #LTS Long Time Support Until May 29, 2029.
    container_name: Kimai-DB
    volumes:
      - /volume1/docker/kimai/db:/var/lib/mysql:rw
    environment:
      - TZ=Europe/Bucharest
      - MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=rootpass
      - MYSQL_DATABASE=kimai
      - MYSQL_USER=kimaiuser
      - MYSQL_PASSWORD=kimaipass
    healthcheck:
         test: [ "CMD", "healthcheck.sh", "--connect", "--innodb_initialized" ]
    restart: on-failure:25

  kimai:
    image: kimai/kimai2:apache
    container_name: Kimai
    volumes:
      - /volume1/docker/kimai/data:/opt/kimai/var:rw
    ports:
      - 9805:8001
    environment:
      - APP_SECRET=dOxZYTTZgXKMHkqLBIQVImayQXAVWdzGBPuFJKggzcgvgPJPXpWzqzKaUOIOGGIr
      - NODE_ENV=prod
      - DATABASE_URL=mysql://kimaiuser:kimaipass@db/kimai?charset=utf8&serverVersion=11.4.6
      - ADMINMAIL=yourown@email
      - ADMINPASS=mariushosting
      - MAILER_FROM=yourownGmailaddress
      - MAILER_URL=smtp://yourownGmailaddress:appassword@smtp.gmail.com:587?encryption=tls&auth_mode=plain
    restart: on-failure:5

Note: Before you paste the code above in the Web editor area below, change the value for TZ. (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_SECRET. (Generate your own Random 64 length APP_SECRET.)
Note: Before you paste the code above in the Web editor area below, change the value for ADMINMAIL and type in your own email. You will need this email later at STEP 20.
Note: Before you paste the code above in the Web editor area below, change the value for ADMINPASS and type in your own password. You will need this password later at STEP 20. Note: Do NOT use special characters for password.
Note: On the MAILER_URL area, type in your own Gmail address. STEP 13.
Note: On the MAILER_URL area, type in your own Gmail App Password. STEP 13.

STEP 16

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 17

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

STEP 18

🟢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 19

Your Kimai instance will be orange with the Unhealthy State. The State will turn Healthy in approximately 5-10 minutes which is how long the Kimai installations takes. Refresh the browser page from time to time until you see the State turn green.

STEP 20

Now open your browser and type in your HTTPS/SSL certificate like this https://kimai.yourname.synology.me that you have previously created at STEP 6. In my case it’s https://kimai.mariushosting.synology.me If everything goes right, you will see the main Kimai login page. Type in your own Username and Password that you have previously created at STEP 14. Click Log in. Follow the instructions in the image below.

STEP 20

Click Next. Follow the instructions in the image below.

STEP 21

Choose your Language, Time, Timezone and Theme then click Next. Follow the instructions in the image below.

STEP 22

Click Next. Follow the instructions in the image below.

STEP 23

Your Kimai Dashboard at a glance!

Enjoy Kimai – Time Tracking Dashboard!

🆘TROUBLESHOOTING

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

This post was updated on Monday / May 5th, 2025 at 2:17 PM

How to Install Kimai on Your Synology NAS

💡Note: This guide works perfectly with the latest Kimai v2.33.0 release.

STEP 1

STEP 2

STEP 3

STEP 4

STEP 5

STEP 6

STEP 7

STEP 8

STEP 9

STEP 10

STEP 11

STEP 12

👉🏻Download my.cnf

STEP 13

STEP 14

STEP 15

STEP 16

STEP 17

STEP 18

STEP 19

STEP 20

STEP 20

STEP 21

STEP 22

STEP 23

🆘TROUBLESHOOTING

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