LeafWiki is a lightweight, self-hosted wiki built as a single Go binary with SQLite and Markdown files stored directly on disk. It offers tree-structured navigation, full-text search, tags, backlinks, a rich Markdown editor with live preview and Mermaid support, and minimal operational overhead, no Node.js, Redis, or external databases required. It’s perfect for personal wikis, engineering docs, and small-team knowledge bases. In this step by step guide I will show you how to install LeafWiki on your Synology NAS using Docker & Portainer.

💡Note: This guide works perfectly with the latest LeafWiki v0.10.2 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

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

• STEP 4

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 5

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

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

services:
  leafwiki:
    image: ghcr.io/perber/leafwiki:latest
    container_name: LeafWiki
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "nc -z 127.0.0.1 8080 || exit 1"]
      interval: 10s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 3
      start_period: 90s
    user: 0:0
    ports:
      - 5289:8080
    environment:
       LEAFWIKI_JWT_SECRET: dOxZYTTZgXKMHkqLBIQVImayQXAVWdzGBPuFJKggzcgvgPJPXpWzqzKaUOIOGGIr
       LEAFWIKI_ADMIN_PASSWORD: mariushosting
       LEAFWIKI_PUBLIC_ACCESS: false #true if you want public access.
       LEAFWIKI_ALLOW_INSECURE: true  #true is Required only for plain HTTP. Type in false if you use Reverse Proxy.
    volumes:
      - /volume1/docker/leafwiki:/app/data:rw
    restart: on-failure:5

Note: Before you paste the code above in the Web editor area below, change the value for LEAFWIKI_JWT_SECRET. (Generate your own Random 64 length LEAFWIKI_JWT_SECRET.)
Note: Before you paste the code above in the Web editor area below, change the value for LEAFWIKI_ADMIN_PASSWORD. Type in your own password. mariushosting is an example for a password. ⚠️Warning: Do NOT use passwords with special characters.

• STEP 6

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 7

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

• STEP 8

🟢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 9

The installation process can take up to a few seconds/minutes. It will depend on your Internet speed connection. Now open your browser and type in http://Synology-ip-address:5289 Type in the default Username which is admin and the LEAFWIKI_ADMIN_PASSWORD that you have previously added at STEP 5. Click Login.

⚠️Warning: the default Username is admin

• STEP 10

Switch the theme to Dark. Click the + icon at the top left of the page to create a new wiki page. Follow the instructions in the image below.

• STEP 11

Give a name to the page and a slug. Click Create & Edit Page. Follow the instructions in the image below.

• STEP 12

Your new page at a glance!

Enjoy LeafWiki!

🆘TROUBLESHOOTING

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

Note: If you want to run the LeafWiki container over HTTPS, check How to Run Docker Containers Over HTTPS. In order to make LeafWiki work via HTTPS/INTERNET, it’s mandatory to activate WebSocket.

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 LeafWiki 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.