How to Install Monica on Your Synology NAS

Monica is an open-source web application to organize and record your interactions with your loved ones. We call it a PRM, or Personal Relationship Management. Think of it as a CRM (a popular tool used by sales teams in the corporate world) for your friends or family. Monica allows people to keep track of everything that’s important about their friends and family. Like the activities with them. When you last called someone and what you talked about. It will help you remember the name and the age of their kids. It can also remind you to call someone you haven’t talked to in a while. In this step by step guide I will show you how to install Monica on your Synology NAS using Docker & Portainer.

Note: This guide works perfectly with the latest Monica 3.7.0 release.

STEP 1

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STEP 2

Install Docker via Synology “Package Center”.

STEP 3

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 4

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

STEP 5

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 6

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

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

version: "3.4"
services:
  app:
    image: monica
    container_name: Monica
    depends_on:
      - db
    ports:
      - 4166:80
    environment:
      - DB_HOST=db
      - DB_USERNAME=monica
      - DB_PASSWORD=secret
    volumes:
      - /volume1/docker/monica:/var/www/html/storage
    restart: always

  db:
    image: mysql
    container_name: Monica-DB
    environment:
      - MYSQL_RANDOM_ROOT_PASSWORD=true
      - MYSQL_DATABASE=monica
      - MYSQL_USER=monica
      - MYSQL_PASSWORD=secret
    volumes:
      - /volume1/docker/monicadb:/var/lib/mysql
    restart: always

STEP 7

Scroll down on the page until you see a button called 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 8

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

STEP 9

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

STEP 10

The installation process can take up to a few seconds/minutes. Please wait approximately 10 minutes or you will get a blank page if you try to connect too soon. Now open your browser and type in http://Synology-ip-address:4166 Follow the instructions in the image below. Add your own email, and your First and Last name. Choose a password, Check the box to agree to the Terms of use, then click Register.