Paperless-ngx is a document management system that transforms your physical documents into a searchable online archive so you can keep, well, less paper. After my article on How to Install Paperless NGX on Your Synology NAS, many people have contacted me asking for an even more comprehensive guide so that office files such as .docx could also be uploaded. In this step by step guide I will show you how to install Paperless-ngx with Office files support on your Synology NAS using Docker & Portainer.

💡Note: This guide works perfectly with the latest Paperless-ngx 1.17.4 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 Paperless-NGX. After that, add the following instructions:

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

Check Enable HSTS

Destination:
Protocol: HTTP
Hostname: localhost
Port: 8777

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

• STEP 11

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

• STEP 12

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 13

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

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

version: "3.9"
services:
  redis:
    image: redis
    container_name: PaperlessNGX-REDIS
    restart: on-failure:5
    volumes:
      - /volume1/docker/paperlessngx/redis:/data:rw

  db:
    image: postgres
    container_name: PaperlessNGX-DB
    restart: on-failure:5
    volumes:
      - /volume1/docker/paperlessngx/db:/var/lib/postgresql/data:rw
    environment:
      POSTGRES_DB: paperless
      POSTGRES_USER: paperless
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: paperless

  webserver:
    image: ghcr.io/paperless-ngx/paperless-ngx
    container_name: PaperlessNGX
    restart: on-failure:5
    depends_on:
      - db
      - redis
      - gotenberg
      - tika
    ports:
      - 8777:8000
    volumes:
      - /volume1/docker/paperlessngx/data:/usr/src/paperless/data
      - /volume1/docker/paperlessngx/media:/usr/src/paperless/media
      - /volume1/docker/paperlessngx/export:/usr/src/paperless/export
      - /volume1/docker/paperlessngx/consume:/usr/src/paperless/consume
    environment:
      PAPERLESS_REDIS: redis://redis:6379
      PAPERLESS_DBHOST: db
      USERMAP_UID: 1026
      USERMAP_GID: 100
      PAPERLESS_TIME_ZONE: Europe/Bucharest
      PAPERLESS_ADMIN_USER: marius
      PAPERLESS_ADMIN_PASSWORD: mariushosting
      PAPERLESS_URL: https://paperlessngx.yourname.synology.me
      PAPERLESS_CSRF_TRUSTED_ORIGINS: https://paperlessngx.yourname.synology.me
      PAPERLESS_OCR_LANGUAGE: deu+eng
      PAPERLESS_TIKA_ENABLED: 1
      PAPERLESS_TIKA_GOTENBERG_ENDPOINT: http://gotenberg:3000/forms/libreoffice/convert#
      PAPERLESS_TIKA_ENDPOINT: http://tika:9998

  gotenberg:
    image: gotenberg/gotenberg
    restart: on-failure:5
    container_name: PaperlessNGX-GOTENBERG
    ports:
      - 3000:3000
    command:
      - "gotenberg"
      - "--chromium-disable-routes=true"
  
  tika:
    image: ghcr.io/paperless-ngx/tika
    container_name: PaperlessNGX-TIKA
    ports:
      - 9998:9998
    restart: always

Note: Before you paste the code above in the Web editor area, change the values for USERMAP_UID and USERMAP_GID with your own number values. (Follow my step by step guide on how to do this.)
Note: Before you paste the code above in the Web editor area, change the value for PAPERLESS_TIME_ZONE with your own time zone value. (Select your current Time Zone from this list.)
Note: Before you paste the code above in the Web editor area, change the value for PAPERLESS_ADMIN_USER and add your own username. marius is an example of a username. You have to insert your own username.
Note: Before you paste the code above in the Web editor area, change the value for PAPERLESS_ADMIN_PASSWORD and add your own password. mariushosting is an example of a password. You have to insert your own password.
Note: Before you paste the code above in the Web editor area below, change the value for PAPERLESS_URL and type in your own synology.me DDNS with https:// at the beginning 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 PAPERLESS_CSRF_TRUSTED_ORIGINS and type in your own synology.me DDNS with https:// at the beginning that you have previously created at STEP 6.

• STEP 14

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.

⌛Now just wait because the Paperless NGX image is about 3.5GB.

• STEP 15

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

• STEP 16

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

• STEP 17

Now open your browser and type in your HTTPS/SSL certificate like this https://paperlessngx.yourname.synology.me that you have previously created at STEP 6. In my case it’s https://paperlessngx.mariushosting.synology.me If everything goes right, you will see the Paperless-NGX Login page. Type in your own admin Username and Password that you have previously created at STEP 13 then click Sign in. Follow the instructions in the image below. ⚠️Warning: if you get an error message that says Username and/or password incorrect, this means your NAS is slow and didn’t create the superadmin user. You need to wait 2-3 minutes longer and try to log in again. Don’t rush to change the password or reinstall everything from scratch, just wait.

• STEP 18

Start uploading your documents now with Office files support!

Enjoy Paperless-ngx with Office files support!

You can also enable Dark Mode and change the Sidebar Color Theme. On the left sidebar click on Settings then follow the instructions below.

Uncheck Use system settings
Check Enable dark mode.
Uncheck Invert thumbnails in dark mode.
Change your Theme Color then click Save. Follow the instructions in the image below.

🆘TROUBLESHOOTING

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

🔥Troubleshoot: If you get the “Error while converting document to PDF: 503 Server Error: Service Unavailable for url: http://gotenberg:3000/forms/libreoffice/convert” – This is usually due to the server being “down” for scheduled maintenance or due to a heavy traffic load that prevents it from properly serving all incoming requests. You need to wait until the server is back up again.

💡Suggestion: You can also install Stirling-PDF to better manage your documents.
💡Suggestion: You can also install DocuSeal that provides secure and efficient digital document signing and processing.

Note: Can I run Docker on my Synology NAS? See the supported models.
Note: Find out how to update the Paperless-ngx 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.

This post was updated on Sunday / September 17th, 2023 at 1:24 PM