How to Connect Kodi to Your Synology NAS DSM (DiskStation Manager)

Having a NAS to store files is great, but having a NAS as a media server is awesome. If one of your purposes to have bought a Synology NAS was to have it as a media server, then having Kodi in your PC/Mac/Fire TV is a must. By now you probably know that your Synology NAS gives you an option to install Plex in the NAS itself, however Plex cannot play everything, unlike Kodi.

[topads][/topads]

The best way to connect your Kodi installation to your Synology NAS is via NFS (Network File Sharing). Below I will show you how to quickly enable this option in your Synology DSM (DiskStation Manager) and then how to add your NAS shared folder as a video source in Kodi.

Note: If you prefer video, you can follow along in my video tutorial.

For those wondering
This is the Synology NAS that I have: DS216Play
And this is the NAS hard drive: HGST Desktar NAS 5TB

Enable NFS

  1. Open Control Panel
  2. Click File Services
  3. Scroll down and tick Enable NFS
  4. Click Apply button

Create NFS Rule

  1. Click Shared Folder
  2. Select the shared folder where you store your media files (movies)
  3. Click Edit button
  4. Select second tab Permissions
  5. Tick Read/Write for admin user
  6. Select NFS Permissions tab
  7. Input following settings
    • Hostname or IP*: *
    • Privilege: Read/Write
    • Squash: Map all users to admin
    • Security: sys
    • Tick Enable asynchronous
    • Tick Allow connections from non-privileged ports (ports higher than 1024).
    • Tick Allow users to access mounted subfolders
  8. Click OK button
  9. Finally you will see your created NFS rule, and click OK button

[signupform][/signupform]

Adding Video Source in Kodi

Shown in the screenshots is Kodi 16, however the steps are literally the same in Kodi 17. Here in my video tutorial I use Kodi 17 following the same exact steps as outlined below 🙂

  1. Select Videos
  2. Select Files
  3. Select Add Videos
  4. Select Browse
  5. Select Network File System (NFS)
  6. Your NAS will be displaying as an IP, select that IP
  7. Select your shared folder
  8. Press OK; *Make sure the path at the bottom is showing correctly
  9. Enter the name of your preference for this media source and press OK
  10. Select Movies or whatever type of video files are in your shared folder. The purpose of this is so that Kodi can search for a cover/description of the movie and display it to the user
  11. Press OK
  12. Finally press Yes so that Kodi can scan your shared folder and present you with your media
  13. If you did everything correctly, you will see your media source added in that list
  14. Last but not least, I would recommend having the Update library on startup option selected so that Kodi can refresh its database with any additions you might have done after you last opened Kodi

Consider giving back by getting me a coffee (or a couple) by clicking the following button:

[bottomads][/bottomads]

Spread the love

22 thoughts on “How to Connect Kodi to Your Synology NAS DSM (DiskStation Manager)

  1. Jeff says:

    I try what you said but I can go in the movie folder. I see it but I can enter and see all my movie in the folder. 🙁
    What is the problems ?

    • jgezau says:

      I’m not really sure I follow what you are describing. Please point me to the step you are referring to. Also, what version of Kodi are you using? This tutorial I was using v16.X, I know Kodi just released v17.X

  2. Navè says:

    I followed the instructions, but I cannot see the content of folders… I can only browse to the subfolders, but still can’t see any file. The “access mounted subfloders” tick box is checked.
    I am using DMS6 and Kodi 17. Any hint? thank you

    • jgezau says:

      Same instructions work for Kodi 17, in my video I am using Kodi 17 and DSM6…When you say “I can only browse to the subfolders, but still can’t see any file” you mean in Kodi? Did you give Admin user Read/Write permissions (Step 9 under Create NFS Rule)? Do you have your media files under the shared Video folder?

      • Navè says:

        Thank you for your prompt reply, Meanwhile I have solved the problem.

        Yes, read write permissions were set as per step 9, and the media files were of course in the video folder.

        I found on another forum that I had to set “read permissions for Everyone” in the Video folder on the Synology. Once I did this, everything worked fine. Thank you
        I had to go in the

  3. Regina Prestefelippe says:

    I am not a programmer and you seem to make it all very easy her. I am using a Diskstation ad PLEX for a couple of years. One had an update last month and now Plex doesn’t work. I have over 14T on my Diskstation. Do you think there isa chance I might lose it all if I use Kodi instead of Plex?

    • jgezau says:

      No, you should’t loose any of your data. Plex (just like Kodi) just reads the media files in your computer, but they don’t do any changes to those files, so you should be good…put of curiosity, did you update Plex or the Diskstation?

  4. Hans says:

    Thanks, that worked just fine.

    How can I now pull videos with my Synology diskstation I have recorded with my raspi2.

  5. Niklas Lundgren says:

    I followed your instructions. worked perfect! Thanks!

  6. Alex says:

    Thanks so much, precisely the help I needed for my new Synology NAS that I wanted to add to Kodi 🙂

  7. Pablo says:

    Hello. This NFS Sharing is working Fine. But Do You maybe have a solutions for two other isues ?
    1. If You ran in this scenario Library Cleaning from KODI system always hangs (normally its should check all movies via NFS and remove from Library those which were deleted from the Folder)

    2. Did You succedd with this NFS that KODI will download Subtitles and store it directly in Movie Directory ?
    I think that because of some permissions I can not enable this.

  8. Shan says:

    Instructions worked great. Thank you so much.

  9. Eve Hunt says:

    Greetings! Very helpful advice in this particular post!
    It’s the little changes which will make the greatest changes.

    Thanks a lot for sharing!

  10. Peter Speckschwarte says:

    I used the same setup but without write-permission. Its also working fine for me.

  11. Paul Elliott says:

    Extremely helpful advice, thanks! After trying almost all other advice I could find on the internet to get my new Synology NAS able to be seen by Kodi on my Minix media player – this is the page that got the job done!

  12. Mark Barker says:

    Worked great thanks

  13. Fil Kovisars says:

    Hello,

    I followed the instructions given. It worked the first time I added the files. But when I went in a few days later and clicked on the movies path I had added from my library on the Synology Nas..the movie titles show but when I click on any of them my computer android shield device just freezes and does not play any of the movies. It looks like the Nas is not connecting maybe? Any solutions?

    Thanks,
    Fil

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.