Slingserver on Synology

[donscreen]

Any chance someone could post a guide to installing the slinger server on a Synology box? I have Python 3.8 installed on mine and I can SSH into my Synology but I have limited Linux knowledge. My setup works perfectly on my office Windows desktop machine. The PIP function seems to be missing in my Python 3.8.

[GerryDazoo]

Use /path_to_python -m pip install flask
What model of Synology box are you using.
Make a separate folder to stick your files in
mkdir sling for example
You'll need a new sling.service file.
[Unit]
Description=SlingBox Server Service
After=multi-user.target

[Service]
Type=idle
User=gerry
WorkingDirectory=/var/services/homes/gerry/sling
ExecStart=/bin/bash -ce "exec /var/services/homes/gerry/sling/bin/python -u slingbox_server.py >> /volume1/NAS/temp/sling.log 2>&1"
Restart=always

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

You will need to adjust for your particular setup.

[donscreen]

I am running a Synology DS213J. It is too basic to run Docker. Docker is not supported by it. I did read the Linux instructions in the readme.txt but not making any headway with it, mostly due to my lack of Linux knowledge. I will stick with the working Windows server. Thank you Gerry!

[ChrizK-oldGit]

Did you read the Linux instructions in the readme.txt file. I was assuming you had.

I have been reading comments about flask on Synology NAS (redit, synology forum). @donscreen also mentions docker.
Would I have to create a docker environment to run perl, or could/should it be installed natively?
(docker will be a whole new learning exercise)

[f520k510]

I don't think it is necessary to install python/perl separately if you run it from docker.
In addition setting slinger up in docker is relatively easier than setting it up in ssh.
That assumes your nas support docker of course.

[ChrizK-oldGit]

I don't think it is necessary to install python/perl separately if you run it from docker.

in some ways, I was hoping not to use Docker as it is something I haven't tried before. That said, everything is an opportunity to learn.
I have a DS918+ and upgrade RAM to 8GB after reading about suggested Docker requirements mid last year...just in case. That could be fortunate :)
Great information from @rbf121 below. Hopefully get some time over the weekend (must admit, don't get 'Go to Registry' ... I guess it is a Docker thing that may become apparent.

[GerryDazoo]

You can install Python3.9 from the package manager. Then "most" of the Linux install instructions apply.

[rbf121]

Or run it in docker, no command line needed.

This is on DSM 7:
Install docker from package center.
Open Docker app
Goto Registry
Search for rbf121/slinger
Download
Goto Images
Select rbf121/slinger:latest (whatever version you selected)
Follow on screen prompts

• use the same network as Docker Host
• next
• Advanced Setting is you want to change timezeone (TZ)
• Next
• Add folder
• Select where you want to store your config file (this is persistent storage if you need to deploy a new image later). I put all my stuff in a docker folder so something like
• File/Folder: /docker/slinger/config
• Mount Path: /config
• Next
• Done

On first run it will copy all config files and samples into the /config mount path.
Go to "Containers" in docker app and you should see rbf121-slinger1 running.
Open that and you should see Log, Terminal etc.

Stop the container, go update you config.ini file.
Start docker.
Success?

[ChrizK-oldGit]

Stop the container, go update you config.ini file. Start docker. Success?

HI @rbf121 , could you confirm what I should see in the log if connection is successful?
My concern is that I have no idea what my Sling Media password is, so I can't retrieve the admin password. I have changed the config.ini password to be 'admin'. The log captures Slingbox Found but gives no indicates if the password has been authenticated, 'Waiting for first stream' makes me wonder if it is successful???

I have tried to use VLC, Media > Open Network Stream, using http://192.168.0.4:8080/slingbox and http://172.17.01:8080/slingbox but VLC reports "VLC is unable to open the MRL". Can you confirm I should be using my NAS IP (192.168.0.4)? I don't know why the log reports 172.17.0.1 as I would have thought that was unreachable????

I would be grateful if you could tell me the timezone format for the UK. I set it to 'UK' but given the default was US/Eastern, I suspect this is wrong.

Version : 3.08f Running on Linux-4.4.180+-x86_64-with pid= 15 /usr/src/app/slingbox_server.py
Using config file /config/config.ini
Connection Manager Running on port 8080 with 10 max streams using URL slingbox.
Streamer Running: 10 /config/config.ini SLINGBOX starting up on port 80808080 8080 8388608
8388608

• Serving Flask app 'slingbox_server'
• Debug mode: off
  8080 No valid slingbox ip info found in config.ini
  Finding Slingbox on local network. My IP Info = 192.168.0.4
  Slingbox Found 192.168.0.194 5301 " My Family " FinderID D38.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxEDxx
  Finding Slingbox on local network. My IP Info = 172.17.0.1
  8080 Using slingbox at ('192.168.0.194', 5301)
  Streamer: 8080 Waiting for first stream, flushing any IR request

[GerryDazoo]

Yes, use the NAS IP.
http://192.168.0.4:8080/slingbox should be correct. But I can't say for sure without seeing your config.ini info. Maybe a firewall issue on the NAS?
You should grab the latest server code V4.01.
And give SlingerPlayer a try. VLC is the bane of my existence. https://github.com/GerryDazoo/SlingerPlayer

RE:172.17.0.1. Your NAS has mutiple NICs. The server code tries them all to find any accessible Slingboxes. run the "ip address" command to get the list.

When you start a stream you should see something like this:
03/25/2023, 10:58:29.666 Streaming request from ('192.168.117.122', 53420) /slingbox
STREAM=192.168.117.122:53420:0

Slinginfo 350/500 12 60 192.168.117.13 5001 3072 10 admin
Test Starting Stream for 192.168.117.122:53420
Test Opening Control stream 0x2000 0 0
Connecting... ('192.168.117.13', 5001) Control
Test Selecting Video Source 0
Test Keycodes= [1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 34, 35, 36, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 62, 63, 64, 66, 67, 68, 69, 81]
VideoParameters: Resolution= 12 FrameRate= 60 VideoBandwidth= 2000 VideoSmoothness= 63 IframeRate= 5 AudioBitRate= 64
Connecting... ('192.168.117.13', 5001) Stream
Test Stream started at 03/25/2023, 10:58:39.34 732 0

[ChrizK-oldGit]

Thanks @GerryDazoo , although it was interesting installing Docker and the image from @rbf121, I came to the conclusion it isn't that easy to update files other than those mounted in config (I thought I could mount /usr/src/app and just 'update' but the container wouldn't start). The information from @f520k510 looks really interesting, so I think I will try this next, allowing me to use the V4.01 ... more learning ahead ...

[garlandpr]

Or run it in docker, no command line needed.

This is on DSM 7: Install docker from package center. Open Docker app Goto Registry Search for rbf121/slinger Download Goto Images Select rbf121/slinger:latest (whatever version you selected) Follow on screen prompts

• use the same network as Docker Host
• next
• Advanced Setting is you want to change timezeone (TZ)
• Next
• Add folder
• Select where you want to store your config file (this is persistent storage if you need to deploy a new image later). I put all my stuff in a docker folder so something like
• File/Folder: /docker/slinger/config
• Mount Path: /config
• Next
• Done

On first run it will copy all config files and samples into the /config mount path. Go to "Containers" in docker app and you should see rbf121-slinger1 running. Open that and you should see Log, Terminal etc.

Stop the container, go update you config.ini file. Start docker. Success?

Question, Can I run docker in my home synology in USA if the slingbox is on another location/Country?
I followed all the info you listed but the log is telling me "can't find a slingbox on network"
Thanks

[glaypeng78]

Hi @rbf121 , I was using your docker image on Synology nas and really appreciate your work. However I was facing time out problem that forcing me to re-connect several time before the stream works. I want to try the latest 4.0.1 version of slinger but unfortunately I am lack of experience to modify docker images. Could you update to the 4.0.1 version if not busy or could you tell the exact process to update the file in docker images. So that I can follow the steps to update by myself.

[Toei79]

whats the plus for using it on synology nas?
i have my own but i dont see difference vs linux server that i run on thinkcentre pc, raspberry pi 4 cant handle many stuff in same time?

[rbf121]

Synology has an easy to use docker package which I can use to easily view logs or manage remotely. Plus it's one less server/device to mess around with, ie I have slinger, xteve, plex, tautulli all on same host.

[Toei79]

true its best all in one.

i never able to figure out with docker there . just use basic stuff but i have one pi and thinkcentre like linux servers because that i guess.

[f520k510]

just installed slinger server on synology with ssh and thought I would post it here for the record.
First I upgrdaed dsm to 7.0 so that I can put sling.service in /etc/systemd/system/ and use systemctl to enable it.
This is because starting dsm 7.0 synology uses systemd and systemctl to manage service.
According to the change log starting 7.0 python3 has become part of the system and don't need to install from package center.
Then I enabled ssh in control panel. here: control panel->terminal & snmp
Then I created an admin user called "slingbox"
I made a folder inside /homes/slingbox with file explorer and named it slinger. Copied sling.service, slingbox_server.py, remote.txt, and config.ini to the folder slinger. Made sure config.ini is working.
Then, I ssh to synology with user slingbox,
installed pip with the command:
sudo python3 -m ensurepip
upgraded pip with the command:
sudo python3 m pip install --upgrade pip
installed flask module with:
sudo python3 -m pip install flask
edit sling.service with vi and paste the following contents:
vi sling.service

"
[Unit]
Description=SlingBox Server Service
After=multi-user.target

[Service]
Type=idle
User=slingbox
WorkingDirectory=/var/services/homes/slingbox/slinger
ExecStart=/bin/python3 slingbox_server.py
Restart=always

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
"

change mode of the file slingbox_server.py with this:
sudo chmod +x /var/services/homes/slingbox/slinger/slingbox_server.py
reloaded daemon, enabled the service, and started it:
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable sling.service
sudo systemctl start sling.service

If all goes well, check the status of the service:
sudo systemctl status sling.service

It should say something like this:

● sling.service - SlingBox Server Service
Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/sling.service; enabled; vendor preset: disabled)
Active: active (running) since Sat 2023-03-25 22:26:18 CST; 323ms ago
Main PID: 15955 ((python3))
CGroup: /system.slice/sling.service
└─15955 (python3)

Mar 25 22:26:18 nas systemd[1]: Started SlingBox Server Service.
Mar 25 22:26:18 nas systemd[1]: Starting SlingBox Server Service...

Hope this helps.

[ChrizK-oldGit]

Maybe I didn't make it clear, but I meant you should create a user called slingbox.

Thank you. Really appreciate your instructions. I have updated my initial comment as I believe there is a pre-requisite for User Home Service. My DSM has been upgraded over the years. Maybe a fresh install of DSM 7 would have enabled this by default.

I think you may have missed a step, before enabling the service, ie to copy the sling.service file to /etc/systemd/system
I assume this is done as root to copy with user and group ownership.

root@mynas:/opt/slinger# cp sling.service /etc/systemd/system
root@mynas:/etc/systemd/system# ls -l sling.service 
-rwx------ 1 root root 225 Apr  2 12:19 sling.service
root@mynas:/etc/systemd/system# sudo systemctl enable sling.service
Created symlink from /etc/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants/sling.service to /etc/systemd/system/sling.service.

root@mynas:/etc/systemd/system# sudo systemctl start sling.service
root@mynas:/etc/systemd/system# sudo systemctl status sling.service
● sling.service - SlingBox Server Service
   Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/sling.service; enabled; vendor preset: disabled)
   Active: active (running) since Sun 2023-04-02 12:28:05 IST; 18s ago
 Main PID: 22532 (python3)
   Memory: 6.3M
   CGroup: /system.slice/sling.service
           └─22532 /bin/python3 slingbox_server.py

Apr 02 12:28:05 mynas systemd[1]: Started SlingBox Server Service.
Apr 02 12:28:05 mynas systemd[1]: Starting SlingBox Server Service...

@GerryDazoo , if I have started slingbox_server correctly using this method, should I get a log file?

root@mynas:/etc/systemd/system# cd /tmp
root@mynas:/tmp# ls sling.log
**ls: cannot access 'sling.log': No such file or directory**

root@mynas:/# find . -name  sling.log
root@mynas:/#

[ChrizK-oldGit]

I noted that the suggested sling.service file does not include the log lines that are in the README, however, adding these appears to be causing me a problem.

Also, I am fairly sure that although the previous status (no log) indicated that the server was running, it was not. At least, not with the expected port. netstat -na | grep 8080 returns no result :(

root@my_nas:/etc/systemd/system# sudo systemctl status -l sling.service
● sling.service - SlingBox Server Service
   Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/sling.service; enabled; vendor preset: disabled)
   Active: active (running) since Sun 2023-04-02 12:52:57 IST; 4min 18s ago
 Main PID: 30696 (python3)
   CGroup: /system.slice/sling.service
           └─30696 /bin/python3 slingbox_server.py

Apr 02 12:52:57 my_nas systemd[1]: Started SlingBox Server Service.
Apr 02 12:52:57 my_nas systemd[1]: Starting SlingBox Server Service...
Apr 02 12:53:10 my_nas systemd[1]: [/etc/systemd/system/sling.service:9] Failed to parse output specifier, ignoring: append:/tmp/sling.log
Apr 02 12:53:10 my_nas systemd[1]: [/etc/systemd/system/sling.service:10] Failed to parse output specifier, ignoring: append:/tmp/sling.log
Apr 02 12:53:13 my_nas systemd[1]: Started SlingBox Server Service.

[f520k510]

Adding the log file in sling.service did cause me a problem, too. That's why I removed it.
If you need the log for debug, I suggest you run slingbox_server.py from ssh command with python3 slingbox_server.py, instead of trying to create a log file or debug. After you make sure everything is working, you can then create and enable the sling.service.

[ChrizK-oldGit]

EDIT *** Ignore the question, but keeping for reference ***
I had left the service running ...sorry

NB The reason the service was failing, I had to rename config.ini as I transferred it as config.ini.synology due to all my different attempts and investigations.
Also, while stopping (Ctrl-C) and starting slingbox_server.py from command line I had a few instances of OSError: [Errno 98] Address already in use
It appears that the process used to listen on the port doesn't always close. I had to kill the python3 process to start the server once more.

sh-4.4$ sudo netstat -nlp | grep 8080
tcp 0 0 0.0.0.0:8080 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN 6095/python3
sudo kill -9 6095

Exception in thread Thread-1:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python3.8/threading.py", line 932, in _bootstrap_inner
8080 Checking for slingbox at ('192.168.0.15', 5301) 0
    self.run()
  File "/usr/lib/python3.8/threading.py", line 870, in run
    self._target(*self._args, **self._kwargs)
  File "slingbox_server.py", line 1133, in ConnectionManager
    ConnectionManagerSocket.bind(server_address)
OSError: [Errno 98] Address already in use

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

Thanks, that was a good suggestion.
Does anybody know what Address already in use is referring to?

Version : 4.01 Running on Linux-4.4.180+-x86_64-with-glibc2.2.5 pid= 25527 slingbox_server.py
Using config file config.ini
Connection Manager Running on port 8080 with 10 max streams using URL slingbox.
Building page for Slingbox
Using built in default remote page definition.
Broadcast Responder Running
Starting Streamer Thread for Slingbox
ERROR While handling GETPORTNUMBERS request [Errno 98] Address already in use
Streamer Running:  10 config.ini SLINGBOX 8080 8080 8388608
starting up on  port 8080 8388608
8080 Checking for slingbox at ('192.168.0.15', 5301) 0
8080 ('192.168.0.15', 5301) OK
8080 Using slingbox at  ('192.168.0.15', 5301)
Streamer:  8080 Waiting for first stream, flushing any IR requests that arrive while not connected to slingbox
ERROR While handling GETPORTNUMBERS request [Errno 98] Address already in use
ERROR While handling GETPORTNUMBERS request [Errno 98] Address already in use
ERROR While handling GETPORTNUMBERS request [Errno 98] Address already in use
ERROR While handling GETPORTNUMBERS request [Errno 98] Address already in use
ERROR While handling GETPORTNUMBERS request [Errno 98] Address already in use

[GerryDazoo]

It means you've got multiple copies of the server code running.

[GerryDazoo]

The NAS uses a different version of systemd than the version used on the Pi. So the one supplied will not work for specifying the log file output. This is what I have on my NAS.

`[Unit]
Description=SlingBox Server Service
After=multi-user.target

[Service]
Type=idle
User=gerry
WorkingDirectory=/var/services/homes/gerry/sling
ExecStart=/bin/bash -ce "exec /var/services/homes/gerry/sling/bin/python -u slingbox_server.py >> /volume1/NAS/temp/sling.log 2>&1"
Restart=always

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
`
The log file is sent to a shared folder on the NAS so you can review it without having to login via SSH.

[glaypeng78]

Or run it in docker, no command line needed.

This is on DSM 7:

Install docker from package center.

Open Docker app

Goto Registry

Search for rbf121/slinger

Download

Goto Images

Select rbf121/slinger:latest (whatever version you selected)

Follow on screen prompts

• use the same network as Docker Host

• next

• Advanced Setting is you want to change timezeone (TZ)

• Next

• Add folder

• Select where you want to store your config file (this is persistent storage if you need to deploy a new image later). I put all my stuff in a docker folder so something like

• File/Folder: /docker/slinger/config

• Mount Path: /config

• Next

• Done

On first run it will copy all config files and samples into the /config mount path.

Go to "Containers" in docker app and you should see rbf121-slinger1 running.

Open that and you should see Log, Terminal etc.

Stop the container, go update you config.ini file.

Start docker.

Success?

Hi, I was using your docker image on Synology nas and really appreciate your work. However I was facing time out problem that forcing me to re-connect several time before the stream works. I want to try the latest 4.0.1 version of slinger but unfortunately I am lack of experience to modify docker images. Could you update to the 4.0.1 version if not busy or could you tell the exact process to update the file in docker images. So that I can follow the steps to update by myself.