Docker Interface

The Docker package on a Synology diskstation provides a powerful graphical user interface (GUI) with an integrated terminal to execute commands inside a container.

This GUI is similar to Kitematic which is now part of the Docker toolbox. Sometimes it can be useful to use the Docker command line instead of a GUI. This can de done with a Secure Shell (SSH).

For Windows we can use the free PuTTY SSH and Telnet client.

We must enter the IP address of the diskstation in the local network and the port number for the SSH service. The default port number is 22.

To access the diskstation with an SSH client, we must first enable the SSH service in the Synology terminal configuration.

At the first access PuTTY displays a popup-window with a security alert.

Click Yes to trust the new key.

To enter the Docker system in the Synology diskstation manager we must enter the command

sudo su -

The user password must be entered a second time to confirm.

We are now logged-in as root in the Synology OS and can enter docker commands. A simple command to show the list of all local stored Docker images is

docker images

The same list can be viewed with the GUI.

On Mac computers a SSH client is integrated in the native terminal. To start enter the command

ssh -l <user-name> -p <port-number> <IP-address>

OS X displays also a security alert at the first visit, but without a simple Yes button to trust the service. After settingt the correct key we can also login to the diskstation with the Mac terminal and run linux or docker commands.

By entering cd /, followed by ls, we can view the content of the diskstation at root.

In the next lesson we will get details about Docker images and introduce Docker volumes and shared folders.