Roon Server on Synology DSM7

Please be aware, that most Synology Diskstations are below the recommended specification. It depends on your use case: Roon offers some cpu intensive features, such as audio upsampling, room correction and other digital signal processing tasks. If you would like to use these features, stream to multiple zones simultaneously or have a large library, the CPU of your diskstation might not be powerful enough.

If you are unsure, if your diskstation is capable of handling your setup, the best way to ensure this, to just give it a try.

Roon Labs hardware recommendation can be read here.

Requirements:

  • Intel x64 or compatible CPU
  • DSM 7

Recommended:

  • An intel i3 – i7 cpu
  • SSD storage for Roon Server’s database
    • in internal disk bay
    • connected via USB or eSATA
Installation
  • Download the Roon Server .spk installation file for DSM7 from the Download section below.
  • Login to your Diskstation administration and open the Package Center app.
  • Click the “Manual Install” button on the top of the Package Center window and select the downloaded .spk file.
  • Follow the instructions of the installation wizard.

Appendix: Adding support for additional audio codecs (like AAC…)

Roon Server relies on ffmpeg for different audio codecs. Synology has a preinstalled ffmpeg binary already preinstalled on their system. Unfortunately it does not cover all audio codecs, that are required for Roon Server and due to licensing uncertainty, I am not able to have it bundled in the installation.

However I have implemented a way to provide it manually. Binaries of ffmpeg can be downloaded from JohnVanSickles website. You’ll need the amd64 version for Roon Server on the diskstation.

Extract the tar.xz archive and copy the ffmpeg from the extracted files folder into

<< Your selected database location >> / RoonOnNAS / bin

Then restart Roon Server in the package center.

Download

Installer for Synology DSM 7.x (x64)Installer for Synology DSM 6.x (x64)

Download Legacy Installer (1.8)

Legacy Installer (DSM7)Legacy Installer (DSM6)

Download Early Access Installer

Early Access Installer (DSM7)Early Access Installer (DSM6)
Changelog
  • External Volumes (USB and eSata) should work now as a database storage option.
  • If the specified database shared folder can not be located when performing an update in Synology Package Center, it can be set again in the update wizard dialog,
  • dynamically create installation/update wizard by bash scripts
  • used ffmpeg binary is given in the RoonOnNAS.txt logfile.
  • if a provided ffmpeg binary file has no executable flag, it will added when starting Roon Server
  • code cleanup
  • Fixed a possible situation where the database path is not set properly when performing a new install
  • Removed beta status
  • Update from DSM6 version of RoonServer is supported now
  • increased open files limit to 4096
  • Installation wizard steps are written on install by a bash script. Non-required fields are hidden for the user.
  • German localization for the installation added
  • Info txt files added to bin folder and outdated DSM6 database folder
  • When the selected database folder contains a folder structure from a DSM6 install, database folders are not moved but copied to the new parent “RoonOnNAS” folder to prevent ownership issues.
  • Roon ID is stored properly. No need to reauthenticate with your Roon credentials after reboot.
  • Roon Servers database folders are grouped in a new parent “RoonOnNAS” folder.
  • A custom ffmpeg version can be provided in the bin directory of the RoonOnNAS directory.
  • A preset for Synology firewall has been added (untested)
  • Initial beta release for DSM7