Virtual DSM is a containerized virtualization tool that runs Synology DSM inside Docker with KVM acceleration.
The tool solves the problem of running a Synology NAS operating system in containerized environments by packaging Virtual DSM with automatic installation file downloads and web-based desktop access. It uses KVM acceleration to achieve near-native performance while allowing the DSM instance to run as a standard Docker container. The approach supports flexible resource allocation through customizable CPU, memory, and storage settings, multiple disk configurations, physical disk passthrough, and various networking modes including NAT, user-mode, macvlan, and macvtap.
Virtual DSM suits developers and operators who need to run DSM workloads in Docker or Kubernetes environments on Linux hosts with KVM support, or on Windows 11 with nested virtualization enabled. It works well for testing DSM configurations, running NAS services in containerized infrastructure, or developing against DSM without dedicated hardware. The tool requires at least 1 GB of available RAM and 16 GB of free disk space. Docker Desktop on Linux, macOS, and Windows 10 is not supported due to lack of KVM access.
The maintainers respond to new issues and pull requests within a day. Work in the issue tracker centers on questions, bug reports, and enhancement requests.
