Emby w/Synology & Namecheap Domain

[SanguineWren 5]

Hello fellow Emby users,

 

I have a Synology Diskstation 1520+, with Emby server installed on it. I've successfully gotten Emby to run, and can access / update all my movies and TV shows remotely / got my port forwarding configured and all that.

 

For context, I work in IT, but am probably by most network admin / web dev people's appraisal, a total newb. I have spent most of my time working with Windows OS, very basic networking, and desktop support; even after a couple years in the field, I don't feel like I know much. I know just enough to be dangerous, know that I shouldn't touch what I don't understand, and when someone is doing something in front of me that I don't get, I just try to type notes at light speed, and hope I understand it enough when they've left me on my own, to push my way through.

Right now, I just want these fields in my emby server to be magically filled with the correct information.

So far I have

- Purchased a domain from namecheap.com, with the SSL cert option, since I see I'll need an SSL Cert

- Went back and reviewed everything I ever knew about DNS and SSL certs (I know that SSL uses port 443, and DNS is the phone book of the internet, and both are magical and for people above my pay grade. That's about it.)

- Just spent about 10 hours aimlessly going through all these links (and others) desperately trying to apply DDNS either on Synology, NameCheap, No-IP, or something else

 https://www.namecheap.com/support/knowledgebase/article.aspx/9837/46/how-to-connect-a-domain-to-a-server-or-hosting/

 

https://www.namecheap.com/support/knowledgebase/article.aspx/36/11/how-do-i-start-using-dynamic-dns/

https://www.namecheap.com/support/knowledgebase/article.aspx/595/11/how-do-i-enable-dynamic-dns-for-a-domain/

https://www.namecheap.com/support/knowledgebase/article.aspx/794/67/how-do-i-activate-an-ssl-certificate/?_ga=2.179937123.679951535.1666148019-1643325304.1665528632&_gl=1*1is3vyz*_ga*MTY0MzMyNTMwNC4xNjY1NTI4NjMy*_ga_7DMJMG20P8*MTY2NjE0ODAxOS4zLjEuMTY2NjE1MDA2NC42MC4wLjA.

https://www.namecheap.com/support/knowledgebase/article.aspx/9654/2231/what-is-premiumdns/

https://kb.synology.com/en-ph/DSM/help/DSM/AdminCenter/connection_ddns?version=7

https://brettterpstra.com/2021/08/26/custom-urls-for-your-synology-with-namecheap/

https://www.noip.com/support/knowledgebase/how-to-configure-ddns-in-router/

https://www.namecheap.com/support/knowledgebase/article.aspx/295/11/can-i-use-your-dynamic-dns-client-for-a-wildcard-record/

and well... I've gotten absolutely nowhere. 

The magical fields in my emby server are still blank. I have no pride left after 10 frustrating hours of attempting to self educate, so I'll just admit it - I feel dumb, confused, upset, don't really feel like I learned much beyond basic concepts, and none of the guides have complete steps - they all presume that I'm supposed to know something that I apparently don't know, to complete this process.

Please, someone, I am begging you, help me, like, literally DM me and say "I will get on zoom with you for however long that takes." Please don't link me to another article presuming it will magically fix my issue. I'll get like 2 steps in, not know something, and just get frustrated again. I'll pay someone $$ for their time, I just want my emby server to have a domain associated with it, and know just enough to get it done.

Edited October 19, 2022 by SanguineWren
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[Luke 37094]

@cayars and @pir8radio may have some tips.

[Seger 110]

quick and easy, just go through the reserve proxy:

https://mariushosting.com/synology-how-to-install-emby-without-docker/

[Carlo 4330]

@SanguineWren Let's break this up into the different solutions you need to solve.  Let's start with the hardest DDNS.

But before doing that NameCheap isn't the easiest nor best supported DNS service.  I would start by looking at your router to see if it has a DDNS client installed that you can use to update your record.  Your Router is the best place to do this if possible.  If not then next I would use Synology itself to update DDNS but NameCheap isn't built in directly, but still doable.

Using either your router or Synology NAS I would start by moving your domain to one of the free providers they have on the list which will make this process much simpler.  If you can't do that then I'll provide a link to follow to use a custom setup on Synology to update Namecheap.

If using NameCheap:

• Enable Dynamic DNS for the domain;
• Create an A+Dynamic DNS record for the hostname;
• Follow these instructions https://community.synology.com/enu/forum/7/post/144857 to have Synology update Namecheap

Let us know how this goes or if you got it done and we'll move on to the next part.

Carlo

[Carlo 4330]

45 minutes ago, Seger said:

quick and easy, just go through the reserve proxy:

https://mariushosting.com/synology-how-to-install-emby-without-docker/

I would STRONGLY advice not to follow those instructions as the built in reverse proxy is rather lacking and you have no way to make needed adjustments to it for proper functionality.

Carlo

[Seger 110]

19 minutes ago, cayars said:

Ich würde DRINGEND raten, diese Anweisungen nicht zu befolgen, da der eingebaute Reverse-Proxy eher fehlt und Sie keine Möglichkeit haben, die erforderlichen Anpassungen daran vorzunehmen, um eine ordnungsgemäße Funktionalität zu gewährleisten.

Carlo

HAHA - so I've been going like this for 4 years now, have absolutely no errors, have subdomains and can't recommend your extremely complicated form!

[Seger 110]

Have to correct myself, been going like this for 5 years now, no failure and the family uses it daily. But maybe I'm not seeing something, I'm happy to be advised.

Edited October 19, 2022 by Seger

[Carlo 4330]

It can't be setup to return values that are needed by other proxy or CND networks.  This causes very difficult to diagnose issues when a person using your server has an ISP or work network that uses a transparent cache for example.  It doesn't work well via any of the CDN networks available to use.  It causes problems using webhooks, etc...

Synology uses an older version of NGINX they have modified for reverse proxy use.  It doesn't give you the ability to make any changes to the configuration and will overwrite changes you make from the command line.

Have a look here to see how NGINX should be configured to work properly with Emby Server.

 

 

[pir8radio 1292]

On 10/19/2022 at 12:11 PM, Seger said:

Have to correct myself, been going like this for 5 years now, no failure and the family uses it daily. But maybe I'm not seeing something, I'm happy to be advised.

direct play/stream of mp4's probably has issues.   The dashboard uses web sockets to display real time playback progress on what your users are watching,  this may show issues, by not showing the transcode/playback progress bar with moving marker.   End users in the dashboard and emby logs might not show their real external ip address.  some plugins will have missing features.  photo upload from the phone may not upload etc.. lots of little things.

Edited October 21, 2022 by pir8radio

[Seger 110]

5 hours ago, pir8radio said:

Direct Play / Stream von MP4's hat wahrscheinlich Probleme. Das Dashboard verwendet Web-Sockets, um den Wiedergabefortschritt in Echtzeit anzuzeigen, was Ihre Benutzer sehen, dies kann Probleme zeigen, indem der Transcodierungs- / Wiedergabefortschrittsbalken nicht mit beweglicher Markierung angezeigt wird. Endbenutzer im Dashboard und in den emby-Protokollen zeigen möglicherweise nicht ihre tatsächliche externe IP-Adresse an. Einige Plugins haben fehlende Funktionen. Das Hochladen von Fotos vom Telefon darf nicht hochgeladen werden usw. Viele Kleinigkeiten.

Okay, I wrote that I would like to be taught and would like to test it against each other. What exactly is the next step? Currently I am on the domain of SubSynology via port 443: emby.xxx.synology.me.

Do you have 1-2 links for me in which it is explained natively in dsm and possibly via Docker (Portainer is installed).

thank you

seger

[Seger 110]

https://mariushosting.com/how-to-install-nginx-proxy-manager-on-your-synology-nas/ 

Perhaps via Docker or objections to this. Or better, native in DSM? What is the next step? Thank you very much! Oh, I currently only have 443 on the outside, of course. And the domain of synology should also remain, if it is possible and does not bring any disadvantages from your point of view.

Edited October 21, 2022 by Seger

[SanguineWren 5]

I forgot to come back and say this, but remembered this post existed when I came back to ask a new question, so, just wanted to say,

A - Thanks to everyone who replied and offered help.

B - The issue did eventually get solved when I got a second wind and used NameCheap's guides to set up DDNS. Thankfully, once you make a few small changes on your Synology, the rest is pretty easy and just having the DNS record set right on NameCheap, along with the proper DDNS settings, means you can just plug your custom domain into Emby in the applicable field, and the rest works great! Article below. 

https://www.namecheap.com/knowledgebase/search/?q=ddns&page=1

A tip I would recommend before you set it and forget it - try to reboot your router a few times after you've got it all set up and think DDNS should be working. If you see your home IP address change, but DDNS still works, then you know you're good. I've had mine change at least once since setting up DDNS but the Synology has a script set up to go query NameCheap periodically and update the DNS record, so it prevents me from manually having to intervene and re-do settings on my Emby server, if I happen to have a power outage that's long enough where my UPS doesn't keep the server up, and the IP resets.