Using BackupAssist ER with a Synology NAS & MinIO

BackupAssist ER Cloud Backup jobs include an option to back up to S3-compatible storage. The storage can be a cloud service or your own private cloud.

This guide explains how to back up to your own private cloud using a Synology NAS and MinIO cloud storage software.

The following technologies will be used

  • A Synology NAS - this network storage device will be used to provide physical storage and run the MinIO application.

    • The Synology NAS model must support Docker and be configured so that it can be accessed via the internet.

  • Docker - this package is used to create virtual containers to run applications. It will be used to create MinIO containers.
  • MinIO S3-compatible cloud storage application. It will be used to share disk space on the NAS as private cloud storage.
  • BackupAssist ER will be used to create cloud backups and save them to the S3-compatible cloud storage.

Set up MinIO on the Synology NAS

These following steps explain how to set up and configure a private cloud destination using a Synology NAS and MinIO:

  1. Create a Shared Folder.
    1. Log in to the management portal for your Synology NAS.
    2. Open the Control Panel.
    3. Choose Shared Folder from the side menu.
    4. Select Create from the top menu to launch the Shared Folder Creation Wizard.
    5. Follow the wizard's steps to create a shared folder called minio.

      6. This folder will be shared for MinIO to use as cloud storage.

  2. Install Docker.

    3. Docker will use a MinIO image to create a MinIO container.

    To install Docker:

    1. Open the Synology Package Center.
    2. Click All Packages on the left menu.
    3. Locate Docker and install it.

    You can now use Docker to create a MinIO container and configure MinIO to use the shared folder that you named minio.

  3. Run Minio.
    1. Open Docker on the Synology NAS.
    2. Select Registry from the side menu.
    3. Search for minio/minio.
    4. Select minio.
    5. Download the minio image.

    6. Choose Image from the side menu.
    7. Select minio.
    8. Click Launch to open MinIO.

      9. This will open the Create Container wizard.

  4. Configure MinIO.
  1. Click Advanced Settings on the Create Container wizard.
  2. Select Volume from the top menu.

  3. Click Add Folder and choose the minio folder you created earlier, and click Select.
  4. Set the mount path for this folder to /data. This folder will be used as the cloud storage location.
  5. Click Add Folder and locate /docker/minio/config, and click Select.
  6. Set the mount path for this folder to /root/.minio. This folder will be used to store MinIO’s configuration files.
  7. Select Port Settings from the top menu, and set the Local Port you want to use. The port you choose determines what URL needs to be entered when configuring BackupAssist ER to connect to MinIO.
  8. Select Environment from the top menu, and set the MinIO server Execution Command to minio server /data.
  9. Apply the changes.
  10. Click Next and Apply on the Create Container wizard.
  1. The first screen shown in the Create Container wizard is to select the Network. This used to be under Advanced Settings -> Network. Just click Next to accept the default “bridge” setting, or adjust to use a specific network, or to use the same network as Docker and then click Next.
  2. The second screen shown is the General Settings screen, which used to be the first screen shown. Adjust the settings here as you like, but then click the Advanced Settings button.
  3. In Advanced Settings the Volumes tab is no longer in the Advanced Settings, nor is the Port Settings tab. The Execution Command section now has its own tab (which used to be in the Environment tab) so select this tab and set the MinIO server Execution Command to minio server /data and Save the changes to close the Advanced Settings.
  4. Click Next to show the Port Settings screen, which used to be a tab in the Advanced Settings. Set the Local Port to use to access MinIO and click Next. Remember the port you use here, as you will need it when configuring the backup job to connect to MinIO.
  5. Now configure the Volume Settings by firstly clicking Add Folder and choosing the minio folder you created earlier, and then click Select.
  6. Set the mount path for this folder to /data. This folder will be used as the cloud storage location.
  7. Then click Add Folder again, locate /docker/minio/config, and click Select.
  8. Set the mount path for this folder to /root/.minio. This folder will be used to store MinIO’s configuration files.
  9. Click Next and then Done to complete the wizard.
    MinIO is now set up on the Synology NAS and ready to be used by BackupAssist ER as S3-compatible storage.

Get the settings for BackupAssist ER

To create a BackupAssist ER Cloud Backup job, you need to get the URL and security keys that MinIO uses to share the cloud storage.

The URL will be the URL of the NAS with the port number for the MinIO server configured above.

To locate the security keys:

  1. Open the Synology Package Center.
  2. Open Docker.
  3. Click Container on the side menu.
  4. Choose the MinIO application.
  5. Click the Details button.
  6. Select Log from the top menu.

  7. Copy the Accesskey and Secretkey.

Create a BackupAssist ER Cloud Backup job

Now that you have a Synology NAS with MinIO managed cloud storage, you can back up to it using BackupAssist ER.

Create a Cloud Backup job as documented in the Cloud Backup section of the Create a local and cloud backup page. When filling in the Storage location tab, Storage location 2, select S3-compatible cloud storage from the Storage location type drop-down.

Use the MinIO settings as follows:

  • Copy the URL into the URL field. This is the URL for the NAS plus the port number for the MinIO server.
  • Copy the Accesskey into the Access Key ID field.
  • Copy the Secretkey into the Secret Access Key field.

You can now run the Cloud Backup job and save backups to your private cloud storage.