Vipin PG 
If you’re using TP-Link Omada devices, you already know how well they work together once they’re managed through the Omada Controller. The catch is that TP-Link’s own hardware controller costs extra money you don’t necessarily need to spend. Here’s the good news: if you already have a Network Attached Storage (NAS) device at home, you can install the Omada Software Controller on it and skip the extra hardware altogether.
What Is Omada Controller?
Omada Controller is TP-Link’s software/device for centrally managing all your Omada devices at once. Instead of logging into each router, switch, or access point separately, you bind every Omada device on your network to a single controller and manage all of them from one dashboard. The Omada Controller comes in two forms: a dedicated hardware controller and a software controller you can install and run yourself.
Why Omada Controller on NAS Is Important?
As mentioned above, the Omada Controller is a separate, optional system. The hardware controller is a standalone device you have to buy separately, and it typically costs around $100. Alternatively, you can use the free Omada Software Controller, which installs on a Windows machine, letting you manage your Omada devices from your PC or laptop instead.
The downside is that the Windows machine needs to stay powered on all the time for the controller to remain reachable. Running a PC or laptop 24×7 just to keep the controller online isn’t practical for most people. This is where a NAS comes in. As mentioned earlier, this approach makes the most sense if you already have a NAS at home.
Since a NAS runs continuously by design, you can install and run the Omada Software Controller on it instead, and manage every Omada device on your network from there — without needing to buy the hardware controller or keep a separate PC running.
TP-Link Omada Software Controller on Synology NAS
The Omada Software Controller can be installed on most NAS devices that support Docker, and we tested this setup on a Synology DS420+ NAS. On Synology, the Omada Controller runs as a Docker container. As long as your NAS model supports Docker (Synology renamed this package Container Manager starting with DSM 7.2, while older DSM versions still call it Docker), you can run the controller exactly like a standard hardware controller, minus the hardware cost.
Before You Begin
A few quick things to check before you start:
1. Docker/Container Manager is installed. Open Package Center on your Synology NAS and install Container Manager (DSM 7.2+) or Docker (older DSM versions). Not every Synology model supports this — mainly the Plus, Value+, and higher-tier models with x86 processors — so double-check your model’s spec page if you’re unsure.
2. Free resources. The Omada Controller is fairly lightweight, but give it at least 2GB of free RAM and a few hundred MB of free storage to be safe.
3. Your NAS’s local IP address. You’ll need this to reach the controller once it’s running. You can find it under Control Panel > Network.
4. Your shared folder’s volume path. Most Synology setups use /volume1 as the default, but if your NAS has multiple storage pools, your Docker shared folder might live under /volume2 or another volume. Keep this in mind for Step 5 below.
How to Install Omada Software Controller on Synology NAS
Follow these steps to install the Omada Software Controller on your Synology NAS.
Before proceeding, make sure Docker (or Container Manager) is installed on your NAS via Package Center, as covered above. Once installed, proceed with the steps below.
Step 1: Open File Station on your Synology NAS and create a folder named omada inside the docker shared folder.
Step 2: Open the newly created omada folder and create three subfolders named data, logs, and work. (The work folder is technically only needed by older controller versions, but it doesn’t hurt to create it anyway for compatibility.) Once done, close File Station and continue.
Step 3: Go to the Control Panel on your Synology NAS and click on Task Scheduler from the left-hand menu. It’s listed as the last item in Control Panel.
Step 4: From Task Scheduler, click the Create button. Under the options that appear, go to Scheduled Task, then select User-defined script.
Step 5: A new task creation window will appear, and you’ll need to fill in a few details.
Under the General tab, give the task a name — anything works, but we’re using Install Omada Controller. Set the user to root rather than admin, then uncheck the Enabled option.
Next, go to the Schedule tab, choose Run on the following date, and set the recurrence dropdown to Do not repeat. This configures the task to run manually, just once, rather than on a schedule.
Finally, go to the Task Settings tab and paste the following command into the Run command box:
docker run -d \
--name=omada-controller \
--restart=unless-stopped \
--stop-timeout 60 \
-p 8088:8088 \
-p 8043:8043 \
-p 8843:8843 \
-p 19810:19810/udp \
-p 27001:27001/udp \
-p 29810:29810/udp \
-p 29811-29817:29811-29817 \
-e TZ=Asia/Kolkata \
-v /volume1/docker/omada/data:/opt/tplink/EAPController/data \
-v /volume1/docker/omada/logs:/opt/tplink/EAPController/logs \
mbentley/omada-controller:5.15A couple of things to adjust before hitting OK:
Time zone: Replace Asia/Kolkata in the TZ variable with your own local time zone.
Volume path: If your Docker shared folder lives on a volume other than volume1 (check Step 4 in “Before You Begin”), update the two -v paths to match.
Image tag: This command uses the 5.15 tag, which runs reliably on virtually any Synology NAS. TP-Link’s newer 6.x controller line requires a CPU with AVX support, which some older or entry-level NAS models lack — so unless you know your NAS supports it, stick with 5.15. Avoid the latest tag altogether, since it can silently pull in a version your devices don’t support yet.
Once you’ve made these edits, click OK.
Step 6: A popup with a warning message will appear after you click OK — this is expected, so just click OK again to dismiss it.
The task is now created, but it hasn’t run yet. We need to run it manually to actually install the Omada Controller.
Step 7: Find the newly created Install Omada Controller task in the list, select it, and click Run at the top of the window. Confirm by clicking Yes in the popup that follows.
Step 8: That’s it — now wait a few minutes while the Omada Controller image downloads from Docker Hub and the container gets installed. This all happens automatically in the background, and the time it takes depends on your internet speed.
Step 9: Once installation finishes, open a browser and go to your NAS’s IP address on the Omada Controller’s HTTPS port. For example, if your NAS’s IP address is 192.168.0.210, go to https://192.168.0.210:8043 and hit enter.
Since the controller uses a self-signed certificate, your browser will show a “connection isn’t private” warning — this is normal. Click Advanced, then Proceed to 192.168.0.210 (unsafe), and you’ll land on the Omada Controller setup page.
Step 10: On the setup page, click Let’s Get Started and walk through the initial setup wizard. Once it’s done, you can start using the Omada Controller on your Synology NAS exactly like you would with the physical hardware controller.
Note: The IP address used above (192.168.0.210) is just an example — replace it with your own NAS’s actual IP address.
A Few Tips Before You Start Using It
Turn on Auto Backup. Your data folder holds your entire controller configuration, but it’s still worth enabling the built-in backup feature. Inside the controller, go to Settings > Maintenance > Backup and turn on Auto Backup — this way you have a clean, restorable backup even if the container’s data ever gets corrupted.
If devices don’t auto-adopt. Because this setup uses port mapping rather than host networking, some Omada devices may not automatically discover the controller on first boot. If that happens, you may need to manually point the device to your NAS’s IP address during adoption instead of relying on auto-discovery.
Updating the controller later. To upgrade, stop the running container (give it a good 30–60 seconds to shut down cleanly, since killing it abruptly can corrupt the database), then remove it and re-run the same docker command with an updated version tag — your data and logs folders will carry over automatically since they’re stored outside the container.
Conclusion
If you already have a network-attached storage device running at home, you can install and manage all your Omada devices without spending extra on an Omada hardware controller — much like any other application running on your Synology. That said, the physical Omada hardware controller is still the better option for anyone who wants a controller but doesn’t have a NAS or server running around the clock.
