Knowledge Center

Server

In the Server page, you can add one or multiple managed servers to the CMS Host to monitor, manage, and configure them from a single portal. Once a server is added to the CMS Host, the added server will be listed in this page for you to instantly view its server name and connection status. You can also click the icon on the right of each server to view server details.

Add Servers

Follow the steps below to add servers:

To add a new server and install DSM on it:

The CMS Host can search for the servers located in the same local network, and then install DSM on them and add them to the CMS Host. To install DSM on multiple servers, the admin account and password must be the same on every server. Follow the steps below to add servers to the CMS Host and install DSM on them:

  1. Go to Server and click Add.
  2. Select Install DSM on new servers. Click Next.
  3. The CMS Host will search for the servers in the same local network. Select one or more servers that you want to install DSM and add to the CMS Host, and click Next.
    Note: The search result will only contain the servers in DSM not installed status, while servers in Configuration lost or Migratable status will not be listed.
  4. Choose a source for installing DSM and then click Next.
    • Choose Install the latest DSM version from Synology's website and specify a folder for saving the downloaded DSM .pat files.
    • Choose Install the downloaded .pat files manually and select the folder containing the saved DSM .pat files.
  5. Enter the admin account, password, and other installation settings of the added server. Click Next.
  6. Configure the network settings. Click Next.
  7. Confirm the installation summary. Click Apply to finish.

Naming and Password Rules:

When installing DSM on new servers, you'll be prompted to specify a prefix for the managed server names and the password for the administrator account on each server. Please note the following:

  • Server name prefix can include up to 12 characters (e.g., letters, numbers, underscores, and dashes). The first character must be a letter.
  • Admin passwords can include up to 127 characters (e.g., letters, numbers, and symbols).

To add an existing server:

Servers that have been set up and installed with DSM can be directly added to the CMS Host.

  1. Go to Server and click Add.
  2. Select Add existing servers. Click Next.
  3. Select one of the following methods for adding the server and click Next:
    • Add one or more servers from the local network: This option requires the administrator account and password to be the same on every server, and 2-factor authentication cannot be enabled for the administrator account.
    • Add a server by entering its IP address, FQDN, or QuickConnect ID: This option adds a single and remote server by entering its IP address, FQDN, or QuickConnect ID.
    • Add servers by importing server lists: This option adds multiple servers via a list in the .csv format. Go to To add multiple servers by importing a server list for detailed instructions.
  4. Follow the wizard to finish.

Note:

  • Both managed servers and the CMS Host need to set up at least one connection method for the CMS Host to manage Synology NAS servers and the managed servers to periodically send information back.
    • Connection methods include IP address, FQDN, DDNS, and QuickConnect ID.
    • We recommend setting up multiple connection methods to allow the CMS Host and the managed servers to switch to another connection method automatically if disconnection occurs.
  • If the server you want to add has 2-factor authentication enabled, you can only add it by entering its IP address, FQDN, or QuickConnect ID.

To add multiple servers by importing a server list:

Once you have created a server list, you can import it to the CMS Host to efficiently add multiple servers for CMS management. Do the following to create a server list first:

Create a server list:

  1. Open a new Excel spreadsheet.
  2. Enter the server's information in the following order and separate them by a comma in a single row.
    • Protocol (http, https, or quickconnect)
    • IP address (enter QuickConnect ID into this field if the protocol is set to "quickconnect")
    • Port (this field can be left empty if the protocol is set to "quickconnect")
    • Username (must belong to the administrators group)
    • Password
    • Description (this field is optional and can be left empty)
  3. Repeat step 2 to add the information of multiple servers into the list. Each row represents a server.
  4. Save the spreadsheet in the .csv or .txt format (file encoding must be in UTF-8 format).

Import a server list:

  1. Follow steps 1 to 3 in the To add an existing server section and select Add servers by importing server lists. Click Next.
  2. Click Browse to choose the server list file. After the file is uploaded, the imported servers will be listed.
  3. Click Next to allow the system to perform the authentication check.
  4. Click Apply to proceed.

Note:

  • If a server did not pass the authentication check, a window will pop up to inform you of the possible cause of failure. In this circumstance, you can click Yes to ignore the unauthenticated server or click No and go back to the previous step to modify the server list.
  • Password will not be shown in the preview for security purposes.
  • The following events will occur to the managed server once it is added to the CMS Host:
    • A system user account SynologyCMS is created on the managed server. This account is used for the CMS Host to access and modify settings on the managed server. When the host signs in to a managed server by clicking Go To Server, the account name will be shown in Personal Settings. The account is added to the administrators group and cannot be deleted unless the server is removed from the CMS Host.
    • CMS appears in Control Panel > Services, providing options for the managed server to disjoin from the CMS Host or enable centralized CMS notifications.

Manage the Added Servers

A list of the managed servers will be displayed once they are successfully added. Enter keywords in the upper-right search bar to search for a specific server or click to filter servers by group or status. You can also select a server and click the following buttons to further manage it. Pressing the Ctrl key and left-clicking your mouse allows you to select multiple servers for deletion or connection testing at a time.

  • Edit: Edit the general, policy, and administrator settings of a managed server.
    • General: Modify the general connection settings.
    • Policy: View the locked global/group policies; choose whether to inherit the unlocked global/group policies; and prioritize the policies applied to the server.
      Note: Go to the Policy page to create a policy first if you want to create a new policy and apply it to the server.
    • Administrator: Delegate permissions to a user/group by selecting a user/group from the drop-down menu and clicking . Click to delete an added administrator.
  • Disjoin: Delete a managed server. Relevant logs are still retained after a server is deleted.
  • View Policy: View the policies applied to a server. To change or edit the rules in a policy, go to the Policy page and select the policy that you want to edit, and click Edit.
  • Test Connection: Test the connection between the CMS Host and the managed server. When a server is selected, clicking this button will test the connection and update the data of this specific server; when no server is selected, clicking this button will test the connection and update the data of all servers.
  • Go to Server: Sign in to the selected server to further manage its settings.

Note:

  • The CMS Host can sign in to its managed servers via the Go To Server button only when the PC used for operating the CMS Host can connect to the managed server. You can refer to this article for troubleshooting if you cannot sign in to the managed servers from the CMS Host's Go To Server button.
Add Servers
Manage the Added Servers