How to Set Up Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) on Synology NAS: Running Linux and Windows VMs from Your NAS - ITFROMZERO - Share tobe shared! Synology Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) lets you run Linux and Windows virtual machines directly on your NAS without a dedicated server. This guide walks through every step: checking hardware compatibility, installing VMM, configuring storage and a virtual switch, creating VMs, and setting up monitoring.

When Your NAS Is More Than Just a File Server

If you have a Synology NAS at home or in a small office, chances are you haven’t tapped into its full potential. Synology Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) is an official package that lets you run Linux and Windows virtual machines directly on your NAS — no additional physical server required.

I run a homelab with Proxmox VE managing 12 VMs and containers — it’s my playground for testing everything before pushing to production. But not everyone wants or needs a dedicated server for that. For small offices or light homelabs, making use of an existing NAS to run a few extra VMs is an extremely practical choice — it saves money and doesn’t draw any additional power.

When Does VMM Make Sense?

Developers who need an isolated test environment that won’t affect their main machine
IT admins who want to test Active Directory and Group Policy on Windows Server
Homelab users who want to run internal services (web server, DNS, VPN) without adding more hardware
Small offices that need an internal server but don’t have the budget for dedicated hardware

What sets VMM apart from other solutions: it integrates fully into DSM with a graphical interface, requires no command line to set up a basic VM, and snapshots are managed within the same system as Hyper Backup.

Check Hardware Compatibility Before Installing

This is a step many people skip — only to discover their NAS model isn’t supported after the install.

NAS Models That Support VMM

Plus Series: DS923+, DS1522+, DS1621xs+, DS1821+, DS2422+
XS/XS+ Series: DS3622xs+, DS3617xs, FS3600
Rackmount: RS1221+, RS1221RP+, RS2421+, RS4021xs+

Hard requirement: The CPU must be x86-64 (Intel Celeron, Core, Xeon, or AMD Ryzen). ARM-based models like the DS220j, DS120j, and DS223j cannot run VMM — this is a hard technical limitation with no workaround.

Minimum Requirements for Stable Operation

RAM: 4GB total — DSM needs roughly 1.5GB, and the remainder is what’s available for VMs. Upgrade to 8GB or 16GB if you plan to run multiple VMs in parallel
Storage: SSDs will significantly improve VM performance compared to spinning HDDs
DSM: Version 7.x (recommended) or at minimum 6.2

To check your current RAM and CPU: go to Control Panel → Info Center → Resource in DSM.

Installing Virtual Machine Manager

Step 1 — Install the VMM Package

Open Package Center in DSM, search for “Virtual Machine Manager”, and click Install. The installation will prompt you to select a Storage Pool for VM storage — if you don’t have a suitable pool yet, create one in Storage Manager first.

Step 2 — Configure Storage for VMs

Open Virtual Machine Manager → Storage → Add:

Select a Storage Pool (prefer an SSD pool if available)
Give it a name, e.g. vm-storage
Leave thin provisioning as the default — virtual disks will only consume as much space as is actually used

Step 3 — Create a Virtual Switch

VMs need network connectivity to communicate with your local network. Go to Virtual Machine Manager → Network → Add. You have two options:

Linux Bridge: simple, suitable for homelabs and small offices
Open vSwitch (OVS): more flexible, supports VLAN tagging if you need network segmentation

For most use cases, choose Linux Bridge and bridge it to the NAS’s physical network port. VMs will receive an IP from your router’s DHCP just like any other physical device on the network.

# Check network interfaces on the NAS via SSH (enable in Control Panel → Terminal & SNMP)
ssh [email protected]
ip link show

# Example output:
# 2: eth0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc mq state UP
# 3: eth1: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc mq state DOWN
# Bridge to eth0 (the port that is UP)

Detailed Configuration: Creating and Installing Virtual Machines

Upload an ISO to the NAS

Download the OS ISO you want to install (Ubuntu Server, Debian, Windows Server, etc.) and upload it to the NAS via File Station, or use wget directly over SSH for a faster transfer:

# SSH into the NAS
ssh [email protected]

# Create a directory to store ISOs
mkdir -p /volume1/vmiso

# Download Ubuntu Server 24.04 LTS
wget https://releases.ubuntu.com/24.04/ubuntu-24.04.1-live-server-amd64.iso \
  -O /volume1/vmiso/ubuntu-24.04-server.iso

# Verify the downloaded file
ls -lh /volume1/vmiso/

Once you have the ISO file, go to Virtual Machine Manager → Image → Add → From File and select the ISO you just uploaded.

Create a Linux VM (Ubuntu Server)

Go to Virtual Machine Manager → Virtual Machine → Create and follow each step:

General: Name the VM (e.g. ubuntu-dev), set OS type to “Linux”
CPU & Memory: 2 vCPUs, 2048 MB RAM for a basic Ubuntu Server
Storage: Create a 20GB virtual disk, select the storage configured above
Network: Select the vSwitch (Linux Bridge) you created
ISO/DVD: Mount the Ubuntu ISO to the virtual DVD drive
Summary: Review the settings and click Done

Create a Windows VM

The configuration is similar, but there are a few things to keep in mind:

OS Type: select Windows
RAM: minimum 4GB for Windows 10/11, 2GB for Windows Server Core
Storage: minimum 50GB for Windows desktop, 32GB for Windows Server Core
You’ll need to add a VirtIO driver ISO so Windows can detect the virtual disk and network adapter

Download the VirtIO driver ISO from the Fedora Project website (search for virtio-win.iso) and mount it to a second DVD drive during Windows installation. At the partition selection step, click “Load driver” and point it to that DVD drive so Windows can recognize the virtual hard disk.

Configuring VM Management Permissions

VMM has its own separate permissions system — a DSM admin does not automatically have management access to VMs. Go to Virtual Machine Manager → Permissions and add the necessary users or groups with the appropriate permission level (Manager, Guest, or Viewer).

Testing and Monitoring

Access the VM Console

After starting the VM, click Connect to open the console in your web browser (VNC over WebSocket). Once the OS is installed, it’s a good idea to install an SSH server for easier management:

# Inside the newly installed Ubuntu VM — accessed via browser console
sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y openssh-server
sudo systemctl enable --now ssh

# Check the IP address assigned to the VM
ip addr show eth0 | grep 'inet '

# SSH into the VM from your local machine (on the same network)
ssh [email protected]

View Resources and Performance

VMM displays CPU, RAM, disk I/O, and network usage for each VM in the Overview tab. For more detailed monitoring inside the VM, I usually install:

# htop — quickly view processes and resource usage
sudo apt install -y htop
htop

# Netdata — real-time web monitoring dashboard (port 19999)
curl https://my-netdata.io/kickstart.sh | bash
# After installation: open http://VM-IP:19999 in your browser

# Or if you just need a quick CPU/RAM check from the terminal
vmstat 1 5        # 5 samples, 1 second apart
free -h           # RAM usage

Snapshots and Restore

This is where VMM shines — it’s well-implemented and feels naturally integrated:

Select a VM → Action → Take Snapshot
Give it a descriptive name, e.g. before-nginx-upgrade-2025-10
To restore: go to the Snapshot tab for the VM, select a snapshot → Restore

Combined with Hyper Backup (a separate Synology package), you can back up entire VMs to an external drive or cloud storage without any complex configuration — all from the same DSM interface.

Common Issues and How to Fix Them

VM boots extremely slowly: Check whether the virtual disk is on a spinning HDD or SSD. Move it to SSD if possible
Windows can’t find the hard drive during installation: Missing VirtIO driver — mount the driver ISO and load it through the Windows setup wizard
VMM doesn’t appear in Package Center: Your NAS model isn’t supported (ARM CPU) or DSM version is older than 6.2
NAS becomes unresponsive after starting a VM: The VM was allocated too much RAM, leaving DSM without enough memory to run. Reserve at least 1.5–2GB for the system
VM doesn’t get an IP address: Review your vSwitch configuration — it must be bridged to the network port that is actually UP

Synology VMM is not a replacement for Proxmox or ESXi in heavy production environments. But for homelabs, small offices, or dev/test setups, the ability to leverage hardware you already own without spinning up a separate server is a genuine advantage. A NAS that used to sit idle 24/7 just storing files can now run a few lightweight VMs without costing you a single extra watt or an additional piece of hardware.