Another practical advantage of OpenMediaVault is that thanks to the prepared Docker and Portainer installation, you can easily add additional functions.
Docker containers are a type of software package that make it much easier to distribute and install programs. Instead of having to install the desired program, you simply have to activate the Docker container on your system. This automatically copies, configures or installs all necessary settings, dependencies and more. In most cases you only have to adapt the configuration to your needs. These properties have led to more and more developers offering their programs as Docker containers.
Portainer is an extension for Docker. With Docker alone you can already install Docker containers. But you have to configure everything "manually" via the console of your system. Thanks to Portainer, you can also do this conveniently via a web interface. This is how you can add, delete and manage new Docker containers on the Portainer web interface. This considerably simplifies the entire handling.
In order to use a Docker container on your system, you actually only have to initiate the installation of Docker and Portainer. The option to do this is conveniently accessible via the OpenMediaVault web interface. As soon as the installation has started, it runs automatically and Docker or Portainer will be available on your system after a few minutes.
Of course you have to make a few quick settings afterwards. The following article describes how you do this and how you can then start using a Docker container on your system.
Safety instructions
I know the following hints are always a bit annoying and seem unnecessary. But unfortunately, many people who knew it "better" from carelessness lost their eyes, fingers or other things or hurt themselves. In comparison, a loss of data is almost not worth mentioning, but even these can be really annoying. Therefore, please take five minutes to read the safety instructions. Even the coolest project is worth no injury or other annoyance. https://www.nerdiy.de/en/sicherheitshinweise/
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Requirements
Helpful articles:
Before you start this article, you should have prepared a Raspberry Pi so that it can be reached via the network and controlled via SSH.
The following articles describe what needs to be done to prepare the Raspberry Pi.
- RaspberryPi - Setup for nerdiys!
- RaspberryPi - The first configuration!
- RaspberryPi - Control the RaspberryPi via SSH
- RaspberryPi – Build a Network Attached Storage / NAS using a Raspberry Pi
- Raspberry Pi – Install OpenMediaVault / OMV on the Raspberry Pi
In the following lists you will find all the parts you need to implement this article.
Required tool:
Number | Link |
---|---|
1x | Screwdriver set Buy at Amazon |
1x | SD card reader Buy at Amazon |
Required material:
Number | Link |
---|---|
1x | Raspberry Pi Buy at Amazon |
1x | Raspberry Pi power supply Buy at Amazon |
1x | Raspberry Pi case Buy at Amazon |
1x | Micro SD card 64GB Buy at Amazon |
Install Docker
In order to be able to use Docker and Portainer, you must first install both.

First, log into the OpenMediaVault web interface.
You can find information about this in the article
Then click on the menu item
- System / omv-extras
Install Portainer
Now you can also install Portainer. In principle, the installation works the same way.

And click on the next view
- Install
If desired, you can of course also adjust the ports under which the Portainer web interface can be accessed. Normally, however, this is not necessary.
Open and configure the Portainer interface
After installing Portainer, you should now open the web interface to make a few simple settings.

You can also access the Portainer interface by clicking on
- openweb
in the Portainer menu in OpenMediaVault.
Install a Docker container
After you have installed Docker and Portainer you can start a first test. In this example, the Docker container is installed with the Docker Stock feature.

In the following window you can now configure the Docker Stack.
To do this, you must first enter a name for the Docker stack.
In this example I use a Docker container from the “Frigate” project. This is a system to automatically evaluate the video streams from a surveillance camera.
At this point you would have to adapt the configuration in the lower text field to your needs. The settings here ultimately determine how the Docker container is configured.
You can usually find more information about the available options in the documentation for the respective project.

As soon as you have everything configured, you can start the Docker container. Just click on the button
- Deploy the stack
More articles related to Open Media Vault
This completes the installation of OMV. I have described the many other functions in other articles. There you will also find information on how to expand the functionality of your OMV installation accordingly. These articles are all grouped into the following categories.
Have fun with the project
I hope everything worked as described. If not or you have any other questions or suggestions, please let me know in the comments. Also, ideas for new projects are always welcome. 🙂
P.S. Many of these projects - especially the hardware projects - cost a lot of time and money. Of course I do this because I enjoy it, but if you appreciate that I share this information with you, I would be happy about a small donation to the coffee box. 🙂