DSM APIs and External Resources

This page provides links to official Synology documentation and resources for DSM package development.

Synology Package Developer Guide

The official Synology documentation for package development:

Section	URL	Description
Overview	Getting Started	Prerequisites and introduction
Package Structure	Package Structure	SPK file format
INFO File	INFO File	Package metadata
Scripts	Scripts	Lifecycle scripts
Privilege	Privilege Configuration	Service user and permissions

Resource Acquisition (DSM 7+)

Section	URL	Description
Overview	Resource Acquisition	Resource files overview
Data Share	Data Share	Shared folder permissions
Port Config	Port Config	Firewall port definitions
Web Service	Web Service	WebStation integration
MariaDB	MariaDB 10	Database resources
PostgreSQL	PostgreSQL	PostgreSQL resources

DSM Integration

Section	URL	Description
DSM Integration	DSM Integration	Overview
Resource Files	Resource Files	DSM 7 resource worker
Package Center	Package Center	Package Center integration

Script Environment Variables

Synology provides standard environment variables in package scripts:

Variable	Description
SYNOPKG_PKGNAME	Package name
SYNOPKG_PKGVER	Package version
SYNOPKG_PKGDEST	Package installation directory
SYNOPKG_PKGVAR	Package variable directory (/var/packages/<pkg>/var/)
SYNOPKG_DSM_VERSION_MAJOR	DSM major version (e.g., 7)
SYNOPKG_DSM_VERSION_MINOR	DSM minor version (e.g., 2)

For the complete list, see Script Environment Variables in the official documentation.

Source and Tools

Official Synology Resources

Resource	URL	Description
pkgscripts-ng	GitHub	Official build toolkit
GPL Source	SourceForge	Toolchains and kernel sources
Archive	archive.synology.com	Old DSM releases and toolchains

SynoCommunity Resources

Resource	URL	Description
spksrc Repository	GitHub	Main build framework
spkrepo	GitHub	Package repository server
Package Feed	packages.synocommunity.com	Official package repository

DSM Knowledge Base

General DSM administration and troubleshooting:

Topic	URL
ACL Management	KB Article
Package Center	KB Article
SSH Access	KB Article

DSM Version Reference

DSM 7.x

Version	Status	Key Changes
DSM 7.2	Current	Stricter service management, new resource types
DSM 7.1	LTS	Primary target for most packages
DSM 7.0	EOL	Initial DSM 7 release

DSM 6.x

Version	Status	Key Changes
DSM 6.2.4	LTS	Primary target for DSM 6 packages
DSM 6.2	Supported	Last major DSM 6 release
DSM 6.1	EOL	Deprecated
DSM 6.0	EOL	Deprecated

Key DSM 7 vs DSM 6 Differences

Feature	DSM 6	DSM 7
Service User	Configurable	sc-<pkgname> (fixed)
Package Trust	Configurable	Synology-signed only
Resource Files	Basic	Full support
Web Service	conf/resource	DSM 7.0+ only
Shared Folder Permissions	Groups	System internal users

See DSM 7 Migration Guide for migration details.