synopkg-update-checker

Check Synology DSM or BSM system updates and installed package updates from the Synology archive and supported community sources.

Language: 🇬🇧 English | 🇩🇪 Deutsch

Overview

This script currently supports:

• DSM or BSM operating system update checks via the Synology archive
• package update checks for:
  • official Synology packages
  • SynoCommunity packages
  • GitHub releases when a package distributor points to GitHub
• interactive installation of downloaded package updates
• optional HTML email reporting with clickable links and source badges
• filters for running packages, official packages, community packages, OS-only, or packages-only checks

Requirements

• Synology NAS running DSM or BSM
• required commands:
  • curl
  • dmidecode
  • getopt
  • jq
  • synogetkeyvalue
  • synopkg
  • wget
• for email mode: ssmtp, sendmail, or synodsmnotify
• DSM email notification settings configured when using email reports
• root or sudo privileges recommended, and required for package installation

Usage

./bin/synopkg-update-checker.sh [options]

Options:
  -i, --info          Display system and update information only
  -e, --email         Send the report by email and automatically enable info mode
  --email-to <email>  Override the configured DSM recipient address
  -r, --running       Check updates only for currently running packages
  --official-only     Show only official Synology packages
  --community-only    Show only community or third-party packages
  --os-only           Check only for operating system updates
  --packages-only     Check only for package updates
  -n, --dry-run       Simulate actions without downloading or installing
  -v, --verbose       Reserved flag, currently not implemented
  -d, --debug         Enable detailed debug output
  -h, --help          Show help

Option details

Option	Description
-i, --info	Prints a report only. No downloads and no installation menu.
-e, --email	Sends the report as HTML email and automatically switches to info mode. No normal stdout report is produced.
--email-to <email>	Uses a custom recipient instead of the DSM notification configuration.
-r, --running	Limits package checks to services that are currently running.
--official-only	Shows only official Synology packages.
--community-only	Shows only community or third-party packages. Cannot be combined with --official-only.
--os-only	Skips package checks and only reports DSM or BSM updates.
--packages-only	Skips OS checks and only reports package updates. Cannot be combined with --os-only.
-n, --dry-run	Simulates the run without downloading or installing any package.
-d, --debug	Shows additional internal details and, in email mode, stores a local HTML copy in debug/.
-v, --verbose	Present in the CLI, but not used by the current code yet.

Update sources and detection

The script identifies package sources from the package INFO metadata in /var/packages/<package>/INFO.

• Official Synology package
  • no distributor field, or
  • distributor="Synology Inc."
• GitHub package
  • the distributor contains a GitHub URL such as https://github.com/<owner>/<repo>
  • the script checks the latest GitHub release and looks for matching .spk assets
• Community package
  • any other non-Synology distributor
  • SynoCommunity pages are checked directly when applicable

For package downloads, the script now uses the package-specific arch value from each package INFO file, plus the system platform name, to find the best matching SPK file.

Email report formatting

When email mode is used, the report contains styled HTML tables and visual badges:

• 🏢 OFFICIAL for Synology packages
• 👥 COMMUNITY for community repositories
• 🐙 GITHUB for packages tracked from GitHub releases
• 🔴 means an update is available
• 🟢 means the installed item is already up to date

The terminal table still uses simple values in the Update column:

• X = update available
• - = no update

Workflow

1. Collect system information:

   • product
   • model
   • architecture
   • platform name
   • operating system
   • installed version

2. Check operating system updates:

   • query the Synology archive
   • compare installed and available versions
   • verify model or platform compatibility
   • show a direct .pat download link when an update exists

3. Check installed packages:

   • list installed packages in stable alphabetical order
   • detect each package source
   • apply active filters such as running-only or official-only
   • compare installed and latest versions
   • collect matching download URLs for updateable packages

4. In normal mode:

   • download package files to downloads/packages/
   • present an interactive selection menu
   • install chosen packages with confirmation

5. Cleanup:

   • remove the temporary download directory when the run is finished

Important notes and limitations

• OS updates are reported with download links only. The current script does not install DSM or BSM updates automatically.
• Package installation requires confirmation and should be run with appropriate privileges.
• --email depends on DSM mail settings or an explicit --email-to override.
• In --debug --email mode, a copy of the generated HTML report is saved as debug/email_YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS.html.
• If sending the email fails, the script exits with an error.

Examples

Show a report only

./bin/synopkg-update-checker.sh --info

Send the report by email

./bin/synopkg-update-checker.sh --email

Send the report to a custom recipient

./bin/synopkg-update-checker.sh --email --email-to you@example.com

Check only running official packages

./bin/synopkg-update-checker.sh --info --running --official-only

Check only community and GitHub-based packages

./bin/synopkg-update-checker.sh --info --community-only --packages-only

Simulate the installation flow

./bin/synopkg-update-checker.sh --dry-run

Download and install available package updates

sudo ./bin/synopkg-update-checker.sh

Output directories

downloads/
├── os/
└── packages/

debug/
└── email_YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS.html

DSM email configuration

If you want to use email reporting, configure DSM notifications first:

Configure Synology email notifications