Add Synology NFS Storage to Proxmox VE for VMs and Backups

In this guide, we shall discuss how to add Synology NFS Storage to Proxmox VE for VMs and Backups. When integrating a Synology NAS with Proxmox VE. NFS provides a convenient and flexible storage solution for virtual machines, ISO images, templates, and backups. Please, see How to setup Veeam Software Appliance v13, how to install NFS Server on Windows Server, and How to delete a VM and Storage in Proxmox.

Unlike local Proxmox storage or block-level storage solutions. Network File System (NFS) shares on a NAS are network-based and accessible to multiple nodes simultaneously, making them ideal for clustered environments or home labs. We can also use iSCSI for block storage and this depends on your choice.

One important characteristic of NFS on Synology is that it is not pre-allocated. The storage is thin-provisioned, meaning that VM disk files grow dynamically as data is written. This allows efficient use of disk space. But it also requires monitoring free space on the NAS to avoid unexpected storage exhaustion.

NFS itself is a protocol that allows a client, such as Proxmox to access files over a network as if they were on a local disk. When using Synology NAS as NFS storage for Proxmox, I will be using NFS version 3 due to its stability and broad compatibility. NFSv3 is stateless, simpler, and avoids the permission and mounting issues that sometimes occur with NFSv4 or NFSv4.1.

Also, see Troubleshooting WinRM and Kerberos Delegation for WAC, and how to Setup Windows Admin Center Modern Gateway for Single Sign-On.

Enable NFS Service

To access a shared folder with your NFS client. First configure your Synology NAS to allow NFS sharing. To do this, launch the Control Panel, click on File Services and then on NFS.

Ensure it is enabled and select the following protocol. You can decide for other protocols depending on your use case.

Synology does not support NFS version 4.2 and Full (posix_fallocate), which requires NFS 4.2 support

If you want some more advanced settings. You can click on advanced as shown above and make the below modifications.

Click Apply to save the settings

Understanding the NFS Protocol Options

The below table shows the u

Protocol	Applicability	Traits	Proxmox Compatibility
NFSv3	Most stable & widely used	Simple, stateless, excellent compatibility, lower overhead	Fully supported and highly reliable
NFSv4.0	Modern, with ACLs and pseudo-filesystem	Stateful, better security, single TCP port (2049)	Works, but sometimes slower or needs manual tuning
NFSv4.1	Adds parallel I/O and session trunking	Complex but efficient on large clusters	Supported, but can cause mount/auth issues on Synology + Proxmox combos
NFSv4.1 (all ranges)	Tries all supported versions	Negotiates automatically	May lead to inconsistent mounts or timeouts

Please, see What is taking up by Synology NAS Volume Space, and how to download and update Synology DiskStation NAS to DSM 7.3.

Create Shared Folder

To create a Shared Folder, also launch the Control Panel and click on Shared Folder. Please, see the below links for more information.

• Manage User Permission on Synology with Active Directory [Part 1]
• How to Configure Synology DS923+ NAS for File Sharing [Part 2]
• how to Create Folders and Enable File sharing on Windows,
• How to setup DS923+ Synology NAS as a Backup Repository for VBR

Enter the basic information such as the name and description. Enable recycle bin if you wish.

I will skip the “Enable additional security measure” here here. This is because, the Write Once” (WORM) is designed for archival storage where data cannot be modified, but it is unsuitable for Proxmox because the platform requires dynamic read/write/delete access for VM disks, backups, and ISOs.

Also, the Synology’s shared-folder encryption protects data on disk. But it requires manual unlocking after a NAS reboot, slightly increases CPU load, and is best suited for sensitive data like offsite backups.

I will also skip the advanced settings windows and click on next.

Since my Synology NAS volume uses Btrfs. I have already get some integrity protection by design even without enabling per-share checksum.

On the Confirm settings window, click next.

We have successfully created our shared folder. You can configure the NFS permissions of the shared folder before using your NFS client to access it or present it to Proxmox. To do this, select the folder and click on Edit.

Navigate to the NFS Permission and set as you wish. In my lab environment, I am fine with these settings. Afterwards, I will click on Save. You can also “map all users to admin for Squash”.

Below is our mount path in the image. Please, save the settings. If you wish to mount shared folders via NFS on the client side, please see this KB.

Please, see Create a bootable USB on Mac: Proxmox VE Setup, and how to Resolve the Update Package Database failure on Proxmox VE.

Verify NFS Share Access

You can confirm export and this verifies that the NFS share on the NAS is accessible from the Proxmox host and correctly exported for Proxmox or client use.

showmount -e 192.168.2.1xxx

Proxmox can read and write VM disk files, backup files, and ISO images over the NFS share. While the NAS handles dynamic storage allocation. Thereby, making it a practical and expandable storage solution for virtualization environments.

Also, you can very mount point by using the command below from the shell

df -h | grep nfs

You can also test mount point with the command below. Do not forget to enter your NAS IP address.

mount -t nfs <NAS_IP>:/volume1/ProxmoxStorage /mnt

Please, see How to create and configure a Shared Folder on Windows Server, and how to Add additional CC400W Cameras to Synology Surveillance Station

Mount NFS Storage in Proxmox

Removing an NFS datastore does not automatically unmount the corresponding NFS shared folder until you manually unmount it or restart its Proxmox node.

Log in to Proxmox Web UI via the URL with port 8006. Navigate to the Datacenter, then Storage and click on Add.

Select NFS as shown below

Enter the ID, server IP and under Export. Hit the Synology shared folder path (e.g. /volume1/ProxmoxStorage) you have created.

For the content type, I will select all for my Lab usage.

Click Add

As you can see, the NFS storage on the Storage page as a datastore

Please, see how to Fix SMB Freezes That Break Backups on Critical Linux Servers, and “Veeam Backup Console must be updated to the latest version“.

Add SMB/CIFS to Proxmox

SMB (Server Message Block) is primarily a Windows file-sharing protocol. But it can also be used in Linux/Proxmox in specific scenarios.

Proxmox can access Windows-based storage or NAS SMB shares to read and write ISO images, templates, or backups. SMB shares can also be configured with Write Once (WORM) or encryption, making them ideal for backup archives or compliance storage that doesn’t change frequently.

Additionally, SMB provides cross-platform file access, allowing multiple clients like Windows PCs and Linux servers to share files such as ISO libraries, templates, or documents.

Enter the ID, and Server IP etc as shown in the image below. When complete, click on Add.

Conclusion

SMB offers strong Windows compatibility, robust security, and better support for multi-user file access, while NFS provides faster performance and lower overhead, especially on Linux/Unix systems.

Choosing between them depends on your environment: SMB for mixed or Windows-heavy networks, and NFS for Linux-based servers, VM storage, or high-speed transfers.

FAQs

I hope you found this blog post useful on how to add Synology NFS Storage to Proxmox VE for VMs and Backups. Please, feel free to leave a comment below.