How to create a user account on Synology NAS

Synology NAS enclosures allow the addition of countless user accounts, which make them ideal for busy households and/or bustling offices. It’s easy to create a user account on a NAS and this guide will show you precisely how, as well as set up limitations, and more.

• How to create a user account on Synology NAS
• User account limitations on Synology NAS
• Expanding storage for new user accounts

How to create a user account on Synology NAS

It’s always a good time when you invite friends and family to use the best NAS alongside you. Here’s how to add a new account to your Synology NAS:

1. Go to Control Panel > User & Group > User.
2. Click Create.
3. Fill in the following information:

• Name: Enter a name (or username) for the account.
• Description: Fill in a brief reminder of who this person is.
• Email: Enter an email address for the account.
• Password: Enter a password or click Generate Random Password to have one created.

4. Check Send a notification mail to the newly created user for an email to be sent to the email address once the account is created. (This feature must be enabled at Control Panel > Notification > E-mail)
5. Check Display user password in notification mail to show the password in the sent email in step 4.
6. Check Disallow the user to change account password if you do not want the user to alter their password.

4. Click Next.
5. Specify which groups you wish the new user account to belong to. (We’ve got a guide on how to create a group on Synology NAS!)

4. Click Next.
5. Choose which shared folders the new user account has permissions for.

4. Click Next.
5. On the next page, the DSM OS will ask how much storage space can be used by the new user account.

The quota set on a user level has priority and overwrites what is set for the group. Btrfs file systems let you specify quotas per shared folder, other file systems are restricted to the volume level.

13. Click Next.
14. The next page will let you control what the user account can access.

13. Click Next.
14. Here you can set the user speed limit, which covers File Station, FTP, and other services.

Applying group settings will copy what’s set for the group. It’s possible to set a speed cap as well as more advanced speed limits.

17. Click Next.
18. Click Done.

User account limitations on Synology NAS

There are a few limitations to bear in mind when creating a user account on a Synology NAS.

Username limitations

The following must be adhered to when entering a username for the account:

• The username is not case sensitive and can include 1 to 64 Unicode characters, but cannot contain the following symbols:
  ! ” # $ % & ‘ ( ) * + , / : ; < = > ? @ [ ] \ ^ ` { } | ~
• The first character cannot be a minus sign or a space, and the last character cannot be a space.
• Certain user names are reserved for system use, such as mailer-daemon and postmaster.
• The user description can include up to 64 displayable Unicode characters.

Password limitations

The following must be adhered to when creating a password for the account:

• The password is case sensitive and is limited up to 127 displayable characters, including letters, numbers, signs, and space.

Quota limitations

The following must be adhered to when setting a quota for the account:

• The maximum storage usage quota that can be entered for each user is approximately 4TB.

Expanding storage for new user accounts

Expanding storage capacity for user accounts may require the account of some new drives. I’ve written up a guide on the best way to replace a drive on a Synology NAS and you’ll find below my top two recommendations for NAS HDD and SSDs.