Installing Backlight on Synology 923+ NAS - Installer issues

Backlight 4, 5 & 6 Support
1

NOTE: Not sure it’s appropriate or that I should expect assistance on what is a non-standard install of Backlight, but figured I’d give it a go

I’ve been working through experimenting with installing Backlight on my Synology NAS as a test to whether I can replace my existing Web Host by running Backlight on my Synology. The web traffic to my sight is minimal at best these days (i.e. I’m no longer working as a semi-pro photographer) so this seemed worth a try. I’m setting it up using a domain I own that I’m not currently using with Backlight (www.scottblackmanphotography.com) Given my annual renewal for my current web host doesn’t expire until November, now seemed like a good time to try this out while leaving my existing backlight instance running on www.blackmanphoto.com.

Full disclosure: I’ve gotten up close and personal with ChatGPT as it has been quite helpful in helping get things set up on the Synology to enable me to even have a functioning working website via Web Station for www.scottblackmanphotography.com. However, we’ve reached an impasse in trying to solve an installer challenge with Backlight. NOTE: I’m using the 6.4.2 installer as that’s the last installer that I have a full download access to via my purchase/upgrade receipt.

So with all of that said, below is what ChatGPT suggested I ask the community for support with (no irony that the AI is asking me to get help from humans LOL)

Backlight 6.4.2 installer on Synology NAS behind Cloudflare Tunnel.

Install path:
/web/scottblackmanphotography/
index.php
.htaccess
galleries/
backlight/

Backlight path:
/web/scottblackmanphotography/backlight/

Public URL:
https://www.scottblackmanphotography.com/

Installer URL attempted:
Backlight Installer

Problem:
After installer completion / “continue to Backlight,” Safari reports too many redirects. The redirect URL recursively becomes:
/backlight/backlight/installer/backlight/installer/…

Tests already done:

  • Cloudflare Development Mode enabled
  • Cloudflare cache purged
  • fresh private browser windows used
  • root .htaccess disabled
  • backlight/.htaccess disabled
  • direct installer/index.php tested
  • generated installer.sq3 and installer.sq3-journal removed
  • generated data/designer and data/publisher DB folders removed
  • env.php tested with DISABLE_CLEAN_URLS, BLOCK_HTTPS_REDIRECTION, and REAL_PATH_OF_PHOTOS_SITE

Result:
Redirect loop persists.

An additional data point suggested from ChatGPT to my initial post:

Even with BOTH root and backlight .htaccess files disabled,
direct access to:

/backlight/installer/index.php

still recursively redirects into:

/backlight/backlight/installer/…

which suggests the recursion is occurring inside installer PHP logic rather than Apache rewrite rules.

2

AFAIK, backlight/.htaccess should be enabled. I’ve been running Backlight on my QNAP and it run ouf of the box. I assume you already checked the forum for other Synology reports.

3

One thing I should be sure I’m clear on is that i’m not suggesting there’s any issue with the backlight installer. Not suggesting something should be different. Backlight has been installed world wide many, many times. So it’s clearly not the installer. I’m just trying to figure out what I may be doing wrong or have set up wrong from an installation perspective.

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Hi Scott,

if you are installing through a domain redirect from https://www.scottblackmanphotography.com/ this maybe causing the issue, try installing using your NAS ip address on your local network and see if this works.

if so then you can go into the settings and change the site url’s

Paul…

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p.s. as you are installing in a sub directory /web/scottblackmanphotography/ this may also cause issues try installing in the base directory /web

Paul…

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When I installed Backlight on my Synology, I FTP’s the live site to my desktop then FTP’d it to the NAS. Then I went in and adjusted the settings via the admin pages. I still use this method to sync the two.

7

This was exactly what I needed Paul. I had to do a little futzing around by editing my etc/host locally on my MacBook and adding ip and www.scottblackmanphotography.com in order to force a bypass of the Cloudflare tunnel. Re-ran the installer in a private safari window and all went as expected. After logging in to Backlight with default credentials and setting things up I published a test album. I got a GD PHP Module error and then an EXIF error so had to make some Web Station edits in Script Language Settings. After that - all was right and the test site is fully functional

Can’t thank you enough for that guidance.

Next step will be to continue doing some publish testing and template configuration - just to be sure everything seems to be solid. Then I will configure my ACTUAL preferred domain within Synology and see how that goes for a few months before I fully determine the goal of not resubscribing to my web host in November.

3 Likes
8

Excellent :slight_smile: :+1:

your url is working ok from here.

1 Like
9

Lots a work to do but super happy to have it running. Clearly time will tell if it’s a sustainable approach. I’ll also be curious to see what connectivity/load-times look like from external users (of which there are precious few :slight_smile: )

10

This may be a topic for a new thread, but is there any notion of ‘migrating’ from one host to another without having to fully recreate the entirety of my backlight published content on the old host to the new host (new being the NAS).

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im fairly sure you will have to republish.