Your NAS is the always-on machine you already own

One line, on any Docker host

The image is ghcr.io/phodgers/roosterwake-agent, built for amd64, arm64 and 32-bit ARM. On any machine with Docker — a NAS, a home server, a Pi, a mini PC — this is the whole install:

docker run -d --name roosterwake-agent --network host --restart unless-stopped -v roosterwake-agent:/data -e [email protected] ghcr.io/phodgers/roosterwake-agent

Put your own account address in RW_EMAIL. If that address has an account, the container asks to join it and you approve it on the Emitters page; if it has none yet, an invitation goes to it. The signed-in Emitters page writes this line for you with your credential already filled in — on the paid plans that is a private enrolment token (RW_TOKEN=) rather than your address, which joins your account with no approval step.

The same thing as a Compose file, for the NAS apps that take one:

services:
  roosterwake-agent:
    image: ghcr.io/phodgers/roosterwake-agent
    container_name: roosterwake-agent
    network_mode: host
    restart: unless-stopped
    volumes:
      - roosterwake-agent:/data
    environment:
      RW_EMAIL: [email protected]
volumes:
  roosterwake-agent:

It appears on your Emitters page as an Always on waker within a minute. The container enrols emitter-only: it sends wakes and reports that it is up, and it never offers to sleep or shut down the NAS it runs on — a waker, not a machine to look after.

The three settings that are not optional

• Host network. A wake is a broadcast, and a broadcast cannot leave a bridge network: a container on Docker's default bridge broadcasts into a network with nothing on it but other containers, every packet is sent and nothing wakes. So the container refuses to start on a bridge, before it writes anything, and says: "This container is on a bridge network. A wake is a broadcast and cannot leave a bridge, so the agent refuses to start — run it with --network host (Docker) or network_mode: host (Compose), or tick 'Use the same network as the Docker host' in your NAS's container settings."
• A volume at /data. The container's identity — a device id and a token — lives there. With the volume, a recreate, an image update or a reboot runs the same emitter your dashboard already knows; without it, every recreate is a new emitter and an old row to tidy. A named volume as in the line above, or a folder on the NAS mounted at /data — both work, and the image runs as root precisely so a folder created by the NAS's own UI is writable.
• The email or the token. Exactly one, and only the first time: once an identity exists on the volume, RW_EMAIL and RW_TOKEN are ignored, so a recreate never mints a second emitter. To start over, remove the emitter on the Emitters page and empty the volume.

Synology: Container Manager

Container Manager (DSM 7.2 and later; Docker on older DSM) takes a Compose file as a Project, which is the easiest route — paste the block above and it pulls and starts.

1. Open Container Manager and go to Project → Create.
2. Project name roosterwake-agent; for the path, pick or create a folder on a volume (docker/roosterwake-agent is the convention).
3. Source: Create docker-compose.yml. Paste the Compose block above and put your address — or your token line from the Emitters page — in its environment section.
4. Next through the web-portal step (it needs none) and Done. The project pulls the image and starts it; the container shows as running under Container.
5. Within a minute it is on your Emitters page as an Always on waker.

QNAP: Container Station

Container Station 3 has two routes: an Application is a Compose file, a Container is the wizard. Either way, the network mode is the thing to get right.

1. Open Container Station → Applications → Create.
2. Name it roosterwake-agent, paste the Compose block above into the YAML box with your address in it, and Create. It pulls the image and starts.
3. Or the wizard: Containers → Create, type ghcr.io/phodgers/roosterwake-agent:latest as the image, name it, and open Advanced Settings.
4. Under Network, set the network mode to Host. Under Storage, add a volume mounted at /data (a folder on a share is fine). Under Environment, add RW_EMAIL with your address. Create.
5. Within a minute it is on your Emitters page as an Always on waker.

Unraid

Unraid's Docker tab takes an image from any registry with no template needed; the Network Type field is the one that matters.

1. Docker tab → Add Container.
2. Name roosterwake-agent; Repository ghcr.io/phodgers/roosterwake-agent:latest.
3. Network Type: Host.
4. Add another Path, Port, Variable, Label or Device → Path: container path /data, host path /mnt/user/appdata/roosterwake-agent/.
5. The same link again → Variable: key RW_EMAIL, value your address. Apply — it pulls and starts, and autostart is on by default.
6. Within a minute it is on your Emitters page as an Always on waker.

TrueNAS SCALE

On TrueNAS SCALE 24.10 and later, apps are Docker containers and a Compose file installs directly; older SCALE releases have the same three settings in their Launch Docker Image form.

1. Apps → Discover Apps → the ⋮ menu → Install via YAML. Paste the Compose block above with your address in it, and Save.
2. Or the form: Discover Apps → Custom App. Image repository ghcr.io/phodgers/roosterwake-agent, tag latest.
3. Under Network, tick Host Network. Under Storage, add a host path (or an ixVolume) mounted at /data. Under Environment Variables, add RW_EMAIL with your address. Install.
4. Within a minute it is on your Emitters page as an Always on waker.

Home Assistant: the add-on

A Home Assistant box is an always-on computer too, and the same image runs there as an add-on — the supervisor gives it the host network and a persistent /data, so there is nothing to configure but the credential. The add-on repository is github.com/phodgers/roosterwake-homeassistant.

The add-on is free on every plan: it is the waker, the same free agent as everywhere else. It is not the Home Assistant integration that lives in the same repository — the integration puts your machines on a Home Assistant dashboard as wake buttons and sensors, is installed through HACS as a custom repository, and signs in with an API key, which needs Plus or Pro. You can run both: the add-on wakes, the integration shows. The homelab guide covers the integration side.

1. Settings → Add-ons → Add-on store → the ⋮ menu (top right) → Repositories.
2. Paste https://github.com/phodgers/roosterwake-homeassistant, press Add, and close the dialog. Rooster Wake agent appears in the store — reload the page if it does not.
3. Open it and Install. On the Configuration tab put your account address in email — or a token from the Emitters page in token — and Save.
4. On the Info tab turn on Start on boot and press Start. The Log tab shows it enrol; within a minute it is on your Emitters page as an Always on waker.

Why not the router?

Because it runs nothing. The mesh routers most homes have now — the one from your ISP, the three-pack from the shop — do not run third-party software at all, and the few that do are enthusiast territory. The NAS or the Home Assistant box is the always-on computer people already have: it is on the same network as the machine you want to wake, it stays up, and it takes a container. That is the whole reason this page exists.

If you have none of these — no NAS, no Home Assistant, no Pi in a cupboard — the dongle is three parts and about half a watt, and the homelab guide has the arithmetic on which to choose.