OpenMediaVault on Raspberry Pi 5: Complete Install and NAS Setup Guide

OpenMediaVault on Raspberry Pi 5 runs as OMV 7 installed via a script on top of Raspberry Pi OS Lite. There is no separate OMV image to flash for Pi 5. The correct process is: flash Raspberry Pi OS Lite 64-bit with Raspberry Pi Imager, enable SSH in the Imager advanced settings, connect over SSH, and run the OMV install script. This guide covers the hardware requirements, the complete Bookworm-compatible install sequence, configuring Samba file shares and user permissions, and enabling OMV Extras for Docker and Portainer.

Last tested: OpenMediaVault 7.4 on Raspberry Pi OS Bookworm Lite 64-bit | May 2025 | Raspberry Pi 5 (8GB) | OMV 7.4, openmediavault-kernel 6.8, Samba 4.17

Hardware for OpenMediaVault on Raspberry Pi 5

Pi 5 (4GB or 8GB) is the correct board for a production OMV NAS. The Pi 5’s PCIe lane supports NVMe via the M.2 HAT+, which provides genuine NAS-grade storage throughput. Pi 4 also runs OMV 7 well and is a valid alternative. Pi 3 and earlier work but their slower USB 2.0 bus caps throughput at around 35-40 MB/s, which is adequate for light home file sharing but unsuitable for anything more demanding.

Hardware checklist: Raspberry Pi 5 (8GB recommended for headroom with Docker containers). Official 5V/5A USB-C PSU. microSD card (16GB minimum, Class 10) for the OS. USB SSD or NVMe via M.2 HAT+ for NAS storage. Gigabit Ethernet cable. Active cooling: the official Pi 5 active cooler or a fan case. OMV under continuous file serving load runs the Pi 5 at 50-65°C with active cooling. Without it the Pi 5 will throttle during large file transfers.

For storage: a USB SSD (Samsung T7, WD My Passport SSD) self-powers from the USB 3.0 port reliably. Traditional spinning hard drives require a powered USB hub or external power adapter because the Pi’s USB ports cannot consistently supply enough current for drive spin-up. NVMe via M.2 HAT+ is the fastest option and eliminates the USB bus bottleneck entirely. For the NVMe setup, see Raspberry Pi 5 NVMe Boot: Complete Setup Guide.

Installing OpenMediaVault on Raspberry Pi 5

Flash Raspberry Pi OS Lite 64-bit using Raspberry Pi Imager. Select Raspberry Pi 5 as the device. In the Imager advanced settings, set a hostname, username, and password. Enable SSH. Do not install the Desktop version. OMV installs its own web interface and the desktop environment wastes RAM and competes with OMV’s services.

After first boot, SSH into the Pi and update the system before running the OMV installer:

sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade -y
sudo reboot

After the reboot, SSH back in and run the official OMV install script. This script installs OMV 7 and all required dependencies on Raspberry Pi OS Bookworm:

wget -O - https://github.com/OpenMediaVault-Plugin-Developers/installScript/raw/master/install | sudo bash

The script runs for 10 to 20 minutes depending on download speed. It installs OMV packages, configures the web server, sets up the OMV database, and reboots the Pi automatically when complete. During the script you will see messages about stopping and restarting services. These are expected and not errors.

Expected result: After the automatic reboot, navigating to http://[pi-hostname] or http://[pi-ip-address] from a browser on the same network shows the OMV login screen. The default credentials are username admin and password openmediavault. If the login page does not appear after 3 minutes, SSH back in and check systemctl status nginx and systemctl status php8.2-fpm. Both should show active (running).

The first action after login is to change the default admin password. Navigate to System > Workbench > Change Password. Set a strong password before configuring anything else.

Configuring Shared Folders and Samba on OpenMediaVault Raspberry Pi 5

Connect your USB SSD or NVMe drive. OMV detects it automatically. Navigate to Storage > Disks to confirm the drive appears. Then format it through OMV: go to Storage > File Systems, click the plus icon, select the drive, choose ext4 as the filesystem type, and click Save. OMV formats and mounts the filesystem. Click the checkmark to apply the pending changes.

Every change in OMV requires clicking the yellow notification bar at the top and selecting Apply to write changes to the system. Changes shown in the UI are staged until applied. Getting into the habit of applying after every configuration step prevents confusion about what is and is not active.

Create a shared folder: go to Storage > Shared Folders, click the plus icon, name the folder (for example, media or documents), select the filesystem you just created, and set the relative path. Set permissions to Administrator: read/write, Users: read/write, Others: no access as a starting point. Apply.

Enable SMB/CIFS (Samba) for Windows and macOS network share access: navigate to Services > SMB/CIFS, enable the service, and set a workgroup name matching your network (WORKGROUP is the default for most home networks). Apply. Then go to the Shares tab within SMB/CIFS, add a share pointing to the shared folder you created, and apply again.

Expected result: The share appears in Windows File Explorer under Network, or in macOS Finder under Network. Connect using the Pi’s IP address or hostname. If the share does not appear, confirm SMB is enabled and applied, and that the Pi’s firewall allows ports 137-139 and 445. On Bookworm, check with sudo ufw status. If UFW is active, run sudo ufw allow samba.

Add a dedicated NAS user account to control share access. Navigate to User Management > Users, create a new user, and assign it to the users group. Then return to Storage > Shared Folders, select your folder, and under Access Control List (ACL) set read/write permissions for the new user. Apply. Windows and macOS clients connecting to the share should authenticate with this user’s credentials, not the admin account.

OMV Extras, Docker, and Storage Best Practices

OMV Extras is the plugin that unlocks Docker CE and Portainer on OMV. It is not installed by default. SSH into the Pi and install it:

wget -O - https://github.com/OpenMediaVault-Plugin-Developers/packages/raw/master/install | sudo bash

After the script completes and you refresh the OMV web interface, a new OMV-Extras section appears in the left menu. From there, install Docker CE and Portainer. Docker provides the container runtime; Portainer provides a web UI for managing containers. Once Docker is running, applications like Nextcloud, Jellyfin, and Plex are deployed as Docker containers through Portainer or Docker Compose rather than as native OMV plugins. This is the current architecture for OMV 7 application deployment.

For monitoring NAS performance and storage health, see Grafana InfluxDB Raspberry Pi: Complete Monitoring Stack Setup Guide. For secure remote access to the NAS interface without opening ports on your router, see Tailscale Raspberry Pi: Complete Secure Remote Access Guide.

Storage best practices for a Pi 5 NAS: Run the OS from the SD card or a small USB flash drive and keep all NAS data on a separate USB SSD or NVMe device. This separates the OS write workload from the data workload and makes OS reinstall possible without touching the data drive. Configure S.M.A.R.T. monitoring in OMV under Storage > S.M.A.R.T. to receive email alerts when a drive reports errors.

Set up scheduled data scrubs for any filesystem running in RAID. Enable the OMV backup plugin or use BorgBackup to maintain off-device copies of critical data. A NAS is not a backup: it is a single point of failure until a second copy exists elsewhere. For a complete BorgBackup setup, see BorgBackup Raspberry Pi Prune Policies: Complete Setup Guide.

FAQ

Is there an OMV image to flash for Raspberry Pi 5?

No. OMV 7 for Raspberry Pi 5 installs as a script on top of Raspberry Pi OS Lite. Flash Raspberry Pi OS Lite 64-bit using Raspberry Pi Imager, enable SSH in the Imager advanced settings, then run the OMV install script over SSH. The script handles all OMV package installation and configuration. There is no standalone OMV disk image for current Pi hardware.

What is the default OpenMediaVault admin password?

The default admin username is admin and the default password is openmediavault. Change it immediately after first login via System > Workbench > Change Password. This default credential is documented publicly and leaving it unchanged on any network-accessible device is a security risk regardless of whether the device is on a local network only.

Can OpenMediaVault on Raspberry Pi 5 run Docker containers?

Yes, after installing the OMV Extras plugin. OMV Extras installs Docker CE and Portainer on top of OMV 7. From Portainer you can deploy Nextcloud, Jellyfin, Plex, and any other Docker-compatible application. On OMV 7 these are container deployments, not native OMV plugins. The architecture changed from OMV 5 where plugins installed applications directly. Applications like Plex and Emby are not available as OMV 7 native plugins; they require Docker.

Why is my USB hard drive not working reliably with OpenMediaVault on Raspberry Pi 5?

Most portable USB hard drives draw more current than the Pi’s USB ports can supply during spin-up, causing them to disconnect or fail to mount. The fix is a powered USB hub between the Pi and the drive. USB SSDs are self-powered and do not have this problem. NVMe drives via the M.2 HAT+ draw power from the HAT’s power rail, not the USB bus, and are the most reliable storage option for a Pi 5 NAS. If a spinning drive is required, use a 3.5-inch desktop drive with its own external power supply rather than a bus-powered portable drive.

How do I access OpenMediaVault shares from Windows and macOS?

Enable SMB/CIFS in OMV under Services > SMB/CIFS, apply the setting, then create a share pointing to your shared folder. On Windows, open File Explorer and type \\[pi-hostname] or \\[pi-ip-address] in the address bar. On macOS, open Finder, press Command+K, and enter smb://[pi-hostname]. Authenticate with the NAS user account created in OMV’s User Management section. For NFS access from Linux clients, enable NFS under Services > NFS and create an NFS share in addition to or instead of the SMB share.

References:

• OpenMediaVault documentation: docs.openmediavault.org
• OMV install script repository: github.com/OpenMediaVault-Plugin-Developers/installScript
• OMV Extras plugin: wiki.omv-extras.org
• Raspberry Pi Imager: raspberrypi.com/software
• OpenMediaVault community forum: forum.openmediavault.org

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About the Author

Chuck Wilson has been programming and building with computers since the Tandy 1000 era. His professional background includes CAD drafting, manufacturing line programming, and custom computer design. He runs PidiyLab in retirement, documenting Raspberry Pi and homelab projects that he actually deploys and maintains on real hardware. Every article on this site reflects hands-on testing on specific hardware and OS versions, not theoretical walkthroughs.

Last tested hardware: Raspberry Pi 5 (8GB). Last tested OS: Raspberry Pi OS Bookworm Lite 64-bit. OpenMediaVault 7.4, openmediavault-kernel 6.8, Samba 4.17.