I am new to docker but I use seafile since 2012 or so.
I just installed Seafile community edition with docker on a fresh Ubuntu 22.04 VPS.
It took me a couple of wipes of the server when I made mistakes, but now it’s running pretty smoothly in my home folder in a folder “seafile”.
Great way to install a seafile server with https !!
I made sure it would restart by adding the flags “restart: unless-stopped” to the docker-compose.yml as below.
In general the basic setup is stable.
My question is, what would I have to do, to run to more instances of Seafile on the same VPS or other services, that require to be behind NGINX, like Mailcow or so?
I would need to run a different NGINX instance, I guess.
What would I need to configure in the docker-compose.yml though?
services:
db:
image: mariadb:10.11
container_name: seafile-mysql
restart: unless-stopped
environment:
- MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=xxx # Required, set the root's password of MySQL service.
- MYSQL_LOG_CONSOLE=true
- MARIADB_AUTO_UPGRADE=1
volumes:
- /home/seafile/seafile/seafile-mysql/db:/var/lib/mysql # Required, specifies the path to MySQL data persistent store.
networks:
- seafile-net
memcached:
image: memcached:1.6.18
container_name: seafile-memcached
restart: unless-stopped
entrypoint: memcached -m 256
networks:
- seafile-net
seafile:
image: seafileltd/seafile-mc:11.0-latest
container_name: seafile
restart: unless-stopped
ports:
- "80:80"
- "443:443" # If https is enabled, cancel the comment.
volumes:
- /home/seafile/seafile/seafile-data:/shared # Required, specifies the path to Seafile data persistent store.
environment:
- DB_HOST=db
- DB_ROOT_PASSWD=xxx # Required, the value should be root's password of MySQL service.
- TIME_ZONE=Etc/UTC # Optional, default is UTC. Should be uncomment and set to your local time zone.
- SEAFILE_ADMIN_EMAIL=admin@domain.com # Specifies Seafile admin user, default is 'me@example.com'.
- SEAFILE_ADMIN_PASSWORD=xxx # Specifies Seafile admin password, default is 'asecret'.
- SEAFILE_SERVER_LETSENCRYPT=true # Whether to use https or not.
- SEAFILE_SERVER_HOSTNAME=cloud.domain.com # Specifies your host name if https is enabled.
# - - FORCE_HTTPS_IN_CONF=true
depends_on:
- db
- memcached
networks:
- seafile-net
networks:
seafile-net:
I found this post, which seems to be similar to my intentions.
If I would like to have a “Main Nginx instance” before the “Seafile docker instance”.
The Main nginx Instance would then redirect to the Seafile docker image. Should the config file of the Main Nginx look like this?
Also considering https and port 443?
I’m planning to do something similar, i.e. switch to using Docker instead of bare metal installs. That said, Nginx is relatively lightweight so I might be tempted to install that bare metal and keep docker for Seafile.
This is my existing Nginx configuration for Seafile - which at the moment runs on the same server hence the proxy_pass to http://127.0.0.1:8000 and 8082 (Seafile & Seahub).
log_format seafileformat '$http_x_forwarded_for $remote_addr [$time_local] "$request" $status $body_bytes_sent "$http_referer" "$http_user_agent" $upstream_response_time';
server {
listen 80;
server_name seafile.maltsystems.co.uk;
rewrite ^ https://$http_host$request_uri? permanent; # Forced redirect from HTTP to HTTPS
server_tokens off; # Prevents the Nginx version from being displayed in the HTTP response header
}
server {
listen 443 ssl;
ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/seafile.maltsystems.co.uk/fullchain.pem; # Path to your fullchain.pem
ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/seafile.maltsystems.co.uk/privkey.pem; # Path to your privkey.pem
server_name seafile.maltsystems.co.uk;
server_tokens off;
location / {
proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:8000;
proxy_set_header Host $host;
proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Host $server_name;
proxy_read_timeout 1200s;
proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto https;
# used for view/edit office file via Office Online Server
client_max_body_size 0;
access_log /var/log/nginx/seahub.access.log seafileformat;
error_log /var/log/nginx/seahub.error.log;
}
location /seafhttp {
rewrite ^/seafhttp(.*)$ $1 break;
proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:8082;
client_max_body_size 0;
proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
proxy_connect_timeout 36000s;
proxy_read_timeout 36000s;
proxy_send_timeout 36000s;
send_timeout 36000s;
access_log /var/log/nginx/seafhttp.access.log seafileformat;
error_log /var/log/nginx/seafhttp.error.log;
}
location /media {
root /data/seafile/seafile-server-latest/seahub;
}
}
So… I would imagine that if Seafile was in a docker container, that proxy_pass line would be changed to talk to the docker container. My knowledge of docker is limited but I’ve seen examples whereby a docker contain has it’s own LAN IP address. But I am guessing here somewhat…
I appreciate that you make the effort to post something, but it’s not really related to my question and it would be really cool if we leave this for someone to answer who knows the solution.
I am trying to find a solution as well, but haven’t found it yet.
It’s probably less a docker than an nginx question …
That’s a bit rude - that is the Nginx configuration to handle Seafile whether or not it’s in a container. There are two blocks in the configuration - the first listens on port 80 and redirects to https. The second blocks listens on port 443 and proxy redirects to the Seafile server.
Your problem is that you need to configure your Seafile docker container with it’s own local IP address. The proxy_pass statements then refer to the IP address of the Seafile container. That’s the only part of this that I’m a little unsure about. There are many tutorials on setting up docker networks.
You originally stated you wanted to run multiple instances on the same server. They will either need different IP addresses OR you could configure each instance with different ports - 8001 and 8083 maybe.
If you have the luxury to wait, then I suggest to wait, as they are changing their docker setup, and hopefully document exactly this, as promised here:
To run multiple Seafile instances, the key points are:
Use different container names (e.g., seafile-personal, seafile-pro)
Ensure proper NGINX configuration
Connect all containers to the same Docker network
Here’s an example NGINX configuration for SWAG:
server {
listen 443 ssl;
listen [::]:443 ssl;
http2 on;
server_name seafile-personal.domain.com;
# SSL standard config
include /config/nginx/ssl.conf;
client_max_body_size 0;
location / {
# Use Docker's internal DNS resolver
include /config/nginx/resolver.conf;
# Proxy configuration for Seafile container
set $upstream_app seafile-personal;
set $upstream_port 80;
set $upstream_proto http;
proxy_pass $upstream_proto://$upstream_app:$upstream_port;
}
...
Reverse Proxy Options
For managing multiple services, you have several excellent options:
SWAG: A comprehensive solution that makes it easy to manage multiple services.
NGINX Proxy Manager: A user-friendly alternative with a nice GUI.
Standard NGINX: Manual configuration option for those who prefer more control.
Mail Server Experience
Regarding Mailcow - while I successfully set it up with SWAG, I ultimately switched to Mailu which I found to be a superior choice:
Significantly lighter on resources
More modern and cleaner interface
Easier to maintain
Better overall user experience
My guide on the Seafile forum provides detailed instructions for setting up SWAG as a reverse proxy, which should help you get multiple instances running smoothly!
You’re absolutely right about the proxy_pass needing to talk to the Docker container! Let me show you how simple it really is.
Basic Network Setup
First, create a shared network for your containers:
docker network create proxy
Simple Example
Here’s a minimal docker-compose.yml showing how to connect services:
services:
seafile:
container_name: seafile # This name is used in NGINX config
networks:
- proxy # Connect to shared network
nginx:
container_name: nginx
networks:
- proxy # Same network as Seafile
networks:
proxy:
external: true # Use existing network
Then in your NGINX config, you can simply use:
...
# Use the internal Docker DNS resolver
# SWAG Exemple
include /config/nginx/resolver.conf;
# Because seafile is your "container_name"
# In the docker-compose
proxy_pass http://seafile:80;
...
That’s it! Docker handles all the networking - no IP addresses needed. The container name ‘seafile-personal’ becomes the hostname, and Docker manages all the communication between containers on the same network.
