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Seafile: fix Memcached host and document database connection failures #354

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Merged
crypt0rr merged 2 commits into from
Oct 2, 2026
Merged

Seafile: fix Memcached host and document database connection failures #354

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565a861
Seafile: fix Memcached host and document database connection failures
jackspiering Oct 2, 2026
9fb6704
Merge branch 'main' into seafile-db-connection
crypt0rr Oct 2, 2026
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2 changes: 1 addition & 1 deletion services/seafile/.env
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Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -41,5 +41,5 @@ INIT_SEAFILE_ADMIN_PASSWORD=REPLACE_WITH_RANDOM_ALPHANUMERIC_PASSWORD
ENABLE_SEADOC=false
ENABLE_NOTIFICATION_SERVER=false
CACHE_PROVIDER=memcached
MEMCACHED_HOST=app-seafile-memcached
MEMCACHED_HOST=memcached # Compose service name - keeps working when SERVICE changes
MEMCACHED_PORT=11211
16 changes: 16 additions & 0 deletions services/seafile/README.md
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Expand Up @@ -26,3 +26,19 @@ Please check the following contents for validity as some variables need to be de
- Admin Email: Update `INIT_SEAFILE_ADMIN_EMAIL`. This doesn't have to be a valid email address, although you can configure SMTP notifications in Seafile, which will require a valid email address.
- `JWT_PRIVATE_KEY`: Generate this by running `pwgen -s 40 1` or `openssl rand -base64 40`
- `SEAFILE_SERVER_HOSTNAME`: Update the FQDN to match your Tailnet MagicDNS suffix.

## Troubleshooting

### Seafile cannot connect to the database

Seafile waits for the database before it starts and logs nothing while it waits. The `app-seafile` container stays up, turns `unhealthy`, and the web interface answers `502 Bad Gateway`. Two causes are common.

**`TS_ACCEPT_DNS=true` is enabled.** Seafile shares the network of the Tailscale container and reaches the database and Memcached through the Compose service names `db` and `memcached`. With `TS_ACCEPT_DNS=true`, Tailscale replaces Docker DNS and those names no longer resolve. Check whether the names resolve:

```bash
docker exec app-seafile getent hosts db memcached
```

If the command prints nothing, comment out `TS_ACCEPT_DNS` in `compose.yaml` and run `docker compose up -d`. Seafile does not need MagicDNS, and Tailscale Serve works without this setting.

**The database passwords changed after the first start.** MariaDB applies `INIT_SEAFILE_MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD` only when it creates an empty data directory, and Seafile creates its database user with `SEAFILE_MYSQL_DB_PASSWORD` on the first start. Later changes in `.env` do not reach the existing database, so Seafile can no longer log in and `docker logs app-seafile-db` shows `Access denied for user`. Restore the original passwords. On a new installation without data, you can instead stop the stack, delete the `SEAFILE_MYSQL_VOLUME` and `SEAFILE_VOLUME` directories, and start again.
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