Configuration

While you can configure organization-specific settings in the administrator web interface, global settings are set using environment variables. Set these environment variables when running the Seatsurfing backend Docker container.

Example: Using Docker Compose

environment:
  POSTGRES_URL: 'postgres://seatsurfing:DB_PASSWORD@db/seatsurfing?sslmode=disable'
  PUBLIC_LISTEN_ADDR: '0.0.0.0:8080'
  ...

List of environment variables

Environment variable	Type	Default	Description
ACS_ACCESS_KEY	string		Azure Communication Services Access Key
ACS_HOST	string		Azure Communication Services Host
ALLOW_ORG_DELETE	bool	0	Allow admins to delete their own organization
CACHE_TYPE	string	default	The cache to use ('default' = built-in, 'valkey' = Valkey.io)
CRYPT_KEY	string		A 32 bytes long string used for encrypting certain database fields
DEV	bool	0	Development Mode, set to 1 to enable
DISABLE_PASSWORD_LOGIN	bool	0	Disable password-based login entirely (use SSO only)
DNS_SERVER	string		Custom DNS server, if specified without port (port 53 is used by default)
FILESYSTEM_BASE_PATH	string	current working directory	The base path for loading additional resources
INIT_ORG_LANGUAGE	string	en	Your organization's ISO language code
INIT_ORG_NAME	string	Sample Company	Your organization's name
INIT_ORG_PASS	string	12345678	Your organization's admin password
INIT_ORG_USER	string	admin	Your organization's admin username
JWT_PRIVATE_KEY	string		Path to PEM file with RSA private key for JWT signing
JWT_PUBLIC_KEY	string		Path to PEM file with RSA public key for JWT verification
LOGIN_PROTECTION_BAN_MINUTES	int	5	Ban time in minutes
LOGIN_PROTECTION_MAX_FAILS	int	10	Number of failed login attempts before user gets banned
LOGIN_PROTECTION_SLIDING_WINDOW_SECONDS	int	600	Sliding window size in seconds for checking failed login attempts
MAIL_SENDER_ADDRESS	string	no-reply@seatsurfing.local	Mail sender address
MAIL_SERVICE	string	smtp	Mail send service ('smtp' = SMTP or 'acs' = Azure Communication Services)
MOCK_SENDMAIL	bool	0	SMTP mocking, set to 1 to enable
POSTGRES_URL	string	postgres://postgres:root @ localhost/seatsurfing?sslmode=disable	PostgreSQL Connection
PUBLIC_LISTEN_ADDR	string	0.0.0.0:8080	TCP/IP listen address and port
PUBLIC_PORT	int	443	The http port under which your server is publicly reachable
PUBLIC_SCHEME	string	https	The http scheme under which your server is publicly reachable
SMTP_AUTH	bool	0	SMTP authentication, set to 1 to enable
SMTP_AUTH_METHOD	string	PLAIN	SMTP authentication method: PLAIN or LOGIN
SMTP_AUTH_PASS	string		SMTP auth password
SMTP_AUTH_USER	string		SMTP auth username
SMTP_HOST	string	127.0.0.1	SMTP server address
SMTP_INSECURE_SKIP_VERIFY	bool	0	Disable SMTP TLS certificate validation
SMTP_PORT	int	25	SMTP server port
SMTP_START_TLS	bool	0	Use SMTP STARTTLS extension, set to 1 to enable
STATIC_UI_PATH	string	/app/ui	The path to the static UI Web Assets
VALKEY_HOSTS	string	127.0.0.1:6379	Comma-separated list of Valkey hosts
VALKEY_PASSWORD	string		Valkey password
VALKEY_USERNAME	string	default	Valkey username

Recommended M365 SMTP configuration

Please note: Required option SMTP_AUTH_METHOD has been added in version 1.44.0.

MAIL_SERVICE=smtp
SMTP_HOST=smtp.office365.com
SMTP_PORT=587
SMTP_START_TLS=1
SMTP_AUTH=1
SMTP_AUTH_METHOD=LOGIN
SMTP_AUTH_USER=your-email@yourdomain.com
SMTP_AUTH_PASS=your-app-password
MAIL_SENDER_ADDRESS=your-email@yourdomain.com

Security Notes

• Use App Passwords instead of regular passwords when possible
• Ensure STARTTLS is enabled (SMTP_START_TLS=1)
• Never set SMTP_INSECURE_SKIP_VERIFY=1 in production

Troubleshooting

If emails still fail to send:

1. Verify your M365 account has SMTP AUTH enabled
2. Use an App Password instead of your regular password
3. Check that your firewall allows outbound connections to port 587
4. Enable debug logging to see detailed SMTP conversation
5. Try both PLAIN and LOGIN authentication methods