dtable-events background Node¶

dtable-events is the workhorse of SeaTable Server, handling resource-intensive tasks such as syncing common datasets, PDF generation, scheduled automations, and more.
If your system is heavily loaded with these tasks, it may be beneficial to separate dtable-events onto its own node. This step is only necessary if you observe resource constraints on dtable-web.

There are two types of tasks performed by dtable-events:

Foreground tasks (instant): Must be executed immediately.
Background tasks: Not time-critical and can be processed asynchronously.

Examples:

Type	Task
foreground	Import/Export of a base or view
foreground	PDF generation
background	Common dataset sync
background	Sending notifications or emails
background	Database cleanup
background	Scheduled automations

SeaTable allows you to split dtable-events, moving background tasks to a dedicated node while foreground tasks continue to run alongside dtable-web.

Setting up the dtable-events background Node¶

Prepare a new node with Docker installed.
Copy the following files from your first node to the new node:
- /opt/seatable-compose/.env
- /opt/seatable-compose/seatable-license.txt
- /opt/seatable-server/seatable/conf/dtable_web_settings.py
  
  This is mandatory since dtable-events reads some configuration settings from dtable_web_settings.py.
Edit the .env file on the new node and set the COMPOSE_FILE variable to reference only a single YAML file:
```
COMPOSE_FILE='dtable-events.yml'
```

Create `dtable-events.yml`¶

You can either copy dtable-web.yml from the first node or use seatable-server.yml from the SeaTable release as a template.

Apply the following required changes:

Remove all services except seatable-server

The dtable-events node only requires the seatable-server service. Remove all other services (such as redis, mariadb, or caddy).

Remove all labels

Since dtable-events node does not require Caddy or any TLS termination, remove all labels from the seatable-server service.

Add additional environment variables

Add or update the following environment variables to ensure only dtable-event is enabled:

environment:
  # necessary for dtable-events (background)
  - ENABLE_DTABLE_EVENTS=true
  - DTABLE_EVENTS_TASK_MODE=background
  - ENABLE_DTABLE_STORAGE_SERVER=true
  - ENABLE_SEAFILE_SERVER=true
  # should be disabled
  - ENABLE_DTABLE_DB=false
  - ENABLE_DTABLE_WEB=false
  - ENABLE_DTABLE_SERVER=false
  - ENABLE_API_GATEWAY=false
  - SEATABLE_START_MODE=cluster

Configure internal network communication

Ensure all nodes can reach each other by adding their names and private IP addresses:

extra_hosts:
  - "dtable-web:10.0.0.2"
  - "dtable-db:10.0.0.3"
  - "dtable-server:10.0.0.4"
  - "dtable-server-2:10.0.0.5"
  - "dtable-events:10.0.0.6"

Example `dtable-events.yml`¶

Do not copy and paste directly — adapt as needed:

---
services:
  seatable-server:
    image: ${SEATABLE_IMAGE:-seatable/seatable-enterprise:x.x.x}
    restart: unless-stopped
    container_name: seatable-server
    volumes:
      - "/opt/seatable-server:/shared"
      - type: bind
        source: "./seatable-license.txt"
        target: "/shared/seatable/seatable-license.txt"
        read_only: ${SEATABLE_LICENSE_FORCE_READ_ONLY:-false}
    environment:
      ...
      - ENABLE_DTABLE_EVENTS=true
      - DTABLE_EVENTS_TASK_MODE=background
      - ENABLE_DTABLE_STORAGE_SERVER=true
      - ENABLE_SEAFILE_SERVER=true
      - ENABLE_DTABLE_DB=false
      - ENABLE_DTABLE_WEB=false
      - ENABLE_DTABLE_SERVER=false
      - ENABLE_API_GATEWAY=false
      - SEATABLE_START_MODE=cluster
    extra_hosts:
      - "dtable-web:10.0.0.2"
      - "dtable-db:10.0.0.3"
      - "dtable-server:10.0.0.4"
      - "dtable-server-2:10.0.0.5"
      - "dtable-events:10.0.0.6"
    networks:
      - frontend-net
networks:
  frontend-net:
    name: frontend-net

Start dtable-events for the first time and monitor the logs:

docker compose up -d

Why are no ports exposed?

dtable-events does not need to expose any ports. It runs internal cron jobs and subscribes to Redis channels. No direct external connection is required.

Changes after first start¶

After starting dtable-events for the first time, update the configuration files as follows:

Add S3 configuration

Add the S3 configuration to both conf/dtable-storage-server.conf and conf/seafile.conf — just as you did on your first node.

Restart the container to apply these changes.

Final changes on dtable-web¶

Now that background tasks are handled by the new node, you should disable them on dtable-web.

Open /opt/seatable-compose/dtable-web.yml and add the following to the environment variables:

DTABLE_EVENTS_TASK_MODE=foreground

Restart dtable-web to apply the changes.

Your dtable-events background node is now set up, and resource-intensive background tasks are offloaded from your main web node. This improves performance and scalability for large SeaTable installations.