Date: 2026-03-12 Hostname: docker-host IP address: 192.168.0.110

DocuSeal E-Signature Setup¶

Self-hosted e-signature platform. Allows sending documents to recipients who sign them in the browser - no account or software required on the recipient's side. Built on the eIDAS simple electronic signature (SES) standard.

Overview¶

Property	Value
Service	DocuSeal
Image	`docuseal/docuseal:latest`
Host	LXC 100 (docker-host)
Port	3003
Public URL	https://sign.homelabor.net
Data	`/srv/docker-data/docuseal`
SMTP relay	Resend (smtp.resend.com)

Prerequisites¶

Resend SMTP Account¶

DocuSeal requires an SMTP relay to send signing invitation emails to recipients. Resend is used over Brevo because it has better transactional email deliverability and allows disabling click tracking (Brevo wraps all links in tracking URLs which look suspicious in signing emails).

Register at resend.com
Go to Domains and add homelabor.net, select Ireland region, manual setup
Add the DNS records to Cloudflare:
TXT resend._domainkey - DKIM record
MX send - SPF enable sending
TXT send - SPF record
TXT _dmarc - v=DMARC1; p=none; (optional but recommended)
All records must use DNS only (gray cloud) proxy status
Click Verify in Resend dashboard - wait for "Verified" status
Go to API Keys and create a new key with Sending access (not full access)
Note the SMTP credentials:
Server: smtp.resend.com
Port: 587
Username: resend (literal string, not your email)
Password: the generated API key

Cloudflare DNS¶

Add an A record for the signing subdomain:

Type: A
Name: sign
IPv4: YOUR_VPS_IP
Proxy status: DNS only (gray cloud)
TTL: Auto

Pangolin Resource¶

Create a new resource in Pangolin dashboard:

Name: DocuSeal
Subdomain: sign
Target: 192.168.0.110:3003
Authentication: Disabled (signing links must be publicly accessible)

Docker Compose¶

File: compose/proxmox-lxc-100/docuseal/docker-compose.yml

services:
  docuseal:
    image: docuseal/docuseal:latest
    container_name: docuseal
    environment:
      - TZ=Europe/Budapest
      - SECRET_KEY_BASE=${DOCUSEAL_SECRET_KEY}
      - SMTP_ADDRESS=${SMTP_ADDRESS}
      - SMTP_PORT=${SMTP_PORT}
      - SMTP_USERNAME=${SMTP_USERNAME}
      - SMTP_PASSWORD=${SMTP_PASSWORD}
      - SMTP_FROM=${SMTP_FROM}
    volumes:
      - /srv/docker-data/docuseal:/data
    ports:
      - 3003:3000
    restart: unless-stopped

Komodo Stack Environment¶

Set the following in Komodo Stack Environment (not in the compose file):

DOCUSEAL_SECRET_KEY=<output of: openssl rand -hex 32>
SMTP_ADDRESS=smtp.resend.com
SMTP_PORT=587
SMTP_USERNAME=resend
SMTP_PASSWORD=<Resend API key with Sending access>
SMTP_FROM=noreply@homelabor.net

Note: DocuSeal requires SMTP_FROM specifically - SMTP_FROM_EMAIL is not recognized by its mail interceptor.

Initial Setup¶

Deploy via Komodo
Open https://sign.homelabor.net/setup
Fill in:
First name, Last name, Email, Company name
Password (this is the admin login)
App URL: https://sign.homelabor.net (auto-filled)
Skip the developer newsletter prompt

Signing Workflow¶

Sending a document for signing¶

Go to https://sign.homelabor.net
Upload a New Document - drag and drop a PDF
In the template editor, drag a Signature field onto the document where the recipient should sign
Click Send - enter the recipient's name and email
The recipient gets an email with a signing link

Recipient experience¶

Recipient clicks the link in the email
Opens in browser - no account or software needed
Clicks the signature field, draws or types their signature
Submits - gets a completion confirmation

After signing¶

You receive a notification email (if enabled in Settings -> Notifications)
The signed PDF with audit trail is available in the DocuSeal dashboard
Audit trail includes: signer name, email, IP address, timestamp, completion certificate

Troubleshooting¶

Email not received¶

If DocuSeal says sent but no email arrives:

Check spam folder - Outlook/Hotmail is very strict with new domains, Gmail is more reliable
Check Resend dashboard -> Emails for delivery status
Verify SMTP env vars in container: docker exec docuseal printenv | grep SMTP
Test SMTP connectivity: docker exec docuseal sh -c 'nc -zv smtp.resend.com 587'
Common mistake: using SMTP_FROM_EMAIL instead of SMTP_FROM - DocuSeal's interceptor only reads SMTP_FROM

Sign button not visible on signing page¶

The submission was created before a signature field was added to the template. Delete the submission and send a new one.

Port conflict on deploy¶

Port 3003 was chosen because: - 3000 - BentoPDF - 3002 - Homepage

Check for conflicts: ss -tlnp | grep 300

n8n Automation¶

Workflow: DocuSeal - Form to E-Signature (n8n LXC 107)

Flow¶

POST /webhook/docuseal-form
    → DocuSeal API (create submission)
    → Telegram notification
    → Webhook response

Trigger¶

curl -X POST http://192.168.0.112:5678/webhook/docuseal-form \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"name": "John Doe", "email": "john@example.com", "agree": true}'

DocuSeal API call¶

POST https://sign.homelabor.net/api/submissions
Header: X-Auth-Token (DocuSeal API key from Settings → API)
Body: template_id, submitters array with name, email, role: "First Party"
Template ID 3 by default - change in the HTTP Request node to use a different template

Telegram¶

Bot: @n8n_teacher_bot
Chat ID: stored in n8n Telegram node (get via https://api.telegram.org/bot<TOKEN>/getUpdates)
Credential: "Telegram account 2" in n8n

Notes¶

sent_at in DocuSeal response confirms the email was queued - check spam if not received
To swap the document: upload a new template in DocuSeal, update template_id in the HTTP Request node
Role name must match exactly what's set in the template submitters (default: "First Party")

Notes¶

DocuSeal uses SQLite by default - no separate database container needed
Data is persisted at /srv/docker-data/docuseal
eIDAS level: Simple Electronic Signature (SES) - legally valid for most business purposes, but not equivalent to QES (qualified) which requires a certified CA
Authentication on the Pangolin resource must remain disabled so signing links work for external recipients without a Pangolin account