Reverse Proxy using Traefik

Traefik template for hosting multiple containers on the same port via reverse proxy.

Overview

• Uses the Docker version of Traefik (in ./reverse-proxy)
• Includes two sample apps running a basic httpd server for testing (in ./site1, ./site2)
• Configured for secure dashboard and apps with auto-generated SSL certs
• Cert config is accessible via volume in ./reverse-proxy/letsencrypt/acme.json when the container has been run

Requirements

• htpasswd
• Docker

Setup

Generate dashboard users

htpasswd -c reverse-proxy/.users admin

Follow the prompts to generate the admin user. Repeat for any additional users required.

Configure labels in reverse-proxy/docker-compose.yml

• Cert generation email (certificatesresolvers.myresolver.acme.email)
• Dashboard domain (traefik.http.routers.dashboard.rule)

Debug Config

While debugging uncomment the following command args in reverse-proxy/docker-compose.yml:

• # - "--log.level=DEBUG": to show more verbose log messages
• # - "--certificatesresolvers.myresolver.acme.caserver=https://acme-staging-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/directory": to use letsencrypt staging server for test certificates

This will likely result in a ERR_CERT_AUTHORITY_INVALID when accessing URLs.

They are uncommented by default. Remove or comment them again when you're ready to deploy.

Don't forget to clear the old test certificates and re-run the container after disabling the staging server:

cd ./reverse-proxy

docker-compose down

rm -rf ./letsencrypt

docker-compose up -d --build

Configure each app's docker-compose.yml (example)

• Domain - replace site1.example.com in site1/docker-compose.yml
• Router - replace site1 in all occurrences of traefik.http.routers.site1 with the real site name in site1/docker-compose.yml

Repeat for each additional app.

NOTE: You can modify each app's Dockerfile and docker-compose.yml as long as they expose the port correctly and the Traefik labels are maintained and configured.

Run

Start Traefik container

cd ./reverse-proxy

docker-compose up -d --build

docker-compose logs -f

Start apps

cd ./site1

docker-compose up -d --build

cd ./site1

docker-compose up -d --build

Configure DNS records

Create ANAME DNS records pointing each configured domain to the IP address of server you're hosting Traefik on.

Access apps

Dashboard

• Open the configured dashboard domain in your browser.
• For example, if I configured dev.example.com as the dashboard domain, https://dev.example.com

Other apps

• Open the configured URL for each running app.
• For example, https://site1.example.com