Initial Traefik

Initialize and configure Traefik v3 reverse proxy with Docker Compose for service routing and load balancing.

Quick Start

1. Create Configuration

mkdir -p ~/.docker/compose
cd ~/.docker/compose

2. Create docker-compose.yml

Use assets/docker-compose.yml as template. Key configuration:

services:
  traefik:
    image: traefik:v3.0
    container_name: traefik
    ports:
      - "80:80"
      - "443:443"
    volumes:
      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock:ro
      - ./traefik-dynamic.yml:/etc/traefik/dynamic.yml:ro
    command:
      - --api=true
      - --api.dashboard=true
      - --providers.docker=true
      - --providers.docker.exposedbydefault=false
      - --providers.file.directory=/etc/traefik
      - --providers.file.watch=true
      - --entrypoints.web.address=:80
      - --accesslog=true
      - --metrics.prometheus=true

3. Create Dynamic Configuration

Use assets/traefik-dynamic.yml as template for service routing.

4. Start Traefik

docker compose up -d

5. Connect Services to Network

for container in <service-names>; do
  docker network connect compose_default $container
done

Routing Options

Option A: Path Prefix Routing (IP + Path)

Access services via http://<IP>/<service>:

http:
  routers:
    n8n:
      rule: "PathPrefix(`/n8n`)"
      service: n8n
      entryPoints:
        - web
      middlewares:
        - n8n-stripprefix
  
  middlewares:
    n8n-stripprefix:
      stripPrefix:
        prefixes:
          - /n8n
  
  services:
    n8n:
      loadBalancer:
        servers:
          - url: "http://n8n:5678"

Access: http://192.168.9.192/n8n

Option B: Host-Based Routing (.nip.io)

Access services via http://<service>.<IP>.nip.io:

http:
  routers:
    n8n:
      rule: "Host(`n8n.192.168.9.192.nip.io`)"
      service: n8n
      entryPoints:
        - web
  
  services:
    n8n:
      loadBalancer:
        servers:
          - url: "http://n8n:5678"

Access: http://n8n.192.168.9.192.nip.io

Option C: Docker Labels

Configure routing directly in docker-compose.yml labels:

services:
  traefik:
    labels:
      - "traefik.enable=true"
      - "traefik.http.routers.dashboard.rule=Host(`traefik.192.168.9.192.nip.io`)"
      - "traefik.http.routers.dashboard.service=api@internal"
      - "traefik.http.routers.dashboard.entrypoints=web"

Enable Features

See references/features.md for complete feature list and configuration.

Common Tasks

Add New Service

1. Connect container to network:

   docker network connect compose_default <container-name>
   

2. Add router to traefik-dynamic.yml:

   routers:
     myservice:
       rule: "PathPrefix(`/myservice`)"
       service: myservice
       entryPoints:
         - web
       middlewares:
         - myservice-stripprefix
   
   services:
     myservice:
       loadBalancer:
         servers:
           - url: "http://<container-name>:<port>"
   

Traefik auto-reloads configuration.

Check Status

docker logs traefik | grep -E "router|error"
docker exec traefik wget -q -O - http://localhost:8080/api/http/routers

Restart Traefik

docker restart traefik

References

• Features: See references/features.md for all available features
• Examples: See references/examples.md for common configurations
• Templates: See assets/ for configuration templates

Troubleshooting

• 404 errors: Check container is connected to compose_default network
• Configuration not loading: Check traefik-dynamic.yml YAML syntax
• Service not accessible: Verify container name and port in service configuration
• Dashboard not working: Ensure --api.dashboard=true is in command