This repository contains the configuration files and setup instructions for deploying [Traefik](https://traefik.io/), a modern reverse proxy and load balancer.
Reverse proxy for everything on this host. The goal: keep Cloudflare in front, expose a private LAN entrypoint, and let Docker stacks self-register through labels without leaking secrets.
Configuration files is customized for Gbanyan personal usage.
## Architecture Snapshot
## Prerequisites
- **Static config (`traefik.yml`)**
- EntryPoints: `web/websecure` on `10.0.0.225`, `internal_web/internal_websecure` on `192.168.50.4`.
- Trusted IP lists are managed by `scripts/update_cloudflare_ips.py`.
- Docker provider is discovery-only; every container opts in with labels.
- File provider loads everything in `dynamic.d/`.
-Docker installed on your system
-**Dynamic config (`dynamic.d/`)**
-Docker Compose (if using `docker-compose.yml`)
-`middlewares/`– retry, compression, CrowdSec (rendered from template).
-`transports/fast-upstreams.yml`– shared connection pool tuning.
-`routers/`– internal-only routers (public ones stay in labels).
## Getting Started
- **Host networking**
Traefik runs with `network_mode: host` so it can bind to both IPs simultaneously. Switching to bridge mode would require duplicating Traefik or adding another L4 hop, so host mode stays.
Besides the entrypoint setup, I add CrowdSec firewall bouncer plus a compression middleware (brotli/gzip/zstd) defined in `dynamic.yml`. Cloudflare’s IP ranges are injected directly into `traefik.yml` by a helper script, so no extra plugin middleware is required anymore.
I mount the access.log for crowdsec firewall to read.
Most stacks use the same middleware chain: CrowdSec bouncer (plugin), retry, and compression. Internal-only services skip CrowdSec by pointing at the `internal_*` entrypoints.
PS: Because I access my traefik dashboard through my local network. I commented out the authetication method for dashboard.
## Performance Notes
## Discussion and Changelog
- Access logs are buffered with headers trimmed to keep syscalls down.
- Compression enforces a 1KB minimum and respects the client’s preferred encoding.
- Shared transport keeps 64 idle connections per backend with aggressive idle/response timeouts.
- `retry-fast` retries once after 50ms, smoothing transient Puma/Node hiccups without hammering backends.
1. Traefik vs Nginx
## Things to Remember
- Performance: Nginx is still better at high traffic. After all it is written in C. Traefik 3 though claims it has higher 20% performance than before. The latency still showed a little higher than nginx.
- Docker Deployment Ease: Traefik is easier for docker service deployment. In my environment, I can assign each docker stack with labels and then guides the traefik to add Let's encrypt SSL.
2. ChangeLog:
- Watchtower is still enabled for Traefik; pin the image tag when you need deterministic upgrades.
- `scripts/update_cloudflare_ips.py` rewrites the static trusted IP block and restarts Traefik—run it via cron.
- 2025.4.21 Add the defaulthost rule for container name for lazy writing. But commented out for precision.
- Dashboard auth is intentionally disabled because access only happens from the LAN entrypoint. If that changes, re-enable `basicauth`.
- 2025.4.21 Fix the trusted IP settings; later replaced by an internal updater instead of the traefik-plugin-cloudflare.
- 2025.4.18 Add Souin HTTP Cache Middleware (in feature branch, not merge into main)
- 2025.4.18 Temp disable the compression middleware. It has MIME type bugs.
## Notes on Host Networking
Traefik currently runs with `network_mode: host` so it can bind directly to both `10.0.0.225` (public) and `192.168.50.4` (internal) entrypoints. Moving back to bridge mode would break that dual-IP isolation because Docker cannot publish the same container port on two different host interfaces. Host networking also means:
- Traefik reaches app containers like any other host process, ignoring `traefik.docker.network` labels.
- Linux handles firewalling/routing between the two interfaces; Docker’s conntrack optimizations aren’t used.
If you ever want to switch to bridge networking, you’d need either separate Traefik instances (one per subnet) or an external L4 proxy in front of a single Traefik that listens on generic `:80/:443` ports. For now the host-mode trade-off is intentional to keep the internal/external split simple.
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