---

name: initial-traefik description: Initialize and configure Traefik reverse proxy with Docker. Install Traefik, configure Docker Compose, set up service routing via path prefix or host-based routing, enable features like dashboard metrics logging tracing, configure Dashboard access via nip.io or path prefix

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