Overview

What's Happening to the Requests? {: .subtitle }

Let's zoom in on Traefik's architecture and talk about the components that enable the routes to be created.

First, when you start Traefik, you define entrypoints (in their most basic forms, they are port numbers). Then, connected to these entrypoints, routers analyze the incoming requests to see if they match a set of rules. If they do, the router might transform the request using pieces of middleware before forwarding them to your services.

Clear Responsibilities

Providers discover the services that live on your infrastructure (their IP, health, ...)
Entrypoints listen for incoming traffic (ports, ...)
Routers analyse the requests (host, path, headers, SSL, ...)
Services forward the request to your services (load balancing, ...)
Middlewares may update the request or make decisions based on the request (authentication, rate limiting, headers, ...)

Example with a File Provider

Below is an example of a full configuration file for the file provider that forwards http://domain/whoami/ requests to a service reachable on http://private/whoami-service/. In the process, Traefik will make sure that the user is authenticated (using the BasicAuth middleware).

Static configuration:

[entryPoints]
  [entryPoints.web]
    # Listen on port 8081 for incoming requests
    address = ":8081"

[providers]
  # Enable the file provider to define routers / middlewares / services in a file
  [providers.file]
    filename = "dynamic_conf.toml"

entryPoints:
  web:
    # Listen on port 8081 for incoming requests
    address: :8081

providers:
  # Enable the file provider to define routers / middlewares / services in a file
  file:
    filename: dynamic_conf.yml

# Listen on port 8081 for incoming requests
--entryPoints.web.address=:8081

# Enable the file provider to define routers / middlewares / services in a file
--providers.file.filename=dynamic_conf.toml

Dynamic configuration:

# http routing section
[http]
  [http.routers]
     # Define a connection between requests and services
     [http.routers.to-whoami]
      rule = "Host(`domain`) && PathPrefix(`/whoami/`)"
      # If the rule matches, applies the middleware
      middlewares = ["test-user"]
      # If the rule matches, forward to the whoami service (declared below)
      service = "whoami"

  [http.middlewares]
    # Define an authentication mechanism
    [http.middlewares.test-user.basicAuth]
      users = ["test:$apr1$H6uskkkW$IgXLP6ewTrSuBkTrqE8wj/"]

  [http.services]
    # Define how to reach an existing service on our infrastructure
    [http.services.whoami.loadBalancer]
      [[http.services.whoami.loadBalancer.servers]]
        url = "http://private/whoami-service"

# http routing section
http:
  routers:
    # Define a connection between requests and services
    to-whoami:
      rule: "Host(`domain`) && PathPrefix(`/whoami/`)"
       # If the rule matches, applies the middleware
      middlewares:
      - test-user
      # If the rule matches, forward to the whoami service (declared below)
      service: whoami

  middlewares:
    # Define an authentication mechanism
    test-user:
      basicAuth:
        users:
        - test:$apr1$H6uskkkW$IgXLP6ewTrSuBkTrqE8wj/

  services:
    # Define how to reach an existing service on our infrastructure
    whoami:
      loadBalancer:
        servers:
        - url: http://private/whoami-service

!!! note "The File Provider"

In this example, we use the [file provider](../providers/file.md).
Even if it is one of the least magical way of configuring Traefik, it explicitly describes every available notion.

!!! note "HTTP / TCP"

In this example, we've defined routing rules for http requests only.
Traefik also supports TCP requests. To add [TCP routers](./routers/index.md) and [TCP services](./services/index.md), declare them in a TCP section like in the following.

??? example "Adding a TCP route for TLS requests on whoami.traefik.io"

    Static configuration:
    
    ```toml tab="File (TOML)"
    [entryPoints]
      [entryPoints.web]
        # Listen on port 8081 for incoming requests
        address = ":8081"

    [providers]
      # Enable the file provider to define routers / middlewares / services in a file
      [providers.file]
        filename = "dynamic_conf.toml"
    ```
    
    ```yaml tab="File (YAML)"
    entryPoints:
      web:
        # Listen on port 8081 for incoming requests
        address: :8081
    providers:
      # Enable the file provider to define routers / middlewares / services in a file
      file:
        filename: dynamic_conf.yml
    ```
    
    ```bash tab="CLI"
    # Listen on port 8081 for incoming requests
    --entryPoints.web.address=":8081"
    
    # Enable the file provider to define routers / middlewares / services in a file
    --providers.file.filename=dynamic_conf.toml
    ```
    
    Dynamic configuration:

    ```toml tab="TOML"
    # http routing section
    [http]
      [http.routers]
        # Define a connection between requests and services
        [http.routers.to-whoami]
          rule = "Host(`domain`) && PathPrefix(`/whoami/`)"
          # If the rule matches, applies the middleware
          middlewares = ["test-user"]
          # If the rule matches, forward to the whoami service (declared below)
          service = "whoami"

      [http.middlewares]
         # Define an authentication mechanism
         [http.middlewares.test-user.basicAuth]
           users = ["test:$apr1$H6uskkkW$IgXLP6ewTrSuBkTrqE8wj/"]

      [http.services]
         # Define how to reach an existing service on our infrastructure
         [http.services.whoami.loadBalancer]
           [[http.services.whoami.loadBalancer.servers]]
             url = "http://private/whoami-service"

    [tcp]
      [tcp.routers]
        [tcp.routers.to-whoami-tcp]
          rule = "HostSNI(`whoami-tcp.traefik.io`)"
          service = "whoami-tcp"
          [tcp.routers.to-whoami-tcp.tls]

      [tcp.services]
        [tcp.services.whoami-tcp.loadBalancer]
          [[tcp.services.whoami-tcp.loadBalancer.servers]]
            address = "xx.xx.xx.xx:xx"
    ```
    
    ```yaml tab="YAML"
    # http routing section
    http:

      routers:
        # Define a connection between requests and services
        to-whoami:
          rule: Host(`domain`) && PathPrefix(`/whoami/`)
          # If the rule matches, applies the middleware
          middlewares:
          - test-user
          # If the rule matches, forward to the whoami service (declared below)
          service: whoami

      middlewares:
        # Define an authentication mechanism
        test-user:
          basicAuth:
            users:
            - test:$apr1$H6uskkkW$IgXLP6ewTrSuBkTrqE8wj/

      services:
        # Define how to reach an existing service on our infrastructure
        whoami:
          loadBalancer:
            servers:
            - url: http://private/whoami-service
    tcp:

      routers:
        to-whoami-tcp:
          service: whoami-tcp
          rule: HostSNI(`whoami-tcp.traefik.io`)

      services:
        whoami-tcp:
          loadBalancer:
            servers:
            - address: xx.xx.xx.xx:xx
    ```

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Overview

Clear Responsibilities

Example with a File Provider

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