---
title: "Traefik Docker Routing Documentation"
description: "This guide will teach you how to attach labels to your containers, to route traffic and load balance with Traefik and Docker."
---

# Traefik & Docker

One of the best feature of Traefik is to delegate the routing configuration to the application level.
With Docker, Traefik can leverage labels attached to a container to generate routing rules.

!!! warning "Labels & sensitive data"

    We recommend to *not* use labels to store sensitive data (certificates, credentials, etc).
    Instead, we recommend to store sensitive data in a safer storage (secrets, file, etc).

## Configuration Examples

??? example "Configuring Docker & Deploying / Exposing one Service"

    Enabling the docker provider

    ```yaml tab="File (YAML)"
    providers:
      docker: {}
    ```

    ```toml tab="File (TOML)"
    [providers.docker]
    ```

    ```bash tab="CLI"
    --providers.docker=true
    ```

    Attaching labels to containers (in your docker compose file)

    ```yaml
    version: "3"
    services:
      my-container:
        # ...
        labels:
          - traefik.http.routers.my-container.rule=Host(`example.com`)
    ```

??? example "Specify a Custom Port for the Container"

    Forward requests for `http://example.com` to `http://<private IP of container>:12345`:

    ```yaml
    version: "3"
    services:
      my-container:
        # ...
        labels:
          - traefik.http.routers.my-container.rule=Host(`example.com`)
          # Tell Traefik to use the port 12345 to connect to `my-container`
          - traefik.http.services.my-service.loadbalancer.server.port=12345
    ```

    !!! important "Traefik Connecting to the Wrong Port: `HTTP/502 Gateway Error`"
        By default, Traefik uses the first exposed port of a container.

        Setting the label `traefik.http.services.xxx.loadbalancer.server.port`
        overrides that behavior.

??? example "Specifying more than one router and service per container"

    Forwarding requests to more than one port on a container requires referencing the service loadbalancer port definition using the service parameter on the router.

    In this example, requests are forwarded for `http://example-a.com` to `http://<private IP of container>:8000` in addition to `http://example-b.com` forwarding to `http://<private IP of container>:9000`:

    ```yaml
    version: "3"
    services:
      my-container:
        # ...
        labels:
          - traefik.http.routers.www-router.rule=Host(`example-a.com`)
          - traefik.http.routers.www-router.service=www-service
          - traefik.http.services.www-service.loadbalancer.server.port=8000
          - traefik.http.routers.admin-router.rule=Host(`example-b.com`)
          - traefik.http.routers.admin-router.service=admin-service
          - traefik.http.services.admin-service.loadbalancer.server.port=9000
    ```

## Routing Configuration

!!! info "Labels"

    - Labels are case-insensitive.

!!! tip "TLS Default Generated Certificates"

    To learn how to configure Traefik default generated certificate, refer to the [TLS Certificates](../http/tls/tls-certificates.md#acme-default-certificate) page.

### General

Traefik creates, for each container, a corresponding [service](../http/load-balancing/service.md) and [router](../http/router/rules-and-priority.md).

The Service automatically gets a server per instance of the container,
and the router automatically gets a rule defined by `defaultRule` (if no rule for it was defined in labels).

#### Service definition

--8<-- "content/routing/providers/service-by-label.md"

??? example "Automatic assignment with one Service"

    With labels in a compose file

    ```yaml
    labels:
      - "traefik.http.routers.myproxy.rule=Host(`example.net`)"
      # service myservice gets automatically assigned to router myproxy
      - "traefik.http.services.myservice.loadbalancer.server.port=80"
    ```

??? example "Automatic service creation with one Router"

    With labels in a compose file

    ```yaml
    labels:
      # no service specified or defined and yet one gets automatically created
      # and assigned to router myproxy.
      - "traefik.http.routers.myproxy.rule=Host(`example.net`)"
    ```

??? example "Explicit definition with one Service"

    With labels in a compose file

    ```yaml
    labels:
      - traefik.http.routers.www-router.rule=Host(`example-a.com`)
      # Explicit link between the router and the service
      - traefik.http.routers.www-router.service=www-service
      - traefik.http.services.www-service.loadbalancer.server.port=8000
    ```

### Routers

To update the configuration of the Router automatically attached to the container,
add labels starting with `traefik.http.routers.<name-of-your-choice>.` and followed by the option you want to change.

For example, to change the rule, you could add the label ```traefik.http.routers.my-container.rule=Host(`example.com`)```.

!!! warning "The character `@` is not authorized in the router name `<router_name>`."

??? info "`traefik.http.routers.<router_name>.rule`"

    See [rule](../http/router/rules-and-priority.md) for more information.

    ```yaml
     "traefik.http.routers.myrouter.rule=Host(`example.com`)"
    ```

??? info "`traefik.http.routers.<router_name>.ruleSyntax`"
    
    See [ruleSyntax](../http/router/rules-and-priority.md#rulesyntax) for more information.
    
    ```yaml
    traefik.http.routers.myrouter.ruleSyntax=v3
    ```

??? info "`traefik.http.routers.<router_name>.entrypoints`"

    ```yaml
     "traefik.http.routers.myrouter.entrypoints=ep1,ep2"
    ```

??? info "`traefik.http.routers.<router_name>.middlewares`"

    See [middlewares overview](../http/middlewares/overview.md) for more information.

    ```yaml
     "traefik.http.routers.myrouter.middlewares=auth,prefix,cb"
    ```

??? info "`traefik.http.routers.<router_name>.service`"

    See [service](../http/load-balancing/service.md) for more information.

    ```yaml
     "traefik.http.routers.myrouter.service=myservice"
    ```

??? info "`traefik.http.routers.<router_name>.tls`"

    See [tls](../http/tls/overview.md) for more information.

    ```yaml
     "traefik.http.routers.myrouter.tls=true"
    ```

??? info "`traefik.http.routers.<router_name>.tls.certresolver`"

    See [certResolver](../../install-configuration/tls/certificate-resolvers/overview.md) for more information.

    ```yaml
     "traefik.http.routers.myrouter.tls.certresolver=myresolver"
    ```

??? info "`traefik.http.routers.<router_name>.tls.domains[n].main`"

    See [domains](../../install-configuration/tls/certificate-resolvers/acme.md#domain-definition) for more information.

    ```yaml
     "traefik.http.routers.myrouter.tls.domains[0].main=example.org"
    ```

??? info "`traefik.http.routers.<router_name>.tls.domains[n].sans`"

    See [domains](../../install-configuration/tls/certificate-resolvers/acme.md#domain-definition) for more information.

    ```yaml
     "traefik.http.routers.myrouter.tls.domains[0].sans=test.example.org,dev.example.org"
    ```

??? info "`traefik.http.routers.<router_name>.tls.options`"

    ```yaml
     "traefik.http.routers.myrouter.tls.options=foobar"
    ```

??? info "`traefik.http.routers.<router_name>.observability.accesslogs`"
    
    The accessLogs option controls whether the router will produce access-logs.
    
    ```yaml
     "traefik.http.routers.myrouter.observability.accesslogs=true"
    ```

??? info "`traefik.http.routers.<router_name>.observability.metrics`"
    
    The metrics option controls whether the router will produce metrics.

    ```yaml
     "traefik.http.routers.myrouter.observability.metrics=true"
    ```

??? info "`traefik.http.routers.<router_name>.observability.tracing`"
    
    The tracing option controls whether the router will produce traces.

    ```yaml
     "traefik.http.routers.myrouter.observability.tracing=true"
    ```

??? info "`traefik.http.routers.<router_name>.priority`"

    See [priority](../http/router/rules-and-priority.md#priority-calculation) for more information.

    ```yaml
     "traefik.http.routers.myrouter.priority=42"
    ```

### Services

To update the configuration of the Service automatically attached to the container,
add labels starting with `traefik.http.services.<name-of-your-choice>.`, followed by the option you want to change.

For example, to change the `passHostHeader` behavior,
you'd add the label `traefik.http.services.<name-of-your-choice>.loadbalancer.passhostheader=false`.

!!! warning "The character `@` is not authorized in the service name `<service_name>`."

??? info "`traefik.http.services.<service_name>.loadbalancer.server.port`"

    Registers a port.
    Useful when the container exposes multiples ports.

    ```yaml
     "traefik.http.services.myservice.loadbalancer.server.port=8080"
    ```

??? info "`traefik.http.services.<service_name>.loadbalancer.server.scheme`"

    Overrides the default scheme.

    ```yaml
     "traefik.http.services.myservice.loadbalancer.server.scheme=http"
    ```

??? info "`traefik.http.services.<service_name>.loadbalancer.serverstransport`"

    Allows to reference a ServersTransport resource that is defined either with the File provider or the Kubernetes CRD one.
    See [serverstransport](../http/load-balancing/serverstransport.md) for more information.

    ```yaml
     "traefik.http.services.myservice.loadbalancer.serverstransport=foobar@file"
    ```

??? info "`traefik.http.services.<service_name>.loadbalancer.passhostheader`"

    ```yaml
     "traefik.http.services.myservice.loadbalancer.passhostheader=true"
    ```

??? info "`traefik.http.services.<service_name>.loadbalancer.healthcheck.headers.<header_name>`"

    See [health check](../http/load-balancing/service.md#health-check) for more information.

    ```yaml
     "traefik.http.services.myservice.loadbalancer.healthcheck.headers.X-Foo=foobar"
    ```

??? info "`traefik.http.services.<service_name>.loadbalancer.healthcheck.hostname`"

    See [health check](../http/load-balancing/service.md#health-check) for more information.

    ```yaml
     "traefik.http.services.myservice.loadbalancer.healthcheck.hostname=example.org"
    ```

??? info "`traefik.http.services.<service_name>.loadbalancer.healthcheck.interval`"

    See [health check](../http/load-balancing/service.md#health-check) for more information.

    ```yaml
     "traefik.http.services.myservice.loadbalancer.healthcheck.interval=10s"
    ```

??? info "`traefik.http.services.<service_name>.loadbalancer.healthcheck.path`"

    See [health check](../http/load-balancing/service.md#health-check) for more information.

    ```yaml
     "traefik.http.services.myservice.loadbalancer.healthcheck.path=/foo"
    ```

??? info "`traefik.http.services.<service_name>.loadbalancer.healthcheck.method`"

    See [health check](../http/load-balancing/service.md#health-check) for more information.

    ```yaml
     "traefik.http.services.myservice.loadbalancer.healthcheck.method=foobar"
    ```

??? info "`traefik.http.services.<service_name>.loadbalancer.healthcheck.status`"

    See [health check](../http/load-balancing/service.md#health-check) for more information.

    ```yaml
     "traefik.http.services.myservice.loadbalancer.healthcheck.status=42"
    ```

??? info "`traefik.http.services.<service_name>.loadbalancer.healthcheck.port`"

    See [health check](../http/load-balancing/service.md#health-check) for more information.

    ```yaml
     "traefik.http.services.myservice.loadbalancer.healthcheck.port=42"
    ```

??? info "`traefik.http.services.<service_name>.loadbalancer.healthcheck.scheme`"

    See [health check](../http/load-balancing/service.md#health-check) for more information.

    ```yaml
     "traefik.http.services.myservice.loadbalancer.healthcheck.scheme=http"
    ```

??? info "`traefik.http.services.<service_name>.loadbalancer.healthcheck.timeout`"

    See [health check](../http/load-balancing/service.md#health-check) for more information.

    ```yaml
     "traefik.http.services.myservice.loadbalancer.healthcheck.timeout=10s"
    ```

??? info "`traefik.http.services.<service_name>.loadbalancer.healthcheck.followredirects`"

    See [health check](../http/load-balancing/service.md#health-check) for more information.

    ```yaml
     "traefik.http.services.myservice.loadbalancer.healthcheck.followredirects=true"
    ```

??? info "`traefik.http.services.<service_name>.loadbalancer.sticky.cookie`"

    ```yaml
     "traefik.http.services.myservice.loadbalancer.sticky.cookie=true"
    ```

??? info "`traefik.http.services.<service_name>.loadbalancer.sticky.cookie.httponly`"

    ```yaml
     "traefik.http.services.myservice.loadbalancer.sticky.cookie.httponly=true"
    ```

??? info "`traefik.http.services.<service_name>.loadbalancer.sticky.cookie.name`"

    ```yaml
     "traefik.http.services.myservice.loadbalancer.sticky.cookie.name=foobar"
    ```

??? info "`traefik.http.services.<service_name>.loadbalancer.sticky.cookie.path`"

    ```yaml
     "traefik.http.services.myservice.loadbalancer.sticky.cookie.path=/foobar"
    ```

??? info "`traefik.http.services.<service_name>.loadbalancer.sticky.cookie.secure`"

    ```yaml
     "traefik.http.services.myservice.loadbalancer.sticky.cookie.secure=true"
    ```

??? info "`traefik.http.services.<service_name>.loadbalancer.sticky.cookie.samesite`"

    ```yaml
     "traefik.http.services.myservice.loadbalancer.sticky.cookie.samesite=none"
    ```

??? info "`traefik.http.services.<service_name>.loadbalancer.sticky.cookie.maxage`"

    ```yaml
     "traefik.http.services.myservice.loadbalancer.sticky.cookie.maxage=42"
    ```

??? info "`traefik.http.services.<service_name>.loadbalancer.responseforwarding.flushinterval`"

    ```yaml
     "traefik.http.services.myservice.loadbalancer.responseforwarding.flushinterval=10"
    ```

### Middleware

You can declare pieces of middleware using labels starting with `traefik.http.middlewares.<name-of-your-choice>.`,
followed by the middleware type/options.

For example, to declare a middleware [`redirectscheme`](../http/middlewares/redirectscheme.md) named `my-redirect`,
you'd write `traefik.http.middlewares.my-redirect.redirectscheme.scheme=https`.

More information about available middlewares in the dedicated [middlewares section](../http/middlewares/overview.md).

!!! warning "The character `@` is not authorized in the middleware name."

??? example "Declaring and Referencing a Middleware"

    ```yaml
       services:
         my-container:
           # ...
           labels:
             # Declaring a middleware
             - traefik.http.middlewares.my-redirect.redirectscheme.scheme=https
             # Referencing a middleware
             - traefik.http.routers.my-container.middlewares=my-redirect
    ```

!!! warning "Conflicts in Declaration"

    If you declare multiple middleware with the same name but with different parameters, the middleware fails to be declared.

### TCP

You can declare TCP Routers and/or Services using labels.

??? example "Declaring TCP Routers with one Service"

    ```yaml
       services:
         my-container:
           # ...
           labels:
             - "traefik.tcp.routers.my-router.rule=HostSNI(`example.com`)"
             - "traefik.tcp.routers.my-router.tls=true"
             - "traefik.tcp.services.my-service.loadbalancer.server.port=4123"
    ```

!!! warning "TCP and HTTP"

    If you declare a TCP Router/Service, it will prevent Traefik from automatically creating an HTTP Router/Service (like it does by default if no TCP Router/Service is defined).
    You can declare both a TCP Router/Service and an HTTP Router/Service for the same container (but you have to do so manually).

#### TCP Routers

??? info "`traefik.tcp.routers.<router_name>.entrypoints`"

    See [entry points](../../install-configuration/entrypoints.md) for more information.

    ```yaml
     "traefik.tcp.routers.mytcprouter.entrypoints=ep1,ep2"
    ```

??? info "`traefik.tcp.routers.<router_name>.rule`"

    See [rule](../tcp/router/rules-and-priority.md#rules) for more information.

    ```yaml
     "traefik.tcp.routers.mytcprouter.rule=HostSNI(`example.com`)"
    ```

??? info "`traefik.tcp.routers.<router_name>.ruleSyntax`"
    
    configure the rule syntax to be used for parsing the rule on a per-router basis.
    
    ```yaml
    traefik.tcp.routers.mytcprouter.ruleSyntax=v3
    ```
    
??? info "`traefik.tcp.routers.<router_name>.service`"

    See [service](../tcp/service.md) for more information.

    ```yaml
     "traefik.tcp.routers.mytcprouter.service=myservice"
    ```

??? info "`traefik.tcp.routers.<router_name>.tls`"

    See [TLS](../tcp/tls.md) for more information.

    ```yaml
     "traefik.tcp.routers.mytcprouter.tls=true"
    ```

??? info "`traefik.tcp.routers.<router_name>.tls.certresolver`"

    See [certResolver](../tcp/tls.md#configuration-options) for more information.

    ```yaml
     "traefik.tcp.routers.mytcprouter.tls.certresolver=myresolver"
    ```

??? info "`traefik.tcp.routers.<router_name>.tls.domains[n].main`"

    See [TLS](../tcp/tls.md) for more information.

    ```yaml
     "traefik.tcp.routers.mytcprouter.tls.domains[0].main=example.org"
    ```

??? info "`traefik.tcp.routers.<router_name>.tls.domains[n].sans`"

    See [TLS](../tcp/tls.md) for more information.

    ```yaml
     "traefik.tcp.routers.mytcprouter.tls.domains[0].sans=test.example.org,dev.example.org"
    ```

??? info "`traefik.tcp.routers.<router_name>.tls.options`"

    ```yaml
     "traefik.tcp.routers.mytcprouter.tls.options=mysoptions"
    ```

??? info "`traefik.tcp.routers.<router_name>.tls.passthrough`"

    See [TLS](../tcp/tls.md#passthrough) for more information.

    ```yaml
     "traefik.tcp.routers.mytcprouter.tls.passthrough=true"
    ```

??? info "`traefik.tcp.routers.<router_name>.priority`"

    See [priority](../tcp/router/rules-and-priority.md) for more information.

    ```yaml
     "traefik.tcp.routers.mytcprouter.priority=42"
    ```

#### TCP Services

??? info "`traefik.tcp.services.<service_name>.loadbalancer.server.port`"

    Registers a port of the application.

    ```yaml
     "traefik.tcp.services.mytcpservice.loadbalancer.server.port=423"
    ```

??? info "`traefik.tcp.services.<service_name>.loadbalancer.server.tls`"

    Determines whether to use TLS when dialing with the backend.

    ```yaml
     "traefik.tcp.services.mytcpservice.loadbalancer.server.tls=true"
    ```

??? info "`traefik.tcp.services.<service_name>.loadbalancer.proxyprotocol.version`"

    See [PROXY protocol](../tcp/service.md#proxy-protocol) for more information.

    ```yaml
     "traefik.tcp.services.mytcpservice.loadbalancer.proxyprotocol.version=1"
    ```

??? info "`traefik.tcp.services.<service_name>.loadbalancer.serverstransport`"

    Allows to reference a ServersTransport resource that is defined either with the File provider or the Kubernetes CRD one.
    See [serverstransport](../tcp/serverstransport.md) for more information.

    ```yaml
     "traefik.tcp.services.mytcpservice.loadbalancer.serverstransport=foobar@file"
    ```

#### TCP Middleware

You can declare pieces of middleware using tags starting with `traefik.tcp.middlewares.{name-of-your-choice}.`, followed by the middleware type/options.

For example, to declare a middleware [`InFlightConn`](../tcp/middlewares/inflightconn.md) named `test-inflightconn`, you'd write `traefik.tcp.middlewares.test-inflightconn.inflightconn.amount=10`.

More information about available middlewares in the dedicated [middlewares section](../tcp/middlewares/overview.md).

??? example "Declaring and Referencing a Middleware"
    
    ```yaml
    # ...
    # Declaring a middleware
    traefik.tcp.middlewares.test-inflightconn.amount=10
    # Referencing a middleware
    traefik.tcp.routers.my-service.middlewares=test-inflightconn
    ```

!!! warning "Conflicts in Declaration"

    If you declare multiple middleware with the same name but with different parameters, the middleware fails to be declared.

### UDP

You can declare UDP Routers and/or Services using labels.

??? example "Declaring UDP Routers with one Service"

    ```yaml
       services:
         my-container:
           # ...
           labels:
             - "traefik.udp.routers.my-router.entrypoints=udp"
             - "traefik.udp.services.my-service.loadbalancer.server.port=4123"
    ```

!!! warning "UDP and HTTP"

    If you declare a UDP Router/Service, it will prevent Traefik from automatically creating an HTTP Router/Service (like it does by default if no UDP Router/Service is defined).
    You can declare both a UDP Router/Service and an HTTP Router/Service for the same container (but you have to do so manually).

#### UDP Routers

??? info "`traefik.udp.routers.<router_name>.entrypoints`"

    See [entry points](../../install-configuration/entrypoints.md) for more information.

    ```yaml
     "traefik.udp.routers.myudprouter.entrypoints=ep1,ep2"
    ```

??? info "`traefik.udp.routers.<router_name>.service`"

    See [service](../udp/service.md) for more information.

    ```yaml
     "traefik.udp.routers.myudprouter.service=myservice"
    ```

#### UDP Services

??? info "`traefik.udp.services.<service_name>.loadbalancer.server.port`"

    Registers a port of the application.

    ```yaml
     "traefik.udp.services.myudpservice.loadbalancer.server.port=423"
    ```

### Specific Provider Options

#### `traefik.enable`

```yaml
- "traefik.enable=true"
```

You can tell Traefik to consider (or not) the container by setting `traefik.enable` to true or false.

This option overrides the value of `exposedByDefault`.

#### `traefik.docker.network`

```yaml
- "traefik.docker.network=mynetwork"
```

Overrides the default docker network to use for connections to the container.

If a container is linked to several networks, be sure to set the proper network name (you can check this with `docker inspect <container_id>`),
otherwise it will randomly pick one (depending on how docker is returning them).

!!! warning
    When deploying a stack from a compose file `stack`, the networks defined are prefixed with `stack`.
