RateLimit

To Control the Number of Requests Going to a Service

The RateLimit middleware ensures that services will receive a fair number of requests, and allows one to define what fair is.

Configuration Example

  1. # Here, an average of 100 requests per second is allowed.
  2. # In addition, a burst of 50 requests is allowed.
  3. labels:
  4.   - "traefik.http.middlewares.test-ratelimit.ratelimit.average=100"
  5.   - "traefik.http.middlewares.test-ratelimit.ratelimit.burst=50"
  1. # Here, an average of 100 requests per second is allowed.
  2. # In addition, a burst of 50 requests is allowed.
  3. apiVersion: traefik.containo.us/v1alpha1
  4. kind: Middleware
  5. metadata:
  6.   name: test-ratelimit
  7. spec:
  8.   rateLimit:
  9.     average: 100
  10.     burst: 50
  1. # Here, an average of 100 requests per second is allowed.
  2. # In addition, a burst of 50 requests is allowed.
  3. - "traefik.http.middlewares.test-ratelimit.ratelimit.average=100"
  4. - "traefik.http.middlewares.test-ratelimit.ratelimit.burst=50"
  1. "labels": {
  2.   "traefik.http.middlewares.test-ratelimit.ratelimit.average": "100",
  3.   "traefik.http.middlewares.test-ratelimit.ratelimit.burst": "50"
  4. }
  1. # Here, an average of 100 requests per second is allowed.
  2. # In addition, a burst of 50 requests is allowed.
  3. labels:
  4.   - "traefik.http.middlewares.test-ratelimit.ratelimit.average=100"
  5.   - "traefik.http.middlewares.test-ratelimit.ratelimit.burst=50"
  1. # Here, an average of 100 requests per second is allowed.
  2. # In addition, a burst of 50 requests is allowed.
  3. [http.middlewares]
  4.   [http.middlewares.test-ratelimit.rateLimit]
  5.     average = 100
  6.     burst = 50
  1. # Here, an average of 100 requests per second is allowed.
  2. # In addition, a burst of 50 requests is allowed.
  3. http:
  4.   middlewares:
  5.     test-ratelimit:
  6.       rateLimit:
  7.         average: 100
  8.         burst: 50

Configuration Options

average

average is the maximum rate, by default in requests by second, allowed for the given source.

It defaults to 0, which means no rate limiting.

The rate is actually defined by dividing average by period. So for a rate below 1 req/s, one needs to define a period larger than a second.

  1. # 100 reqs/s
  2. labels:
  3.   - "traefik.http.middlewares.test-ratelimit.ratelimit.average=100"
  1. # 100 reqs/s
  2. apiVersion: traefik.containo.us/v1alpha1
  3. kind: Middleware
  4. metadata:
  5.   name: test-ratelimit
  6. spec:
  7.   rateLimit:
  8.     average: 100
  1. # 100 reqs/s
  2. - "traefik.http.middlewares.test-ratelimit.ratelimit.average=100"
  1. "labels": {
  2.   "traefik.http.middlewares.test-ratelimit.ratelimit.average": "100",
  3. }
  1. labels:
  2.   - "traefik.http.middlewares.test-ratelimit.ratelimit.average=100"
  1. # 100 reqs/s
  2. [http.middlewares]
  3.   [http.middlewares.test-ratelimit.rateLimit]
  4.     average = 100
  1. # 100 reqs/s
  2. http:
  3.   middlewares:
  4.     test-ratelimit:
  5.       rateLimit:
  6.         average: 100

period

period, in combination with average, defines the actual maximum rate, such as:

  1. r = average / period

It defaults to 1 second.

  1. # 6 reqs/minute
  2. labels:
  3.   - "traefik.http.middlewares.test-ratelimit.ratelimit.average=6"
  4.   - "traefik.http.middlewares.test-ratelimit.ratelimit.period=1m"
  1. # 6 reqs/minute
  2. apiVersion: traefik.containo.us/v1alpha1
  3. kind: Middleware
  4. metadata:
  5.   name: test-ratelimit
  6. spec:
  7.   rateLimit:
  8.     period: 1m
  9.     average: 6
  1. # 6 reqs/minute
  2. - "traefik.http.middlewares.test-ratelimit.ratelimit.average=6"
  3. - "traefik.http.middlewares.test-ratelimit.ratelimit.period=1m"
  1. "labels": {
  2.   "traefik.http.middlewares.test-ratelimit.ratelimit.average": "6",
  3.   "traefik.http.middlewares.test-ratelimit.ratelimit.period": "1m",
  4. }
  1. # 6 reqs/minute
  2. labels:
  3.   - "traefik.http.middlewares.test-ratelimit.ratelimit.average=6"
  4.   - "traefik.http.middlewares.test-ratelimit.ratelimit.period=1m"
  1. # 6 reqs/minute
  2. [http.middlewares]
  3.   [http.middlewares.test-ratelimit.rateLimit]
  4.     average = 6
  5.     period = 1m
  1. # 6 reqs/minute
  2. http:
  3.   middlewares:
  4.     test-ratelimit:
  5.       rateLimit:
  6.         average: 6
  7.         period: 1m

burst

burst is the maximum number of requests allowed to go through in the same arbitrarily small period of time.

It defaults to 1.

  1. labels:
  2.   - "traefik.http.middlewares.test-ratelimit.ratelimit.burst=100"
  1. apiVersion: traefik.containo.us/v1alpha1
  2. kind: Middleware
  3. metadata:
  4.   name: test-ratelimit
  5. spec:
  6.   rateLimit:
  7.     burst: 100
  1. - "traefik.http.middlewares.test-ratelimit.ratelimit.burst=100" 
  1. "labels": {
  2.   "traefik.http.middlewares.test-ratelimit.ratelimit.burst": "100",
  3. }
  1. labels:
  2.   - "traefik.http.middlewares.test-ratelimit.ratelimit.burst=100"   
  1. [http.middlewares]
  2.   [http.middlewares.test-ratelimit.rateLimit]
  3.     burst = 100
  1. http:
  2.   middlewares:
  3.     test-ratelimit:
  4.       rateLimit:
  5.         burst: 100

sourceCriterion

SourceCriterion defines what criterion is used to group requests as originating from a common source. The precedence order is ipStrategy, then requestHeaderName, then requestHost. If none are set, the default is to use the request's remote address field (as an ipStrategy).

sourceCriterion.ipStrategy

The ipStrategy option defines two parameters that sets how Traefik will determine the client IP: depth, and excludedIPs.

ipStrategy.depth

The depth option tells Traefik to use the X-Forwarded-For header and take the IP located at the depth position (starting from the right).

  • If depth is greater than the total number of IPs in X-Forwarded-For, then the client IP will be empty.
  • depth is ignored if its value is lesser than or equal to 0.

Example of Depth & X-Forwarded-For

If depth was equal to 2, and the request X-Forwarded-For header was "10.0.0.1,11.0.0.1,12.0.0.1,13.0.0.1" then the "real" client IP would be "10.0.0.1" (at depth 4) but the IP used as the criterion would be "12.0.0.1" (depth=2).

X-Forwarded-For depth clientIP
"10.0.0.1,11.0.0.1,12.0.0.1,13.0.0.1" 1 "13.0.0.1"
"10.0.0.1,11.0.0.1,12.0.0.1,13.0.0.1" 3 "11.0.0.1"
"10.0.0.1,11.0.0.1,12.0.0.1,13.0.0.1" 5 ""
ipStrategy.excludedIPs
  1. labels:
  2.   - "traefik.http.middlewares.test-ratelimit.ratelimit.sourcecriterion.ipstrategy.excludedips=127.0.0.1/32, 192.168.1.7"
  1. apiVersion: traefik.containo.us/v1alpha1
  2. kind: Middleware
  3. metadata:
  4.   name: test-ratelimit
  5. spec:
  6.   rateLimit:
  7.     sourceCriterion:
  8.       ipStrategy:
  9.         excludedIPs:
  10.         - 127.0.0.1/32
  11.         - 192.168.1.7
  1. - "traefik.http.middlewares.test-ratelimit.ratelimit.sourcecriterion.ipstrategy.excludedips=127.0.0.1/32, 192.168.1.7"
  1. "labels": {
  2.   "traefik.http.middlewares.test-ratelimit.ratelimit.sourcecriterion.ipstrategy.excludedips": "127.0.0.1/32, 192.168.1.7"
  3. }
  1. labels:
  2.   - "traefik.http.middlewares.test-ratelimit.ratelimit.sourcecriterion.ipstrategy.excludedips=127.0.0.1/32, 192.168.1.7"
  1. [http.middlewares]
  2.   [http.middlewares.test-ratelimit.rateLimit]
  3.     [http.middlewares.test-ratelimit.rateLimit.sourceCriterion.ipStrategy]
  4.       excludedIPs = ["127.0.0.1/32", "192.168.1.7"]
  1. http:
  2.   middlewares:
  3.     test-ratelimit:
  4.       rateLimit:
  5.         sourceCriterion:
  6.           ipStrategy:
  7.             excludedIPs:
  8.               - "127.0.0.1/32"
  9.               - "192.168.1.7"

excludedIPs tells Traefik to scan the X-Forwarded-For header and pick the first IP not in the list.

If depth is specified, excludedIPs is ignored.

Example of ExcludedIPs & X-Forwarded-For

X-Forwarded-For excludedIPs clientIP
"10.0.0.1,11.0.0.1,12.0.0.1,13.0.0.1" "12.0.0.1,13.0.0.1" "11.0.0.1"
"10.0.0.1,11.0.0.1,12.0.0.1,13.0.0.1" "15.0.0.1,13.0.0.1" "12.0.0.1"
"10.0.0.1,11.0.0.1,12.0.0.1,13.0.0.1" "10.0.0.1,13.0.0.1" "12.0.0.1"
"10.0.0.1,11.0.0.1,12.0.0.1,13.0.0.1" "15.0.0.1,16.0.0.1" "13.0.0.1"
"10.0.0.1,11.0.0.1" "10.0.0.1,11.0.0.1" ""

sourceCriterion.requestHeaderName

Requests having the same value for the given header are grouped as coming from the same source.

  1. labels:
  2.   - "traefik.http.middlewares.test-ratelimit.ratelimit.sourcecriterion.requestheadername=username"
  1. apiVersion: traefik.containo.us/v1alpha1
  2. kind: Middleware
  3. metadata:
  4.   name: test-ratelimit
  5. spec:
  6.   rateLimit:
  7.     sourceCriterion:
  8.       requestHeaderName: username
  1. - "traefik.http.middlewares.test-ratelimit.ratelimit.sourcecriterion.requestheadername=username"
  1. "labels": {
  2.   "traefik.http.middlewares.test-ratelimit.ratelimit.sourcecriterion.requestheadername": "username"
  3. }
  1. labels:
  2.   - "traefik.http.middlewares.test-ratelimit.ratelimit.sourcecriterion.requestheadername=username"
  1. [http.middlewares]
  2.   [http.middlewares.test-ratelimit.rateLimit]
  3.     [http.middlewares.test-ratelimit.rateLimit.sourceCriterion]
  4.       requestHeaderName = "username"
  1. http:
  2.   middlewares:
  3.     test-ratelimit:
  4.       rateLimit:
  5.         sourceCriterion:
  6.           requestHeaderName: username

sourceCriterion.requestHost

Whether to consider the request host as the source.

  1. labels:
  2.   - "traefik.http.middlewares.test-ratelimit.ratelimit.sourcecriterion.requesthost=true"
  1. apiVersion: traefik.containo.us/v1alpha1
  2. kind: Middleware
  3. metadata:
  4.   name: test-ratelimit
  5. spec:
  6.   rateLimit:
  7.     sourceCriterion:
  8.       requestHost: true
  1. - "traefik.http.middlewares.test-ratelimit.ratelimit.sourcecriterion.requesthost=true"
  1. "labels": {
  2.   "traefik.http.middlewares.test-ratelimit.ratelimit.sourcecriterion.requesthost": "true"
  3. }
  1. labels:
  2.   - "traefik.http.middlewares.test-ratelimit.ratelimit.sourcecriterion.requesthost=true"
  1. [http.middlewares]
  2.   [http.middlewares.test-ratelimit.rateLimit]
  3.     [http.middlewares.test-ratelimit.rateLimit.sourceCriterion]
  4.       requestHost = true
  1. http:
  2.   middlewares:
  3.     test-ratelimit:
  4.       rateLimit:
  5.         sourceCriterion:
  6.           requestHost: true