API & Dashboard

The dashboard is the central place that shows you the current active routes handled by Traefik.

Configuration Example

Enable the dashboard:

File(YAML)

api: {}

File(TOML)

[api]

CLI

--api=true

Expose the dashboard:

Kubernetes CRD

apiVersion: traefik.io/v1alpha1
kind: IngressRoute
metadata:
  name: traefik-dashboard
spec:
  routes:
  - match: Host(`traefik.example.com`) && (PathPrefix(`/api`) || PathPrefix(`/dashboard`))
    kind: Rule
    services:
    - name: api@internal
      kind: TraefikService
    middlewares:
      - name: auth
---
apiVersion: traefik.io/v1alpha1
kind: Middleware
metadata:
  name: auth
spec:
  basicAuth:
    secret: secretName # Kubernetes secret named "secretName"

Helm Chart Values (values.yaml)

# Create an IngressRoute for the dashboard
ingressRoute:
  dashboard:
    enabled: true
    # Custom match rule with host domain
    matchRule: Host(`traefik.example.com`)
    entryPoints: ["websecure"]
    # Add custom middlewares : authentication and redirection
    middlewares:
      - name: traefik-dashboard-auth
# Create the custom middlewares used by the IngressRoute dashboard (can also be created in another way).
# /!\ Yes, you need to replace "changeme" password with a better one. /!\
extraObjects:
  - apiVersion: v1
    kind: Secret
    metadata:
      name: traefik-dashboard-auth-secret
    type: kubernetes.io/basic-auth
    stringData:
      username: admin
      password: changeme
  - apiVersion: traefik.io/v1alpha1
    kind: Middleware
    metadata:
      name: traefik-dashboard-auth
    spec:
      basicAuth:
        secret: traefik-dashboard-auth-secret

Docker

# Dynamic Configuration
labels:
  - "traefik.http.routers.dashboard.rule=Host(`traefik.example.com`) && (PathPrefix(`/api`) || PathPrefix(`/dashboard`))"
  - "traefik.http.routers.dashboard.service=api@internal"
  - "traefik.http.routers.dashboard.middlewares=auth"
  - "traefik.http.middlewares.auth.basicauth.users=test:$$apr1$$H6uskkkW$$IgXLP6ewTrSuBkTrqE8wj/,test2:$$apr1$$d9hr9HBB$$4HxwgUir3HP4EsggP/QNo0"

Swarm

# Dynamic Configuration
deploy:
  labels:
    - "traefik.http.routers.dashboard.rule=Host(`traefik.example.com`) && (PathPrefix(`/api`) || PathPrefix(`/dashboard`))"
    - "traefik.http.routers.dashboard.service=api@internal"
    - "traefik.http.routers.dashboard.middlewares=auth"
    - "traefik.http.middlewares.auth.basicauth.users=test:$$apr1$$H6uskkkW$$IgXLP6ewTrSuBkTrqE8wj/,test2:$$apr1$$d9hr9HBB$$4HxwgUir3HP4EsggP/QNo0"
    # Dummy service for Swarm port detection. The port can be any valid integer value.
    - "traefik.http.services.dummy-svc.loadbalancer.server.port=9999"

Consul Catalog

# Dynamic Configuration
- "traefik.http.routers.dashboard.rule=Host(`traefik.example.com`) && (PathPrefix(`/api`) || PathPrefix(`/dashboard`))"
- "traefik.http.routers.dashboard.service=api@internal"
- "traefik.http.routers.dashboard.middlewares=auth"
- "traefik.http.middlewares.auth.basicauth.users=test:$$apr1$$H6uskkkW$$IgXLP6ewTrSuBkTrqE8wj/,test2:$$apr1$$d9hr9HBB$$4HxwgUir3HP4EsggP/QNo0"

File (YAML)

# Dynamic Configuration
http:
  routers:
    dashboard:
      rule: Host(`traefik.example.com`) && (PathPrefix(`/api`) || PathPrefix(`/dashboard`))
      service: api@internal
      middlewares:
        - auth
  middlewares:
    auth:
      basicAuth:
        users:
          - "test:$apr1$H6uskkkW$IgXLP6ewTrSuBkTrqE8wj/"
          - "test2:$apr1$d9hr9HBB$4HxwgUir3HP4EsggP/QNo0"

File (TOML)

# Dynamic Configuration
[http.routers.my-api]
  rule = "Host(`traefik.example.com`) && (PathPrefix(`/api`) || PathPrefix(`/dashboard`))"
  service = "api@internal"
  middlewares = ["auth"]
[http.middlewares.auth.basicAuth]
  users = [
    "test:$apr1$H6uskkkW$IgXLP6ewTrSuBkTrqE8wj/",
    "test2:$apr1$d9hr9HBB$4HxwgUir3HP4EsggP/QNo0",
  ]

Configuration Options

The API and the dashboard can be configured:

• In the Helm Chart: You can find the options to customize the Traefik installation enabing the dashboard here.
• In the Traefik Static Configuration as described below.

Endpoints

All the following endpoints must be accessed with a GET HTTP request.

Dashboard

The dashboard is available at the same location as the API, but by default on the path /dashboard/.

Note

• The trailing slash / in /dashboard/ is mandatory. This limitation can be mitigated using the the RedirectRegex Middleware.
• There is also a redirect from the path / to /dashboard/, but you should not rely on this behavior, as it is subject to change and may complicate routing rules.

To securely access the dashboard, you need to define a routing configuration within Traefik. This involves setting up a router attached to the service api@internal, which allows you to:

• Implement security features using middlewares, such as authentication (basicAuth, digestAuth, forwardAuth) or allowlisting.

• Define a router rule for accessing the dashboard through Traefik.

Dashboard Router Rule

To ensure proper access to the dashboard, the router rule you define must match requests intended for the /api and /dashboard paths. We recommend using either a Host-based rule to match all requests on the desired domain or explicitly defining a rule that includes both path prefixes. Here are some examples:

Host Rule

# The dashboard can be accessed on http://traefik.example.com/dashboard/
rule = "Host(`traefik.example.com`)"

Path Prefix Rule

# The dashboard can be accessed on http://example.com/dashboard/ or http://traefik.example.com/dashboard/
rule = "PathPrefix(`/api`) || PathPrefix(`/dashboard`)"

Combination of Rules

# The dashboard can be accessed on http://traefik.example.com/dashboard/
rule = "Host(`traefik.example.com`) && (PathPrefix(`/api`) || PathPrefix(`/dashboard`))"

Using Traefik OSS in Production?

If you are using Traefik at work, consider adding enterprise-grade API gateway capabilities or commercial support for Traefik OSS.

• Watch our API Gateway Demo Video
• Request 24/7/365 OSS Support

Adding API Gateway capabilities to Traefik OSS is fast and seamless. There’s no rip and replace and all configurations remain intact. See it in action via this short video.