Traefik on Docker Swarm accessed via Cloudflare Tunnel

.traefik-cloudflare-tunnel

Please see https://mattdyson.org/blog/2024/02/using-traefik-with-cloudflare-tunnels for a detailed write-up of this configuration

environment.env

ROOT_DOMAIN=yourdomain.com
HTTP_TIMEOUT=60
POLLING_INTERVAL=10
PROPAGATION_TIMEOUT=3600
TTL=300
PROVIDERS_GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID=<GOOGLE CLIENT ID>
PROVIDERS_GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET=<GOOGLE CLIENT SECRET>
SECRET=RandomTextGoesHere
WHITELIST=<YOUR GOOGLE ACCOUNT EMAIL>
LOG_LEVEL=INFO
ZONE_ID=<YOUR CLOUDFLARE ZONE ID>
TUNNEL_TOKEN=<YOUR CLOUDFLARE TUNNEL TOKEN>

external-app.yaml

version: '3.7'

services:
  whoami:
    image: traefik/whoami
    command:
       - --name=externalapp
    deploy:
      labels:
        - "traefik.enable=true"
        - "traefik.docker.network=traefik"  

        - "traefik.http.routers.external.rule=Host(`external.yourdomain.com`)"
        - "traefik.http.routers.external.entrypoints=websecure"
        - "traefik.http.routers.external.tls=true"
        - "traefik.http.routers.external.middlewares=forward-auth"
        
        - "traefik.http.services.external.loadbalancer.server.port=80"

        - "traefik.constraint=proxy-public"

networks:
  traefik:
    external: true

internal-app.yaml

version: '3.7'

services:
  whoami:
    image: traefik/whoami
    command:
       - --name=internalapp
    deploy:
      labels:
        - "traefik.enable=true"
        - "traefik.docker.network=traefik"  

        - "traefik.http.routers.internal.rule=Host(`internal.yourdomain.com`)"
        - "traefik.http.routers.internal.entrypoints=websecure"
        - "traefik.http.routers.internal.tls=true"

        - "traefik.http.services.internal.loadbalancer.server.port=80"

networks:
  traefik:
    external: true

traefik-docker-compose.yml

version: '3.7'

services:
  reverse-proxy:
    image: traefik:v2.10
    command:
      - "--log"
      - "--log.level=${LOG_LEVEL:-INFO}"
      - "--log.format=json"
      - "--api.insecure=true"
      - "--providers.docker"
      - "--providers.docker.swarmMode=true"
      - "--providers.docker.exposedbydefault=false"
      - "--providers.file.directory=/config"
      - "--providers.file.watch=true"
      - "--serversTransport.insecureSkipVerify=true" # Allow self-signed certificates for target hosts - https://doc.traefik.io/traefik/routing/overview/#insecureskipverify
      - "--metrics"
      - "--metrics.prometheus.buckets=0.1,0.3,1.2,5.0"
      - "--entrypoints.web.address=:80"
      - "--entrypoints.web.http.redirections.entrypoint.to=websecure"
      - "--entrypoints.web.http.redirections.entrypoint.scheme=https"
      - "--entrypoints.websecure.address=:443"
      - "--entrypoints.websecure.http.tls=true"
      - "--entrypoints.websecure.http.tls.certresolver=letsencrypt"
      - "--entrypoints.webinternal.address=:82"
      - "--certificatesresolvers.letsencrypt.acme.email=<YOUR EMAIL>"
      - "--certificatesresolvers.letsencrypt.acme.storage=/etc/traefik/acme/letsencrypt.json"
      - "--certificatesresolvers.letsencrypt.acme.dnschallenge.provider=cloudflare"
      - "--certificatesresolvers.letsencrypt.acme.dnschallenge.delaybeforecheck=300"
      - "--certificatesresolvers.letsencrypt.acme.dnschallenge.resolvers=8.8.8.8:53"
    secrets:
      - cf_token
    environment:
      - CLOUDFLARE_DNS_API_TOKEN_FILE=/run/secrets/cf_token
      - CLOUDFLARE_HTTP_TIMEOUT=${HTTP_TIMEOUT}
      - CLOUDFLARE_POLLING_INTERVAL=${POLLING_INTERVAL}
      - CLOUDFLARE_PROPAGATION_TIMEOUT=${PROPAGATION_TIMEOUT}
      - CLOUDFLARE_TTL=${TTL}
    deploy:
      restart_policy:
        condition: any
        delay: 5s
        max_attempts: 3
        window: 120s
      update_config: # Start new instance before stopping existing one
        delay: 10s
        order: start-first
        parallelism: 1
      rollback_config:
        parallelism: 0
        order: stop-first
      placement:
        constraints:
          - node.role == manager
      labels:
        - traefik.enable=true

        - traefik.http.routers.api.rule=Host(`traefik.${ROOT_DOMAIN}`)
        - traefik.http.routers.api.service=api@internal
        - traefik.http.routers.api.entrypoints=websecure
        - traefik.http.routers.api.tls=true

        - traefik.http.services.api.loadbalancer.server.port=8080
    ports:
      # HTTP
      - target: 80
        published: 80

      # HTTPS
      - target: 443
        published: 443
        
      # Web UI (enabled by --api.insecure=true)
      - target: 8080
        published: 8080
    networks:
      - traefik
      - internal
    volumes:
      # So that Traefik can listen to the Docker events
      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock
      - acme:/etc/traefik/acme
      - traefik:/config
      - cloudflare:/cloudflare

  traefik-forward-auth:
    image: thomseddon/traefik-forward-auth:2.1.0
    networks:
      - traefik
    environment:
      - PROVIDERS_GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID=${PROVIDERS_GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID}
      - PROVIDERS_GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET=${PROVIDERS_GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET}
      - SECRET=${SECRET}
      - AUTH_HOST=auth.${ROOT_DOMAIN}
      - COOKIE_DOMAIN=${ROOT_DOMAIN}
      - WHITELIST=${WHITELIST}
    deploy:
      labels:
        - traefik.enable=true
        - traefik.docker.network=traefik

        - traefik.http.routers.auth.rule=Host(`auth.${ROOT_DOMAIN}`)
        - traefik.http.routers.auth.entrypoints=websecure
        - traefik.http.routers.auth.tls=true
        - traefik.http.routers.auth.tls.domains[0].main=${ROOT_DOMAIN}
        - traefik.http.routers.auth.tls.domains[0].sans=*.${ROOT_DOMAIN}
        - traefik.http.routers.auth.tls.certresolver=letsencrypt
        - traefik.http.routers.auth.service=auth@docker

        - traefik.http.services.auth.loadbalancer.server.port=4181

        - traefik.http.middlewares.forward-auth.forwardauth.address=http://traefik-forward-auth:4181
        - traefik.http.middlewares.forward-auth.forwardauth.trustForwardHeader=true
        - traefik.http.middlewares.forward-auth.forwardauth.authResponseHeaders=X-Forwarded-User

        - traefik.http.routers.auth.middlewares=forward-auth

        - traefik.constraint=proxy-public

  tunnel:
    container_name: cloudflared-tunnel
    image: cloudflare/cloudflared
    restart: unless-stopped
    command: tunnel run
    deploy:
      mode: replicated
      replicas: 3
      update_config:
        delay: 30s
        order: start-first
        monitor: 20s
    networks:
      - traefik
    environment:
      - TUNNEL_TOKEN=${TUNNEL_TOKEN}

  error-pages:
    image: tarampampam/error-pages:2.26.0
    environment:
      TEMPLATE_NAME: l7-dark
    networks:
      - traefik
    deploy:
      mode: replicated
      replicas: 2
      update_config:
        delay: 20s
        order: start-first
        monitor: 10s
      labels:
        - traefik.enable=true
        - traefik.docker.network=traefik

        # use as "fallback" for any non-registered services (with priority below normal)
        - traefik.http.routers.error-pages.rule=HostRegexp(`{host:.+}`)
        - traefik.http.routers.error-pages.priority=10

        # should say that all of your services work on https
        - traefik.http.routers.error-pages.tls='true'
        - traefik.http.routers.error-pages.entrypoints=websecure
        - traefik.http.routers.error-pages.middlewares=error-pages
        - traefik.http.services.error-pages.loadbalancer.server.port=8080

        # "errors" middleware settings
        - traefik.http.middlewares.error-pages.errors.status=400-599
        - traefik.http.middlewares.error-pages.errors.service=error-pages
        - traefik.http.middlewares.error-pages.errors.query=/{status}.html

  cloudflare-companion:
    image: ghcr.io/tiredofit/docker-traefik-cloudflare-companion:latest
    volumes:
      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock
    deploy:
      placement:
        constraints:
          - node.role == manager
    environment:
      - TIMEZONE=Europe/London

      - LOG_TYPE=CONSOLE
      - LOG_LEVEL=INFO

      - TRAEFIK_VERSION=2
      - RC_TYPE=CNAME

      - TARGET_DOMAIN=${ROOT_DOMAIN}
      - REFRESH_ENTRIES=TRUE

      - DOCKER_SWARM_MODE=TRUE

      - ENABLE_TRAEFIK_POLL=TRUE
      - TRAEFIK_POLL_URL=https://traefik.${ROOT_DOMAIN}/api
      - TRAEFIK_FILTER_LABEL=traefik.constraint
      - TRAEFIK_FILTER=proxy-public

      - DOMAIN1=${ROOT_DOMAIN}
      - DOMAIN1_ZONE_ID=${ZONE_ID}
      - DOMAIN1_PROXIED=TRUE
    restart: always
    networks:
      - internal
    secrets:
      - cf_token
      
networks:
  traefik:
    external: true
  internal:

volumes:
  acme:
  traefik:
  cloudflare:

secrets:
  cf_token:
    external: true

@mattdy okay I see it authenticated now but seeing below error:

Max retries exceeded with url: /api/api/http/routers (Caused by SSLError(SSLError(1, '[SSL: TLSV1_UNRECOGNIZED_NAME] tlsv1 unrecognized name (_ssl.c:1000)')))

Maybe try without /api at the end of TRAEFIK_POLL_URL? Other than that, I'm afraid I don't know!

Hello. Thank you for this write up. Port forwarding is not an option. Cloudflare tunnel is. I've mentioned to got this setup and an almost ready to convert over from nginx proxy manager. I have question. I have 2 domains I am wanting to use use. How would I setup another tunnel in docker? I know I will need to create another tunnel id in cloudflare but am unsure what I need to edit in docker compose file.

I know I will need to create another tunnel id in cloudflare but am unsure what I need to edit in docker compose file.

You should be able to create another instance of the cloudflared-tunnel container if that's your desired approach, although I don't think there's anything stopping you running both domains over the same tunnel.

UPDATE: Got it to work using application routes and using origin TLS setting.

I have a few self hosted apps and I have my tunnel UP, but I'm stuck on routing the tunnel to each one of my Traefik routers since the ports are not exposed other than to the docker containers.

example I have status.mydomain.com running Uptime Kuma. Traefik handles the hand off of that service. But how to I set up the tunnel to use it?

I think this seems to be the missing piece for me as well, I know I have to be missing a config, or setup on the cloudflare side, I have a healthy tunnel, I just have not been able to figure out how to setup the "Published application routes" section so I believe that's why the cloudflare-companion app will not start.

Published application routes - Basic Information:

Published hostname = *.mydomain.com
Path = *
Service = https//:container_name
Origin configurations = 0

cloudflare-companion log: # This just scrolls until app stopped

2025-10-11.23:58:20 [STARTING] ** [traefik-cloudflare-companion] [32] Starting Traefik Cloudflare Companion
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python3.12/site-packages/requests/models.py", line 974, in json
    return complexjson.loads(self.text, **kwargs)
           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/lib/python3.12/json/__init__.py", line 346, in loads
    return _default_decoder.decode(s)
           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/lib/python3.12/json/decoder.py", line 338, in decode
    obj, end = self.raw_decode(s, idx=_w(s, 0).end())
               ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/lib/python3.12/json/decoder.py", line 356, in raw_decode
    raise JSONDecodeError("Expecting value", s, err.value) from None
json.decoder.JSONDecodeError: Expecting value: line 1 column 1 (char 0)
During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/sbin/cloudflare-companion", line 545, in <module>
    sync_mappings(get_initial_mappings(traefik_included_hosts, traefik_excluded_hosts), doms)
                  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/sbin/cloudflare-companion", line 426, in get_initial_mappings
    add_to_mappings(mappings, check_traefik(included_hosts, excluded_hosts))
                              ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/sbin/cloudflare-companion", line 352, in check_traefik
    for router in r.json():
                  ^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/lib/python3.12/site-packages/requests/models.py", line 978, in json
    raise RequestsJSONDecodeError(e.msg, e.doc, e.pos)
requests.exceptions.JSONDecodeError: Expecting value: line 1 column 1 (char 0)

TEST Application.yml

services:
  # Overseerr - Media Requests and Discovery for Plex
  overseerr:
    image: lscr.io/linuxserver/overseerr:latest
    container_name: overseerr
    security_opt:
      - no-new-privileges:true
    restart: unless-stopped
    profiles: ["apps", "all"]
    networks:
      - default
    ports:
      - "$OVERSEERR_PORT:5055"
    volumes:
      - $DOCKERDIR/appdata/overseerr:/config
    environment:
      PUID: $PUID
      PGID: $PGID
      TZ: $TZ
      traefik.constraint: proxy-public

Test Traefik Rule:

http:
  routers:
    overseerr-rtr-bypass:
      rule: "Host(`overseerr.{{env "DOMAINNAME_1"}}`) && Header(`traefik-auth-bypass-key`, `{{env "TRAEFIK_AUTH_BYPASS_KEY" }}`)"
      entryPoints:
        - websecure-external
        - websecure-internal
      middlewares:
        - chain-no-auth
      service: overseerr-svc
      priority: 100
    overseerr-rtr:
      rule: "Host(`overseerr.{{env "DOMAINNAME_1"}}`)" 
      entryPoints:
        - websecure-external
        - websecure-internal
      middlewares:
        - chain-authelia
      service: overseerr-svc
      traefik.constraint: public-proxy
      priority: 99
      tls:
        certResolver: dns-cloudflare
        options: tls-opts@file
  services:
    overseerr-svc:
      loadBalancer:
        servers:
          - url: "http://10.10.0.55:5055" # http://IP-ADDRESS:PORT

TEST cloudflare-companion.yml

services:
  cloudflare-companion:
    container_name: cloudflare-companion
    image: tiredofit/traefik-cloudflare-companion:latest
    volumes:
      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock
      - $DOCKERDIR/logs/$HOSTNAME/cloudflare-companion:/logs
    networks:
      - socket_proxy
    #security_opt:
    #  - no-new-privileges:true
    restart: always
    profiles: ["apps", "all"]
    deploy:
      placement:
        constraints:
          - node.role == manager
    environment:
      - TIMEZONE=$TZ
      - LOG_TYPE=BOTH
      - LOG_LEVEL=INFO
      - TRAEFIK_VERSION=2
      - RC_TYPE=CNAME
      - TARGET_DOMAIN=host.mydomain.com
      - REFRESH_ENTRIES=TRUE
      - ENABLE_TRAEFIK_POLL=TRUE
      - TRAEFIK_POLL_URL=https://traefik.$DOMAINNAME_1/api
      - TRAEFIK_FILTER_LABEL=traefik.constraint
      - TRAEFIK_FILTER=proxy-public
      # - DOCKER_HOST=tcp://socket-proxy:2375
      - TRAEFIK_FILTER=proxy-public
      - DOMAIN1=$DOMAINNAME_1
      - DOMAIN1_ZONE_ID=$CLOUDFLARE_ZONE_ID
      - DOMAIN1_PROXIED=TRUE
      - CF_TOKEN=qwelrfhjerfjpewifjpewijfjedfsdfsdfwfrfj 
      - DEFAULT_TTL=1
      - ENABLE_TRAEFIK_POLL=TRUE