ForwardAuth

Using an External Service to Check for Credentials

The ForwardAuth middleware delegate the authentication to an external service. If the service response code is 2XX, access is granted and the original request is performed. Otherwise, the response from the authentication server is returned.

Configuration Examples

Docker

# Forward authentication to example.com
labels:
  - "traefik.http.middlewares.test-auth.forwardauth.address=https://example.com/auth"

Kubernetes

# Forward authentication to example.com
apiVersion: traefik.containo.us/v1alpha1
kind: Middleware
metadata:
  name: test-auth
spec:
  forwardAuth:
    address: https://example.com/auth

Consul Catalog

# Forward authentication to example.com
- "traefik.http.middlewares.test-auth.forwardauth.address=https://example.com/auth"

Marathon

"labels": {
  "traefik.http.middlewares.test-auth.forwardauth.address": "https://example.com/auth"
}

Rancher

# Forward authentication to example.com
labels:
  - "traefik.http.middlewares.test-auth.forwardauth.address=https://example.com/auth"

File (TOML)

# Forward authentication to example.com
[http.middlewares]
  [http.middlewares.test-auth.forwardAuth]
    address = "https://example.com/auth"

File (YAML)

# Forward authentication to example.com
http:
  middlewares:
    test-auth:
      forwardAuth:
        address: "https://example.com/auth"

Forward-Request Headers

The following request properties are provided to the forward-auth target endpoint as X-Forwarded- headers.

Property	Forward-Request Header
HTTP Method	X-Forwarded-Method
Protocol	X-Forwarded-Proto
Host	X-Forwarded-Host
Request URI	X-Forwarded-Uri
Source IP-Address	X-Forwarded-For

Configuration Options

address

The address option defines the authentication server address.

Docker

labels:
  - "traefik.http.middlewares.test-auth.forwardauth.address=https://example.com/auth"

Kubernetes

apiVersion: traefik.containo.us/v1alpha1
kind: Middleware
metadata:
  name: test-auth
spec:
  forwardAuth:
    address: https://example.com/auth 

Consul Catalog

- "traefik.http.middlewares.test-auth.forwardauth.address=https://example.com/auth"

Marathon

"labels": {
  "traefik.http.middlewares.test-auth.forwardauth.address": "https://example.com/auth"
}

Rancher

labels:
  - "traefik.http.middlewares.test-auth.forwardauth.address=https://example.com/auth"

File (TOML)

[http.middlewares]
  [http.middlewares.test-auth.forwardAuth]
    address = "https://example.com/auth"

File (YAML)

http:
  middlewares:
    test-auth:
      forwardAuth:
        address: "https://example.com/auth"

trustForwardHeader

Set the trustForwardHeader option to true to trust all the existing X-Forwarded-* headers.

Docker

labels:
  - "traefik.http.middlewares.test-auth.forwardauth.trustForwardHeader=true"

Kubernetes

apiVersion: traefik.containo.us/v1alpha1
kind: Middleware
metadata:
  name: test-auth
spec:
  forwardAuth:
    address: https://example.com/auth
    trustForwardHeader: true

Consul Catalog

- "traefik.http.middlewares.test-auth.forwardauth.trustForwardHeader=true"

Marathon

"labels": {
  "traefik.http.middlewares.test-auth.forwardauth.trustForwardHeader": "true"
}

Rancher

labels:
  - "traefik.http.middlewares.test-auth.forwardauth.trustForwardHeader=true"

File (TOML)

[http.middlewares]
  [http.middlewares.test-auth.forwardAuth]
    address = "https://example.com/auth"
    trustForwardHeader = true

File (YAML)

http:
  middlewares:
    test-auth:
      forwardAuth:
        address: "https://example.com/auth"
        trustForwardHeader: true

authResponseHeaders

The authResponseHeaders option is the list of the headers to copy from the authentication server to the request.

Docker

labels:
  - "traefik.http.middlewares.test-auth.forwardauth.authResponseHeaders=X-Auth-User, X-Secret"

Kubernetes

apiVersion: traefik.containo.us/v1alpha1
kind: Middleware
metadata:
  name: test-auth
spec:
  forwardAuth:
    address: https://example.com/auth
    authResponseHeaders:
      - X-Auth-User
      - X-Secret

Consul Catalog

- "traefik.http.middlewares.test-auth.forwardauth.authResponseHeaders=X-Auth-User, X-Secret"

Marathon

"labels": {
  "traefik.http.middlewares.test-auth.forwardauth.authResponseHeaders": "X-Auth-User,X-Secret"
}

Rancher

labels:
  - "traefik.http.middlewares.test-auth.forwardauth.authResponseHeaders=X-Auth-User, X-Secret"

File (TOML)

[http.middlewares]
  [http.middlewares.test-auth.forwardAuth]
    address = "https://example.com/auth"
    authResponseHeaders = ["X-Auth-User", "X-Secret"]

File (YAML)

http:
  middlewares:
    test-auth:
      forwardAuth:
        address: "https://example.com/auth"
        authResponseHeaders:
          - "X-Auth-User"
          - "X-Secret"

tls

The tls option is the TLS configuration from Traefik to the authentication server.

tls.ca

Certificate Authority used for the secured connection to the authentication server.

Docker

labels:
  - "traefik.http.middlewares.test-auth.forwardauth.tls.ca=path/to/local.crt"

Kubernetes

apiVersion: traefik.containo.us/v1alpha1
kind: Middleware
metadata:
  name: test-auth
spec:
  forwardAuth:
    address: https://example.com/auth
    tls:
      caSecret: mycasercret

---
apiVersion: v1
kind: Secret
metadata:
  name: mycasercret
  namespace: default

data:
  ca: LS0tLS1CRUdJTiBDRVJUSUZJQ0FURS0tLS0tCi0tLS0tRU5EIENFUlRJRklDQVRFLS0tLS0=

Consul Catalog

- "traefik.http.middlewares.test-auth.forwardauth.tls.ca=path/to/local.crt"

Marathon

"labels": {
  "traefik.http.middlewares.test-auth.forwardauth.tls.ca": "path/to/local.crt"
}

Rancher

labels:
  - "traefik.http.middlewares.test-auth.forwardauth.tls.ca=path/to/local.crt"

File (TOML)

[http.middlewares]
  [http.middlewares.test-auth.forwardAuth]
    address = "https://example.com/auth"
    [http.middlewares.test-auth.forwardAuth.tls]
      ca = "path/to/local.crt"

File (YAML)

http:
  middlewares:
    test-auth:
      forwardAuth:
        address: "https://example.com/auth"
        tls:
          ca: "path/to/local.crt"

tls.caOptional

Policy used for the secured connection with TLS Client Authentication to the authentication server. Requires tls.ca to be defined.

• true: VerifyClientCertIfGiven
• false: RequireAndVerifyClientCert
• if tls.ca is undefined NoClientCert

Docker

labels:
  - "traefik.http.middlewares.test-auth.forwardauth.tls.caOptional=true"

Kubernetes

apiVersion: traefik.containo.us/v1alpha1
kind: Middleware
metadata:
  name: test-auth
spec:
  forwardAuth:
    address: https://example.com/auth
    tls:
      caOptional: true

Consul Catalog

- "traefik.http.middlewares.test-auth.forwardauth.tls.caOptional=true"

Marathon

"labels": {
  "traefik.http.middlewares.test-auth.forwardauth.tls.caOptional": "true"
}

Rancher

labels:
  - "traefik.http.middlewares.test-auth.forwardauth.tls.caOptional=true"

File (TOML)

[http.middlewares]
  [http.middlewares.test-auth.forwardAuth]
    address = "https://example.com/auth"
    [http.middlewares.test-auth.forwardAuth.tls]
      caOptional = true

File (YAML)

http:
  middlewares:
    test-auth:
      forwardAuth:
        address: "https://example.com/auth"
        tls:
          caOptional: true

tls.cert

Public certificate used for the secured connection to the authentication server.

Docker

labels:
  - "traefik.http.middlewares.test-auth.forwardauth.tls.cert=path/to/foo.cert"
  - "traefik.http.middlewares.test-auth.forwardauth.tls.key=path/to/foo.key"

Kubernetes

apiVersion: traefik.containo.us/v1alpha1
kind: Middleware
metadata:
  name: test-auth
spec:
  forwardAuth:
    address: https://example.com/auth
    tls:
      certSecret: mytlscert

---
apiVersion: v1
kind: Secret
metadata:
  name: mytlscert
  namespace: default

data:
  tls.crt: LS0tLS1CRUdJTiBDRVJUSUZJQ0FURS0tLS0tCi0tLS0tRU5EIENFUlRJRklDQVRFLS0tLS0=
  tls.key: LS0tLS1CRUdJTiBQUklWQVRFIEtFWS0tLS0tCi0tLS0tRU5EIFBSSVZBVEUgS0VZLS0tLS0=

Consul Catalog

- "traefik.http.middlewares.test-auth.forwardauth.tls.cert=path/to/foo.cert"
- "traefik.http.middlewares.test-auth.forwardauth.tls.key=path/to/foo.key"

Marathon

"labels": {
  "traefik.http.middlewares.test-auth.forwardauth.tls.cert": "path/to/foo.cert",
  "traefik.http.middlewares.test-auth.forwardauth.tls.key": "path/to/foo.key"
}

Rancher

labels:
  - "traefik.http.middlewares.test-auth.forwardauth.tls.cert=path/to/foo.cert"
  - "traefik.http.middlewares.test-auth.forwardauth.tls.key=path/to/foo.key"

File (TOML)

[http.middlewares]
  [http.middlewares.test-auth.forwardAuth]
    address = "https://example.com/auth"
    [http.middlewares.test-auth.forwardAuth.tls]
      cert = "path/to/foo.cert"
      key = "path/to/foo.key"

File (YAML)

http:
  middlewares:
    test-auth:
      forwardAuth:
        address: "https://example.com/auth"
        tls:
          cert: "path/to/foo.cert"
          key: "path/to/foo.key"

Info

For security reasons, the field doesn't exist for Kubernetes IngressRoute, and one should use the secret field instead.

tls.key

Private certificate used for the secure connection to the authentication server.

Docker

labels:
  - "traefik.http.middlewares.test-auth.forwardauth.tls.cert=path/to/foo.cert"
  - "traefik.http.middlewares.test-auth.forwardauth.tls.key=path/to/foo.key"

Kubernetes

apiVersion: traefik.containo.us/v1alpha1
kind: Middleware
metadata:
  name: test-auth
spec:
  forwardAuth:
    address: https://example.com/auth
    tls:
      certSecret: mytlscert

---
apiVersion: v1
kind: Secret
metadata:
  name: mytlscert
  namespace: default

data:
  tls.crt: LS0tLS1CRUdJTiBDRVJUSUZJQ0FURS0tLS0tCi0tLS0tRU5EIENFUlRJRklDQVRFLS0tLS0=
  tls.key: LS0tLS1CRUdJTiBQUklWQVRFIEtFWS0tLS0tCi0tLS0tRU5EIFBSSVZBVEUgS0VZLS0tLS0=

Consul Catalog

- "traefik.http.middlewares.test-auth.forwardauth.tls.cert=path/to/foo.cert"
- "traefik.http.middlewares.test-auth.forwardauth.tls.key=path/to/foo.key"

Marathon

"labels": {
  "traefik.http.middlewares.test-auth.forwardauth.tls.cert": "path/to/foo.cert",
  "traefik.http.middlewares.test-auth.forwardauth.tls.key": "path/to/foo.key"
}

Rancher

labels:
  - "traefik.http.middlewares.test-auth.forwardauth.tls.cert=path/to/foo.cert"
  - "traefik.http.middlewares.test-auth.forwardauth.tls.key=path/to/foo.key"

File (TOML)

[http.middlewares]
  [http.middlewares.test-auth.forwardAuth]
    address = "https://example.com/auth"
    [http.middlewares.test-auth.forwardAuth.tls]
      cert = "path/to/foo.cert"
      key = "path/to/foo.key"

File (YAML)

http:
  middlewares:
    test-auth:
      forwardAuth:
        address: "https://example.com/auth"
        tls:
          cert: "path/to/foo.cert"
          key: "path/to/foo.key"

Info

For security reasons, the field doesn't exist for Kubernetes IngressRoute, and one should use the secret field instead.

tls.insecureSkipVerify

If insecureSkipVerify is true, TLS for the connection to authentication server accepts any certificate presented by the server and any host name in that certificate.

Docker

labels:
  - "traefik.http.middlewares.test-auth.forwardauth.tls.insecureSkipVerify=true"

Kubernetes

apiVersion: traefik.containo.us/v1alpha1
kind: Middleware
metadata:
  name: test-auth
spec:
  forwardAuth:
    address: https://example.com/auth
    tls:
      insecureSkipVerify: true

Consul Catalog

- "traefik.http.middlewares.test-auth.forwardauth.tls.InsecureSkipVerify=true"

Marathon

"labels": {
  "traefik.http.middlewares.test-auth.forwardauth.tls.insecureSkipVerify": "true"
}

Rancher

labels:
  - "traefik.http.middlewares.test-auth.forwardauth.tls.InsecureSkipVerify=true"

File (TOML)

[http.middlewares]
  [http.middlewares.test-auth.forwardAuth]
    address = "https://example.com/auth"
    [http.middlewares.test-auth.forwardAuth.tls]
      insecureSkipVerify: true

File (YAML)

http:
  middlewares:
    test-auth:
      forwardAuth:
        address: "https://example.com/auth"
        tls:
          insecureSkipVerify: true