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+---
+lastproofread: '2026-04-06'
+---
+
+# HAproxy
+
+```{include} /_include/need_improvement.txt
+```
+
+HAProxy is a load balancer and proxy server that provides
+high-availability, load balancing, and proxying for TCP (level 4) and
+HTTP-based (level 7) applications.
+
+## Configuration
+
+Service configuration specifies the port to bind to. Backend
+configuration defines the load balancing method and specifies the backend
+servers.
+
+### Service
+
+```{cfgcmd} set load-balancing haproxy service \<name\> listen-address \<address\>
+
+Set the IP address for the service to bind to. By default, the service
+listens on all IPv4 and IPv6 addresses.
+```
+
+```{cfgcmd} set load-balancing haproxy service \<name\> port \<port\>
+
+Create service *<name>* to listen on \<port\>
+```
+
+```{cfgcmd} set load-balancing haproxy service \<name\> mode \<tcp|http\>
+
+Configure service *<name>* mode TCP or HTTP
+```
+
+```{cfgcmd} set load-balancing haproxy service \<name\> backend \<name\>
+
+Configure service *<name>* to use the backend \<name\>
+```
+
+```{cfgcmd} set load-balancing haproxy service \<name\> ssl certificate \<name\>
+
+Set the SSL certificate \<name\> for service \<name\>. You can define
+multiple certificates.
+```
+
+```{cfgcmd} set load-balancing haproxy service \<name\> http-response-headers \<header-name\> value \<header-value\>
+
+Set custom HTTP headers to include in all responses.
+```
+
+```{cfgcmd} set load-balancing haproxy service \<name\> logging facility \<facility\> level \<level\>
+
+Specify facility and level for logging.
+For an explanation on {ref}`syslog_facilities` and
+{ref}`syslog_severity_level`,
+see tables in the syslog configuration section.
+```
+
+```{cfgcmd} set load-balancing haproxy service \<name\> timeout client \<seconds\>
+
+Set the maximum inactivity time on the client side for this service.
+Value range 1-3600 seconds.
+```
+
+```{cfgcmd} set load-balancing haproxy service \<name\> http-compression algorithm \<gzip | deflate | identity | raw-deflate\>
+
+Set the compression algorithm to be used when compressing HTTP responses.
+```
+
+```{cfgcmd} set load-balancing haproxy service \<name\> http-compression mime-type \<mime-type\>
+
+Set the list of HTTP response MIME types which haproxy will attempt to
+compress, if received uncompressed from backend server.
+```
+
+#### Rules
+
+Rules control and route incoming traffic to specific backends based on
+predefined conditions. Rules define matching criteria and specify actions
+to perform.
+
+```{cfgcmd} set load-balancing haproxy service \<name\> rule \<rule\> domain-name \<name\>
+
+Match domain name
+```
+
+````{cfgcmd} set load-balancing haproxy service \<name\> rule \<rule\> ssl \<sni\>
+
+```{eval-rst}
+SSL match Server Name Indication (SNI) option:
+ * ``req-ssl-sni`` SSL Server Name Indication (SNI) request match
+ * ``ssl-fc-sni`` SSL frontend connection Server Name Indication match
+ * ``ssl-fc-sni-end`` SSL frontend match end of connection Server Name
+
+ Indication
+```
+````
+
+````{cfgcmd} set load-balancing haproxy service \<name\> rule \<rule\> url-path \<match\> \<url\>
+
+Define URL path matching rules for a specific service. Use this command
+to specify how to match the URL path against incoming requests.
+
+```{eval-rst}
+The available options for <match> are:
+ * ``begin`` Matches the beginning of the URL path
+ * ``end`` Matches the end of the URL path.
+ * ``exact`` Matches the URL path exactly.
+```
+````
+
+```{cfgcmd} set load-balancing haproxy service \<name\> rule \<rule\> set backend \<name\>
+
+Assign a specific backend to a rule
+```
+
+```{cfgcmd} set load-balancing haproxy service \<name\> rule \<rule\> redirect-location \<url\>
+
+Redirect URL to a new location.
+```
+
+### Backend
+
+````{cfgcmd} set load-balancing haproxy backend \<name\> balance \<balance\>
+
+Specify the load balancing algorithm for distributing requests among
+available servers.
+
+```{eval-rst}
+Balance algorithms:
+ * ``source-address`` Distributes requests based on the source IP address
+ of the client.
+ * ``round-robin`` Distributes requests in a circular manner,
+ sequentially sending each request to the next server in line.
+ * ``least-connection`` Distributes requests to the server with the fewest
+ active connections.
+```
+````
+
+```{cfgcmd} set load-balancing haproxy backend \<name\> mode \<mode\>
+
+Configure backend *<name>* mode TCP or HTTP.
+```
+
+```{cfgcmd} set load-balancing haproxy backend \<name\> server \<name\> address \<x.x.x.x\>
+
+Set the address of the backend server that receives incoming traffic.
+```
+
+```{cfgcmd} set load-balancing haproxy backend \<name\> server \<name\> port \<port\>
+
+Set the address of the backend port.
+```
+
+```{cfgcmd} set load-balancing haproxy backend \<name\> server \<name\> check
+
+Active health check backend server.
+```
+
+```{cfgcmd} set load-balancing haproxy backend \<name\> server \<name\> check port \<port\>
+
+Set an alternative port number for health checks.
+Overrides the default server port used for TCP/HTTP checks.
+```
+
+```{cfgcmd} set load-balancing haproxy backend \<name\> server \<name\> send-proxy
+
+Send a Proxy Protocol version 1 header (text format).
+```
+
+```{cfgcmd} set load-balancing haproxy backend \<name\> server \<name\> send-proxy-v2
+
+Send a Proxy Protocol version 2 header (binary format).
+```
+
+```{cfgcmd} set load-balancing haproxy backend \<name\> ssl ca-certificate \<ca-certificate\>
+
+Use SSL encryption for backend requests and authenticate the backend
+against ``<ca-certificate>``.
+```
+
+```{cfgcmd} set load-balancing haproxy backend \<name\> ssl no-verify
+
+Use SSL encryption for backend requests without validating the server
+certificate.
+```
+
+```{cfgcmd} set load-balancing haproxy backend \<name\> http-response-headers \<header-name\> value \<header-value\>
+
+Set custom HTTP headers to include in all responses from the backend.
+```
+
+```{cfgcmd} set load-balancing haproxy backend \<name\> logging facility \<facility\> level \<level\>
+
+Specify facility and level for logging.
+For an explanation on {ref}`syslog_facilities` and
+{ref}`syslog_severity_level`,
+see tables in the syslog configuration section.
+```
+
+```{cfgcmd} set load-balancing haproxy backend \<name\> timeout check \<seconds\>
+
+Set the timeout in seconds for established connections.
+Value range 1-3600 seconds.
+```
+```{cfgcmd} set load-balancing haproxy backend \<name\> timeout connect \<seconds\>
+
+Set the maximum time to wait for a connection attempt to a server to succeed.
+Value range 1-3600 seconds.
+```
+
+
+```{cfgcmd} set load-balancing haproxy backend \<name\> timeout server \<seconds\>
+
+Set the maximum inactivity time on the server side.
+Value range 1-3600 seconds.
+```
+
+### Global
+
+Global configuration parameters:
+
+```{cfgcmd} set load-balancing haproxy global-parameters max-connections \<num\>
+
+Limit maximum number of connections
+```
+
+
+```{cfgcmd} set load-balancing haproxy global-parameters ssl-bind-ciphers \<ciphers\>
+
+Limit the cipher algorithms allowed during SSL/TLS handshake.
+```
+
+
+```{cfgcmd} set load-balancing haproxy global-parameters tls-version-min \<version\>
+
+Specify the minimum required TLS version 1.2 or 1.3
+```
+
+
+```{cfgcmd} set load-balancing haproxy global-parameters logging facility \<facility\> level \<level\>
+
+Specify facility and level for logging.
+For an explanation on {ref}`syslog_facilities` and
+{ref}`syslog_severity_level`,
+see tables in the syslog configuration section.
+```
+
+
+```{cfgcmd} set load-balancing haproxy timeout check \<seconds\>
+
+Set the timeout in seconds for established connections.
+Value range 1-3600 seconds. Default is 5 seconds.
+```
+
+
+```{cfgcmd} set load-balancing haproxy timeout client \<seconds\>
+
+Set the maximum inactivity time on the client side.
+Value range 1-3600 seconds. Default is 50 seconds.
+```
+
+
+```{cfgcmd} set load-balancing haproxy timeout connect \<seconds\>
+
+Set the maximum time to wait for a connection attempt to a server to succeed.
+Value range 1-3600 seconds. Default is 10 seconds.
+```
+
+
+```{cfgcmd} set load-balancing haproxy timeout server \<seconds\>
+
+Set the maximum inactivity time on the server side.
+Value range 1-3600 seconds. Default is 50 seconds.
+```
+
+## Health checks
+
+
+### HTTP checks
+
+
+Use HTTP health checks to monitor web applications that provide health status
+information and determine their availability.
+
+```{cfgcmd} set load-balancing haproxy backend \<name\> http-check
+
+Enables HTTP health checks using OPTION HTTP requests against '/' and
+expecting a successful response code in the 200-399 range.
+```
+
+
+```{cfgcmd} set load-balancing haproxy backend \<name\> http-check method \<method\>
+
+Set the HTTP method: ``OPTION``, ``GET``, ``POST``, or ``PUT``.
+```
+
+
+```{cfgcmd} set load-balancing haproxy backend \<name\> http-check uri \<path\>
+
+Set the endpoint to use for health checks.
+```
+
+
+````{cfgcmd} set load-balancing haproxy backend \<name\> http-check expect \<condition\>
+
+Set the expected result condition for a server to be considered healthy.
+
+```{eval-rst}
+Some possible examples are:
+ * ``status 200`` Expecting a 200 response code
+ * ``status 200-399`` Expecting a non-failure response code
+ * ``string success`` Expecting the string success in the response body
+```
+````
+
+### TCP checks
+
+Configure health checks for TCP mode backends. You can configure protocol-aware
+checks for a range of Layer 7 protocols:
+
+````{cfgcmd} set load-balancing haproxy backend \<name\> health-check \<protocol\>
+
+```{eval-rst}
+Available health check protocols:
+ * ``ldap`` LDAP protocol check.
+ * ``redis`` Redis protocol check.
+ * ``mysql`` MySQL protocol check.
+ * ``pgsql`` PostgreSQL protocol check.
+ * ``smtp`` SMTP protocol check.
+```
+````
+
+:::{note}
+If you specify a server to check but do not configure a
+protocol, HAProxy performs a basic TCP health check. A server is online if
+it responds to a connection attempt with a valid `SYN/ACK` packet.
+:::
+## Redirect HTTP to HTTPS
+
+Configure a HAProxy service for HTTP that listens on port 80 and redirects
+incoming requests to HTTPS:
+
+```none
+set load-balancing haproxy service http port '80'
+set load-balancing haproxy service http redirect-http-to-https
+```
+
+You can use a different service name; in this example, `http` is just for
+convenience.
+
+## Examples
+### Level 4 balancing
+
+This configuration enables the TCP reverse proxy for the `my-tcp-api`
+service. Incoming TCP connections on port 8888 are load balanced across the
+backend servers (srv01 and srv02) using the round-robin load balancing
+algorithm.
+
+```none
+set load-balancing haproxy service my-tcp-api backend 'bk-01'
+set load-balancing haproxy service my-tcp-api mode 'tcp'
+set load-balancing haproxy service my-tcp-api port '8888'
+
+set load-balancing haproxy backend bk-01 balance 'round-robin'
+set load-balancing haproxy backend bk-01 mode 'tcp'
+
+set load-balancing haproxy backend bk-01 server srv01 address '192.0.2.11'
+set load-balancing haproxy backend bk-01 server srv01 port '8881'
+set load-balancing haproxy backend bk-01 server srv02 address '192.0.2.12'
+set load-balancing haproxy backend bk-01 server srv02 port '8882'
+```
+
+### Balancing based on domain name
+
+The following configuration demonstrates how to use VyOS
+to achieve load balancing based on the domain name:
+
+The HTTP service listens on TCP port 80.
+
+Rule 10 matches requests with the domain name `node1.example.com` and
+forwards them to the backend `bk-api-01`.
+
+Rule 20 matches requests with the domain name `node2.example.com` and
+forwards them to the backend `bk-api-02`.
+
+```none
+set load-balancing haproxy service http description 'bind app listen on 443 port'
+set load-balancing haproxy service http mode 'tcp'
+set load-balancing haproxy service http port '80'
+
+set load-balancing haproxy service http rule 10 domain-name 'node1.example.com'
+set load-balancing haproxy service http rule 10 set backend 'bk-api-01'
+set load-balancing haproxy service http rule 20 domain-name 'node2.example.com'
+set load-balancing haproxy service http rule 20 set backend 'bk-api-02'
+
+set load-balancing haproxy backend bk-api-01 description 'My API-1'
+set load-balancing haproxy backend bk-api-01 mode 'tcp'
+set load-balancing haproxy backend bk-api-01 server api01 address '127.0.0.1'
+set load-balancing haproxy backend bk-api-01 server api01 port '4431'
+set load-balancing haproxy backend bk-api-02 description 'My API-2'
+set load-balancing haproxy backend bk-api-02 mode 'tcp'
+set load-balancing haproxy backend bk-api-02 server api01 address '127.0.0.2'
+set load-balancing haproxy backend bk-api-02 server api01 port '4432'
+```
+
+### Terminate SSL
+
+The following configuration terminates SSL on the router.
+
+The `http` service listens on port 80 and redirects HTTP requests to
+HTTPS.
+
+The `https` service listens on port 443 with the `bk-default` backend
+and handles HTTPS traffic using the `cert` certificate for SSL termination.
+The HSTS header is set with a 1-year expiry to tell browsers to always use
+SSL for the site.
+
+Rule 10 matches requests with the exact URL path `/.well-known/xxx` and
+redirects them to `/certs/`.
+
+Rule 20 matches requests with URL paths ending in `/mail` or the exact
+path `/email/bar` and redirects them to `/postfix/`.
+
+Global parameters include a maximum connection limit of 4000 and a minimum
+TLS version of 1.3.
+
+```none
+set load-balancing haproxy service http description 'Force redirect to HTTPS'
+set load-balancing haproxy service http port '80'
+set load-balancing haproxy service http redirect-http-to-https
+
+set load-balancing haproxy service https backend 'bk-default'
+set load-balancing haproxy service https description 'listen on 443 port'
+set load-balancing haproxy service https mode 'http'
+set load-balancing haproxy service https port '443'
+set load-balancing haproxy service https ssl certificate 'cert'
+set load-balancing haproxy service https http-response-headers Strict-Transport-Security value 'max-age=31536000'
+
+set load-balancing haproxy service https rule 10 url-path exact '/.well-known/xxx'
+set load-balancing haproxy service https rule 10 set redirect-location '/certs/'
+set load-balancing haproxy service https rule 20 url-path end '/mail'
+set load-balancing haproxy service https rule 20 url-path exact '/email/bar'
+set load-balancing haproxy service https rule 20 set redirect-location '/postfix/'
+
+set load-balancing haproxy backend bk-default description 'Default backend'
+set load-balancing haproxy backend bk-default mode 'http'
+set load-balancing haproxy backend bk-default server sr01 address '192.0.2.23'
+set load-balancing haproxy backend bk-default server sr01 port '80'
+
+set load-balancing haproxy global-parameters max-connections '4000'
+set load-balancing haproxy global-parameters tls-version-min '1.3'
+```
+
+### SSL Bridging
+
+The following configuration terminates incoming HTTPS traffic on the router,
+then re-encrypts the traffic and sends it to the backend server via HTTPS.
+Use this when encryption is required for both paths but you do not want to
+install publicly trusted certificates on each backend server.
+
+Backend service certificates are checked against the certificate authority
+specified in the configuration, which could be an internal CA.
+
+The `https` service listens on port 443 with backend `bk-bridge-ssl` to
+handle HTTPS traffic. It uses certificate named `cert` for SSL termination.
+
+The `bk-bridge-ssl` backend connects to `sr01` server on port 443 via HTTPS
+and checks backend server has a valid certificate trusted by CA `cacert`
+
+```none
+set load-balancing haproxy service https backend 'bk-bridge-ssl'
+set load-balancing haproxy service https description 'listen on 443 port'
+set load-balancing haproxy service https mode 'http'
+set load-balancing haproxy service https port '443'
+set load-balancing haproxy service https ssl certificate 'cert'
+
+set load-balancing haproxy backend bk-bridge-ssl description 'SSL backend'
+set load-balancing haproxy backend bk-bridge-ssl mode 'http'
+set load-balancing haproxy backend bk-bridge-ssl ssl ca-certificate 'cacert'
+set load-balancing haproxy backend bk-bridge-ssl server sr01 address '192.0.2.23'
+set load-balancing haproxy backend bk-bridge-ssl server sr01 port '443'
+```
+
+### Balancing with HTTP health checks
+
+This configuration enables HTTP health checks for backend servers.
+
+```none
+set load-balancing haproxy service my-tcp-api backend 'bk-01'
+set load-balancing haproxy service my-tcp-api mode 'tcp'
+set load-balancing haproxy service my-tcp-api port '8888'
+
+set load-balancing haproxy backend bk-01 balance 'round-robin'
+set load-balancing haproxy backend bk-01 mode 'tcp'
+
+set load-balancing haproxy backend bk-01 http-check method 'get'
+set load-balancing haproxy backend bk-01 http-check uri '/health'
+set load-balancing haproxy backend bk-01 http-check expect 'status 200'
+
+set load-balancing haproxy backend bk-01 server srv01 address '192.0.2.11'
+set load-balancing haproxy backend bk-01 server srv01 port '8881'
+set load-balancing haproxy backend bk-01 server srv01 check
+set load-balancing haproxy backend bk-01 server srv02 address '192.0.2.12'
+set load-balancing haproxy backend bk-01 server srv02 port '8882'
+set load-balancing haproxy backend bk-01 server srv02 check port '8892'
+```