---
title: "Traefik Installation Documentation"
description: "There are several flavors to choose from when installing Traefik Proxy. Get started with Traefik Proxy, and read the technical documentation."
---

# Install Traefik

You can install Traefik with the following flavors:

* [Use the official Docker image](./#use-the-official-docker-image)
* [Use the Helm Chart](./#use-the-helm-chart)
* [Use the binary distribution](./#use-the-binary-distribution)
* [Compile your binary from the sources](./#compile-your-binary-from-the-sources)

## Use the Official Docker Image

Choose one of the [official Docker images](https://hub.docker.com/_/traefik) and run it with one sample configuration file:

* [YAML](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/traefik/traefik/v2.8/traefik.sample.yml)
* [TOML](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/traefik/traefik/v2.8/traefik.sample.toml)

```bash
docker run -d -p 8080:8080 -p 80:80 \
    -v $PWD/traefik.yml:/etc/traefik/traefik.yml traefik:v2.8
```

For more details, go to the [Docker provider documentation](../providers/docker.md)

!!! tip

    * Prefer a fixed version than the latest that could be an unexpected version.
    ex: `traefik:v2.8`
    * Docker images are based from the [Alpine Linux Official image](https://hub.docker.com/_/alpine).
    * Any orchestrator using docker images can fetch the official Traefik docker image.

## Use the Helm Chart

!!! warning

    The Traefik Chart from
    [Helm's default charts repository](https://github.com/helm/charts/tree/master/stable/traefik) is still using [Traefik v1.7](https://doc.traefik.io/traefik/v1.7).

Traefik can be installed in Kubernetes using the Helm chart from <https://github.com/traefik/traefik-helm-chart>.

Ensure that the following requirements are met:

* Kubernetes 1.14+
* Helm version 3.x is [installed](https://helm.sh/docs/intro/install/)

Add Traefik's chart repository to Helm:

```bash
helm repo add traefik https://helm.traefik.io/traefik
```

You can update the chart repository by running:

```bash
helm repo update
```

And install it with the `helm` command line:

```bash
helm install traefik traefik/traefik
```

!!! tip "Helm Features"

    All [Helm features](https://helm.sh/docs/intro/using_helm/) are supported.
    For instance, installing the chart in a dedicated namespace:

    ```bash tab="Install in a Dedicated Namespace"
    kubectl create ns traefik-v2
    # Install in the namespace "traefik-v2"
    helm install --namespace=traefik-v2 \
        traefik traefik/traefik
    ```

??? example "Installing with Custom Values"

    You can customize the installation by specifying custom values,
    as with [any helm chart](https://helm.sh/docs/intro/using_helm/#customizing-the-chart-before-installing).
    {: #helm-custom-values }

    The values are not (yet) documented, but are self-explanatory:
    you can look at the [default `values.yaml`](https://github.com/traefik/traefik-helm-chart/blob/master/traefik/values.yaml) file to explore possibilities.

    You can also set Traefik command line flags using `additionalArguments`.
    Example of installation with logging set to `DEBUG`:

    ```bash tab="Using Helm CLI"
    helm install --namespace=traefik-v2 \
        --set="additionalArguments={--log.level=DEBUG}" \
        traefik traefik/traefik
    ```

    ```yml tab="With a custom values file"
    # File custom-values.yml
    ## Install with "helm install --values=./custom-values.yml traefik traefik/traefik
    additionalArguments:
      - "--log.level=DEBUG"
    ```

### Exposing the Traefik dashboard

This HelmChart does not expose the Traefik dashboard by default, for security concerns.
Thus, there are multiple ways to expose the dashboard.
For instance, the dashboard access could be achieved through a port-forward:

```shell
kubectl port-forward $(kubectl get pods --selector "app.kubernetes.io/name=traefik" --output=name) 9000:9000
```

It can then be reached at: `http://127.0.0.1:9000/dashboard/`

Another way would be to apply your own configuration, for instance,
by defining and applying an IngressRoute CRD (`kubectl apply -f dashboard.yaml`):

```yaml
# dashboard.yaml
apiVersion: traefik.containo.us/v1alpha1
kind: IngressRoute
metadata:
  name: dashboard
spec:
  entryPoints:
    - web
  routes:
    - match: Host(`traefik.localhost`) && (PathPrefix(`/dashboard`) || PathPrefix(`/api`))
      kind: Rule
      services:
        - name: api@internal
          kind: TraefikService
```

## Use the Binary Distribution

Grab the latest binary from the [releases](https://github.com/traefik/traefik/releases) page.

??? info "Check the integrity of the downloaded file"

    ```bash tab="Linux"
    # Compare this value to the one found in traefik-${traefik_version}_checksums.txt
    sha256sum ./traefik_${traefik_version}_linux_${arch}.tar.gz
    ```

    ```bash tab="macOS"
    # Compare this value to the one found in traefik-${traefik_version}_checksums.txt
    shasum -a256 ./traefik_${traefik_version}_darwin_amd64.tar.gz
    ```

    ```powershell tab="Windows PowerShell"
    # Compare this value to the one found in traefik-${traefik_version}_checksums.txt
    Get-FileHash ./traefik_${traefik_version}_windows_${arch}.zip -Algorithm SHA256
    ```

??? info "Extract the downloaded archive"

    ```bash tab="Linux"
    tar -zxvf traefik_${traefik_version}_linux_${arch}.tar.gz
    ```

    ```bash tab="macOS"
    tar -zxvf ./traefik_${traefik_version}_darwin_amd64.tar.gz
    ```

    ```powershell tab="Windows PowerShell"
    Expand-Archive traefik_${traefik_version}_windows_${arch}.zip
    ```

And run it:

```bash
./traefik --help
```

## Compile your Binary from the Sources

All the details are available in the [Contributing Guide](../contributing/building-testing.md)

!!! question "Using Traefik for Business Applications?"

    If you are using Traefik for commercial applications,
    consider the [Enterprise Edition](https://traefik.io/traefik-enterprise/).
    You can use it as your:

    - [Kubernetes Ingress Controller](https://traefik.io/solutions/kubernetes-ingress/)
    - [Load Balancer](https://traefik.io/solutions/docker-swarm-ingress/)
    - [API Gateway](https://traefik.io/solutions/api-gateway/)

    Traefik Enterprise enables centralized access management,
    distributed Let's Encrypt,
    and other advanced capabilities.
    Learn more in [this 15-minute technical walkthrough](https://info.traefik.io/watch-traefikee-demo).