This is a community guide and not officially supported. For issues, contributions, or bug reports, please use the official GitHub repository.

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What is Middleware Manager?

The Middleware Manager is a microservice that extends your existing traefik deployments.
It provides a web UI to attach Traefik middlewares to resources without editing Pangolin itself. :warning: Security Warning
Middlewares can strengthen security but also create vulnerabilities if misconfigured.
  • Test in staging before production.
  • Misusing forward authentication can leak credentials.
  • Bad rate limiter configs may be bypassed.
  • Header misconfigurations can expose apps to XSS/CSRF.
  • Stacking too many middlewares impacts performance.
  • Always check provider references (@http vs @file).

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Key Use Cases

  • External authentication (Authelia, Authentik, JWT)
  • Security headers and CSP policies
  • Geographic IP blocking
  • Rate limiting / DDoS protection
  • Redirects & path rewrites
  • CrowdSec and other security tool integrations

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Prerequisites

  • A running Pangolin v1.0.0+
  • Docker + Docker Compose
  • Basic Traefik knowledge
  • Admin access to your Pangolin host

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Step 1: Add Middleware Manager Service

Update your docker-compose.yml: 
middleware-manager:
  image: hhftechnology/middleware-manager:latest
  container_name: middleware-manager
  restart: unless-stopped
  volumes:
    - ./data:/data
    - ./config/traefik/rules:/conf
    - ./config/middleware-manager/templates.yaml:/app/config/templates.yaml  # Optional custom templates
  environment:
    - PANGOLIN_API_URL=http://pangolin:3001/api/v1
    - TRAEFIK_CONF_DIR=/conf
    - DB_PATH=/data/middleware.db
    - PORT=3456
  ports:
    - "3456:3456"

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Step 2: Create Required Directories

mkdir -p ./config/traefik/rules
mkdir -p ./config/middleware-manager
Move any dynamic configs into ./config/traefik/rules.

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Step 3: Update Traefik Volumes & Providers

In your traefik service: 
volumes:
  - ./config/traefik:/etc/traefik:ro
  - ./config/letsencrypt:/letsencrypt
  - ./config/traefik/logs:/var/log/traefik
  - ./config/traefik/rules:/rules   # required
In traefik_config.yml: 
providers:
  file:
    directory: "/rules"
    watch: true

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Step 4: Start Services

docker compose up -d

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Step 5: Access the UI

Middleware Manager runs at: 👉 http://localhost:3456

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Common Middleware Examples

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Rate Limiting

middlewares:
  - id: "rate-limit"
    type: "rateLimit"
    config:
      average: 100
      burst: 50

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Security Headers

middlewares:
  - id: "security-headers"
    type: "headers"
    config:
      customResponseHeaders:
        Server: ""
        X-Powered-By: ""
      browserXSSFilter: true
      contentTypeNosniff: true
      forceSTSHeader: true
      stsSeconds: 63072000

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Troubleshooting

  • Service does not exist → Check @http or @file suffix in references
  • Middleware does not exist → Verify config and required plugins
  • No changes applied → Check Traefik logs, middleware priority, restart services
  • UI not showing resources → Confirm PANGOLIN_API_URL and network connectivity
  • Database errors → Check ./data permissions, or reset middleware.db
  • **CrowdSec errors → Ensure the crowdsec container is running; middlewares fail if the service is down.
  • Protecting Pangolin itself → Apply middlewares (e.g. geoblock, headers) directly on the websecure entryPoint to cover all traffic.
  • Applying to many services → Attach middleware to entryPoints instead of individual resources to cover all subdomains at once.
  • TCP / SMTP with STARTTLS → Not supported. Traefik cannot handle STARTTLS negotiation (only implicit TLS like SMTPS on 465).

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Final Notes

The Middleware Manager gives you a UI to work with Traefik’s powerful middleware ecosystem.
  • Start with simple configs → test thoroughly → expand gradually.
  • Use templates where possible.
  • Always validate in staging before production.