Overview

Use the HAProxy configuration file to define all aspects of the load balancer function, such as:

• Is the incoming stream treated as UDP, TCP, or HTTP?
• What sort of authentication is applied?
• Should supplemental security modules such as bot management, firewall, or captcha be applied?
• What about other supplemental modules, such as geolocation, device detection, or SNMP?
• Should metrics influence whether to deny or allow a request?
• Which backend servers should service the request?
• What log output do you need?

The configuration file can be simple or quite complex, depending on your needs.

Accessing the configuration file Jump to heading #

:::tabs Configuration File#config-file-loc

@tab HAProxy Enterprise#haproxy-enterprise

The configuration file is here:

text
/etc/hapee-3.0/hapee-lb.cfg

text
/etc/hapee-3.0/hapee-lb.cfg

@tab HAProxy#haproxy

The configuration file is here:

text
/etc/haproxy/haproxy.cfg

text
/etc/haproxy/haproxy.cfg

@tab HAProxy ALOHA#haproxy-aloha

Open the LB Layer7 tab.

:::

Configuration file composition Jump to heading #

An HAProxy configuration file is composed of sections like frontend, backend, defaults, and global.

In the example below you can see a basic configuration file’s layout that contains these four sections. Section headers begin at the start of a line and all configuration directives of a section should be indented for readability. Except for global, you can set multiple sections of the same type, such as to load balance different websites and define different pools of backend servers.

haproxy
global
  # process-level settings go here
defaults
  # default settings go here
frontend listener
  # a frontend that accepts requests from clients
backend webservers
  # servers that fulfill the requests

haproxy
global
  # process-level settings go here
defaults
  # default settings go here
frontend listener
  # a frontend that accepts requests from clients
backend webservers
  # servers that fulfill the requests

You can enable extra functionality by using the various other sections, such as mailers, peers, and resolvers, which we describe in other parts of this guide.

See also Jump to heading #

• Backends
• Defaults
• Frontends
• Global