traefik-kop

traefik-kop is a small Go-based discovery agent that reads Docker container labels on a local node and publishes equivalent service definitions to Redis so a single central Traefik instance (configured with a Redis provider) can route to services running on multiple Docker hosts.

Key Features

• Mirrors Traefik Docker provider logic: reads container labels and translates them into Traefik service/route definitions
• Publishes service definitions into Redis so a remote Traefik instance can consume them
• Flexible IP binding: explicit bind-ip, interface-derived IP, container networking overrides, or auto-detection
• Namespace and label-prefix filtering to target or isolate sets of containers
• Load balancer merging option to combine endpoints from multiple nodes for the same service
• Configurable via CLI flags or environment variables; supports redis auth, TTL, and poll interval

Use Cases

• Expose services from multiple non-swarm Docker hosts through a single public Traefik reverse proxy
• Centralized ingress routing for heterogenous Docker hosts where Traefik cannot run locally on every node
• Multi-tenant or environment separation using namespaces or custom label prefixes to control which containers are published

Limitations and Considerations

• Requires a reachable Redis instance and a Traefik instance configured to use the Redis provider
• Needs access to the Docker socket on each node; running with this access has security implications
• If redis-ttl is not used or load balancer merging is enabled, stale/backing IP entries can persist when node IPs change
• Some deployment modes (host networking, multiple port bindings) require explicit labels or host networking for correct port selection

traefik-kop is a pragmatic solution when you need Traefik-style label-driven routing across multiple Docker hosts without Swarm or Kubernetes. It is lightweight, configurable, and designed to integrate with existing Traefik Docker-provider semantics.