Single Container Template¶

This template is for deploying a single containerized application with Traefik.

Use Cases¶

Web applications (Node.js, Python, Go)
APIs and microservices
Static sites (documentation, landing pages)
Any standalone service

Template¶

docker-compose.yml

version: '3.8'

services:
  app:
    build: .
    container_name: my-app
    restart: unless-stopped
    labels:
      # Enable Traefik for this container
      - traefik.enable=true

      # Router configuration
      - traefik.http.routers.my-app.rule=Host(`app.egygeeks.com`)
      - traefik.http.routers.my-app.entrypoints=websecure
      - traefik.http.routers.my-app.tls.certresolver=letsencrypt

      # Service configuration (port your app listens on)
      - traefik.http.services.my-app.loadbalancer.server.port=8000
    networks:
      - traefik_public

networks:
  traefik_public:
    external: true

Customization Steps¶

1. Replace App Name¶

Find and replace my-app in 3 places:

container_name: my-app
traefik.http.routers.my-app.*
traefik.http.services.my-app.*

2. Set Your Domain¶

Replace app.egygeeks.com with your domain:

- traefik.http.routers.my-app.rule=Host(`yourdomain.com`)

3. Configure Port¶

Replace 8000 with the port your application listens on:

- traefik.http.services.my-app.loadbalancer.server.port=8000

Common ports:

Node.js/Express: 3000
Python/Flask: 5000
Python/FastAPI: 8000
Go apps: 8080
Static sites: 8000

Requirements¶

1. Dockerfile¶

Your project must have a Dockerfile. Example for a static site:

Dockerfile

FROM python:3.11-alpine
WORKDIR /app
COPY site ./site
EXPOSE 8000
HEALTHCHECK --interval=30s --timeout=3s --start-period=5s \
  CMD wget --quiet --tries=1 --spider http://127.0.0.1:8000/ || exit 1
CMD ["python", "-m", "http.server", "8000", "--directory", "site"]

2. Health Check¶

Critical: Add a HEALTHCHECK to your Dockerfile. Traefik only routes to healthy containers.

Use 127.0.0.1, not localhost

In Alpine-based images, use 127.0.0.1 instead of localhost in health checks to avoid DNS resolution issues.

3. Network¶

The traefik_public network must exist on the server (it already does).

Complete Example¶

Here's a complete setup for a Next.js app:

docker-compose.yml

version: '3.8'

services:
  app:
    build: .
    container_name: nextjs-app
    restart: unless-stopped
    labels:
      - traefik.enable=true
      - traefik.http.routers.nextjs-app.rule=Host(`myapp.egygeeks.com`)
      - traefik.http.routers.nextjs-app.entrypoints=websecure
      - traefik.http.routers.nextjs-app.tls.certresolver=letsencrypt
      - traefik.http.services.nextjs-app.loadbalancer.server.port=3000
    networks:
      - traefik_public

networks:
  traefik_public:
    external: true

Deployment¶

After creating your docker-compose.yml:

Copy the GitHub Actions workflow template
Push to GitHub
Deployment runs automatically

Or deploy manually on the server:

docker compose up -d

Troubleshooting¶

Container not accessible (404)¶

Check if container is healthy:

docker ps

Look for "healthy" status. If "unhealthy":

# Check logs
docker logs my-app

# Test health check manually
docker exec my-app wget -O- http://127.0.0.1:8000/

SSL certificate issues¶

Traefik automatically provisions Let's Encrypt certificates. Wait 30-60 seconds after deployment.

Port conflicts¶

If another container uses the same port:

# Find what's using the port
docker ps --format "table {{.Names}}\t{{.Ports}}"

Multi-Container Template Deployment Workflow