Use LocalXpose with Traefik

Expose multiple services through a single LocalXpose tunnel using Traefik as a reverse proxy.

Overview

This tutorial demonstrates how to use LocalXpose with Traefik (opens in a new tab), a modern HTTP reverse proxy and load balancer. This setup is ideal for:

Exposing multiple services through one tunnel
Managing subdomain routing automatically
Running microservices architectures locally

Architecture

We'll build a complete stack with three demo services:

Nginx - Web server (nginx.example.com)
Nextcloud - File hosting (nextcloud.example.com)
Ghost - Blogging platform (blog.example.com)

Traefik will route incoming requests to the appropriate service based on the subdomain, while LocalXpose provides the internet connectivity.

Traefik and LocalXpose and Traefik Architecture Diagram

Prerequisites

Docker and Docker Compose installed
LocalXpose access token (get one here (opens in a new tab))
A custom domain with wildcard support

Step 1: Reserve a Wildcard Domain

First, reserve a wildcard domain to handle all subdomains:

loclx domain reserve --domain '*.yourdomain.com'

Then add the required CNAME record to your DNS provider. See our domain reservation guide for detailed instructions.

Step 2: Create Docker Compose Configuration

Create a docker-compose.yml file with the following configuration. Replace *.example.com with your reserved domain:

docker-compose.yml

version: '3.8'
services:
  # LocalXpose tunnel - exposes Traefik to the internet
  localxpose:
    image: localxpose/localxpose:latest
    command: tunnel -r http --reserved-domain "*.example.com" --to traefik:80
    environment:
      - LX_ACCESS_TOKEN # Export this in your shell before running
    volumes:
      - ./lx-data:/home/nonroot/.localxpose # Persist certificates
    depends_on:
      - traefik
 
  # Traefik - routes requests to appropriate services
  traefik:
    image: traefik:v2.10
    command:
      - '--providers.docker=true'
      - '--providers.docker.exposedbydefault=false'
      - '--entrypoints.web.address=:80'
    volumes:
      - '/var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock:ro'
 
  # Demo Service 1: Nginx web server
  nginx:
    image: nginxdemos/hello:0.3
    labels:
      - 'traefik.enable=true'
      - 'traefik.http.routers.nginx.rule=Host(`nginx.example.com`)'
      - 'traefik.http.routers.nginx.entrypoints=web'
      - 'traefik.http.services.nginx.loadbalancer.server.port=80'
 
  # Demo Service 2: Nextcloud file hosting
  nextcloud:
    image: nextcloud:stable-apache
    labels:
      - 'traefik.enable=true'
      - 'traefik.http.routers.nextcloud.rule=Host(`nextcloud.example.com`)'
      - 'traefik.http.routers.nextcloud.entrypoints=web'
      - 'traefik.http.services.nextcloud.loadbalancer.server.port=80'
 
  # Demo Service 3: Ghost blogging platform
  ghost:
    image: ghost:5
    environment:
      url: http://blog.example.com
    labels:
      - 'traefik.enable=true'
      - 'traefik.http.routers.ghost.rule=Host(`blog.example.com`)'
      - 'traefik.http.routers.ghost.entrypoints=web'
      - 'traefik.http.services.ghost.loadbalancer.server.port=2368'

Step 3: Launch the Stack

# Export your access token
export LX_ACCESS_TOKEN=your_token_here
 
# Start all services
docker compose up -d

Step 4: Access Your Services

Once running, your services are accessible from the internet:

https://nginx.example.com (opens in a new tab) - Nginx demo
https://blog.example.com (opens in a new tab) - Ghost blog
https://nextcloud.example.com (opens in a new tab) - Nextcloud files

LocalXpose automatically handles HTTPS certificates for all subdomains.

Adding Your Own Services

To add your own service to this setup:

Add the service to docker-compose.yml
Configure Traefik labels with your desired subdomain
Ensure the service port is correctly specified

Example for a Node.js app:

myapp:
  image: node:18
  working_dir: /app
  volumes:
    - ./myapp:/app
  command: npm start
  labels:
    - 'traefik.enable=true'
    - 'traefik.http.routers.myapp.rule=Host(`app.example.com`)'
    - 'traefik.http.routers.myapp.entrypoints=web'
    - 'traefik.http.services.myapp.loadbalancer.server.port=3000'

Clean-up

# from the original directory containing docker-compose.yml
docker compose down

Troubleshooting

Services not accessible: Check that Traefik can reach your service using docker logs traefik
Wrong routing: Verify the Host rule matches your subdomain exactly
HTTPS issues: Ensure port 54538 is available if using custom certificates

Next Steps

Learn about custom domain setup
Explore Let's Encrypt certificates
See our Docker guide for more container configurations

The bottom line: LocalXpose is perfect for homelabs and platform deployments.

Need help? Contact us at hello@localxpose.io, and check our troubleshooting guide.

Note: Reserved subdomains and wildcard domains require a paid LocalXpose subscription.

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Share files from localhost Accessing Localhost WireGuard Server with LocalXpose