Haproxy-SSL/TLS layouts

By design, HAProxy is a proxy. It means that it maintains 2 types of connections:

  1. client <==> HAProxy (frontend)
  2. HAProxy (backend) <==> server

Thanks to this design, HAProxy can use different protocols on each type of connection.

From a SSL/TLS point of view, this allows the following designs:

SSL/TLS passthrough

In this mode, HAProxy doesn’t decipher the traffic. It just opens a TCP tunnel between the client and the server and let them together negotiate and handle the TLS traffic.

The picture below describes this layout:

../_images/haproxy_tls_passthrough.png

In this mode, HAProxy simply runs in mode tcp. The sample fetch methods which apply to this mode are the ones whose name starts byreq.ssl_.

Examples:

  1. Simple HTTPs service load-balancing

    frontend ft_myapp
     bind 10.0.0.1:443
     mode tcp
     [...]
     default_backend bk_myapp
    
    backend bk_myapp
     mode tcp
     [...]
     server app1 10.0.0.11:443 check
     server app2 10.0.0.12:443 check
    
  2. Deny connection if the client forces using SSLv3:

    frontend ft_myapp
     bind 10.0.0.1:443
     mode tcp
     acl sslv3 req.ssl_ver 3
     tcp-request inspect-delay 2s
     tcp-request content reject if sslv3
     [...]
    
  3. Choose a farm based on the information found in the TLS SNI extension. If no SNI sent, then deny the connection.

    frontend ft_global
     bind 10.0.0.1:443
     mode tcp
     [...]
     acl webmail  req.ssl_sni -i webmail.domain.com
     acl extranet req.ssl_sni -i extranet.domain.com
     tcp-request inspect-delay 2s
     tcp-request content reject if !webmail !extranet
     use_backend bk_webmail if webmail
     use_backend bk_extranet if extranet
    
    backend bk_webmail
     mode tcp
     [...]
     server mail1 10.0.0.11:443 check
     server mail2 10.0.0.12:443 check
    
    backend bk_extranet
     mode tcp
     [...]
     server extranet1 10.0.0.13:443 check
     server extranet2 10.0.0.14:443 check
    

SSL/TLS bridging or re-encryption

In this mode, HAProxy decipher the traffic on the client side and re-encrypt it on the server side. It can access to the content of the request and the response and perform advanced processing over the traffic.

The picture below describes this layout:

../_images/haproxy_tls_bridging.png

In this mode, HAProxy can run either in mode tcp or mode http and the keywords ssl and crt must be setup on the frontend’s bind line and at least ssl on the backend’s server line (crt is available, but optional).

The sample fetch methods which apply to this mode are the ones whose name starts by ssl_cssl_f ssl_fc and ssl_bc.

Examples:

  1. Simple TLS bridging for an HTTPs application in order to perform cookie persistence:

    frontend ft_myapp
     bind 10.0.0.1:443 ssl crt myapp
     mode http
     [...]
     default_backend bk_myapp
    
    backend bk_myapp
     mode http
     [...]
     cookie MYAPP insert indirect nocache
     server app1 10.0.0.11:443 ssl check cookie app1
     server app2 10.0.0.12:443 ssl check cookie app2
    
  2. Use HAProxy to export a weak SSLv3 service on internet over strong TLS1.2 protocol:

    frontend ft_public
     bind 10.0.0.1:443 ssl crt myapp force-tlsv12
     mode tcp
     [...]
     default_backend bk_internal
    
    backend bk_internal
     mode tcp
     [...]
     server sslv3server 10.0.0.11:443 check
    

SSL/TLS offloading

In this mode, HAProxy decipher the traffic on the client side and gets connected in clear to the server.

The picture below describes this layout:

../_images/haproxy_tls_offloading.png

In this mode, HAProxy can run either in mode tcp or mode http and the keywords ssl and crt must be setup on the frontend’s bind line and.

The sample fetch methods which apply to this mode are the ones whose name starts by ssl_cssl_f ssl_fc and ssl_bc.

Example: Handle both HTTP and HTTPs on the client side, offloading TLS. Create a HTTP header X-Forwarded-Protocol containing the name of the protocol used on the client side

frontend ft_myapp
 bind 10.0.0.1:80 name http
 bind 10.0.0.1:443 name https ssl crt myapp
 mode http
 acl http  ssl_fc,not
 acl https ssl_fc
 http-request set-header X-Forwarded-Protocol http if http
 http-request set-header X-Forwarded-Protocol https if https
 [...]
 default_backend bk_myapp

backend bk_myapp
 mode http
 [...]
 server app1 10.0.0.11:80 check
 server app2 10.0.0.12:80 check

SSL/TLS encryption

In this mode, HAProxy get the traffic in clear on the client side and uses TLS to get connected on the server.

The picture below describes this layout:

../_images/haproxy_tls_encryption.png

In this mode, HAProxy can run either in mode tcp or mode http and the keyword ssl must be setup on the backend’s server line.

The sample fetch methods which apply to this mode are the ones whose name starts by ssl_b.

Example: Force TLS when reaching backup servers hosted in a third party datacenter and reachable only through internet:

frontend ft_internal
 bind 10.0.0.1:80 name http
 mode http
 [...]
 acl internal_ko nbsrv(bk_internal) eq 0
 use_backend bk_failover if internal_ko
 default_backend bk_internal

backend bk_internal
 mode http
 [...]
 server app1 10.0.0.11:80 check
 server app2 10.0.0.12:80 check

backend bk_failover
 mode http
 [...]
 server app1 90.a.b.c:443 check ssl
 server app2 90.a.b.d:443 check ssl

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