Switching Between Modes

You can switch DockFlare between Internal (default) and External cloudflared modes at any time. This guide explains the process for a smooth transition.

For a detailed comparison of the two modes, please see the Internal vs. External cloudflared page.

Switching from Internal to External Mode

This process involves setting up your own cloudflared agent and then telling DockFlare to use it.

Step 1: Set Up Your External cloudflared Agent

First, you need to set up and run your own cloudflared agent. This could be a process on the host OS or another Docker container.

• Ensure it is configured to use a specific Cloudflare Tunnel.
• Make a note of the Tunnel ID (UUID).
• Start the agent and confirm it is running correctly and shows as "connected" in your Cloudflare dashboard.

Step 2: Reconfigure and Restart DockFlare

Next, you need to update the environment variables for your DockFlare container to tell it to switch to external mode.

In your docker-compose.yml:

services:
  dockflare:
    image: alplat/dockflare:stable
    # ... other settings
    environment:
      # Enable external mode
      - USE_EXTERNAL_CLOUDFLARED=true
      # Provide the ID of your running tunnel
      - EXTERNAL_TUNNEL_ID=your-tunnel-uuid-goes-here

Step 3: Deploy the Change

Run docker compose up -d to recreate the DockFlare container with the new environment variables.

When the updated DockFlare container starts:
1. It will detect that USE_EXTERNAL_CLOUDFLARED is true.
2. It will stop and remove its own managed cloudflared-agent container.
3. It will begin sending all its ingress rule configurations to the tunnel specified by EXTERNAL_TUNNEL_ID.

Your services will now be served by your externally managed cloudflared agent.

Switching from External to Internal Mode

This process is simpler as it involves letting DockFlare take back control.

Step 1: Reconfigure DockFlare

Remove the external mode environment variables from your DockFlare docker-compose.yml file.

services:
  dockflare:
    image: alplat/dockflare:stable
    # ... other settings
    environment:
      # Remove the following two lines
      # - USE_EXTERNAL_CLOUDFLARED=true
      # - EXTERNAL_TUNNEL_ID=your-tunnel-uuid-goes-here

Step 2: Deploy the Change

Run docker compose up -d to recreate the DockFlare container.

When the updated DockFlare container starts:
1. It will detect that USE_EXTERNAL_CLOUDFLARED is false.
2. It will automatically create, configure, and start its own internal cloudflared-agent container.
3. It will configure this new agent to use the tunnel name defined in your DockFlare settings.

Step 3: Decommission Your External Agent

Once you have confirmed that the new internal agent is running correctly and serving traffic, you can safely stop and remove your own cloudflared agent.