Cloudflare

Step 1 — Connect Your Domain to Cloudflare

1. Create a Cloudflare Account Go to https://dash.cloudflare.com (opens in a new tab) and create an account if you don’t already have one.
2. Add Your Domain • In the dashboard, click Add a Site. • Enter your domain name (e.g. myapp.com) and choose the Free plan (or higher if needed). • Cloudflare will scan your existing DNS records automatically.
3. Update Nameservers • Cloudflare will provide you with two nameservers (e.g. amy.ns.cloudflare.com and john.ns.cloudflare.com). • Log in to your domain registrar (e.g. Google Domains, Namecheap, GoDaddy). • Replace the existing nameservers with the ones provided by Cloudflare. • Wait for propagation (usually takes 5–30 minutes).
4. Verify Domain Connection • Once propagated, your domain will show as Active in the Cloudflare dashboard.

Step 2 — Create a Cloudflare Tunnel with Docker

Cloudflare Tunnels let you securely connect your local or containerized services to the internet without exposing public IPs or opening ports.

• Generate a Tunnel Token
  1. Go to Zero Trust Dashboard → https://one.dash.cloudflare.com (opens in a new tab)
  2. Navigate to Access → Tunnels
  3. Click Create a Tunnel
  4. Give it a name (e.g. myapp-tunnel)
  5. Copy the generated Tunnel Token — you’ll need it in the next step

️ Step 3 — Configure the Tunnel to Point to Your Service

Using config.yml

For more control, you can use a configuration file. Create a directory, e.g. cloudflare-config, and inside it add a config.yml file:

tunnel: <TUNNEL_ID>
credentials-file: /home/nonroot/.cloudflared/<TUNNEL_ID>.json
 
ingress:
  - hostname: api.myapp.com
    service: http://host.docker.internal:8080
  - hostname: frontend.myapp.com
    service: http://host.docker.internal:5173
  - service: http_status:404