Onboarding

Goal

Get Middleware Manager running with a chosen data source (Pangolin or Traefik), confirm connectivity, and complete first UI actions.

Prerequisites

• Traefik v2/v3 reachable from Middleware Manager
• Docker runtime for the provided containers
• Mount points for database and Traefik rules (see Deploy pages)

Middleware-Manager container has to be kept running in order to keep the overide middleware deployed.

First boot checklist

1. Start the stack (Pangolin or standalone) using the Deploy guides.
2. Open the UI: http://<host>:3456.
3. Run Settings → Test Connection for the active data source; switch to Traefik or Pangolin as needed.
4. Verify Dashboard loads counts for Routers/Services/Middlewares.
5. Visit Resources and open any resource to confirm router details.
6. Enable Dark mode if preferred (persists in local storage).

Initial data-source selection

• Pangolin: use when Pangolin already owns the authoritative Traefik config.
• Traefik: use when Traefik is the primary provider and you want direct control.

Switch via Settings → Active Data Source. Middleware Manager writes overrides to Traefik’s file provider directory (default /conf).

Safe first changes

• Create a non-critical middleware (e.g., headers with X-Debug: 1) and assign it to a staging router.
• Create a small custom service (load balancer with one backend) and assign it to a staging host.
• Use Traefik Explorer to confirm the router/service/middleware exists and is healthy.

What’s next

• Pick your deployment path:

  • With Pangolin

  • Standalone Traefik
• Then review configuration details:

  Configuration

  .