zrok frontdoor

zrok frontdoor provides a shielded entry point for your production website or service. This is useful if you want to expose it to the public internet, but not directly.

Linux
macOS
Windows

On Linux, zrok frontdoor is implemented natively as a system service provided by the zrok-share DEB or RPM package.

If you'd prefer to run zrok in Docker instead of installing the package then you can follow the Docker instructions. With Docker, the steps are the same for Linux, macOS, and Windows.

Goal

Proxy a reserved public subdomain to a backend target with an always-on Linux system service.

How it Works

The zrok-share package creates a zrok-share.service unit in systemd. The administrator edits the service's configuration file to specify the:

zrok environment enable token
target URL or files to be shared and backend mode, e.g. proxy
authentication options, if wanted

When the service starts it will:

enable the zrok environment unless /var/lib/zrok-share/.zrok/environment.json exists
reserve a public subdomain for the service unless /var/lib/zrok-share/.zrok/reserved.json exists
start sharing the target specified as ZROK_TARGET in the environment file

Installation

Set up zrok's Linux package repository by following the Linux install guide, or run this one-liner to complete the repo setup and install packages.
```
curl -sSLf https://get.openziti.io/install.bash \
| sudo bash -s zrok-share
```
If you set up the repository by following the guide, then also install the zrok-share package. This package provides the systemd service.
Ubuntu, Debian
```
sudo sudo apt install zrok-share
```
Fedora, Rocky
```
sudo dnf install zrok-share
```

Ansible Playbook

Set up package repository and install zrok-share
- name: Set up zrok Package Repo
  gather_facts: true
  hosts: all
  become: true
  tasks:
    - name: Set up apt repo
      when: ansible_os_family == "Debian"
      block:
        - name: Install playbook dependencies
          ansible.builtin.package:
            name:
              - gnupg
            state: present
        - name: Fetch armored pubkey
          ansible.builtin.uri:
            url: https://get.openziti.io/tun/package-repos.gpg
            return_content: 'yes'
          register: armored_pubkey
        - name: Dearmor pubkey
          ansible.builtin.shell: >
            gpg --dearmor --output /usr/share/keyrings/openziti.gpg <<< "{{
            armored_pubkey.content }}"
          args:
            creates: /usr/share/keyrings/openziti.gpg
            executable: /bin/bash
        - name: Set pubkey filemode
          ansible.builtin.file:
            path: /usr/share/keyrings/openziti.gpg
            mode: a+rX
        - name: Install OpenZiti repo deb source
          ansible.builtin.copy:
            dest: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/openziti-release.list
            content: >
              deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/openziti.gpg]
              https://packages.openziti.org/zitipax-openziti-deb-stable debian
              main
        - name: Refresh Repo Sources
          ansible.builtin.apt:
            update_cache: 'yes'
            cache_valid_time: 3600
    - name: Set up yum repo
      when: ansible_os_family == "RedHat"
      block:
        - name: Install OpenZiti repo rpm source
          ansible.builtin.yum_repository:
            name: OpenZitiRelease
            description: OpenZiti Release
            baseurl: >-
              https://packages.openziti.org/zitipax-openziti-rpm-stable/redhat/$basearch
            enabled: 'yes'
            gpgkey: >-
              https://packages.openziti.org/zitipax-openziti-rpm-stable/redhat/$basearch/repodata/repomd.xml.key
            repo_gpgcheck: 'yes'
            gpgcheck: 'no'

- name: Install zrok-share package
  gather_facts: false
  hosts: all 
  become: true
  tasks:
  - name: Install zrok-share
    ansible.builtin.package:
      name: zrok-share
      state: present

  - name: Copy env config from Ansible controller to target
    copy:
      dest: /opt/openziti/etc/zrok/zrok-share.env
      src: /opt/openziti/etc/zrok/zrok-share.env

  - name: Enable and restart service
    systemd:
      name: zrok-share
      enabled: yes
      state: restarted
      daemon_reload: yes

  - name: Wait for service
    systemd:
      name: zrok-share
      state: started
    register: service_status
    until: service_status.status.ActiveState == 'active'
    retries: 30
    delay: 1

Enable

Save the enable token from the zrok console in the configuration file.

/opt/openziti/etc/zrok/zrok-share.env

ZROK_ENABLE_TOKEN="14cbfca9772f"

Use Cases

You may change the target for the current backend mode, e.g. proxy, by editing the configuration file and restarting the service. The reserved subdomain will remain the same.

You may switch between backend modes or change authentication options by deleting /var/lib/zrok-share/.zrok/reserved.json and restarting the service. A new subdomain will be reserved.

Proxy a Web Server

Proxy a reserved subdomain to an existing web server. The web server could be on a private network or on the same host as zrok.

/opt/openziti/etc/zrok/zrok-share.env

ZROK_TARGET="http://127.0.0.1:3000"
ZROK_BACKEND_MODE="proxy"

If your HTTPS server has an unverifiable TLS server certificate then you must set --insecure.

/opt/openziti/etc/zrok/zrok-share.env

ZROK_INSECURE="--insecure"

Serve Static Files

Run zrok's embedded web server to serve the files in a directory. If there's an index.html file in the directory then visitors will see that web page in their browser, otherwise they'll see a generated index of the files. The directory must be readable by 'other', e.g. chmod -R o+rX /var/www/html.

/opt/openziti/etc/zrok/zrok-share.env

ZROK_TARGET="/var/www/html"
ZROK_BACKEND_MODE="web"

Caddy Server

Use zrok's built-in Caddy server to serve static files or as a reverse proxy to multiple web servers with various HTTP routes or as a load-balanced set. A sample Caddyfile is available in the path shown.

/opt/openziti/etc/zrok/zrok-share.env

ZROK_TARGET="/opt/openziti/etc/zrok/multiple_upstream.Caddyfile"
ZROK_BACKEND_MODE="caddy"

Network Drive

This uses zrok's drive backend mode to serve a directory of static files as a virtual network drive. The directory must be readable by 'other', e.g. chmod -R o+rX /usr/share/doc.

/opt/openziti/etc/zrok/zrok-share.env

ZROK_TARGET="/usr/share/doc"
ZROK_BACKEND_MODE="drive"

Learn more about this feature in this blog post.

Authentication

You can limit access to certain email addresses with OAuth or require a password.

OAuth

You can require that visitors authenticate with an email address that matches at least one of the suffixes you specify. Add the following to the configuration file.

/opt/openziti/etc/zrok/zrok-share.env

ZROK_OAUTH_PROVIDER="github"  # or google
ZROK_OAUTH_EMAILS="bob@example.com @acme.example.com"

Password

Enable HTTP basic authentication by adding the following to the configuration file.

/opt/openziti/etc/zrok/zrok-share.env

ZROK_BASIC_AUTH="user:passwd"

Start the Service

Start the service, and check the zrok console or the service log for the reserved subdomain.

run now and at startup

sudo systemctl enable --now zrok-share.service

run now

sudo systemctl restart zrok-share.service

journalctl -u zrok-share.service

Compatibility

The Linux distribution must have a package manager that understands the .deb or .rpm format and be running systemd v232 or newer. The service was tested with:

Ubuntu 20.04, 22.04, 23.04
Debian 11 12
Rocky 8, 9
Fedora 37, 38

Package Contents

The files included in the zrok-share package are sourced here in GitHub.

On macOS, zrok frontdoor is implemented as a Docker Compose project which reserves a public subdomain for your website or service.

Goal

Proxy a reserved public subdomain to a backend target with an always-on Docker Compose service.

How it Works

The Docker Compose project uses your zrok account token to reserve a public subdomain and keep sharing the backend target.

When the project runs it will:

enable a zrok environment unless /mnt/.zrok/environment.json exists in the zrok_env volume
reserve a public subdomain for the service unless /mnt/.zrok/reserved.json exists
start sharing the target specified in the ZROK_TARGET environment variable

Create the Docker Project

Make a folder on your computer to use as a Docker Compose project for your zrok public share with a reserved subdomain and switch to the new directory in your terminal.
Download the reserved public share compose.yml project file into the same directory.
Copy your zrok account's enable token from the zrok web console to your clipboard and paste it in a file named .env in the same folder like this:

.env

ZROK_ENABLE_TOKEN="8UL9-48rN0ua"

Run the Compose project to start sharing the built-in demo web server. Be sure to --detach so the project runs in the background if you want it to auto-restart when your computer reboots.

docker compose up --detach

Get the public share URL from the output of the zrok-share service or by peeking in the zrok console where the share will appear in the graph.

docker compose logs zrok-share

Output

zrok-public-share-1  |  https://w6r1vesearkj.in.zrok.io/

This concludes the minimum steps to begin sharing the demo web server. Read on to learn how to pivot to sharing any website or web service by leveraging additional zrok backend modes.

Proxy Any Web Server

The simplest way to share your existing HTTP server is to set ZROK_TARGET (e.g. https://example.com) in the environment of the docker compose up command. When you restart the share will auto-configure for that URL.

.env

ZROK_TARGET="http://example.com:8080"

docker compose down && docker compose up

Require Authentication

You can require a password or an OAuth login with certain email addresses.

OAuth Email

You can allow specific email addresses or an email domain by setting ZROK_OAUTH_PROVIDER to github or google and ZROK_SHARE_OPTS to specify additional command-line options to zrok reserve public. Read more about the OAuth features in this blog post.

.env

ZROK_OAUTH_PROVIDER="github"
ZROK_SHARE_OPTS="--oauth-email-domains @example.com"

Caddy is Powerful

The reserved public share project uses zrok's default backend mode, proxy. Another backend mode, caddy, accepts a path to a Caddyfile as the value of ZROK_TARGET (zrok Caddyfile examples).

Caddy is the most powerful and flexible backend mode in zrok. You must reserve a new public subdomain whenever you switch the backend mode, so using caddy reduces the risk that you'll have to share a new frontend URL with your users.

With Caddy, you can balance the workload for websites or web services or share static sites and files or all of the above at the same time. You can update the Caddyfile and restart the Docker Compose project to start sharing the new configuration with the same reserved public subdomain.

Create a Caddyfile. This example demonstrates proxying two HTTP servers with a weighted round-robin load balancer.

Caddyfile
http:// {
  # zrok requires this bind address template
  bind {{ .ZrokBindAddress }}
  reverse_proxy /* {
    to http://httpbin1:8080 http://httpbin2:8080
    lb_policy weighted_round_robin 3 2
  }
}

Create a file compose.override.yml. This example adds two httpbin containers for load balancing, and mounts the Caddyfile into the container.

compose.override.yml
services:
  httpbin1:
    image: mccutchen/go-httpbin  # 8080/tcp
  httpbin2:
    image: mccutchen/go-httpbin  # 8080/tcp
  zrok-share:
    volumes:
      - ./Caddyfile:/mnt/.zrok/Caddyfile

Start a new Docker Compose project or delete the existing state volume.

docker compose down --volumes

If you prefer to keep using the same zrok environment with the new share then delete /mnt/.zrok/reserved.json instead of the entire volume.

Run the project to load the new configuration.

docker compose up --detach

Note the new reserved share URL from the log.

docker compose logs zrok-share

Output

INFO: zrok public URL: https://88s803f2qvao.in.zrok.io/

On Windows, zrok frontdoor is implemented as a Docker Compose project which reserves a public subdomain for your website or service.

Goal

Proxy a reserved public subdomain to a backend target with an always-on Docker Compose service.

How it Works

The Docker Compose project uses your zrok account token to reserve a public subdomain and keep sharing the backend target.

When the project runs it will:

enable a zrok environment unless /mnt/.zrok/environment.json exists in the zrok_env volume
reserve a public subdomain for the service unless /mnt/.zrok/reserved.json exists
start sharing the target specified in the ZROK_TARGET environment variable

Create the Docker Project

Make a folder on your computer to use as a Docker Compose project for your zrok public share with a reserved subdomain and switch to the new directory in your terminal.
Download the reserved public share compose.yml project file into the same directory.
Copy your zrok account's enable token from the zrok web console to your clipboard and paste it in a file named .env in the same folder like this:

.env

ZROK_ENABLE_TOKEN="8UL9-48rN0ua"

Run the Compose project to start sharing the built-in demo web server. Be sure to --detach so the project runs in the background if you want it to auto-restart when your computer reboots.

docker compose up --detach

Get the public share URL from the output of the zrok-share service or by peeking in the zrok console where the share will appear in the graph.

docker compose logs zrok-share

Output

zrok-public-share-1  |  https://w6r1vesearkj.in.zrok.io/

This concludes the minimum steps to begin sharing the demo web server. Read on to learn how to pivot to sharing any website or web service by leveraging additional zrok backend modes.

Proxy Any Web Server

.env

ZROK_TARGET="http://example.com:8080"

docker compose down && docker compose up

Require Authentication

You can require a password or an OAuth login with certain email addresses.

OAuth Email

.env

ZROK_OAUTH_PROVIDER="github"
ZROK_SHARE_OPTS="--oauth-email-domains @example.com"

Caddy is Powerful

The reserved public share project uses zrok's default backend mode, proxy. Another backend mode, caddy, accepts a path to a Caddyfile as the value of ZROK_TARGET (zrok Caddyfile examples).

Create a Caddyfile. This example demonstrates proxying two HTTP servers with a weighted round-robin load balancer.

Caddyfile
http:// {
  # zrok requires this bind address template
  bind {{ .ZrokBindAddress }}
  reverse_proxy /* {
    to http://httpbin1:8080 http://httpbin2:8080
    lb_policy weighted_round_robin 3 2
  }
}

Create a file compose.override.yml. This example adds two httpbin containers for load balancing, and mounts the Caddyfile into the container.

compose.override.yml
services:
  httpbin1:
    image: mccutchen/go-httpbin  # 8080/tcp
  httpbin2:
    image: mccutchen/go-httpbin  # 8080/tcp
  zrok-share:
    volumes:
      - ./Caddyfile:/mnt/.zrok/Caddyfile

Start a new Docker Compose project or delete the existing state volume.

docker compose down --volumes

If you prefer to keep using the same zrok environment with the new share then delete /mnt/.zrok/reserved.json instead of the entire volume.

Run the project to load the new configuration.

docker compose up --detach

Note the new reserved share URL from the log.

docker compose logs zrok-share

Output

INFO: zrok public URL: https://88s803f2qvao.in.zrok.io/

Concepts

Overview of zrok reserved shares

Goal​

How it Works​

Installation​

Enable​

Use Cases​

Proxy a Web Server​

Serve Static Files​

Caddy Server​

Network Drive​

Authentication​

OAuth​

Password​

Start the Service​

Compatibility​

Package Contents​

Goal​

How it Works​

Create the Docker Project​

Proxy Any Web Server​

Require Authentication​

OAuth Email​

Caddy is Powerful​

Goal​

How it Works​

Create the Docker Project​

Proxy Any Web Server​

Require Authentication​

OAuth Email​

Caddy is Powerful​

Concepts​

Goal

How it Works

Installation

Enable

Use Cases

Proxy a Web Server

Serve Static Files

Caddy Server

Network Drive

Authentication

OAuth

Password

Start the Service

Compatibility

Package Contents

Goal

How it Works

Create the Docker Project

Proxy Any Web Server

Require Authentication

OAuth Email

Caddy is Powerful

Goal

How it Works

Create the Docker Project

Proxy Any Web Server

Require Authentication

OAuth Email

Caddy is Powerful

Concepts