X-Proxy: The Ultimate Guide to Setup and ConfigurationX-Proxy is a modern, flexible proxy solution designed to route, filter, and optimize network traffic for applications, services, and users. This guide covers concepts, deployment options, installation steps, common configuration patterns, security hardening, performance tuning, monitoring, and troubleshooting. It’s intended for system administrators, DevOps engineers, and developers who need a practical, end-to-end reference for setting up X-Proxy in production.
What is X-Proxy?
X-Proxy acts as an intermediary between clients and servers. It can function as a forward proxy (clients connect to X-Proxy to reach external resources), a reverse proxy (clients connect to X-Proxy which forwards requests to backend services), or a transparent proxy inserted into a network path without requiring client configuration. Typical uses include load balancing, caching, TLS termination, access control, request/response modification, and observability.
Key Features (common to modern proxies)
- Forward, reverse, and transparent proxying
- TLS termination and passthrough
- Layer 7 (HTTP/HTTPS) routing and header manipulation
- WebSocket and HTTP/2 support
- Authentication integration (OAuth, mTLS)
- Caching and compression
- Rate limiting and request throttling
- Access control lists (ACLs) and IP whitelisting/blacklisting
- Observability: metrics, logs, distributed tracing
- High-availability and clustering
Architecture and Deployment Modes
X-Proxy can be deployed in several modes depending on infrastructure and goals:
- Single-instance (development/testing)
- HA pair with virtual IP (active/passive)
- Load-balanced cluster (multiple frontends with shared state/store)
- Sidecar proxies for microservices (per-pod/per-container)
- Edge gateway in front of services (API gateway pattern)
For distributed setups, use a shared datastore (Redis, Consul) or a control plane to distribute configuration and state.
Prerequisites
- Linux-based server (Ubuntu, Debian, CentOS) or container runtime (Docker, Kubernetes)
- Root or sudo access for system installation and network configuration
- Open ports configured (e.g., 80, 443, and custom proxy ports)
- TLS certificates (self-signed for testing; CA-signed for production)
- Optional: Redis/Consul for shared state, Prometheus/Grafana for metrics
Installation
Below are typical installation approaches.
Docker (quick start)
docker run -d --name x-proxy -p 80:80 -p 443:443 -v /etc/x-proxy/conf:/etc/x-proxy/conf -v /etc/ssl/certs:/etc/ssl/certs x-proxy:latest Debian/Ubuntu (package)
# add repo curl -sL https://repo.x-proxy.example/install.sh | sudo bash sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install x-proxy sudo systemctl enable --now x-proxy Kubernetes (sidecar example)
apiVersion: v1 kind: Pod metadata: name: example-app spec: containers: - name: app image: example/app:latest - name: x-proxy image: x-proxy:latest ports: - containerPort: 8080 Basic Configuration Concepts
X-Proxy configuration typically uses a hierarchical config file (YAML/JSON/TOML) that defines listeners, routes, backends, and filters. Key sections:
- listeners: interfaces and ports where X-Proxy accepts traffic
- routes: match conditions (host, path, headers) and route actions
- clusters/backends: upstream service definitions and health checks
- filters: request/response transforms, auth, rate-limiting
- tls: certificate and cipher settings
- logging/metrics: output destinations and levels
Example minimal YAML
listeners: - name: http address: 0.0.0.0:80 routes: - match: prefix: / action: proxy: cluster: app_cluster clusters: - name: app_cluster endpoints: - address: 10.0.0.10:8080 TLS / HTTPS Setup
- Obtain certificates: Let’s Encrypt for automated certs, or use corporate CA.
- Configure TLS listener with cert and key paths.
- Enable strong cipher suites and TLS 1.⁄1.3 only.
- Optionally enable automatic certificate renewal (Certbot or ACME client integration).
Example TLS listener snippet
listeners: - name: https address: 0.0.0.0:443 tls: cert_file: /etc/ssl/certs/xproxy.crt key_file: /etc/ssl/private/xproxy.key Security tips:
- Prefer TLS passthrough for end-to-end encryption when backend supports TLS.
- Terminate TLS at the proxy when you need visibility (WAF, routing).
- Use HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS) headers for public services.
Authentication & Access Control
X-Proxy supports several auth models:
- IP-based ACLs (allow/deny lists)
- Basic auth for simple use cases
- OAuth/OIDC integration for identity-aware access
- Mutual TLS (mTLS) for service-to-service authentication
Example ACL
access_control: allowed_ips: - 192.168.1.0/24 OAuth flow: configure an auth filter to redirect unauthenticated requests to the identity provider, validate tokens, and inject user info into headers forwarded to backends.
Load Balancing & Health Checks
Supported algorithms:
- Round-robin
- Least connections
- Weighted routing
- Header/cookie-based session affinity
Health checks: configure probe path, interval, timeout, and unhealthy thresholds.
Example cluster with health check
clusters: - name: app_cluster lb_policy: least_conn endpoints: - address: 10.0.0.10:8080 - address: 10.0.0.11:8080 health_check: path: /health interval: 5s timeout: 2s unhealthy_threshold: 3 Caching & Compression
Enable response caching for static assets and compression (gzip/brotli) to reduce bandwidth and latency. Set cache-control headers and define cacheable route matchers.
Example cache filter
filters: - name: cache match: prefix: /static/ ttl: 3600 Rate Limiting & DDoS Protection
- Implement per-IP and per-route rate limits.
- Use burst allowances and token-bucket algorithms.
- Combine with IP reputation and firewall rules for large attacks.
Example rate limit
filters: - name: rate_limit requests_per_minute: 60 Observability: Logging, Metrics, Tracing
- Logs: structured JSON access logs with request/response details.
- Metrics: expose Prometheus endpoints (request rates, latencies, error counts).
- Tracing: propagate headers (W3C Trace Context, Jaeger) and sample rates.
Example Prometheus config
metrics: prometheus: enabled: true address: 0.0.0.0:9090 High-Availability & Scaling
- Use multiple X-Proxy instances behind a load balancer or DNS with health checks.
- Store shared state in external datastore for session affinity.
- Automate deployment with IaC (Terraform, Helm).
- Use graceful shutdown to drain connections during rolling updates.
Troubleshooting Common Issues
- ⁄504 errors: check backend health, DNS resolution, timeouts.
- TLS handshake failures: verify cert chain, ciphers, and SNI.
- High latency: inspect backend response times, enable keep-alive, tune worker threads.
- Configuration reload failures: validate syntax, use dry-run/reload APIs.
Useful diagnostics:
- curl -v to test routes and headers
- tcpdump/ss for network troubleshooting
- logs and /metrics endpoints for performance data
Example Real-World Configurations
- API Gateway: TLS termination, OAuth auth filter, route to microservices, rate limiting.
- Edge CDN: caching static assets, Brotli compression, long TTLs, geo-based routing.
- Internal Service Mesh Sidecar: mTLS, local routing, service discovery integration.
Security Checklist (quick)
- Use TLS 1.2+ and strong ciphers.
- Enable access controls and auth where appropriate.
- Keep the proxy software up to date.
- Limit admin interfaces to trusted networks.
- Monitor logs and set alerts for anomalies.
Maintenance & Upgrades
- Test upgrades in staging.
- Backup configuration and certificate files.
- Use blue/green or rolling upgrades to avoid downtime.
- Regularly review logs, metrics, and ACLs.
Further Reading & Tools
- ACME/Certbot for automated certificates
- Prometheus + Grafana for monitoring
- Jaeger/Zipkin for distributed tracing
- Terraform/Helm for deployment automation
If you want, I can generate a ready-to-use X-Proxy YAML for a specific scenario (Kubernetes ingress, API gateway, or a Docker-based reverse proxy).
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