> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/traefik/traefik/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# TCP Middlewares Overview

> Overview of all available TCP middlewares in Traefik Proxy for controlling TCP connections.

# TCP Middlewares

Controlling TCP Connections

## Configuration Example

<CodeGroup>
  ```yaml Docker & Swarm theme={null}
  # As a Docker Label
  whoami:
    image: traefik/whoami
    labels:
      # Create a middleware named `foo-ip-allowlist`
      - "traefik.tcp.middlewares.foo-ip-allowlist.ipallowlist.sourcerange=127.0.0.1/32, 192.168.1.7"
      # Apply the middleware named `foo-ip-allowlist` to the router named `router1`
      - "traefik.tcp.routers.router1.middlewares=foo-ip-allowlist@docker"
  ```

  ```yaml Kubernetes theme={null}
  ---
  apiVersion: traefik.io/v1alpha1
  kind: MiddlewareTCP
  metadata:
    name: foo-ip-allowlist
  spec:
    ipAllowList:
      sourcerange:
        - 127.0.0.1/32
        - 192.168.1.7

  ---
  apiVersion: traefik.io/v1alpha1
  kind: IngressRouteTCP
  metadata:
    name: ingressroute
  spec:
    routes:
      - middlewares:
          - name: foo-ip-allowlist
  ```

  ```yaml File (YAML) theme={null}
  tcp:
    routers:
      router1:
        service: myService
        middlewares:
          - "foo-ip-allowlist"
        rule: "Host(`example.com`)"

    middlewares:
      foo-ip-allowlist:
        ipAllowList:
          sourceRange:
            - "127.0.0.1/32"
            - "192.168.1.7"

    services:
      service1:
        loadBalancer:
          servers:
            - address: "10.0.0.10:4000"
            - address: "10.0.0.11:4000"
  ```

  ```toml File (TOML) theme={null}
  [tcp.routers]
    [tcp.routers.router1]
      service = "myService"
      middlewares = ["foo-ip-allowlist"]
      rule = "Host(`example.com`)"

  [tcp.middlewares]
    [tcp.middlewares.foo-ip-allowlist.ipAllowList]
      sourceRange = ["127.0.0.1/32", "192.168.1.7"]

  [tcp.services]
    [tcp.services.service1]
      [tcp.services.service1.loadBalancer]
        [[tcp.services.service1.loadBalancer.servers]]
          address = "10.0.0.10:4000"
        [[tcp.services.service1.loadBalancer.servers]]
          address = "10.0.0.11:4000"
  ```
</CodeGroup>

## Available TCP Middlewares

| Middleware   | Purpose                         | Area                        |
| ------------ | ------------------------------- | --------------------------- |
| InFlightConn | Limits simultaneous connections | Security, Request lifecycle |
| IPAllowList  | Limit allowed client IPs        | Security, Request lifecycle |

## TCP vs HTTP Middlewares

TCP middlewares operate at the transport layer (Layer 4) and have different capabilities compared to HTTP middlewares:

* **TCP middlewares** work with raw TCP connections
* **HTTP middlewares** can inspect and modify HTTP requests/responses

<Note>
  TCP middlewares cannot inspect HTTP-specific data like headers, methods, or paths. For HTTP traffic, use HTTP middlewares instead.
</Note>