Runtime API

About Runtime API

The Runtime API allows to change the settings in real-time mode. You will have no downtime and no need to restart/reload the HAProxy service while using the Runtime API.

You could face the following issue: if you disable a frontend or a backend server, the changes will not be saved; this server will be rolled back on the next restart of HAproxy. If you tick the Save changes checkbox, the changes will be saved but won't be displayed in the configuration files so you may have some difficulties with debugging (or be confused at least).

Use the interface that works fine with the HAProxy Runtime API to avoid these problems. It allows to edit the runtime configuration and save changes in the config file without downtime.

RunTimeAPI commands

• 1. Choose a server.
• 2. Choose an action: disable, shutdown, enable, set, clear, add, get, show.
• 3. Type a keyword.
• 4. Press the Enter button.

Actual commands for HAProxy v2

Action&Keyword:	Description:
prompt	toggle interactive mode with prompt on/off
quit	disconnect
show tls-keys [id|*]	show TLS keys references or remove TLS ticket keys when id is specified
set ssl tls-key [id|keyfile] tlskey	set the next TLS key for the id or keyfile listener to tlskey
show sess [id]	report the list of current sessions or dump this exact session
shutdown session	kill a specific session
shutdown sessions server	kill sessions on a server
clear counters	clear max statistics counters (add 'all' for all counters)
show info	report information about the running process
show stat	report counters for each proxy and server
show schema json	report the schema used for stats
disable agent	disable agent checks (use 'set server' instead)
disable health	disable health checks (use 'set server' instead)
disable server	disable a server for maintenance (use 'set server' instead)
enable agent	enable agent checks (use 'set server' instead)
enable health	enable health checks (use 'set server' instead)
enable server	enable a disabled server (use 'set server' instead)
set maxconn server	change the frontend's maxconn setting
set server	change a server's state, weight or address
get weight	report a server's current weight
set weight	change a server's weight (deprecated)
show resolvers [id]	dump counters from all resolvers section
associated name servers clear table	remove an entry from a table
set table [id]	update or create a table entry
show table [id]	report table usage stats or dump this table's contents
show peers [peers section]	dump some information about all the peers or this peers section
disable frontend	temporarily disable specific frontend
enable frontend	re-enable specific frontend
set maxconn frontend	change a frontend's maxconn setting
show servers state [id]	dump volatile server information (for backend id)
show backend	list backends in the current running config
shutdown frontend	stop a specific frontend
set dynamic-cookie-key backend	change a backend secret key for dynamic cookies
enable dynamic-cookie backend	enable dynamic cookies on a specific backend
disable dynamic-cookie backend	disable dynamic cookies on a specific backend
show errors	report last request and response errors for each proxy
set maxconn global	change the per-process maxconn setting
set rate-limit	change a rate limiting value
set severity-output [none|number|string]	set presence of severity level in feedback information
set timeout	change a timeout setting
show env [var]	dump environment variables known to the process
show cli sockets	dump list of cli sockets
show cli level	display the level of the current CLI session
show fd [num]	dump list of file descriptors in use
show activity	show per-thread activity stats (for support/developers)
operator	lower the level of the current CLI session to operator
user	lower the level of the current CLI session to user
show startup-logs	report logs emitted during HAProxy startup
show cache	show cache status
add acl	add acl entry
clear acl	clear the content of this acl
del acl	delete acl entry
get acl	report the patterns matching a sample for an ACL
show acl [id]	report available acls or dump an acl's contents
add map	add map entry
clear map id	clear the content of this map
del map	delete map entry
get map	report the keys and values matching a sample for a map
set map	modify map entry
show map [id]	report available maps or dump a map's contents
show pools	report information about the memory pools usage
show profiling	show CPU profiling options
set profiling	enable/disable CPU profiling
show threads	show some threads debugging information

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Change Maxconn

Maxconn global

Dynamically change the global maxconn setting within the range defined by the initial global maxconn setting.

Increase the global maxconn setting value to accept pending connections immediately. Or set it below the current number of connections to delay this process until the threshold is reached. Set this value to zero to restore the initial setting.

Maxconn frontend

Dynamically change the specified frontend's maxconn setting. Any positive value including zero is allowed, but setting values larger than the global maxconn do not make any sense. Increase the setting value to accept pending connections immediately. Or set it below the current number of connections to delay this process until the threshold is reached.

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Change IP and Port

Roxy-WI allows to change IP address and port number for backends without reloading or restarting the HAProxy service.

How you may do it:

• First step: select a server on which you would like to change the settings;
• Second step: select a necessary backend;
• Third step: select a server inside the backend (Roxy-WI shows the running settings, you can change them)
• Fourth step: press the Enter button

Changes will take effect for the running configuration and will be saved in the configuration file as well. This means changes will not be lost if you restart the HAProxy service.

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Managing stick-table

HTTP requests are stateless by design. However, this raises some questions about tracking users activities, including malicious ones, in order you can collect metrics, block users, and make other decisions based on state. The only way to track user activities between requests is to add a mechanism for storing events and categorizing them (by client's IP address or other key metrics).

HAProxy gives you a fast in-memory storage which is called stick tables out of the box. Roxy-WI allows to manage it via its GUI.

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Managing lists

Block or allow the specified IP addresses with the help of a simple Access Control List and HAProxy.

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