How To Enable HTTP/3 over QUIC in HAProxy

Sysadmin.IDNov 10, 2023

Activating HTTP/3 over QUIC in HAProxy on Ubuntu.

What’s QUIC

QUIC (Quick UDP Internet Connections) is a transport layer network protocol developed by Google. QUIC supports a set of multiplexed connections between two endpoints over User Datagram Protocol (UDP), and it was designed to provide security protection equivalent to TLS/SSL, along with reduced connection and transport latencies.

Enable QUIC in HAProxy in Linux Ubuntu

Install Requirements

apt update && apt install -y \
  ca-certificates \
  gcc \
  git \
  libc6-dev \
  liblua5.3-dev \
  libpcre3-dev \
  libssl-dev \
  libsystemd-dev \
  make \
  zlib1g-dev \
  rsyslog

Compile OpenSSL QUICTLS

cd /usr/local/src
git clone https://github.com/quictls/openssl
cd openssl
git checkout OpenSSL_1_1_1t+quic
mkdir -p /opt/quictls
./config --libdir=lib --prefix=/opt/quictls
make && make install

Compile HAProxy QUIC

cd /usr/local/src
git clone https://github.com/haproxy/haproxy.git
cd haproxy
git checkout v2.8.0
 
make TARGET=linux-glibc \
    USE_LUA=1 \
    USE_PCRE=1 \
    USE_ZLIB=1 \
    USE_SYSTEMD=1 \
    USE_PROMEX=1 \
    USE_QUIC=1 \
    USE_OPENSSL=1 \
    SSL_INC=/opt/quictls/include \
    SSL_LIB=/opt/quictls/lib \
    LDFLAGS="-Wl,-rpath,/opt/quictls/lib"

make install-bin
cd admin/systemd
make haproxy.service
cp ./haproxy.service /etc/systemd/system/

mkdir -p /etc/haproxy
mkdir -p /run/haproxy
touch /etc/haproxy/haproxy.cfg

Add HAProxy user

groupadd -g 125 haproxy
useradd -g 125 -u 117 -s /usr/sbin/nologin -d /var/lib/haproxy haproxy

Please change the number of UID and GID if exists

Enable HAProxy Log in rsyslog

vim /etc/rsyslog.d/99-haproxy.conf

# add these line
$AddUnixListenSocket /var/lib/haproxy/dev/log

# Send HAProxy messages to a dedicated logfile
:programname, startswith, "haproxy" {
  /var/log/haproxy.log
  stop
}

# create requirement file/folder
mkdir -p /var/lib/haproxy/dev /run/haproxy
chown -Rv haproxy.haproxy /var/lib/haproxy /run/haproxy

# restart rsyslog
systemctl restart rsyslog

Enable HAProxy Logrotate Logs

vim /etc/logrotate.d/haproxy

# add these line
/var/log/haproxy.log {
    daily
    rotate 7
    missingok
    notifempty
    compress
    delaycompress
    postrotate
        [ ! -x /usr/lib/rsyslog/rsyslog-rotate ] || /usr/lib/rsyslog/rsyslog-rotate
    endscript
}

Enable HAProxy in Systemd

systemctl enable haproxy
systemctl start haproxy
systemctl status haproxy

Enable HTTP/3 QUIC in HAProxy config

frontend fe_website
  mode http
  bind :80
  bind :443  ssl crt /etc/haproxy/certs/foo.com/cert.crt alpn h2
  bind quic4@:443 ssl crt /mycert.pem alpn h3

  http-request redirect scheme https unless { ssl_fc }

  http-after-response add-header alt-svc 'h3=":443"; ma=60'

You might be interested in exploring more about the technologies that power modern web communication. Speaking of **QUIC**, you might find the QUIC Wikipedia article insightful as it delves into the protocol’s design and benefits. If you’re curious about the underlying principles of **HTTP/3**, check out the HTTP/3 Wikipedia article, which explains how it enhances performance over previous versions. Additionally, understanding **TLS** (Transport Layer Security) is crucial for security in web communications; you can read more about it in the TLS Wikipedia article. These resources can deepen your comprehension of how HAProxy and similar tools leverage these technologies to provide efficient and secure web services.