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httphttpshaproxyhttp2

How can I enable HTTP/2 on HAProxy?

We have recently shifted from HTTP to HTTPS. As we have already moved to HTTPS, we are thinking of moving to HTTP/2 to get performance benefits.

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As explained above that requests between browser and LB are secured (HTTPS) while communication between LB and app server still using HTTP

What is the possibility of enabling HTTP /2 with the current setup? Can we enable HTTP/2 between browser and LB while communication between LB and app servers remain on HTTP?

Solution

  • 2017 update: HAProxy 1.8 supports HTTP/2

    From the 1.8 announcement:

    HAProxy 1.8 now supports HTTP/2 on the client side (in the frontend sections) and can act as a gateway between HTTP/2 clients and your HTTP/1.1 and HTTP/1.0 applications.

    You'll need the h2 directive in your haproxy.conf. From CertSimple's HAProxy HTTP/2 and dynamic load balancing guide:

    frontend myapp
  bind :443 ssl crt /path/to/cert.crt alpn h2,http/1.1
  mode http

    Older versions of HAProxy

    Older versions of HAProxy like 1.6 and 1.7 only support pass-through HTTP/2 - ie, directing traffic onto a seperate app server that supports HTTP/2. This is significantly more complicated - see other answers on how to do this. To terminate HTTP/2 and read the traffic on HAProxy, you'll need HAProxy 1.8.