skipper Installation Guide Installation Guide

skipper is a free and open-source HTTP router. Skipper provides HTTP router and reverse proxy for service composition

Hardware Requirements:

CPU: 1 core minimum

RAM: 512MB minimum

Storage: 1GB for config

Network: HTTP/HTTPS

Operating System:

Linux: Any modern distribution (RHEL, Debian, Ubuntu, CentOS, Fedora, Arch, Alpine, openSUSE)

macOS: 10.14+ (Mojave or newer)

Windows: Windows Server 2016+ or Windows 10

FreeBSD: 11.0+

Network Requirements:

Port 9090 (default skipper port)

None

Dependencies:

See official documentation for specific requirements

System Access: root or sudo privileges required

This guide supports installation on:

RHEL 8/9 and derivatives (CentOS Stream, Rocky Linux, AlmaLinux)

Debian 11/12

Ubuntu 20.04/22.04/24.04 LTS

Arch Linux (rolling release)

Alpine Linux 3.18+

openSUSE Leap 15.5+ / Tumbleweed

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) 15+

macOS 12+ (Monterey and later)

FreeBSD 13+

Windows 10/11/Server 2019+ (where applicable)

bash

# Install EPEL repository if needed
sudo dnf install -y epel-release

# Install skipper
sudo dnf install -y skipper

# Enable and start service
sudo systemctl enable --now skipper

# Configure firewall
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=9090/tcp
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

# Verify installation
skipper --version

bash

# Update package index
sudo apt update

# Install skipper
sudo apt install -y skipper

# Enable and start service
sudo systemctl enable --now skipper

# Configure firewall
sudo ufw allow 9090

# Verify installation
skipper --version

bash

# Install skipper
sudo pacman -S skipper

# Enable and start service
sudo systemctl enable --now skipper

# Verify installation
skipper --version

bash

# Install skipper
apk add --no-cache skipper

# Enable and start service
rc-update add skipper default
rc-service skipper start

# Verify installation
skipper --version

bash

# Install skipper
sudo zypper install -y skipper

# Enable and start service
sudo systemctl enable --now skipper

# Configure firewall
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=9090/tcp
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

# Verify installation
skipper --version

bash

# Using Homebrew
brew install skipper

# Start service
brew services start skipper

# Verify installation
skipper --version

bash

# Using pkg
pkg install skipper

# Enable in rc.conf
echo 'skipper_enable="YES"' >> /etc/rc.conf

# Start service
service skipper start

# Verify installation
skipper --version

bash

# Using Chocolatey
choco install skipper

# Or using Scoop
scoop install skipper

# Verify installation
skipper --version

bash

# Create configuration directory
sudo mkdir -p /etc/skipper

# Set up basic configuration
# See official documentation for detailed configuration options

# Test configuration
skipper --version

bash

# Enable service
sudo systemctl enable skipper

# Start service
sudo systemctl start skipper

# Stop service
sudo systemctl stop skipper

# Restart service
sudo systemctl restart skipper

# Check status
sudo systemctl status skipper

# View logs
sudo journalctl -u skipper -f

bash

# Enable service
rc-update add skipper default

# Start service
rc-service skipper start

# Stop service
rc-service skipper stop

# Restart service
rc-service skipper restart

# Check status
rc-service skipper status

bash

# Enable in /etc/rc.conf
echo 'skipper_enable="YES"' >> /etc/rc.conf

# Start service
service skipper start

# Stop service
service skipper stop

# Restart service
service skipper restart

# Check status
service skipper status

bash

# Using Homebrew services
brew services start skipper
brew services stop skipper
brew services restart skipper

# Check status
brew services list | grep skipper

powershell

# Start service
net start skipper

# Stop service
net stop skipper

# Using PowerShell
Start-Service skipper
Stop-Service skipper
Restart-Service skipper

# Check status
Get-Service skipper

See the official documentation for advanced configuration options.

nginx

upstream skipper_backend {
    server 127.0.0.1:9090;
}

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name skipper.example.com;
    return 301 https://$server_name$request_uri;
}

server {
    listen 443 ssl http2;
    server_name skipper.example.com;

    ssl_certificate /etc/ssl/certs/skipper.example.com.crt;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/ssl/private/skipper.example.com.key;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://skipper_backend;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
    }
}

apache

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName skipper.example.com
    Redirect permanent / https://skipper.example.com/
</VirtualHost>

<VirtualHost *:443>
    ServerName skipper.example.com
    
    SSLEngine on
    SSLCertificateFile /etc/ssl/certs/skipper.example.com.crt
    SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/ssl/private/skipper.example.com.key
    
    ProxyRequests Off
    ProxyPreserveHost On
    
    ProxyPass / http://127.0.0.1:9090/
    ProxyPassReverse / http://127.0.0.1:9090/
</VirtualHost>

haproxy

frontend skipper_frontend
    bind *:80
    bind *:443 ssl crt /etc/ssl/certs/skipper.pem
    redirect scheme https if !{ ssl_fc }
    default_backend skipper_backend

backend skipper_backend
    balance roundrobin
    server skipper1 127.0.0.1:9090 check

bash

# Set appropriate permissions
sudo chown -R skipper:skipper /etc/skipper
sudo chmod 750 /etc/skipper

# Configure firewall
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=9090/tcp
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

# Enable SELinux policies (if applicable)
sudo setsebool -P httpd_can_network_connect on

See official documentation for database configuration requirements.

bash

# Basic system tuning
echo 'net.core.somaxconn = 65535' | sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.conf
echo 'net.ipv4.tcp_max_syn_backlog = 65535' | sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.conf
sudo sysctl -p

bash

# Check service status
sudo systemctl status skipper

# View logs
sudo journalctl -u skipper -f

# Monitor resource usage
top -p $(pgrep skipper)

bash

#!/bin/bash
# Basic backup script
BACKUP_DIR="/backup/skipper"
DATE=$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S)

mkdir -p "$BACKUP_DIR"
tar -czf "$BACKUP_DIR/skipper-backup-$DATE.tar.gz" /etc/skipper /var/lib/skipper

echo "Backup completed: $BACKUP_DIR/skipper-backup-$DATE.tar.gz"

bash

# Stop service
sudo systemctl stop skipper

# Restore from backup
tar -xzf /backup/skipper/skipper-backup-*.tar.gz -C /

# Start service
sudo systemctl start skipper

1. Service won't start:

bash

# Check logs
sudo journalctl -u skipper -n 100
sudo tail -f /var/log/skipper/skipper.log

# Check configuration
skipper --version

# Check permissions
ls -la /etc/skipper

2. Connection issues:

bash

# Check if service is listening
sudo ss -tlnp | grep 9090

# Test connectivity
telnet localhost 9090

# Check firewall
sudo firewall-cmd --list-all

3. Performance issues:

bash

# Check resource usage
top -p $(pgrep skipper)

# Check disk I/O
iotop -p $(pgrep skipper)

# Check connections
ss -an | grep 9090

yaml

version: '3.8'
services:
  skipper:
    image: skipper:latest
    ports:
      - "9090:9090"
    volumes:
      - ./config:/etc/skipper
      - ./data:/var/lib/skipper
    restart: unless-stopped

Maintenance

bash

# RHEL/CentOS/Rocky/AlmaLinux
sudo dnf update skipper

# Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade skipper

# Arch Linux
sudo pacman -Syu skipper

# Alpine Linux
apk update && apk upgrade skipper

# openSUSE
sudo zypper update skipper

# FreeBSD
pkg update && pkg upgrade skipper

# Always backup before updates
tar -czf /backup/skipper-pre-update-$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz /etc/skipper

# Restart after updates
sudo systemctl restart skipper

Regular Maintenance

bash

# Log rotation
sudo logrotate -f /etc/logrotate.d/skipper

# Clean old logs
find /var/log/skipper -name "*.log" -mtime +30 -delete

# Check disk usage
du -sh /var/lib/skipper

Official Documentation: https://docs.skipper.org/

GitHub Repository: https://github.com/skipper/skipper

Community Forum: https://forum.skipper.org/

Best Practices Guide: https://docs.skipper.org/best-practices

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Note: This guide is part of the HowToMgr collection. Always refer to official documentation for the most up-to-date information.

1. Prerequisites

2. Supported Operating Systems

3. Installation

RHEL/CentOS/Rocky Linux/AlmaLinux

Debian/Ubuntu

Arch Linux

Alpine Linux

openSUSE/SLES

macOS

FreeBSD

Windows

Initial Configuration

Basic Configuration

5. Service Management

systemd (RHEL, Debian, Ubuntu, Arch, openSUSE)

OpenRC (Alpine Linux)

rc.d (FreeBSD)

launchd (macOS)

Windows Service Manager

Advanced Configuration

Reverse Proxy Setup

nginx Configuration

Apache Configuration

HAProxy Configuration

Security Configuration

Basic Security Setup

Database Setup

Performance Optimization

System Tuning

Monitoring

Basic Monitoring

9. Backup and Restore

Backup Script

Restore Procedure

6. Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Integration Examples

Docker Compose Example

Maintenance

Update Procedures

Regular Maintenance

Additional Resources

Related Reverse proxies Guides

Traefik Installation Guide

vulcand Installation Guide