Socket Proxy

Note

A Docker socket proxy is a small container that sits between Arcane and the Docker socket and only forwards the Docker API calls you allow. Mounting /var/run/docker.sock directly gives Arcane full control of Docker; with a proxy, Arcane gets only what it needs, and the socket itself is mounted read-only in the proxy.

This page assumes you’ve read Installation, which covers the encryption key, the projects folder, starting Arcane, and the first login.

Set up the proxy

1. Create a compose.yaml with one of the examples below. wollomatic/socket-proxy is recommended and is what the compose generator produces. Use Tecnativa only if you already run it.
2. Replace <your-encryption-key> with your key and /opt/docker with your projects folder.
3. Run docker compose up -d. The proxy starts first, then Arcane connects to it.

Arcane uses the proxy because of this one setting:

DOCKER_HOST=tcp://docker-socket-proxy:2375

Note

On SELinux hosts, add :z to bind mounts that Arcane manages on the host, such as the projects, builds, and backups folders. You don’t need label:disable with a proxy; that is only for mounting the socket directly.

wollomatic/socket-proxy

services:
  docker-socket-proxy:
    image: wollomatic/socket-proxy:1.13.1
    container_name: arcane-docker-proxy
    user: '0:0'
    command:
      - '-listenip=0.0.0.0'
      - '-allowfrom=arcane'
      - '-allowhealthcheck'
      - '-allowGET=(/v[\d.]+)?/_ping'
      - '-allowGET=(/v[\d.]+)?/events(/.*)?'
      - '-allowGET=(/v[\d.]+)?/version'
      - '-allowGET=(/v[\d.]+)?/info(/.*)?'
      - '-allowGET=(/v[\d.]+)?/containers(/.*)?'
      - '-allowGET=(/v[\d.]+)?/exec(/.*)?'
      - '-allowGET=(/v[\d.]+)?/images(/.*)?'
      - '-allowGET=(/v[\d.]+)?/networks(/.*)?'
      - '-allowGET=(/v[\d.]+)?/volumes(/.*)?'
      - '-allowGET=(/v[\d.]+)?/distribution(/.*)?'
      - '-allowGET=(/v[\d.]+)?/swarm(/.*)?'
      - '-allowGET=(/v[\d.]+)?/nodes(/.*)?'
      - '-allowGET=(/v[\d.]+)?/services(/.*)?'
      - '-allowGET=(/v[\d.]+)?/tasks(/.*)?'
      - '-allowGET=(/v[\d.]+)?/secrets(/.*)?'
      - '-allowGET=(/v[\d.]+)?/configs(/.*)?'
      - '-allowHEAD=(/v[\d.]+)?/_ping'
      - '-allowHEAD=(/v[\d.]+)?/version'
      - '-allowPOST=(/v[\d.]+)?/containers(/.*)?'
      - '-allowPOST=(/v[\d.]+)?/exec(/.*)?'
      - '-allowPOST=(/v[\d.]+)?/images(/.*)?'
      - '-allowPOST=(/v[\d.]+)?/networks(/.*)?'
      - '-allowPOST=(/v[\d.]+)?/volumes(/.*)?'
      - '-allowPOST=(/v[\d.]+)?/commit'
      - '-allowPOST=(/v[\d.]+)?/build(/.*)?'
      - '-allowPOST=(/v[\d.]+)?/session'
      - '-allowPOST=(/v[\d.]+)?/grpc'
      - '-allowPOST=(/v[\d.]+)?/auth'
      - '-allowPOST=(/v[\d.]+)?/swarm(/.*)?'
      - '-allowPOST=(/v[\d.]+)?/nodes(/.*)?'
      - '-allowPOST=(/v[\d.]+)?/services(/.*)?'
      - '-allowPOST=(/v[\d.]+)?/secrets(/.*)?'
      - '-allowPOST=(/v[\d.]+)?/configs(/.*)?'
      - '-allowPUT=(/v[\d.]+)?/containers(/.*)?'
      - '-allowDELETE=(/v[\d.]+)?/containers(/.*)?'
      - '-allowDELETE=(/v[\d.]+)?/images(/.*)?'
      - '-allowDELETE=(/v[\d.]+)?/networks(/.*)?'
      - '-allowDELETE=(/v[\d.]+)?/volumes(/.*)?'
      - '-allowDELETE=(/v[\d.]+)?/nodes(/.*)?'
      - '-allowDELETE=(/v[\d.]+)?/services(/.*)?'
      - '-allowDELETE=(/v[\d.]+)?/secrets(/.*)?'
      - '-allowDELETE=(/v[\d.]+)?/configs(/.*)?'
    volumes:
      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock:ro
    read_only: true
    cap_drop:
      - ALL
    security_opt:
      - no-new-privileges:true
    healthcheck:
      test: ['CMD', './healthcheck']
      interval: 2s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 15
    networks:
      - arcane-internal
    restart: unless-stopped

  arcane:
    image: ghcr.io/getarcaneapp/manager:latest
    container_name: arcane
    ports:
      - '3552:3552'
    volumes:
      - arcane-data:/app/data
      - /opt/docker:/opt/docker:z
    environment:
      - ENCRYPTION_KEY=<your-encryption-key>
      - PROJECTS_DIRECTORY=/opt/docker
      - DOCKER_HOST=tcp://docker-socket-proxy:2375
    networks:
      - arcane-internal
    depends_on:
      - docker-socket-proxy
    healthcheck:
      test: ['CMD', './arcane', 'health', '--timeout', '2s']
      interval: 10s
      timeout: 3s
      retries: 5
      start_period: 15s
    restart: unless-stopped

networks:
  arcane-internal:
    driver: bridge
    name: arcane-internal

volumes:
  arcane-data:
    name: arcane-data

wollomatic blocks every request unless its HTTP method and path are allowed. This allowlist is the minimum Arcane needs, including Swarm, image builds, commits, and image update checks:

Method	Allowed paths
GET	ping, events, version, info, containers, exec, images, networks, volumes, distribution, swarm, nodes, services, tasks, secrets, configs
HEAD	ping, version
POST	containers, exec, images, networks, volumes, commit, build, BuildKit (/session, /grpc), registry auth, swarm, nodes, services, secrets, configs
PUT	container archives
DELETE	containers, images, networks, volumes, nodes, services, secrets, configs

-allowfrom=arcane accepts connections only from the Arcane container, and -allowhealthcheck is needed for the proxy’s healthcheck.

Tecnativa docker-socket-proxy

services:
  docker-socket-proxy:
    image: tecnativa/docker-socket-proxy:latest
    container_name: arcane-docker-proxy
    environment:
      - EVENTS=1
      - PING=1
      - VERSION=1
      - AUTH=0
      - SECRETS=0
      - POST=1
      - BUILD=0
      - COMMIT=0
      - CONFIGS=0
      - CONTAINERS=1
      - DISTRIBUTION=1
      - EXEC=1
      - IMAGES=1
      - INFO=1
      - NETWORKS=1
      - NODES=0
      - PLUGINS=0
      - SERVICES=0
      - SESSION=0
      - SWARM=0
      - SYSTEM=0
      - TASKS=0
      - VOLUMES=1
    volumes:
      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock:ro
    networks:
      - arcane-internal
    restart: unless-stopped
    security_opt:
      - no-new-privileges:true

  arcane:
    image: ghcr.io/getarcaneapp/manager:latest
    container_name: arcane
    ports:
      - '3552:3552'
    volumes:
      - arcane-data:/app/data
      - /opt/docker:/opt/docker:z
    environment:
      - ENCRYPTION_KEY=<your-encryption-key>
      - PROJECTS_DIRECTORY=/opt/docker
      - DOCKER_HOST=tcp://docker-socket-proxy:2375
    networks:
      - arcane-internal
    depends_on:
      - docker-socket-proxy
    healthcheck:
      test: ['CMD', './arcane', 'health', '--timeout', '2s']
      interval: 10s
      timeout: 3s
      retries: 5
      start_period: 15s
    restart: unless-stopped

networks:
  arcane-internal:
    driver: bridge
    name: arcane-internal

volumes:
  arcane-data:
    name: arcane-data

Tecnativa uses environment variables as switches: 1 allows an API section, 0 blocks it.

Variable	Value	Why
EVENTS, CONTAINERS, EXEC, IMAGES, NETWORKS, VOLUMES	1	Watch Docker activity and manage containers, images, networks, and volumes.
POST	1	Create and change resources. Without it the proxy is read-only.
DISTRIBUTION	1	Inspect images and check for image updates.
PING, VERSION, INFO	1	Health checks and Docker version and system info.
AUTH, SECRETS	0	Block authentication and Docker secrets APIs.
BUILD, COMMIT, CONFIGS, NODES, SERVICES, SWARM, TASKS	0	Block image builds, commits, and Swarm.
PLUGINS, SESSION, SYSTEM	0	Block plugin, session, and system-wide APIs.

Note

This is narrower than the wollomatic allowlist. To use Swarm, image builds, or commits through Tecnativa, set BUILD, COMMIT, SWARM, NODES, SERVICES, TASKS, SECRETS, and CONFIGS to 1.