Capacity and timeouts

The plugin counts visitors, not requests: a browser that keeps the cookie counts once, whatever the number of requests it sends.

Options

Option	Default	Role
maxEntries	100	Number of visitors allowed in at the same time
inactivityTimeoutSeconds	60	An active visitor who sends no request for this long loses their slot
hardSessionLimitSeconds	0 (off)	Maximum time in the service, even for a busy visitor
cleanupIntervalSeconds	30	How often the plugin frees slots and lets in the head of the queue
refreshIntervalSeconds	20	How often the waiting page reloads
cookieMaxAgeSeconds	3600	Lifetime of the cookie in the browser

Example: 300 visitors, 5 minutes of inactivity, 1 hour at most.

labels:
  - traefik.http.middlewares.queue.plugin.queuemanager.maxEntries=300
  - traefik.http.middlewares.queue.plugin.queuemanager.inactivityTimeoutSeconds=300
  - traefik.http.middlewares.queue.plugin.queuemanager.hardSessionLimitSeconds=3600

Choose the values

• maxEntries: start below what the service handles under load, then raise it.
• inactivityTimeoutSeconds: every request through the router keeps the slot. Too short, a visitor reading a long page goes back to the queue. Too long, idle visitors hold slots.
• hardSessionLimitSeconds: counts from entry, or from the exit of the queue. When it is reached, the visitor goes back to the queue unless a slot is free.
• cleanupIntervalSeconds: the queue mostly moves at each cleanup. A wait can last this long after a slot frees up.
• refreshIntervalSeconds: keep it well below inactivityTimeoutSeconds. A visitor let in must send a request before the inactivity timeout, otherwise they lose the slot before seeing it.
• cookieMaxAgeSeconds: the cookie is not renewed. When it expires, the visitor becomes a new one, at the end of the queue. Make it longer than a wait plus a session.

The wait time shown to visitors is an approximation computed from the position, not a measurement. Its floor is minWaitTimeMinutes (1).

Turn the queue off

Set enabled=false to let every request through without removing the middleware. The rate limit is off too.

Full list: Configuration reference.