Automatically starting Argo Tunnel

Argo Tunnel can install itself as a system service on Linux and Windows and as a launch agent on macOS.

By default, Argo Tunnel expects all of the configuration to exist in the cloudflared/config.yml configuration file. The available options are documented on the configuration file reference, but at a minimum you should set hostname and url.

​Linux

Run the following command:

$ sudo cloudflared service install

If you have already logged in and have a certificate and (optionally) configuration file in ~/.cloudflared/, these will be copied to /etc/cloudflared/. If you do not have a configuration file, you will need to create a config.yml file in the etc/cloudflared directory. The file must contain at least the following arguments:

hostname: tunnel.yourdomain.comurl: https://localhost:8000logfile: /var/log/cloudflared.log

Sometimes firewalls or unusual network configuration can prevent cloudflared from automatically installing the certificate. If this occurs, your browser will download the certificate as a file named cert.pem after you login. You should see it in your browser's standard list of downloaded files. You'll need to move that cert.pem file from your browser's downloads folder into the ~/.cloudflared folder. Copy and paste the following command to move the certificate to the ~/.cloudflared directory on your system.

$ mv cert.pem ~/.cloudflared/cert.pem

​macOS

To run at login, open a Terminal and run the following command:

$ cloudflared service install

Argo Tunnel will be installed as a launch agent, and start whenever you log in, using your local user configuration found in ~/.cloudflared/.

You can manually start the service by running:

$ launchctl start com.cloudflare.cloudflared

Output will be logged to ~/Library/Logs/com.cloudflare.cloudflared.err.log and ~/Library/Logs/com.cloudflare.cloudflared.out.log.

If you wish to run at boot, open a Terminal and run the following command:

$ sudo cloudflared service install

Argo Tunnel will be installed as a launch daemon, and start whenever your system boots, using your configuration found in /etc/cloudflared.

You can manually start the service by running:

$ sudo launchctl start com.cloudflare.cloudflared

Output will be logged to /Library/Logs/com.cloudflare.cloudflared.err.log and /Library/Logs/com.cloudflare.cloudflared.out.log.

​Windows

Open a Command Prompt with Administrator privileges, then type the following command:

PS C:\Cloudflared> .\cloudflared.exe service install

When running as a service, Argo Tunnel expects its configuration at C:\Windows\system32\config\systemprofile\.cloudflared\config.yml (assuming Windows is installed to C:). You can copy your local configuration from %UserProfile%\.cloudflared\config.yml.

If you need to specify a custom config file location, you can do so in the the Windows registry after the service has been installed (MSDN referenceOpen external link). Open regedit, go to the registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Cloudflared, and edit the ImagePath value to include --config <path-to-config>.

To start the service, go to Service Manager and start the Argo Tunnel agent service, or run the following command:

C:\> sc start cloudflared

If you are a Powershell user, run this command instead:

PS C:> Start-Service cloudflared