Run as a service on Windows

You can install cloudflared as a system service on Windows.

​​ Configuring cloudflared as a service

By default, Cloudflare Tunnel expects all of the configuration to exist in the %USERPROFILE%\.cloudflared\config.yml configuration file . The available options are documented on the configuration file reference , but at a minimum you must specify the following arguments to run as a service:

​​ Running cloudflared as a service

1. Download the latest cloudflared version .

2. Create a new directory:

   C:\Cloudflared\bin

3. Copy the .exe file you downloaded in step 1 to the new directory and rename it to cloudflared.exe.

4. Open the CMD as an administrator and navigate to C:\Cloudflared\bin.

5. Run this command to install cloudflared:

   cloudflared.exe service install
   

6. Next, run this command to create another directory:

   mkdir C:\Windows\System32\config\systemprofile\.cloudflared

7. Now log in and authenticate cloudflared:

   cloudflared.exe login

8. The login command will generate a cert.pem file and save it to your user profile by default. Copy the file to the .cloudflared folder created in step 5 using this command:

   copy C:\Users\%USERNAME%\.cloudflared\cert.pem C:\Windows\System32\config\systemprofile\.cloudflared

9. Next, create a tunnel:

   cloudflared.exe tunnel create <Tunnel Name>
   

   This will generate a credentials file in .json format.

10. Create a configuration file with the following content:

    tunnel: <Tunnel ID>
    credentials-file: C:\Windows\System32\config\systemprofile\.cloudflared\<Tunnel-ID>.json
    # Uncomment the following two lines if you are using self-signed certificates in your origin server
    # originRequest:
    #   noTLSVerify: true
    ingress:
    - hostname: app.mydomain.com
        service: https://internal.mydomain.com
    - service: http_status:404
    logfile:  C:\Cloudflared\cloudflared.log

11. Copy the credentials file and the configuration file to the folder created in step 6:

    C:\Windows\System32\config\systemprofile\.cloudflared

12. Validate the ingress rule entries in your configuration file using the command:

    cloudflared.exe tunnel ingress validate

13. Edit the registry to run cloudflared as a service and point the cloudflared.exe file, the config.yml file and the command to run the tunnel as explained below:

    Move the registry entry under Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Cloudflared.

14. Locate imagepath and modify it as shown below. Make sure that there are no extra spaces or characters while you modify the registry entry, as this could cause problems with starting the service.

    C:\Cloudflared\bin\cloudflared.exe --config=C:\Windows\System32\config\systemprofile\.cloudflared\config.yml  tunnel run
    

15. If the service does not start, run the following command from C:\Cloudflared\bin:

    sc start cloudflared tunnel run

You will see the output below:

SERVICE_NAME: cloudflared
        TYPE               : 10  WIN32_OWN_PROCESS
        STATE              : 2  START_PENDING
                                (NOT_STOPPABLE, NOT_PAUSABLE, IGNORES_SHUTDOWN)
        WIN32_EXIT_CODE    : 0  (0x0)
        SERVICE_EXIT_CODE  : 0  (0x0)
        CHECKPOINT         : 0x0
        WAIT_HINT          : 0x7d0
        PID                : 3548
        FLAGS              :