--- title: Setup description: Create your first Cloudflare Tunnel and publish an application in under 5 minutes. image: https://developers.cloudflare.com/core-services-preview.png --- > Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://developers.cloudflare.com/tunnel/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. [Skip to content](#%5Ftop) # Setup Create a Cloudflare Tunnel and publish your first application in under 5 minutes. ## Prerequisites * A [Cloudflare account ↗](https://dash.cloudflare.com/sign-up) * A [domain on Cloudflare](https://developers.cloudflare.com/fundamentals/manage-domains/add-site/) (required to publish applications) * A server or VM with internet access where you will install `cloudflared` Tip If your server is behind a restrictive firewall, verify it can reach Cloudflare on port `7844` before proceeding. Refer to [Connection errors](https://developers.cloudflare.com/tunnel/troubleshooting/#connection-errors). ## Create a tunnel To create a new Cloudflare Tunnel: * [ Dashboard ](#tab-panel-8639) * [ API ](#tab-panel-8640) 1. In the [Cloudflare dashboard ↗](https://dash.cloudflare.com/), go to **Networking** \> **Tunnels**. [ Go to **Tunnels** ](https://dash.cloudflare.com/?to=/:account/tunnels) 2. Select **Create Tunnel**. 3. Enter a name for your tunnel (for example, `production-web` or `staging-api`). 4. Select **Create Tunnel**. 5. Under **Setup Environment**, select the operating system and architecture of your server. 6. Copy the install commands shown under **Install and Run** and run them in a terminal on your server. 7. Once the tunnel connects, select **Continue**. Your tunnel should appear on the **Tunnels** page with a `Healthy` [status](https://developers.cloudflare.com/tunnel/monitoring/#tunnel-health). 1. [Create an API token](https://developers.cloudflare.com/fundamentals/api/get-started/create-token/) with the following permissions: | Type | Item | Permission | | ------- | ----------------- | ---------- | | Account | Cloudflare Tunnel | Edit | | Zone | DNS | Edit | 2. Create a tunnel: Required API token permissions At least one of the following [token permissions](https://developers.cloudflare.com/fundamentals/api/reference/permissions/)is required: * `Cloudflare One Connectors Write` * `Cloudflare One Connector: cloudflared Write` * `Cloudflare Tunnel Write` Create a Cloudflare Tunnel ``` curl "https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/accounts/$ACCOUNT_ID/cfd_tunnel" \ --request POST \ --header "Authorization: Bearer $CLOUDFLARE_API_TOKEN" \ --json '{ "name": "api-tunnel", "config_src": "cloudflare" }' ``` 3. Copy the `id` and `token` values from the response. You will need them to configure and run the tunnel. ## Publish an application To make an application accessible from the Internet, add a published application route to your tunnel. The tunnel route maps a public hostname to a local service. * [ Dashboard ](#tab-panel-8641) * [ API ](#tab-panel-8642) 1. In the [Cloudflare dashboard ↗](https://dash.cloudflare.com/), go to **Networking** \> **Tunnels** and select your tunnel. [ Go to **Tunnels** ](https://dash.cloudflare.com/?to=/:account/tunnels) 2. Under **Routes**, select **Add route**. 3. Select **Published application**. 4. Under **Hostname**, enter a subdomain and select a domain from the drop-down menu. 5. For **Service URL**, enter the local address and port of your application. For example, if your web server runs on the same machine as `cloudflared`: * HTTP on port `80`: `http://localhost:80` * HTTPS on port `443`: `https://localhost:443` If your web server runs on a different machine: `http://192.0.2.1:80` 6. Select **Add route**. 1. Configure your tunnel's ingress rules: Required API token permissions At least one of the following [token permissions](https://developers.cloudflare.com/fundamentals/api/reference/permissions/)is required: * `Cloudflare One Connectors Write` * `Cloudflare One Connector: cloudflared Write` * `Cloudflare Tunnel Write` Put configuration ``` curl "https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/accounts/$ACCOUNT_ID/cfd_tunnel/$TUNNEL_ID/configurations" \ --request PUT \ --header "Authorization: Bearer $CLOUDFLARE_API_TOKEN" \ --json '{ "config": { "ingress": [ { "hostname": "app.example.com", "service": "http://localhost:80", "originRequest": {} }, { "service": "http_status:404" } ] } }' ``` Your ingress rules must include a catch-all rule at the end. In this example, `cloudflared` will respond with a 404 status code when the request does not match any hostname. 2. Create a DNS record for your application: Required API token permissions At least one of the following [token permissions](https://developers.cloudflare.com/fundamentals/api/reference/permissions/)is required: * `DNS Write` Create DNS Record ``` curl "https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/zones/$ZONE_ID/dns_records" \ --request POST \ --header "Authorization: Bearer $CLOUDFLARE_API_TOKEN" \ --json '{ "type": "CNAME", "proxied": true, "name": "app.example.com", "content": ".cfargotunnel.com" }' ``` 3. Install `cloudflared` on your server and run the tunnel using the `token` obtained in [Create a tunnel](https://developers.cloudflare.com/tunnel/setup/#create-a-tunnel): * [ Linux ](#tab-panel-8635) * [ Windows ](#tab-panel-8636) * [ macOS ](#tab-panel-8637) * [ Docker ](#tab-panel-8638) 1. [Download and install ↗](https://pkg.cloudflare.com/index.html) `cloudflared`. 2. Run the following command: Terminal window ``` sudo cloudflared service install ``` 1. [Download and install](https://developers.cloudflare.com/cloudflare-one/networks/connectors/cloudflare-tunnel/downloads/#windows) `cloudflared`. 2. Open Command Prompt as administrator. 3. Run the following command: ``` cloudflared.exe service install ``` 1. [Download and install](https://developers.cloudflare.com/cloudflare-one/networks/connectors/cloudflare-tunnel/downloads/#macos) `cloudflared`. 2. Open a terminal window and run the following command: Terminal window ``` sudo cloudflared service install ``` 1. Open a terminal window. 2. Run the following command: Terminal window ``` docker run cloudflare/cloudflared:latest tunnel --no-autoupdate run --token ``` Your application is now live at the hostname you configured. Cloudflare automatically proxies traffic through its network, applying CDN caching, WAF, and DDoS protection. Note Non-HTTP services (SSH, TCP, RDP) require `cloudflared` on the client side. Refer to the [protocols reference](https://developers.cloudflare.com/tunnel/routing/#supported-protocols) for details. ## Quick tunnels (development) For local development, you can instantly expose localhost without a Cloudflare account: Terminal window ``` cloudflared tunnel --url http://localhost:8080 ``` This generates a random `trycloudflare.com` subdomain that proxies traffic to your local server. Quick tunnels are for testing only — they have a 200 concurrent request limit and do not support Server-Sent Events (SSE). For production use, [create a tunnel](#create-a-tunnel) instead. ## Next steps * [Routing](https://developers.cloudflare.com/tunnel/routing/) — Configure DNS records, load balancers, and protocol support. * [Configuration](https://developers.cloudflare.com/tunnel/configuration/) — Deploy replicas, manage tokens, and tune performance. * [Deployment guides](https://developers.cloudflare.com/tunnel/deployment-guides/) — Deploy on Kubernetes, AWS, GCP, Terraform, and more. * [Troubleshooting](https://developers.cloudflare.com/tunnel/troubleshooting/) — Resolve common errors and connectivity issues. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/directory/","name":"Directory"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tunnel/","name":"Cloudflare Tunnel"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"/tunnel/setup/","name":"Setup"}}]} ```