Ingress NGINX Retirement and Migration to Traefik v3
As part of our commitment to security and modern infrastructure, SmartMakers is announcing a strategic transition for the thingsHub ingress architecture. This guide outlines why we are moving away from Ingress-NGINX and how on-prem customers can migrate to the new Traefik v3 based system.
Why Traefik v3?
The industry-standard ingress-nginx controller is scheduled for official retirement in March 2026. Post-retirement, it will no longer receive security patches or compatibility updates for new Kubernetes versions.
To ensure our customers remain secure and future-proof, we have selected Traefik v3 as our primary ingress controller.
Key Benefits for On-Premise Deployments:
Future-Ready: Full support for the Kubernetes Gateway API, the next generation of cluster networking.
Operational Simplicity: A single, stateless binary that is easier to manage than multi-component architectures.
Built-in Visibility: Native real-time dashboard for immediate insights into route health and connectivity.
Performance: written in Go, providing high efficiency and reliability for high-density device environments.
Natively Compatible: Traefik v3 provides a specialized compatibility layer for existing NGINX annotations, making the initial transition smoother.
Migration Timeline
thingsHub 8.2+ (Available from end of February 2026): Introduction of "Parallel Coexistence." Our Helm charts now support both controllers simultaneously.
thingsHub 9.0 (Upcoming): Official removal of Ingress-NGINX support. All clusters must be migrated to Traefik v3 by this release to maintain support.
The "Parallel Coexistence" Strategy
Starting with thingsHub 8.2, our platform supports a zero-downtime migration path. We deploy resources for both controllers at the same time, allowing you to verify the new path before switching traffic.
The 7-Step Migration Workflow
Install Traefik Controller: Install the Traefik v3 controller alongside your existing Ingress-NGINX installation.
Upgrade thingsHub: Move to thingsHub 8.2 or later. This will automatically deploy Traefik-compatible resources (Middlewares and IngressRoutes) in parallel with your legacy Ingress objects.
Pre-Switch Verification: Test connectivity through the new Traefik LoadBalancer IP or internal hostnames.
DNS Switchover: Update your DNS records (e.g.,
*.example.com) to point to the Traefik LoadBalancer.Monitor & Validate: Ensure all services and device check-ins are functioning correctly.
Legacy Cleanup: Once verified, you can safely uninstall the legacy Ingress-NGINX controller.
Migration Complete: Your cluster is now modernized and secured for the long term.
The full guide on deploying (or configuring) the Traefik v3 controller for the Thingshub Cluster is available here: Ingress Controller for Thingshub Deployments (Traefik)
From NGINX to Traefik
Traefik v3 replaces legacy NGINX "annotations" with modular Middleware resources.
Feature | NGINX Annotation | Traefik v3 (Middleware) |
|---|---|---|
Security Headers |
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Body Size Limits |
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Path Rewrites |
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Timeouts |
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Note: All migration-specific CRDs are included in the latest thingsHub Helm charts. No manual CRD creation is required if you use our standard installation paths.
Support & Safety Net
We understand that infrastructure changes are critical. Our migration strategy is designed with a "Safety First" approach:
Zero-Downtime: The parallel deployment ensures no traffic is dropped during the upgrade.
Rollback Path: If any issues are encountered during Step 4 (DNS Switch), simply revert your DNS records to the NGINX LoadBalancer to restore the previous state immediately.
Support: Our engineering team is ready to assist with any distribution-specific challenges (RKE, GKE, EKS, etc.).
For assistance, please reach out to your account manager or email support@smartmakers.de.