Ferron - a fast, modern web server built for production debugging.

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Why Ferron?

Built to set up quickly, behave predictably, and hold up reliably in production.

• Readable configuration - set up websites and reverse proxies with a clear, compact config that avoids sprawl and hidden surprises.
• Automatic TLS - certificates are issued and renewed automatically. You get clear signals when it works (or doesn't).
• First-class observability - see exactly what happened with any request. Traces cover every layer and link directly to the relevant logs.
• Predictable performance - fast and consistent under load, right out of the box. No runtime tuning required.
• Memory-safe - entire categories of memory-related security holes simply don't exist in Ferron (it's built with Rust).
• Reliable in production - handles messy real-world traffic, upstream failures, and protocol edge cases predictably.

[!tip] Ferron is designed around two core principles: ease of setup (get a working config in minutes) and ease of debugging (when something goes wrong, find the root cause fast).

Configuration examples

Static file serving

example.com {
    root "/var/www/html"

    # If uncommented, directory listing is enabled.
    #directory_listing
}

Reverse proxy

api.example.com {
    proxy http://localhost:8080
}

More examples are available in the configuration documentation.

Installing Ferron (pre-built)

The most convenient way to get started with Ferron is to use the installer script for Linux:

sudo bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://get.ferron.sh/v3)"

See the full instructions in the Linux installation documentation.

Building from source

git clone https://github.com/ferronweb/ferron -b develop-3.x
cd ferron
git submodule update --init --recursive
cargo build --workspace

Run the server:

cargo run -p ferron -- run -c ferron.conf
cargo run -p ferron -- run -c ferron.conf --verbose  # with debug logging

Other CLI commands:

cargo run -p ferron -- validate -c ferron.conf   # validate without starting
cargo run -p ferron -- adapt -c ferron.conf      # output config as JSON
cargo run -p ferron -- daemon -c ferron.conf --pid-file /var/run/ferron.pid  # Unix daemon

Run tests and checks:

cargo test --workspace
cargo fmt --all --check
cargo clippy --workspace --all-targets -- -D warnings

Package Ferron for distribution (requires just):

just package # Archive (.zip for Windows, .tar.gz for Unix)
just package-deb # Debian package
just package-rpm # RPM package
just package-windows # Windows installer
just installer # Linux installer

Cross-build optimized binaries for Ferron (see README for the build files; available on Linux only):

just cross-build

Configuration

The full directive reference is in docs/configuration/.

Contributing

Feedback, bug reports, and testing are welcome. When reporting issues, include your configuration file, --verbose output, and steps to reproduce. See CONTRIBUTING.md for setup, checks, and guidelines.

License

MIT. See LICENSE for details.