---
title: kube-proxy
id: kube-proxy
date: 2018-04-12
full_link: /docs/reference/command-line-tools-reference/kube-proxy/
short_description: >
  `kube-proxy` is a network proxy that runs on each node in the cluster.

aka:
tags:
- fundamental
- networking
---
 kube-proxy is a network proxy that runs on each
{{< glossary_tooltip text="node" term_id="node" >}} in your cluster,
implementing part of the Kubernetes
{{< glossary_tooltip term_id="service">}} concept.

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[kube-proxy](/docs/reference/command-line-tools-reference/kube-proxy/)
maintains network rules on nodes. These network rules allow network
communication to your Pods from network sessions inside or outside of
your cluster.

kube-proxy uses the operating system packet filtering layer if there is one
and it's available. Otherwise, kube-proxy forwards the traffic itself.