182 lines
8.7 KiB
Markdown
182 lines
8.7 KiB
Markdown
---
|
|
layout: blog
|
|
title: Kubernetes Gateway API Graduates to Beta
|
|
date: 2022-07-13
|
|
slug: gateway-api-graduates-to-beta
|
|
canonicalUrl: https://gateway-api.sigs.k8s.io/blog/2022/graduating-to-beta/
|
|
author: >
|
|
Shane Utt (Kong),
|
|
Rob Scott (Google),
|
|
Nick Young (VMware),
|
|
Jeff Apple (HashiCorp)
|
|
---
|
|
|
|
We are excited to announce the v0.5.0 release of Gateway API. For the first
|
|
time, several of our most important Gateway API resources are graduating to
|
|
beta. Additionally, we are starting a new initiative to explore how Gateway API
|
|
can be used for mesh and introducing new experimental concepts such as URL
|
|
rewrites. We'll cover all of this and more below.
|
|
|
|
## What is Gateway API?
|
|
|
|
Gateway API is a collection of resources centered around [Gateway][gw] resources
|
|
(which represent the underlying network gateways / proxy servers) to enable
|
|
robust Kubernetes service networking through expressive, extensible and
|
|
role-oriented interfaces that are implemented by many vendors and have broad
|
|
industry support.
|
|
|
|
Originally conceived as a successor to the well known [Ingress][ing] API, the
|
|
benefits of Gateway API include (but are not limited to) explicit support for
|
|
many commonly used networking protocols (e.g. `HTTP`, `TLS`, `TCP`, `UDP`) as
|
|
well as tightly integrated support for Transport Layer Security (TLS). The
|
|
`Gateway` resource in particular enables implementations to manage the lifecycle
|
|
of network gateways as a Kubernetes API.
|
|
|
|
If you're an end-user interested in some of the benefits of Gateway API we
|
|
invite you to jump in and find an implementation that suits you. At the time of
|
|
this release there are over a dozen [implementations][impl] for popular API
|
|
gateways and service meshes and guides are available to start exploring quickly.
|
|
|
|
[gw]:https://gateway-api.sigs.k8s.io/api-types/gateway/
|
|
[ing]:https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/kubernetes-api/service-resources/ingress-v1/
|
|
[impl]:https://gateway-api.sigs.k8s.io/implementations/
|
|
|
|
### Getting started
|
|
|
|
Gateway API is an official Kubernetes API like
|
|
[Ingress](/docs/concepts/services-networking/ingress/).
|
|
Gateway API represents a superset of Ingress functionality, enabling more
|
|
advanced concepts. Similar to Ingress, there is no default implementation of
|
|
Gateway API built into Kubernetes. Instead, there are many different
|
|
[implementations][impl] available, providing significant choice in terms of underlying
|
|
technologies while providing a consistent and portable experience.
|
|
|
|
Take a look at the [API concepts documentation][concepts] and check out some of
|
|
the [Guides][guides] to start familiarizing yourself with the APIs and how they
|
|
work. When you're ready for a practical application open the [implementations
|
|
page][impl] and select an implementation that belongs to an existing technology
|
|
you may already be familiar with or the one your cluster provider uses as a
|
|
default (if applicable). Gateway API is a [Custom Resource Definition
|
|
(CRD)][crd] based API so you'll need to [install the CRDs][install-crds] onto a
|
|
cluster to use the API.
|
|
|
|
If you're specifically interested in helping to contribute to Gateway API, we
|
|
would love to have you! Please feel free to [open a new issue][issue] on the
|
|
repository, or join in the [discussions][disc]. Also check out the [community
|
|
page][community] which includes links to the Slack channel and community meetings.
|
|
|
|
[crd]:https://kubernetes.io/docs/tasks/extend-kubernetes/custom-resources/custom-resource-definitions/
|
|
[concepts]:https://gateway-api.sigs.k8s.io/concepts/api-overview/
|
|
[guides]:https://gateway-api.sigs.k8s.io/guides/getting-started/
|
|
[impl]:https://gateway-api.sigs.k8s.io/implementations/
|
|
[install-crds]:https://gateway-api.sigs.k8s.io/guides/getting-started/#install-the-crds
|
|
[issue]:https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/gateway-api/issues/new/choose
|
|
[disc]:https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/gateway-api/discussions
|
|
[community]:https://gateway-api.sigs.k8s.io/contributing/community/
|
|
|
|
## Release highlights
|
|
|
|
### Graduation to beta
|
|
|
|
The `v0.5.0` release is particularly historic because it marks the growth in
|
|
maturity to a beta API version (`v1beta1`) release for some of the key APIs:
|
|
|
|
- [GatewayClass](https://gateway-api.sigs.k8s.io/api-types/gatewayclass/)
|
|
- [Gateway](https://gateway-api.sigs.k8s.io/api-types/gateway/)
|
|
- [HTTPRoute](https://gateway-api.sigs.k8s.io/api-types/httproute/)
|
|
|
|
This achievement was marked by the completion of several graduation criteria:
|
|
|
|
- API has been [widely implemented][impl].
|
|
- Conformance tests provide basic coverage for all resources and have multiple implementations passing tests.
|
|
- Most of the API surface is actively being used.
|
|
- Kubernetes SIG Network API reviewers have approved graduation to beta.
|
|
|
|
For more information on Gateway API versioning, refer to the [official
|
|
documentation](https://gateway-api.sigs.k8s.io/concepts/versioning/). To see
|
|
what's in store for future releases check out the [next steps](#next-steps)
|
|
section.
|
|
|
|
[impl]:https://gateway-api.sigs.k8s.io/implementations/
|
|
|
|
### Release channels
|
|
|
|
This release introduces the `experimental` and `standard` [release channels][ch]
|
|
which enable a better balance of maintaining stability while still enabling
|
|
experimentation and iterative development.
|
|
|
|
The `standard` release channel includes:
|
|
|
|
- resources that have graduated to beta
|
|
- fields that have graduated to standard (no longer considered experimental)
|
|
|
|
The `experimental` release channel includes everything in the `standard` release
|
|
channel, plus:
|
|
|
|
- `alpha` API resources
|
|
- fields that are considered experimental and have not graduated to `standard` channel
|
|
|
|
Release channels are used internally to enable iterative development with
|
|
quick turnaround, and externally to indicate feature stability to implementors
|
|
and end-users.
|
|
|
|
For this release we've added the following experimental features:
|
|
|
|
- [Routes can attach to Gateways by specifying port numbers](https://gateway-api.sigs.k8s.io/geps/gep-957/)
|
|
- [URL rewrites and path redirects](https://gateway-api.sigs.k8s.io/geps/gep-726/)
|
|
|
|
[ch]:https://gateway-api.sigs.k8s.io/concepts/versioning/#release-channels-eg-experimental-standard
|
|
|
|
### Other improvements
|
|
|
|
For an exhaustive list of changes included in the `v0.5.0` release, please see
|
|
the [v0.5.0 release notes](https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/gateway-api/releases/tag/v0.5.0).
|
|
|
|
## Gateway API for service mesh: the GAMMA Initiative
|
|
Some service mesh projects have [already implemented support for the Gateway
|
|
API](https://gateway-api.sigs.k8s.io/implementations/). Significant overlap
|
|
between the Service Mesh Interface (SMI) APIs and the Gateway API has [inspired
|
|
discussion in the SMI
|
|
community](https://github.com/servicemeshinterface/smi-spec/issues/249) about
|
|
possible integration.
|
|
|
|
We are pleased to announce that the service mesh community, including
|
|
representatives from Cilium Service Mesh, Consul, Istio, Kuma, Linkerd, NGINX
|
|
Service Mesh and Open Service Mesh, is coming together to form the [GAMMA
|
|
Initiative](https://gateway-api.sigs.k8s.io/contributing/gamma/), a dedicated
|
|
workstream within the Gateway API subproject focused on Gateway API for Mesh
|
|
Management and Administration.
|
|
|
|
This group will deliver [enhancement
|
|
proposals](https://gateway-api.sigs.k8s.io/geps/overview/) consisting
|
|
of resources, additions, and modifications to the Gateway API specification for
|
|
mesh and mesh-adjacent use-cases.
|
|
|
|
This work has begun with [an exploration of using Gateway API for
|
|
service-to-service
|
|
traffic](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1T_DtMQoq2tccLAtJTpo3c0ohjm25vRS35MsestSL9QU/edit#heading=h.jt37re3yi6k5)
|
|
and will continue with enhancement in areas such as authentication and
|
|
authorization policy.
|
|
|
|
## Next steps
|
|
|
|
As we continue to mature the API for production use cases, here are some of the highlights of what we'll be working on for the next Gateway API releases:
|
|
|
|
- [GRPCRoute][gep1016] for [gRPC][grpc] traffic routing
|
|
- [Route delegation][pr1085]
|
|
- Layer 4 API maturity: Graduating [TCPRoute][tcpr], [UDPRoute][udpr] and
|
|
[TLSRoute][tlsr] to beta
|
|
- [GAMMA Initiative](https://gateway-api.sigs.k8s.io/contributing/gamma/) - Gateway API for Service Mesh
|
|
|
|
If there's something on this list you want to get involved in, or there's
|
|
something not on this list that you want to advocate for to get on the roadmap
|
|
please join us in the #sig-network-gateway-api channel on Kubernetes Slack or our weekly [community calls](https://gateway-api.sigs.k8s.io/contributing/community/#meetings).
|
|
|
|
[gep1016]:https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/gateway-api/blob/main/geps/gep-1016.md
|
|
[grpc]:https://grpc.io/
|
|
[pr1085]:https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/gateway-api/pull/1085
|
|
[tcpr]:https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/gateway-api/blob/main/apis/v1alpha2/tcproute_types.go
|
|
[udpr]:https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/gateway-api/blob/main/apis/v1alpha2/udproute_types.go
|
|
[tlsr]:https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/gateway-api/blob/main/apis/v1alpha2/tlsroute_types.go
|
|
[community]:https://gateway-api.sigs.k8s.io/contributing/community/
|