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TCPRoute resource configuration reference

This page provides reference information for the TCPRoute resource, which defines Transport Layer (L4) TCP traffic within the service mesh.

This custom resource definition (CRD) describes a resource related to the Kubernetes GAMMA initiative that requires the v2 catalog API. It is not compatible with the v1 catalog API. For more information about GAMMA resources, refer to the Kubernetes Gateway API documentation.

Configuration model

The following list outlines field hierarchy, language-specific data types, and requirements in an TCP route CRD. Click on a property name to view additional details, including default values.

Complete configuration

When every field is defined, a TCP route CRD has the following form:

apiVersion: mesh.consul.hashicorp.com/v2beta1        # required 
kind: TCPRoute                                       # required
metadata:
  name: <crdName>
  namespace: <namespace>
spec:
  parentRefs:
    port: <portRoutedFrom>
    - ref:
      name: <nameRoutedFrom>
      type: 
        group: <catalog>
        groupVersion: <v2beta1>
        kind: <Service>
  rules:
    - backendRefs:
      - backendRef:
        datacenter: <datacenterRoutedTo>
        port: <portRoutedTo>
        ref:
          name: <nameRoutedTo>
          type:
            group: <catalog>
            groupVersion: <v2beta1>
            kind: <Service>
      weight: 1

Specification

This section provides details about the fields you can configure in the TCPRoute custom resource definition (CRD).

apiVersion

Specifies the version of the Consul API for integrating with Kubernetes. The value must be mesh.consul.hashicorp.com/v2beta1.

Values

  • Default: None
  • This field is required.
  • String value that must be set to mesh.consul.hashicorp.com/v2beta1.

kind

Specifies the type of CRD to implement. Must be set to TCPRoute.

Values

  • Default: None
  • This field is required.
  • Data type: String value that must be set to TCPRoute.

metadata

Map that contains an arbitrary name for the CRD and the namespace it applies to.

Values

  • Default: None
  • Data type: Map

metadata.name

Specifies a name for the CRD. The name is metadata that you can use to reference the resource when performing Consul operations, such as using the consul resource command. Refer to consul resource for more information.

Values

  • Default: None
  • This field is required.
  • Data type: String

metadata.namespace Enterprise

Specifies the namespace that the service resolver applies to. Refer to namespaces for more information.

Values

  • Default: None
  • Data type: String

spec

Map that contains the details about the TCPRoute CRD. The apiVersion, kind, and metadata fields are siblings of the spec field. All other configurations are children.

When using this CRD, the spec field closely resembles the TCPRoute GAMMA resource. Refer to TCPRoute in the Kubernetes documentation.

Values

  • Default: None
  • This field is required.
  • Data type: Map

spec.parentRefs

Specifies the services and other resources to attach the route to. You can only define one parentsRefs configuration for each route. To attach the route to multiple resources, specify additional spec.parentRefs.ref configurations in the parentsRefs block. You can only specify one port for the route. Any resources that send traffic through the route use the same port.

Values

  • Default: None
  • This field is required.
  • Data type: Map

spec.parentRefs.port

Specifies the port for the Consul service that the configuration applies to. This parameter can be either a virtual port number, such as a Kubernetes service port, or a non-numeric target port value representing a named workload port.

If you are not targeting a virtual port, specify the workload port name directly.

Values

  • Default: None
  • Data type: String

spec.parentRefs.ref

Specifies the resource that the route attaches to.

Values

  • Default: None
  • Data type: Map

spec.parentRefs.ref.name

Specifies the user-defined name of the resource that the configuration applies to.

Values

  • Default: None
  • Data type: String

spec.parentRefs.ref.type

Specifies the type of resource that the configuration applies to. To reference a service in the Consul catalog, configure the resource type as catalog.v2beta1.Service.

Values

  • Default: None

  • Data type: Map containing the following parameters:

    ParameterDescriptionData typeDefault
    groupSpecifies a group for the resource type within the Kubernetes cluster. To reference a service in the Consul catalog, set this parameter to catalog.StringNone
    groupVersionSpecifies a groupVersion for the resource type within the Kubenretes cluster. To reference a service in the Consul catalog, set this parameter to v2beta1.StringNone
    kindSpecifies the kind of the Kubernetes object the resource applies to. To reference a service in the Consul catalog, set this parameter to Service.StringNone

spec.rules

Specifies rules for sidecar proxies to direct a service's TCP traffic within the service mesh.

Values

  • Default: None
  • Data type: Map

spec.rules.backendRefs

Specifies the Kubernetes Service backend to direct TCP traffic to when a request matches the service described in spec.parentRefs. The Service backend is the collection of endpoint IPs for the service. Refer to the Kubernetes Gateway API specification for more information about Service backends.

When a valid Service backend cannot be reached and no additional filters apply, traffic that matches the rule returns a 500 status code.

When different Service backends are specified in spec.rules.backendRefs.weight and one of the backends is invalid, Consul continues to apply the specified weights instead of adjusting the relative weights to exclude traffic to the invalid backend. For example, when traffic is configured in a 50-50 split between api and admin and no valid endpoints for admin can be reached, the 50% of traffic intended for admin returns with a 500 status code.

Values

  • Default: None
  • Data type: Map

spec.rules.backendRefs.backendRef

Specifies an individual Service backend where matching requests should be sent.

Values

  • Default: None
  • Data type: Map

spec.rules.backendRefs.backendRef.datacenter

Specifies the name of the Consul datacenter that registered the Service backend that the configuration routes traffic to.

Values

  • Default: None
  • Data type: String

spec.rules.backendRefs.backendRef.port

Specifies the port for the Consul service that the configuration routes traffic to. This parameter can be either a virtual port number, such as a Kubernetes service port, or a non-numeric target port value representing a named workload port.

If you are not targeting a virtual port, specify the workload port name directly.

Values

  • Default: None
  • Data type: String

spec.rules.backendRefs.backendRef.ref

The Consul service that the configuration routes traffic to.

Values

  • Default: None
  • Data type: Map

spec.rules.backendRefs.backendRef.ref.name

Specifies the user-defined name of the resource that the configuration routes traffic to.

Values

  • Default: None
  • Data type: String

spec.rules.backendRefs.backendRef.ref.type

Specifies the type of resource that the configuration routes traffic to. To reference a service in the Consul catalog, configure the resource type as catalog.v2beta1.Service.

Values

  • Default: None

  • Data type: Map containing the following parameters:

    ParameterDescriptionData typeDefault
    groupSpecifies a group for the resource type within the Kubernetes cluster. To reference a service in the Consul catalog, set this parameter to catalog.StringNone
    groupVersionSpecifies a groupVersion for the resource type within the Kubenretes cluster. To reference a service in the Consul catalog, set this parameter to v2beta1.StringNone
    kindSpecifies the kind of the Kubernetes object for the resource. To reference a service in the Consul catalog, set this parameter to Service.StringNone

spec.rules.backendRefs.weight

Specifies the proportion of requests routed to the specified service.

This proportion is relative to the sum of all weights in the spec.rules.backendRefs block. As a result, weights do not need to add up to 100. When only one backend is specified and the weight is greater then 0, Consul forwards 100% of traffic to the backend.

When this parameter is not specified, Consul defaults to 1.

Values

  • Default: 1
  • Data type: Integer

Examples

The following examples demonstrate common TCPRoute CRD configuration patterns for specific use cases.

Split TCP traffic between two ports

The following example splits traffic for the api service. TCP traffic for services registered to the Consul catalog that are available at the api-workload port is split so that 50% of the traffic routes to the service at the api-workload port and 50% routes to the service at the admin-workload port.

apiVersion: mesh.consul.hashicorp.com/v2beta1
kind: TCPRoute
metadata:
  name: api-split
  namespace: default
spec:
  parentRefs:
    - ref:
        type: 
          group: catalog
          groupVersion: v2beta1
          kind: Service
        name: api
      # The virtual port number for the "api-workload" target port.
      port: "80"
  rules:
    - backendRefs:
      - backendRef:
          ref: 
            type:
              group: catalog
              groupVersion: v2beta1
              kind: Service
            name: api
          # The virtual port number for the "api-workload" target port.
          port: "80"
        weight: 50
      - backendRef:
          ref: 
            type:
              group: catalog
              groupVersion: v2beta1
              kind: Service
            name: api
          # The virtual port number for the "admin-workload" target port.
          port: "90"
        weight: 50
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