How Ingress Controllers Work

Request Flow in Kubernetes Ingress

Understanding the flow of an incoming request through the Ingress system is crucial for grasping the role of Ingress Controllers. Here’s a simplified overview:

1. Ingress Resource Creation: A user defines an Ingress resource, specifying rules for routing traffic to different services.
2. Ingress Controller Watches for Changes: The Ingress Controller continuously monitors the Kubernetes API for changes in Ingress resources.
3. Configuration Update: When a new Ingress resource is created or an existing one is modified, the Ingress Controller updates its configuration accordingly.
4. Load Balancer Configuration (if applicable): In a cloud environment, the Ingress Controller may interact with the cloud provider’s load balancer service to update the routing rules.
5. Routing to Services: Incoming requests are directed to the appropriate service based on the rules defined in the Ingress resource.

In the dynamic landscape of containerized applications, efficiently orchestrating and managing services is critical. As an effective platform for container orchestration, Kubernetes offers a stable foundation for launching, growing, and overseeing containerized applications. The Ingress controller is a crucial part of Kubernetes that helps with efficient service administration.

We’ll examine the nuances of Kubernetes Ingress controllers in this extensive post, including how they function in service load balancing and routing. To assist you in understanding the principles and implementation specifics, we’ll go over the essentials, explore their functioning mechanisms, and offer practical examples.