HTTP URL Rewrite

8 minute read

HTTPURLRewriteFilter defines a filter that modifies a request during forwarding. At most one of these filters may be used on a Route rule. This MUST NOT be used on the same Route rule as a HTTPRequestRedirect filter.

Prerequisites

Follow the steps from the Quickstart task to install Envoy Gateway and the example manifest. Before proceeding, you should be able to query the example backend using HTTP.

Verify the Gateway status:

kubectl get gateway/eg -o yaml

egctl x status gateway -v

Rewrite URL Prefix Path

You can configure to rewrite the prefix in the url like below. In this example, any curls to http://${GATEWAY_HOST}/get/xxx will be rewritten to http://${GATEWAY_HOST}/replace/xxx.

cat <<EOF | kubectl apply -f -
apiVersion: gateway.networking.k8s.io/v1
kind: HTTPRoute
metadata:
  name: http-filter-url-rewrite
spec:
  parentRefs:
    - name: eg
  hostnames:
    - path.rewrite.example
  rules:
    - matches:
      - path:
          value: "/get"
      filters:
      - type: URLRewrite
        urlRewrite:
          path:
            type: ReplacePrefixMatch
            replacePrefixMatch: /replace
      backendRefs:
      - name: backend
        port: 3000
EOF

Save and apply the following resource to your cluster:

---
apiVersion: gateway.networking.k8s.io/v1
kind: HTTPRoute
metadata:
  name: http-filter-url-rewrite
spec:
  parentRefs:
    - name: eg
  hostnames:
    - path.rewrite.example
  rules:
    - matches:
      - path:
          value: "/get"
      filters:
      - type: URLRewrite
        urlRewrite:
          path:
            type: ReplacePrefixMatch
            replacePrefixMatch: /replace
      backendRefs:
      - name: backend
        port: 3000

The HTTPRoute status should indicate that it has been accepted and is bound to the example Gateway.

kubectl get httproute/http-filter-url-rewrite -o yaml

Get the Gateway’s address:

export GATEWAY_HOST=$(kubectl get gateway/eg -o jsonpath='{.status.addresses[0].value}')

Querying http://${GATEWAY_HOST}/get/origin/path should rewrite to http://${GATEWAY_HOST}/replace/origin/path.

$ curl -L -vvv --header "Host: path.rewrite.example" "http://${GATEWAY_HOST}/get/origin/path"
...
> GET /get/origin/path HTTP/1.1
> Host: path.rewrite.example
> User-Agent: curl/7.85.0
> Accept: */*
>

< HTTP/1.1 200 OK
< content-type: application/json
< x-content-type-options: nosniff
< date: Wed, 21 Dec 2022 11:03:28 GMT
< content-length: 503
< x-envoy-upstream-service-time: 0
< server: envoy
<
{
 "path": "/replace/origin/path",
 "host": "path.rewrite.example",
 "method": "GET",
 "proto": "HTTP/1.1",
 "headers": {
  "Accept": [
   "*/*"
  ],
  "User-Agent": [
   "curl/7.85.0"
  ],
  "X-Envoy-Expected-Rq-Timeout-Ms": [
   "15000"
  ],
  "X-Envoy-Original-Path": [
   "/get/origin/path"
  ],
  "X-Forwarded-Proto": [
   "http"
  ],
  "X-Request-Id": [
   "fd84b842-9937-4fb5-83c7-61470d854b90"
  ]
 },
 "namespace": "default",
 "ingress": "",
 "service": "",
 "pod": "backend-6fdd4b9bd8-8vlc5"
...

You can see that the X-Envoy-Original-Path is /get/origin/path, but the actual path is /replace/origin/path.

Rewrite URL Full Path

You can configure to rewrite the fullpath in the url like below. In this example, any request sent to http://${GATEWAY_HOST}/get/origin/path/xxxx will be rewritten to http://${GATEWAY_HOST}/force/replace/fullpath.

cat <<EOF | kubectl apply -f -
apiVersion: gateway.networking.k8s.io/v1
kind: HTTPRoute
metadata:
  name: http-filter-url-rewrite
spec:
  parentRefs:
    - name: eg
  hostnames:
    - path.rewrite.example
  rules:
    - matches:
      - path:
          type: PathPrefix
          value: "/get/origin/path"
      filters:
      - type: URLRewrite
        urlRewrite:
          path:
            type: ReplaceFullPath
            replaceFullPath: /force/replace/fullpath
      backendRefs:
      - name: backend
        port: 3000
EOF

Save and apply the following resource to your cluster:

---
apiVersion: gateway.networking.k8s.io/v1
kind: HTTPRoute
metadata:
  name: http-filter-url-rewrite
spec:
  parentRefs:
    - name: eg
  hostnames:
    - path.rewrite.example
  rules:
    - matches:
      - path:
          type: PathPrefix
          value: "/get/origin/path"
      filters:
      - type: URLRewrite
        urlRewrite:
          path:
            type: ReplaceFullPath
            replaceFullPath: /force/replace/fullpath
      backendRefs:
      - name: backend
        port: 3000

The HTTPRoute status should indicate that it has been accepted and is bound to the example Gateway.

kubectl get httproute/http-filter-url-rewrite -o yaml

Querying http://${GATEWAY_HOST}/get/origin/path/extra should rewrite the request to http://${GATEWAY_HOST}/force/replace/fullpath.

$ curl -L -vvv --header "Host: path.rewrite.example" "http://${GATEWAY_HOST}/get/origin/path/extra"
...
> GET /get/origin/path/extra HTTP/1.1
> Host: path.rewrite.example
> User-Agent: curl/7.85.0
> Accept: */*
>
* Mark bundle as not supporting multiuse
< HTTP/1.1 200 OK
< content-type: application/json
< x-content-type-options: nosniff
< date: Wed, 21 Dec 2022 11:09:31 GMT
< content-length: 512
< x-envoy-upstream-service-time: 0
< server: envoy
<
{
 "path": "/force/replace/fullpath",
 "host": "path.rewrite.example",
 "method": "GET",
 "proto": "HTTP/1.1",
 "headers": {
  "Accept": [
   "*/*"
  ],
  "User-Agent": [
   "curl/7.85.0"
  ],
  "X-Envoy-Expected-Rq-Timeout-Ms": [
   "15000"
  ],
  "X-Envoy-Original-Path": [
   "/get/origin/path/extra"
  ],
  "X-Forwarded-Proto": [
   "http"
  ],
  "X-Request-Id": [
   "8ab774d6-9ffa-4faa-abbb-f45b0db00895"
  ]
 },
 "namespace": "default",
 "ingress": "",
 "service": "",
 "pod": "backend-6fdd4b9bd8-8vlc5"
...

You can see that the X-Envoy-Original-Path is /get/origin/path/extra, but the actual path is /force/replace/fullpath.

Rewrite URL Path with Regex

In addition to core Gateway-API rewrite options, Envoy Gateway supports extended rewrite options through the HTTPRouteFilter API. The HTTPRouteFilter API can be configured to use RE2-compatible regex matchers and substitutions to rewrite a portion of the url. In the example below, requests sent to http://${GATEWAY_HOST}/service/xxx/yyy (where xxx is a single path portion and yyy is one or more path portions) are rewritten to http://${GATEWAY_HOST}/yyy/instance/xxx. The entire path is matched and rewritten using capture groups.

cat <<EOF | kubectl apply -f -
apiVersion: gateway.networking.k8s.io/v1
kind: HTTPRoute
metadata:
  name: http-filter-url-regex-rewrite
spec:
  parentRefs:
    - name: eg
  hostnames:
    - path.regex.rewrite.example
  rules:
    - matches:
      - path:
          type: PathPrefix
          value: "/"
      filters:
        - type: ExtensionRef
          extensionRef:
            group: gateway.envoyproxy.io
            kind: HTTPRouteFilter
            name: regex-path-rewrite
      backendRefs:
      - name: backend
        port: 3000
---
apiVersion: gateway.envoyproxy.io/v1alpha1
kind: HTTPRouteFilter
metadata:
  name: regex-path-rewrite
spec:
  urlRewrite:
    path:
      type: ReplaceRegexMatch
      replaceRegexMatch:
        pattern: '^/service/([^/]+)(/.*)$'
        substitution: '\2/instance/\1'
EOF

Save and apply the following resource to your cluster:

---
apiVersion: gateway.networking.k8s.io/v1
kind: HTTPRoute
metadata:
  name: http-filter-url-regex-rewrite
spec:
  parentRefs:
    - name: eg
  hostnames:
    - path.regex.rewrite.example
  rules:
    - matches:
        - path:
            type: PathPrefix
            value: "/"
      filters:
        - type: ExtensionRef
          extensionRef:
            group: gateway.envoyproxy.io
            kind: HTTPRouteFilter
            name: regex-path-rewrite
      backendRefs:
        - name: backend
          port: 3000
---
apiVersion: gateway.envoyproxy.io/v1alpha1
kind: HTTPRouteFilter
metadata:
  name: regex-path-rewrite
spec:
  urlRewrite:
    path:
      type: ReplaceRegexMatch
      replaceRegexMatch:
        pattern: '^/service/([^/]+)(/.*)$'
        substitution: '\2/instance/\1'

The HTTPRoute status should indicate that it has been accepted and is bound to the example Gateway.

kubectl get httproute/http-filter-url-regex-rewrite -o yaml

Querying http://${GATEWAY_HOST}/service/foo/v1/api should rewrite the request to http://${GATEWAY_HOST}/service/foo/v1/api.

$ curl -L -vvv --header "Host: path.regex.rewrite.example" "http://${GATEWAY_HOST}/service/foo/v1/api"
...
> GET /service/foo/v1/api HTTP/1.1
> Host: path.regex.rewrite.example
> User-Agent: curl/8.7.1
> Accept: */*
>
* Request completely sent off
< HTTP/1.1 200 OK
< content-type: application/json
< x-content-type-options: nosniff
< date: Mon, 16 Sep 2024 18:49:48 GMT
< content-length: 482
<
{
 "path": "/v1/api/instance/foo",
 "host": "path.regex.rewrite.example",
 "method": "GET",
 "proto": "HTTP/1.1",
 "headers": {
  "Accept": [
   "*/*"
  ],
  "User-Agent": [
   "curl/8.7.1"
  ],
  "X-Envoy-Internal": [
   "true"
  ],
  "X-Forwarded-For": [
   "10.244.0.37"
  ],
  "X-Forwarded-Proto": [
   "http"
  ],
  "X-Request-Id": [
   "24a5958f-1bfa-4694-a9c1-807d5139a18a"
  ]
 },
 "namespace": "default",
 "ingress": "",
 "service": "",
 "pod": "backend-765694d47f-lzmpm"
...

You can see that the path is rewritten from /service/foo/v1/api, to /v1/api/instance/foo.

Rewrite Host Name

You can configure to rewrite the hostname like below. In this example, any requests sent to http://${GATEWAY_HOST}/get with --header "Host: path.rewrite.example" will rewrite host into envoygateway.io.

cat <<EOF | kubectl apply -f -
apiVersion: gateway.networking.k8s.io/v1
kind: HTTPRoute
metadata:
  name: http-filter-url-rewrite
spec:
  parentRefs:
    - name: eg
  hostnames:
    - path.rewrite.example
  rules:
    - matches:
      - path:
          type: PathPrefix
          value: "/get"
      filters:
      - type: URLRewrite
        urlRewrite:
          hostname: "envoygateway.io"
      backendRefs:
      - name: backend
        port: 3000
EOF

Save and apply the following resource to your cluster:

---
apiVersion: gateway.networking.k8s.io/v1
kind: HTTPRoute
metadata:
  name: http-filter-url-rewrite
spec:
  parentRefs:
    - name: eg
  hostnames:
    - path.rewrite.example
  rules:
    - matches:
      - path:
          type: PathPrefix
          value: "/get"
      filters:
      - type: URLRewrite
        urlRewrite:
          hostname: "envoygateway.io"
      backendRefs:
      - name: backend
        port: 3000

The HTTPRoute status should indicate that it has been accepted and is bound to the example Gateway.

kubectl get httproute/http-filter-url-rewrite -o yaml

Querying http://${GATEWAY_HOST}/get with --header "Host: path.rewrite.example" will rewrite host into envoygateway.io.

$ curl -L -vvv --header "Host: path.rewrite.example" "http://${GATEWAY_HOST}/get"
...
> GET /get HTTP/1.1
> Host: path.rewrite.example
> User-Agent: curl/7.85.0
> Accept: */*
>
* Mark bundle as not supporting multiuse
< HTTP/1.1 200 OK
< content-type: application/json
< x-content-type-options: nosniff
< date: Wed, 21 Dec 2022 11:15:15 GMT
< content-length: 481
< x-envoy-upstream-service-time: 0
< server: envoy
<
{
 "path": "/get",
 "host": "envoygateway.io",
 "method": "GET",
 "proto": "HTTP/1.1",
 "headers": {
  "Accept": [
   "*/*"
  ],
  "User-Agent": [
   "curl/7.85.0"
  ],
  "X-Envoy-Expected-Rq-Timeout-Ms": [
   "15000"
  ],
  "X-Forwarded-Host": [
   "path.rewrite.example"
  ],
  "X-Forwarded-Proto": [
   "http"
  ],
  "X-Request-Id": [
   "39aa447c-97b9-45a3-a675-9fb266ab1af0"
  ]
 },
 "namespace": "default",
 "ingress": "",
 "service": "",
 "pod": "backend-6fdd4b9bd8-8vlc5"
...

You can see that the X-Forwarded-Host is path.rewrite.example, but the actual host is envoygateway.io.

Rewrite URL Host Name by Header or Backend

The value of a different request header
The DNS name of the backend that the request is routed to

In the following example, the host header is rewritten to the value of the x-custom-host header.

cat <<EOF | kubectl apply -f -
apiVersion: gateway.networking.k8s.io/v1
kind: HTTPRoute
metadata:
  name: http-filter-hostname-header-rewrite
spec:
  parentRefs:
    - name: eg
  hostnames:
    - host.header.rewrite.example
  rules:
    - matches:
      - path:
          type: PathPrefix
          value: "/header"
      filters:
        - type: ExtensionRef
          extensionRef:
            group: gateway.envoyproxy.io
            kind: HTTPRouteFilter
            name: header-host-rewrite
      backendRefs:
      - name: backend
        port: 3000
---
apiVersion: gateway.envoyproxy.io/v1alpha1
kind: HTTPRouteFilter
metadata:
  name: header-host-rewrite
spec:
  urlRewrite:
    hostname:
      type: Header
      header: x-custom-host      
EOF

Save and apply the following resource to your cluster:

---
apiVersion: gateway.networking.k8s.io/v1
kind: HTTPRoute
metadata:
  name: http-filter-hostname-header-rewrite
spec:
  parentRefs:
    - name: eg
  hostnames:
    - host.header.rewrite.example
  rules:
    - matches:
        - path:
            type: PathPrefix
            value: "/header"
      filters:
        - type: ExtensionRef
          extensionRef:
            group: gateway.envoyproxy.io
            kind: HTTPRouteFilter
            name: header-host-rewrite
      backendRefs:
        - name: backend
          port: 3000
---
apiVersion: gateway.envoyproxy.io/v1alpha1
kind: HTTPRouteFilter
metadata:
  name: header-host-rewrite
spec:
  urlRewrite:
    hostname:
      type: Header
      header: x-custom-host

The HTTPRoute status should indicate that it has been accepted and is bound to the example Gateway.

kubectl get httproute/http-filter-header-host-rewrite -o yaml

Querying http://${GATEWAY_HOST}/header and providing a custom host rewrite header x-custom-host should rewrite the request host header to the value of the x-custom-host header.

$ curl -L -vvv --header "Host: host.header.rewrite.example" --header "x-custom-host: foo" "http://${GATEWAY_HOST}/header"
...
> GET /header HTTP/1.1
> Host: host.header.rewrite.example
> User-Agent: curl/8.7.1
> Accept: */*
> x-custom-host: foo
>
* Request completely sent off
< HTTP/1.1 200 OK
<
{
 "path": "/header",
 "host": "foo",
 "method": "GET",
 "proto": "HTTP/1.1",
 "headers": {
  "X-Custom-Host": [
   "foo"
  ],
  "X-Forwarded-Host": [
   "host.header.rewrite.example"
  ],
 },
 "namespace": "default",
 "ingress": "",
 "service": "",
 "pod": "backend-765694d47f-5t6f2"
...

You can see that the host is rewritten from host.header.rewrite.example, to the value of the provided x-custom-host header foo. The original host header is preserved in the X-Forwarded-Host header.

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Last modified December 20, 2024: chore: fix typo (#4958) (2a10d47)