Envoy Patch Policy
3 minute read
This guide explains the usage of the EnvoyPatchPolicy API. Note: This API is meant for users extremely familiar with Envoy xDS semantics. Also before considering this API for production use cases, please be aware that this API is unstable and the outcome may change across versions. Use at your own risk.
Introduction
The EnvoyPatchPolicy API allows user to modify the output xDS configuration generated by Envoy Gateway intended for EnvoyProxy, using JSON Patch semantics.
Motivation
This API was introduced to allow advanced users to be able to leverage Envoy Proxy functionality not exposed by Envoy Gateway APIs today.
Quickstart
Prerequisites
- Follow the steps from the Quickstart guide to install Envoy Gateway and the example manifest. Before proceeding, you should be able to query the example backend using HTTP.
Enable EnvoyPatchPolicy
By default EnvoyPatchPolicy is disabled. Lets enable it in the EnvoyGateway startup configuration
The default installation of Envoy Gateway installs a default EnvoyGateway configuration and attaches it using a
ConfigMap
. In the next step, we will update this resource to enable EnvoyPatchPolicy.
cat <<EOF | kubectl apply -f -
apiVersion: v1
kind: ConfigMap
metadata:
name: envoy-gateway-config
namespace: envoy-gateway-system
data:
envoy-gateway.yaml: |
apiVersion: gateway.envoyproxy.io/v1alpha1
kind: EnvoyGateway
provider:
type: Kubernetes
gateway:
controllerName: gateway.envoyproxy.io/gatewayclass-controller
extensionApis:
enableEnvoyPatchPolicy: true
EOF
- After updating the
ConfigMap
, you will need to restart theenvoy-gateway
deployment so the configuration kicks in
kubectl rollout restart deployment envoy-gateway -n envoy-gateway-system
Testing
Customize Response
Lets use EnvoyProxy’s Local Reply Modification feature to return a custom response back to the client when the status code is
404
Lets apply the configuration
cat <<EOF | kubectl apply -f -
apiVersion: gateway.envoyproxy.io/v1alpha1
kind: EnvoyPatchPolicy
metadata:
name: custom-response-patch-policy
namespace: default
spec:
targetRef:
group: gateway.networking.k8s.io
kind: Gateway
name: eg
namespace: default
type: JSONPatch
jsonPatches:
- type: "type.googleapis.com/envoy.config.listener.v3.Listener"
# The listener name is of the form <GatewayNamespace>/<GatewayName>/<GatewayListenerName>
name: default/eg/http
operation:
op: add
path: "/default_filter_chain/filters/0/typed_config/local_reply_config"
value:
mappers:
- filter:
status_code_filter:
comparison:
op: EQ
value:
default_value: 404
runtime_key: key_b
status_code: 406
body:
inline_string: "could not find what you are looking for"
EOF
- Lets edit the HTTPRoute resource from the Quickstart to only match on paths with value
/get
kubectl patch httproute backend --type=json --patch '[{
"op": "add",
"path": "/spec/rules/0/matches/0/path/value",
"value": "/get",
}]'
- Lets test it out by specifying a path apart from
/get
$ curl --header "Host: www.example.com" http://localhost:8888/find
Handling connection for 8888
could not find what you are looking for
Debugging
Runtime
- The
Status
subresource should have information about the status of the resource. Make sureAccepted=True
andProgrammed=True
conditions are set to ensure that the policy has been applied to Envoy Proxy.
apiVersion: gateway.envoyproxy.io/v1alpha1
kind: EnvoyPatchPolicy
metadata:
annotations:
kubectl.kubernetes.io/last-applied-configuration: |
{"apiVersion":"gateway.envoyproxy.io/v1alpha1","kind":"EnvoyPatchPolicy","metadata":{"annotations":{},"name":"custom-response-patch-policy","namespace":"default"},"spec":{"jsonPatches":[{"name":"default/eg/http","operation":{"op":"add","path":"/default_filter_chain/filters/0/typed_config/local_reply_config","value":{"mappers":[{"body":{"inline_string":"could not find what you are looking for"},"filter":{"status_code_filter":{"comparison":{"op":"EQ","value":{"default_value":404}}}}}]}},"type":"type.googleapis.com/envoy.config.listener.v3.Listener"}],"priority":0,"targetRef":{"group":"gateway.networking.k8s.io","kind":"Gateway","name":"eg","namespace":"default"},"type":"JSONPatch"}}
creationTimestamp: "2023-07-31T21:47:53Z"
generation: 1
name: custom-response-patch-policy
namespace: default
resourceVersion: "10265"
uid: a35bda6e-a0cc-46d7-a63a-cee765174bc3
spec:
jsonPatches:
- name: default/eg/http
operation:
op: add
path: /default_filter_chain/filters/0/typed_config/local_reply_config
value:
mappers:
- body:
inline_string: could not find what you are looking for
filter:
status_code_filter:
comparison:
op: EQ
value:
default_value: 404
type: type.googleapis.com/envoy.config.listener.v3.Listener
priority: 0
targetRef:
group: gateway.networking.k8s.io
kind: Gateway
name: eg
namespace: default
type: JSONPatch
status:
conditions:
- lastTransitionTime: "2023-07-31T21:48:19Z"
message: EnvoyPatchPolicy has been accepted.
observedGeneration: 1
reason: Accepted
status: "True"
type: Accepted
- lastTransitionTime: "2023-07-31T21:48:19Z"
message: successfully applied patches.
reason: Programmed
status: "True"
type: Programmed
Offline
- You can use egctl x translate to validate the translated xds output.
Caveats
This API will always be an unstable API and the same outcome cannot be garunteed across versions for these reasons
- The Envoy Proxy API might deprecate and remove API fields
- Envoy Gateway might alter the xDS translation creating a different xDS output
such as changing the
name
field of resources.
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