Consul + Kubernetes (consul-k8s)

The consul-k8s binary includes first-class integrations between Consul and Kubernetes. The project encapsulates multiple use cases such as syncing services, injecting Connect sidecars, and more. The Kubernetes integrations with Consul are documented directly on the Consul website. This README will present a basic overview of each use case, but for full documentation please reference the Consul website.

This project is versioned separately from Consul. Supported Consul versions for each feature will be noted below. By versioning this project separately, we can iterate on Kubernetes integrations more quickly and release new versions without forcing Consul users to do a full Consul upgrade.

Features

• Catalog Sync: Sync Consul services into first-class Kubernetes services and vice versa. This enables Kubernetes to easily access external services and for non-Kubernetes nodes to easily discover and access Kubernetes services. (Requires Consul 1.1+)

• Consul Service Mesh (Connect): Run Consul Service Mesh (aka Consul Connect) on Kubernetes. This feature injects Envoy sidecars and registers your Pods with Consul. (Requires Consul 1.3+)

Installation

consul-k8s is distributed in multiple forms:

• The recommended installation method is the official Consul Helm chart. This will automatically configure the Consul and Kubernetes integration to run within an existing Kubernetes cluster.

• A Docker image hashicorp/consul-k8s is available. This can be used to manually run consul-k8s within a scheduled environment.

• Raw binaries are available in the HashiCorp releases directory. These can be used to run consul-k8s directly or build custom packages.