Sidecar proxy concept (Envoy) in Kubernetes - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Sidecar Proxy Concept with Envoy in Kubernetes

📖 Scenario: You are working in a Kubernetes environment where you want to add a sidecar proxy to your application pod. This proxy will help manage network traffic for your app securely and efficiently.Envoy is a popular sidecar proxy used in service meshes. In this project, you will create a simple Kubernetes pod manifest that includes an Envoy sidecar container alongside your main application container.

🎯 Goal: Build a Kubernetes pod manifest YAML file that defines a pod with two containers: one for your application and one for the Envoy sidecar proxy. This setup will help you understand how sidecar proxies work in Kubernetes.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a Kubernetes pod manifest named pod.yaml.

Define a pod with metadata name app-with-envoy.

Add two containers: app-container running nginx image and envoy-proxy running envoyproxy/envoy:v1.22.0 image.

Configure the Envoy container with a volume mount for its configuration file.

Add a ConfigMap named envoy-config with a basic Envoy configuration.

Mount the ConfigMap as a volume in the Envoy container.

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Sidecar proxies like Envoy are used in Kubernetes to manage network traffic, add security, and enable observability without changing the application code.

💼 Career

Understanding how to configure sidecar proxies is essential for roles in cloud engineering, DevOps, and site reliability engineering where managing microservices traffic is common.

1

Create the basic pod manifest with the app container

Create a Kubernetes pod manifest file named pod.yaml with a pod named app-with-envoy. Add a single container named app-container using the image nginx.

Kubernetes

# Your code here to create pod.yaml with app-container using nginx image

Need a hint?

Start with apiVersion: v1 and kind: Pod. Under spec, add containers list with one container named app-container using nginx image.

2

Add the Envoy sidecar container with volume mount

In the same pod.yaml, add a second container named envoy-proxy using the image envoyproxy/envoy:v1.22.0. Mount a volume named envoy-config-volume at /etc/envoy inside the Envoy container.

Kubernetes

apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
metadata:
  name: app-with-envoy
spec:
  containers:
  - name: app-container
    image: nginx
  # Add envoy-proxy container with volume mount below

Need a hint?

Under containers, add the Envoy container with volumeMounts. Then add volumes section referencing the ConfigMap envoy-config.

3

Create the Envoy ConfigMap with basic configuration

Create a ConfigMap named envoy-config with a key envoy.yaml containing a minimal Envoy configuration that listens on port 10000 and routes traffic to localhost:80.

Kubernetes

# Your code here to create ConfigMap named envoy-config with envoy.yaml key and minimal config

Need a hint?

Use apiVersion: v1 and kind: ConfigMap. Add envoy.yaml key with a minimal Envoy config that listens on port 10000 and routes to localhost port 80.

4

Display the pod manifest and ConfigMap to verify

Print the contents of pod.yaml and the Envoy ConfigMap to verify your setup. Use kubectl apply -f pod.yaml --dry-run=client -o yaml and kubectl get configmap envoy-config -o yaml commands.

Kubernetes

# Run the following commands to display the pod manifest and ConfigMap
# kubectl apply -f pod.yaml --dry-run=client -o yaml
# kubectl get configmap envoy-config -o yaml

Need a hint?

Use kubectl apply -f pod.yaml --dry-run=client -o yaml to see the pod manifest and kubectl get configmap envoy-config -o yaml to see the ConfigMap.