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Cover image for Kubernetes: Cross-cluster traffic scheduling - Access control
Ali Naqvi
Ali Naqvi

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Kubernetes: Cross-cluster traffic scheduling - Access control

#kubernetes #multicluster #flomesh #servicemesh

Flomesh open source service mesh osm-edge is based on an implementation of the SMI (Service Mesh Interface) standard. SMI defines specifications for traffic identification, access control, telemetry, and management. In the previous article Kubernetes: Multi-cluster communication with Flomesh Service Mesh we covered the background, motivations, and goals of Kubernetes multi-cluster and part 2 Kubernetes: Multi-cluster communication with Flomesh Service Mesh (Demo) we demonstrated a detailed demo of how to use FSM in a multi-cluster environment and how to schedule policies for traffics.

This article will expand on the knowledge we covered before and demonstrate how to configure and enable cross-cluster access control based on SMI. With osm-edge support for multi-clusters, users can define and enforce fine-grained access policies for services running across multiple Kubernetes clusters. This allows users to easily and securely manage access to services and resources, ensuring that only authorized users and applications have access to the appropriate services and resources.

Before we start, let's review the SMI Access Control Specification. There are two forms of traffic policies in osm-edge: Permissive Mode and Traffic Policy Mode. The former allows services in the mesh to access each other, while the latter requires the provision of the appropriate traffic policy to be accessible.

SMI Access Control Policy

In traffic policy mode, SMI defines ServiceAccount-based access control through the Kubernetes Custom Resource Definition(CRD) TrafficTarget, which defines traffic sources (sources), destinations (destinations), and rules (rules). What is expressed is that applications that use the ServiceAccount specified in sources can access applications that have the ServiceAccount specified in destinations, and the accessible traffic is specified by rules.

For example, the following example represents a load running with ServiceAccount promethues sending a GET request to the /metrics endpoint of a load running with ServiceAccount service-a. The HTTPRouteGroup defines the identity of the traffic: i.e. the GET request to access the endpoint /metrics.

kind: HTTPRouteGroup
metadata:
  name: the-routes
spec:
  matches:
  - name: metrics
    pathRegex: "/metrics"
    methods:
    - GET
---
kind: TrafficTarget
metadata:
  name: path-specific
  namespace: default
spec:
  destination:
    kind: ServiceAccount
    name: service-a
    namespace: default
  rules:
  - kind: HTTPRouteGroup
    name: the-routes
    matches:
    - metrics
  sources:
  - kind: ServiceAccount
    name: prometheus
    namespace: default
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So how does access control perform in a multi-cluster?

FSM's ServiceExport

FSM's ServiceExport is used to export services to other clusters, which is the process of service registration. The field spec.serviceAccountName of ServiceExport can be used to specify the ServiceAccount used for the service load.

apiVersion: flomesh.io/v1alpha1
kind: ServiceExport
metadata:
  namespace: httpbin
  name: httpbin
spec:
  serviceAccountName: "*"
  rules:
    - portNumber: 8080
      path: "/cluster-1/httpbin-mesh"
      pathType: Prefix
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Next, we start the demonstration based on the last environment. Those who haven't read the previous article can refer to the previous article to set up the demo environment.

Deploy the application

mcs-access-control

Deploy the sample application

Deploy the httpbin application under the httpbin namespace (managed by the mesh, which injects sidecar) in clusters cluster-1 and cluster-3. Here we specify ServiceAccount as httpbin.

export NAMESPACE=httpbin
for CLUSTER_NAME in cluster-1 cluster-3
do
  kubectx k3d-${CLUSTER_NAME}
  kubectl create namespace ${NAMESPACE}
  osm namespace add ${NAMESPACE}
  kubectl apply -n ${NAMESPACE} -f - <<EOF
apiVersion: v1
kind: ServiceAccount
metadata:
  name: httpbin
---  
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: httpbin
  labels:
    app: pipy
spec:
  replicas: 1
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: pipy
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: pipy
    spec:
      serviceAccountName: httpbin
      containers:
        - name: pipy
          image: flomesh/pipy:latest
          ports:
            - containerPort: 8080
          command:
            - pipy
            - -e
            - |
              pipy()
              .listen(8080)
              .serveHTTP(new Message('Hi, I am from ${CLUSTER_NAME} and controlled by mesh!\n'))
---
apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
  name: httpbin
spec:
  ports:
    - port: 8080
      targetPort: 8080
      protocol: TCP
  selector:
    app: pipy
---
apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
  name: httpbin-${CLUSTER_NAME}
spec:
  ports:
    - port: 8080
      targetPort: 8080
      protocol: TCP
  selector:
    app: pipy
EOF

  sleep 3
  kubectl wait --for=condition=ready pod -n ${NAMESPACE} --all --timeout=60s
done
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Deploy the httpbin application under the cluster-2 namespace httpbin, but do not specify a ServiceAccount and use the default ServiceAccount default.

export NAMESPACE=httpbin
export CLUSTER_NAME=cluster-2

kubectx k3d-${CLUSTER_NAME}
kubectl create namespace ${NAMESPACE}
osm namespace add ${NAMESPACE}
kubectl apply -n ${NAMESPACE} -f - <<EOF
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: httpbin
  labels:
    app: pipy
spec:
  replicas: 1
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: pipy
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: pipy
    spec:
      containers:
        - name: pipy
          image: flomesh/pipy:latest
          ports:
            - containerPort: 8080
          command:
            - pipy
            - -e
            - |
              pipy()
              .listen(8080)
              .serveHTTP(new Message('Hi, I am from ${CLUSTER_NAME}! and controlled by mesh!\n'))
---
apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
  name: httpbin
spec:
  ports:
    - port: 8080
      targetPort: 8080
      protocol: TCP
  selector:
    app: pipy
---
apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
  name: httpbin-${CLUSTER_NAME}
spec:
  ports:
    - port: 8080
      targetPort: 8080
      protocol: TCP
  selector:
    app: pipy
EOF

sleep 3
kubectl wait --for=condition=ready pod -n ${NAMESPACE} --all --timeout=60s
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Deploy the curl application under the namespace curl in cluster cluster-2, which is managed by the mesh, and the injected sidecar will be fully traffic dispatched across the cluster. Specify here to use ServiceAccout curl.

export NAMESPACE=curl
kubectx k3d-cluster-2
kubectl create namespace ${NAMESPACE}
osm namespace add ${NAMESPACE}
kubectl apply -n ${NAMESPACE} -f - <<EOF
apiVersion: v1
kind: ServiceAccount
metadata:
  name: curl
---
apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
  name: curl
  labels:
    app: curl
    service: curl
spec:
  ports:
    - name: http
      port: 80
  selector:
    app: curl
---
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: curl
spec:
  replicas: 1
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: curl
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: curl
    spec:
      serviceAccountName: curl
      containers:
      - image: curlimages/curl
        imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent
        name: curl
        command: ["sleep", "365d"]
EOF

sleep 3
kubectl wait --for=condition=ready pod -n ${NAMESPACE} --all --timeout=60s
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Export service 

export NAMESPACE_MESH=httpbin
for CLUSTER_NAME in cluster-1 cluster-3
do
  kubectx k3d-${CLUSTER_NAME}
  kubectl apply -f - <<EOF
apiVersion: flomesh.io/v1alpha1
kind: ServiceExport
metadata:
  namespace: ${NAMESPACE_MESH}
  name: httpbin
spec:
  serviceAccountName: "httpbin"
  rules:
    - portNumber: 8080
      path: "/${CLUSTER_NAME}/httpbin-mesh"
      pathType: Prefix
---
apiVersion: flomesh.io/v1alpha1
kind: ServiceExport
metadata:
  namespace: ${NAMESPACE_MESH}
  name: httpbin-${CLUSTER_NAME}
spec:
  serviceAccountName: "httpbin"
  rules:
    - portNumber: 8080
      path: "/${CLUSTER_NAME}/httpbin-mesh-${CLUSTER_NAME}"
      pathType: Prefix
EOF
sleep 1
done
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Test

We switch back to the cluster cluster-2.

kubectx k3d-cluster-2
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The default route type is Locality and we need to create an ActiveActive policy to allow requests to be processed using service instances from other clusters.

kubectl apply -n httpbin -f  - <<EOF
apiVersion: flomesh.io/v1alpha1
kind: GlobalTrafficPolicy
metadata:
  name: httpbin
spec:
  lbType: ActiveActive
  targets:
    - clusterKey: default/default/default/cluster-1
    - clusterKey: default/default/default/cluster-3
EOF
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In the curl application of the cluster-2 cluster, we send a request to httpbin.httpbin.

curl_client="$(kubectl get pod -n curl -l app=curl -o jsonpath='{.items[0].metadata.name}')"

kubectl exec "${curl_client}" -n curl -c curl -- curl -s http://httpbin.httpbin:8080/
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A few more requests will see the following response.

Hi, I am from cluster-1 and controlled by mesh!
Hi, I am from cluster-2 and controlled by mesh!
Hi, I am from cluster-3 and controlled by mesh!
Hi, I am from cluster-1 and controlled by mesh!
Hi, I am from cluster-2 and controlled by mesh!
Hi, I am from cluster-3 and controlled by mesh!
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Demo

Adjusting the traffic policy mode

Let's adjust the traffic policy mode of cluster cluster-2 so that the traffic policy can be applied.

kubectx k3d-cluster-2
export osm_namespace=osm-system
kubectl patch meshconfig osm-mesh-config -n "$osm_namespace" -p '{"spec":{"traffic":{"enablePermissiveTrafficPolicyMode":false}}}' --type=merge
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In this case, if you try to send the request again, you will find that the request fails. This is because in traffic policy mode, inter-application access is prohibited if no policy is configured.

kubectl exec "${curl_client}" -n curl -c curl -- curl -s http://httpbin.httpbin:8080/
command terminated with exit code 52
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Application Access Control Policy

The access control policy of SMI is based on ServiceAccount as mentioned at the beginning of the article, that's why our deployed httpbin service uses different ServiceAccount in cluster cluster-1, cluster-3, and cluster cluster-2.

  • cluster-1：httpbin
  • cluster-2：default
  • cluster-3：httpbin

Next, we will set different access control policies TrafficTarget for in-cluster and out-of-cluster services, differentiated by the ServiceAccount of the target load in TrafficTarget.

fsm-multi-cluster-with-policy

Execute the following command to create a traffic policy curl-to-httpbin that allows curl to access loads under the namespace httpbin that uses ServiceAccount default.

kubectl apply -n httpbin -f - <<EOF
apiVersion: specs.smi-spec.io/v1alpha4
kind: HTTPRouteGroup
metadata:
  name: httpbin-route
spec:
  matches:
  - name: all
    pathRegex: "/"
    methods:
    - GET
---
kind: TrafficTarget
apiVersion: access.smi-spec.io/v1alpha3
metadata:
  name: curl-to-httpbin
spec:
  destination:
    kind: ServiceAccount
    name: default
    namespace: httpbin
  rules:
  - kind: HTTPRouteGroup
    name: httpbin-route
    matches:
    - all
  sources:
  - kind: ServiceAccount
    name: curl
    namespace: curl
EOF
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Multiple request attempts are sent and the service of cluster cluster-2 responds, while clusters cluster-1 and cluster-3 will not participate in the service.

Hi, I am from cluster-2 and controlled by mesh!
Hi, I am from cluster-2 and controlled by mesh!
Hi, I am from cluster-2 and controlled by mesh!
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Execute the following command to check ServiceImports and you can see that cluster-1 and cluster-3 export services using ServiceAccount httpbin.

kubectl get serviceimports httpbin -n httpbin -o jsonpath='{.spec}' | jq

{
  "ports": [
    {
      "endpoints": [
        {
          "clusterKey": "default/default/default/cluster-1",
          "target": {
            "host": "192.168.1.110",
            "ip": "192.168.1.110",
            "path": "/cluster-1/httpbin-mesh",
            "port": 81
          }
        },
        {
          "clusterKey": "default/default/default/cluster-3",
          "target": {
            "host": "192.168.1.110",
            "ip": "192.168.1.110",
            "path": "/cluster-3/httpbin-mesh",
            "port": 83
          }
        }
      ],
      "port": 8080,
      "protocol": "TCP"
    }
  ],
  "serviceAccountName": "httpbin",
  "type": "ClusterSetIP"
}
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So, we create another TrafficTarget curl-to-ext-httpbin that allows curl to access the load using ServiceAccount httpbin.

kubectl apply -n httpbin -f - <<EOF
kind: TrafficTarget
apiVersion: access.smi-spec.io/v1alpha3
metadata:
  name: curl-to-ext-httpbin
spec:
  destination:
    kind: ServiceAccount
    name: httpbin
    namespace: httpbin
  rules:
  - kind: HTTPRouteGroup
    name: httpbin-route
    matches:
    - all
  sources:
  - kind: ServiceAccount
    name: curl
    namespace: curl
EOF
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After applying the policy, test it again and all requests are successful.

Hi, I am from cluster-2 and controlled by mesh!
Hi, I am from cluster-1 and controlled by mesh!
Hi, I am from cluster-3 and controlled by mesh!
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Summary

Kubernetes multi-cluster service access control is an important feature for users who want to easily and securely manage access to services and resources across multiple Kubernetes clusters. By leveraging this feature, users can easily and securely scale their applications and services across multiple clusters, without having to worry about managing access control policies manually.

The goal of the MCS (Multi-cluster Service) API implementation is to be able to use services from other clusters as if they were services running inside the same cluster. While there is still a long way to go in the Kubernetes implementation itself, the SMI standard implementation of Service Mesh can be treated as a Service.

As with access control in this article, SMI traffic splitting can also support multi-cluster services. In the following article, we will introduce traffic splitting for multicluster services.

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