KodeKloud Notes

Welcome back! In this article, we’ll recap how to expose applications on Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE).

Objective

Expose the application deployed on our GKE cluster to external or internal clients.

Configuring the Kubernetes Service

To make your application accessible, create a Service of type LoadBalancer. On GKE, this automatically provisions a cloud load balancer and assigns an external IP or URL.

apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
  name: my-app-service
spec:
  selector:
    app: my-app
  type: LoadBalancer
  ports:
    - protocol: TCP
      port: 80
      targetPort: 8080

Apply the manifest:

kubectl apply -f service.yaml

Then check the external IP:

kubectl get svc my-app-service

Wait until the EXTERNAL-IP field is populated, then navigate to http://<EXTERNAL-IP>.

Note

Run kubectl describe svc my-app-service for detailed load balancer events and annotations.

Choosing the Right Service Type

Depending on your environment and security requirements, you can select one of the following Service types:

Service Type	Description	Use Case
LoadBalancer	Provisions a cloud load balancer with an external IP	Production or public-facing services
NodePort	Exposes the Service on a static port (≥30000) on each node	Development and basic internal access
ClusterIP	Default; accessible only within the cluster	Internal services that should not be exposed

Warning

ClusterIP services are not reachable from outside the cluster. Verify your network policies before switching types.

Summary

In Sprint 0.6, we configured a Kubernetes Service on GKE to expose our application. Choose the Service type—LoadBalancer, NodePort, or ClusterIP—that best fits your deployment needs.

References

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