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

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Objective

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

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

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Choosing the Right Service Type

Depending on your environment and security requirements, you can select one of the following Service types:
Service TypeDescriptionUse Case
LoadBalancerProvisions a cloud load balancer with an external IPProduction or public-facing services
NodePortExposes the Service on a static port (≥30000) on each nodeDevelopment and basic internal access
ClusterIPDefault; accessible only within the clusterInternal services that should not be exposed
ClusterIP services are not reachable from outside the cluster. Verify your network policies before switching types.

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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.

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References

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