Kubernetes nodes can benefit from having dedicated static public IP addresses in certain scenarios. KubeIP, an open-source utility, fulfills this need by assigning static public IPs to Kubernetes nodes. The latest version, KubeIP v2, extends support from Google Cloud's GKE to Amazon's EKS, with a design ready to accommodate other cloud providers. It operates as a DaemonSet, offering improved reliability, configuration flexibility, and user-friendliness over the previous Kubernetes controller method. KubeIP v2 supports assigning both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses.

Use Cases

Gaming Applications

In gaming scenarios, a console may need to connect directly to a cloud VM to minimize network hops and latency. Assigning a dedicated public IP to the gaming server's node allows the console to connect directly, improving the gaming experience by reducing latency and packet loss.

Whitelisting Agent IPs

If you have multiple agents or services running on Kubernetes that require direct connections to an external server and that server needs to whitelist the agents' IP addresses, using KubeIP to assign stable public IPs to the nodes makes this easier to manage than allowing broader CIDR ranges. This is particularly useful when the external server has strict IP-based access controls.

Avoiding SNAT for Select Pods

By default, pods are assigned private IPs from the VPC CIDR range. When they communicate with external IPv4 addresses, the Amazon VPC CNI plugin translates the pod's IP to the primary private IP of the node's network interface using SNAT (source network address translation). Sometimes, you may want to avoid SNAT for certain pods so that external services see the actual pod IPs. Assigning public IPs to nodes with KubeIP and setting hostNetwork: true on the pod spec achieves this. The pod can communicate directly with external services using the node's public IP.

Direct Inbound Connections and Custom Networking Scenarios

Assigning public IPs to nodes with KubeIP enables a variety of networking scenarios. For instance, you can forward traffic directly to pods running on those nodes, which is useful when you need to expose services on the node to the internet without using a traditional load balancer. An example would be running a web server on a pod and forwarding traffic to it using the node's public IP.

In addition, KubeIP can be used to implement custom networking scenarios that require public IPs on nodes. For example, you could create a custom load balancer that forwards traffic to specific nodes based on the public IP. This flexibility makes KubeIP a powerful tool for testing or deploying custom networking solutions in Kubernetes.

IPv6 Support

KubeIP extends its functionality beyond IPv4 by supporting the assignment of static public IPv6 addresses to nodes. This feature is increasingly important as the internet continues transitioning towards IPv6 due to the exhaustion of IPv4 addresses. With KubeIP's IPv6 support, you can assign static public IPv6 addresses to your Kubernetes nodes, enabling them to communicate directly with external services over IPv6. This is particularly beneficial for applications that require IPv6 connectivity.

Conclusion

KubeIP v2 is a powerful tool for assigning static public IPs to Kubernetes nodes across cloud providers. It enables a wide range of use cases, from gaming applications to custom networking scenarios, and supports both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses. The extensible design and simplified DaemonSet model make it easy to deploy and manage in your environment.

Get Involved

As an open-source project, we welcome contributions! Submit pull requests, open issues, help with documentation, or spread the word.

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