Kubesphere Gateway API

KubeSphere Gateway API

Overview

Provides external access management using Kubernetes Gateway API with Traefik as the underlying proxy implementation. Supports three-tier gatewayproxy management:

| Tier | Scope | Name Pattern | Namespace | Description |

| ------------------- | ------------------------ | -------------------------------------- | ------------------------------ | ----------------------------- |

| Cluster | Entire cluster | gatewayproxy-cluster | kubesphere-controls-system | Cluster-scoped GatewayProxy |

| Workspace | Single workspace | gatewayproxy-workspace-{workspace} | kubesphere-controls-system | Workspace-scoped GatewayProxy |

| Project | Single project/namespace | gatewayproxy-namespace-{namespace} | kubesphere-controls-system | Namespace-scoped GatewayProxy |

Each GatewayProxy (gatewayproxies.gatewayapi.kubesphere.io) deploys a Traefik instance (the proxy implementation). It auto-creates a GatewayClass, and users can then create standard Gateway (gateways.gateway.networking.k8s.io) resources that reference that GatewayClass. The extension consists of three components:

• backend-extension — API server on the host cluster
• backend-agent — API server + controller-manager on every cluster (including the host cluster if selected)
• frontend — React SPA served via Nginx

Key Differentiator from kubesphere-gateway

| Aspect | kubesphere-gateway | kubesphere-gateway-api |

| -------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |

| Underlying proxy | ingress-nginx | Traefik |

| API standard | Custom Gateway CRD (gateway.kubesphere.io/v2alpha2) | Kubernetes Gateway API (gateway.networking.k8s.io) + GatewayProxy CRD |

| Core resource | Gateway + standard IngressClass/Ingress | GatewayProxy + standard Gateway/GatewayClass/HTTPRoute |

| Lifecycle management | Helm release per gateway | Helm release per GatewayProxy |

Core CRDs

• GatewayProxy (gatewayapi.kubesphere.io/v1alpha1) — the proxy implementation (e.g. Traefik). When created, the controller deploys Traefik via Helm SDK and auto-creates a GatewayClass. Key fields:

• spec.type — proxy type (currently only Traefik)
• spec.traefik.rawValues — raw Helm values passed to the Traefik chart
• spec.traefik.deployment.replicas — replica count
• spec.traefik.service.type — Service type (ClusterIP, NodePort, LoadBalancer)
• spec.traefik.createDefaultGateway — whether to auto-create a default Gateway
• spec.paused — pause reconciliation
• status.conditions — condition types: Ready, Progressing, NewVersionDetected
• status.service — Service type, ports, external IPs, load balancer status
• status.entrypoints — exposed entrypoints with ports and protocols
• status.gatewayClass.name — auto-created GatewayClass name
• status.helmRelease.name — Helm release name
• GatewayClass (gateway.networking.k8s.io/v1) — standard Kubernetes Gateway API class, auto-created by the GatewayProxy controller
• Gateway (gateway.networking.k8s.io/v1) — standard Kubernetes Gateway API gateway, associated with a GatewayClass
• HTTPRoute / GRPCRoute / TLSRoute / TCPRoute / UDPRoute — standard Kubernetes Gateway API route resources

Multi-Tenant Scoping

GatewayProxy and Gateway are scoped via labels:

• gatewayapi.kubesphere.io/scope-type — cluster, workspace, or namespace
• gatewayapi.kubesphere.io/scope-workspace — workspace name (for workspace scope)
• gatewayapi.kubesphere.io/scope-namespace — namespace name (for namespace scope)

Monitoring Integration

GatewayProxy exposes Traefik metrics via Prometheus. Requires the whizard-monitoring extension (optional dependency). Log search requires the whizard-logging extension.

Before You Start

Check if Gateway API extension is already installed:

kubectl get installplans.kubesphere.io gateway-api --ignore-not-found

If found, upgrading is supported — just select a newer version in Step 1.

Installation

Step 1: Detect and Select Version

ALL_VERSIONS=$(kubectl get extensionversions.kubesphere.io \
  -l kubesphere.io/extension-ref=gateway-api \
  -o jsonpath='{range .items[*]}{.spec.version}{"\n"}{end}' | sort -V)

LATEST_STABLE=$(echo "$ALL_VERSIONS" | grep -v -E 'alpha|beta|rc' | tail -1)
if [ -z "$LATEST_STABLE" ]; then
  LATEST_STABLE=$(echo "$ALL_VERSIONS" | tail -1)
fi

echo "Available versions:"
echo "$ALL_VERSIONS"
echo ""
echo "Latest stable: $LATEST_STABLE"

This sets ALL_VERSIONS and LATEST_STABLE. Use SELECTED_VERSION for the version chosen.

Use the question tool:

• $LATEST_STABLE (Recommended) — accept the auto-detected version
• *(custom)* — type a specific version; validate it against the printed list

Step 2: Detect and Select Clusters

CLUSTER_DATA=$(kubectl get clusters.cluster.kubesphere.io \
  -o jsonpath='{range .items[*]}{.metadata.name}{"\t"}{.status.conditions[?(@.type=="Ready")].status}{"\n"}{end}')

READY_CLUSTERS=$(echo "$CLUSTER_DATA" | awk -F'\t' '$2 == "True" {print $1}')
CLUSTER_COUNT=$(echo "$READY_CLUSTERS" | wc -l)

HOST_CLUSTER=$(kubectl get clusters.cluster.kubesphere.io \
  -l 'cluster-role.kubesphere.io/host' \
  -o jsonpath='{.items[0].metadata.name}' || echo "")

echo "Ready clusters:"
echo "$READY_CLUSTERS"
echo ""
echo "Cluster count: $CLUSTER_COUNT"
echo "Host cluster: $HOST_CLUSTER"

This sets READY_CLUSTERS, CLUSTER_COUNT, HOST_CLUSTER.

• 1 cluster → skip selection, auto-use it. Set TARGET_CLUSTERS="$HOST_CLUSTER"
• Multiple clusters → use question with multiple: true:
• All clusters → TARGET_CLUSTERS="$READY_CLUSTERS"
• Host cluster only → TARGET_CLUSTERS="$HOST_CLUSTER"
• *(custom)* — validate each name against $READY_CLUSTERS

Step 3: Generate and Apply InstallPlan

./scripts/generate-installplan.sh "$SELECTED_VERSION" "$TARGET_CLUSTERS"

This generates the YAML to /tmp/gateway-api-installplan.yaml, runs --dry-run=server, then prints the apply command.

Apply it:

kubectl apply -f /tmp/gateway-api-installplan.yaml

Tell the user "Installing". Then ask if they want to check status. If yes:

./scripts/check-status.sh poll

Status Checking

| Purpose | Command |

| ---------------------------------- | ----------------------------------- |

| Single snapshot | ./scripts/check-status.sh quick |

| Wait until complete (5min timeout) | ./scripts/check-status.sh poll |

Logic:

• All Installed → ✓ success
• Any Failed → ✗ prints full status
• Timeout (300s) → ⚠ prints current status
• In progress → prints every 10s

Uninstallation

> ⚠ Always confirm with the user before proceeding.

Uninstall from all clusters

if ! kubectl get installplans.kubesphere.io gateway-api &>/dev/null; then
  echo "Gateway API is not installed."
  exit 0
fi

Confirm with the user, then delete:

kubectl delete installplans.kubesphere.io gateway-api --ignore-not-found

Verify cleanup:

./scripts/verify-uninstall.sh

Success criteria:

• InstallPlan is deleted
• No active pods remain in extension-gateway-api namespace

Uninstall from specific clusters

> WARNING: Do NOT delete the InstallPlan. Only remove target clusters from the placement list.

Confirm which clusters to remove, compute remaining clusters, then patch:

kubectl patch installplans.kubesphere.io gateway-api --type='json' \
  -p='[{"op": "replace", "path": "/spec/clusterScheduling/placement/clusters", "value": ["<REMAINING_CLUSTER_1>", "<REMAINING_CLUSTER_2>"]}]'

Success: patch returns OK + removed clusters no longer in .status.clusterSchedulingStatuses.

GatewayProxy Operations

List GatewayProxies

GatewayProxies are organized by scope type. List them:

echo "=== Cluster GatewayProxies ==="
kubectl get gatewayproxies.gatewayapi.kubesphere.io -A \
  -l gatewayapi.kubesphere.io/scope-type=cluster

echo -e "\n=== Workspace GatewayProxies ==="
kubectl get gatewayproxies.gatewayapi.kubesphere.io -A \
  -l gatewayapi.kubesphere.io/scope-type=workspace

echo -e "\n=== Namespace GatewayProxies ==="
kubectl get gatewayproxies.gatewayapi.kubesphere.io -A \
  -l gatewayapi.kubesphere.io/scope-type=namespace

Check GatewayProxy Status

Pick a gateway proxy name from the list above and run:

GWP_NS="kubesphere-controls-system"
GWP_NAME="<gatewayproxy-name-from-list>"

# app.kubernetes.io/instance uses the Helm release name if available, otherwise the GatewayProxy name
GWP_INSTANCE=$(kubectl get gatewayproxies.gatewayapi.kubesphere.io -n $GWP_NS $GWP_NAME -o jsonpath='{.status.helmRelease.name}' 2>/dev/null)
if [ -z "$GWP_INSTANCE" ]; then
  GWP_INSTANCE="$GWP_NAME"
fi

kubectl get gatewayproxies.gatewayapi.kubesphere.io -n $GWP_NS $GWP_NAME -o wide
kubectl describe gatewayproxies.gatewayapi.kubesphere.io -n $GWP_NS $GWP_NAME
kubectl get gatewayproxies.gatewayapi.kubesphere.io -n $GWP_NS $GWP_NAME -o yaml
kubectl get pods -n $GWP_NS -l "app.kubernetes.io/instance=$GWP_INSTANCE"

GatewayProxy conditions:

| Condition Type | Status True | Meaning |

| ---------------------- | ----------- | --------------------------- |

| Ready | True | Fully operational |

| Progressing | True | Being created or updated |

| NewVersionDetected | True | New chart version available |

List Associated Gateways

Each GatewayProxy may have associated standard Gateways and GatewayClasses. The GatewayProxy creates GatewayClasses with the label gatewayapi.kubesphere.io/gateway-class-name, and auto-created Gateways carry scope labels:

# List GatewayClasses created by any GatewayProxy
kubectl get gatewayclass -l "gatewayapi.kubesphere.io/gateway-class-name"

# List Gateways associated with a specific GatewayProxy (by scope label)
kubectl get gateways.gateway.networking.k8s.io -n $GWP_NS \
  -l "gatewayapi.kubesphere.io/scope-type"

# Alternatively, list Gateways by the GatewayClass name they reference
GW_CLASS=$(kubectl get gatewayproxies.gatewayapi.kubesphere.io -n $GWP_NS $GWP_NAME \
  -o jsonpath='{.status.gatewayClass.name}')
kubectl get gateways.gateway.networking.k8s.io -A \
  -o jsonpath='{range .items[?(@.spec.gatewayClassName=="'"$GW_CLASS"'")]}{.metadata.namespace}{"\t"}{.metadata.name}{"\t"}{.spec.gatewayClassName}{"\n"}{end}'

View GatewayProxy Pods and Logs

kubectl get pods -n $GWP_NS -l "app.kubernetes.io/instance=$GWP_INSTANCE"
kubectl logs -n $GWP_NS -l "app.kubernetes.io/instance=$GWP_INSTANCE" --tail=100

Troubleshooting

> Set $GWP_NAME and $GWP_NS to the target GatewayProxy name and namespace (kubesphere-controls-system for all tiers). $GWP_INSTANCE is auto-resolved from status.helmRelease.name (falls back to $GWP_NAME).

GatewayProxy stuck in Progressing state

kubectl describe gatewayproxies.gatewayapi.kubesphere.io -n $GWP_NS $GWP_NAME

kubectl logs -n extension-gateway-api -l app=gateway-api-controller-manager --tail=200 | grep -iE "(error|helm|install|upgrade|reconcile)"

kubectl get pods -n $GWP_NS -l "app.kubernetes.io/instance=$GWP_INSTANCE"

Common causes: Helm chart not found, invalid rawValues, Traefik image pull failure, Helm SDK timeout.

GatewayProxy shows Ready=False state

kubectl describe gatewayproxies.gatewayapi.kubesphere.io -n $GWP_NS $GWP_NAME

kubectl get deployment -n $GWP_NS -l "app.kubernetes.io/instance=$GWP_INSTANCE" -o wide
kubectl describe deployment -n $GWP_NS -l "app.kubernetes.io/instance=$GWP_INSTANCE"
kubectl get pods -n $GWP_NS -l "app.kubernetes.io/instance=$GWP_INSTANCE" -o wide

POD_NAME=$(kubectl get pods -n $GWP_NS -l "app.kubernetes.io/instance=$GWP_INSTANCE" -o jsonpath='{.items[0].metadata.name}')
kubectl describe pod -n $GWP_NS $POD_NAME
kubectl logs -n $GWP_NS $POD_NAME --tail=100

Common causes: Image pull failure, resource constraints, port conflicts, missing ConfigMap/Secret, Helm release abnormal.

GatewayProxy pod crash-looping / CrashLoopBackOff

kubectl logs -n $GWP_NS -l "app.kubernetes.io/instance=$GWP_INSTANCE" --tail=100 --previous
kubectl get events -n $GWP_NS --sort-by='.lastTimestamp' | tail -20
kubectl exec -n $GWP_NS -l "app.kubernetes.io/instance=$GWP_INSTANCE" -- cat /etc/traefik/traefik.yaml 2>/dev/null | head -50
kubectl get configmap -n $GWP_NS -l "app.kubernetes.io/instance=$GWP_INSTANCE" -o yaml

Common causes: Misconfigured Traefik config, port conflicts, resource limits (OOMKilled), missing dependencies (ConfigMap/Secret).

Controller not reconciling

kubectl get pods -n extension-gateway-api -l app=gateway-api-controller-manager
kubectl logs -n extension-gateway-api -l app=gateway-api-controller-manager --tail=200
kubectl get validatingwebhookconfiguration -l "app.kubernetes.io/managed-by=Helm,kubesphere.io/extension-ref=gateway-api"
kubectl get deployment -n extension-gateway-api -l app=gateway-api-controller-manager -o yaml

Common causes: Controller pod not running, webhook configuration blocking updates, Helm release state mismatch, RBAC permission issues.

Log search / metrics not working

GatewayProxy observability proxies to whizard-telemetry-apiserver:

kubectl get pods -n extension-whizard-telemetry
kubectl get svc -n extension-whizard-telemetry whizard-telemetry-apiserver
kubectl logs -n extension-gateway-api -l app=gateway-api-apiserver --tail=100 | grep -iE "(log|search|whizard|proxy|metric)"

Common causes: Whizard-telemetry not installed or not running, network policy blocking cross-namespace traffic.