The Kubernetes community has launched Gateway API v1.1, which introduces significant enhancements for managing ingress and service mesh traffic in Kubernetes. This update builds on the previously released General Availability (GA) version, promoting several features to the Standard Channel for better reliability and backward compatibility.
Key features of this release include:
- Support for service meshes, enabling unified management of ingress and mesh traffic through a single API.
- The new GRPCRoute, currently in its experimental stage, simplifies gRPC traffic routing with advanced traffic management techniques.
- Session persistence, ensuring consistent routing of requests from the same client.
- Client certificate verification to enhance security by validating client certificates against trusted authorities.
Gateway API v1.1 also brings further improvements such as:
- The addition of a port field in ParentReference, allowing routes to attach to multiple listeners for more flexible routing configurations.
- Expanded conformance profiles that better document testing outcomes and methodologies.
This API is compatible with Kubernetes versions 1.26 and later, making it easier to implement advanced traffic management without needing a complete upgrade of your Kubernetes cluster.
For developers interested in exploring these new features, comprehensive documentation and a getting started guide are available on the Kubernetes website.
