Simple Policy Demo

This guide provides a simple way to try out Kubernetes NetworkPolicy with Calico. It requires a Kubernetes cluster configured with Calico networking, and expects that you have kubectl configured to interact with the cluster.

You can quickly and easily deploy such a cluster by following one of the installation guides

Configure Namespaces

This guide will deploy pods in a Kubernetes Namespaces. Let’s create the Namespace object for this guide.

kubectl create ns policy-demo

Create demo Pods

We’ll use Kubernetes Deployment objects to easily create pods in the Namespace.

1) Create some nginx pods in the policy-demo Namespace, and expose them through a Service.

# Run the Pods.
kubectl run --namespace=policy-demo nginx --replicas=2 --image=nginx

# Create the Service.
kubectl expose --namespace=policy-demo deployment nginx --port=80

2) Ensure the nginx service is accessible.

# Run a Pod and try to access the `nginx` Service.
$ kubectl run --namespace=policy-demo access --rm -ti --image busybox /bin/sh
Waiting for pod policy-demo/access-472357175-y0m47 to be running, status is Pending, pod ready: false

If you don't see a command prompt, try pressing enter.

/ # wget -q nginx -O -

You should see a response from nginx. Great! Our Service is accessible. You can exit the Pod now.

Enable isolation

Let’s turn on isolation in our policy-demo Namespace. Calico will then prevent connections to pods in this Namespace.

kubectl annotate ns policy-demo "net.beta.kubernetes.io/network-policy={\"ingress\":{\"isolation\":\"DefaultDeny\"}}"

This will prevent all access to the nginx Service. We can see the effect by trying to access the Service again.

# Run a Pod and try to access the `nginx` Service.
$ kubectl run --namespace=policy-demo access --rm -ti --image busybox /bin/sh
Waiting for pod policy-demo/access-472357175-y0m47 to be running, status is Pending, pod ready: false

If you don't see a command prompt, try pressing enter.

/ # wget -q --timeout=5 nginx -O -
wget: download timed out
/ #

The request should time out after 5 seconds. By enabling isolation on the Namespace, we’ve prevented access to the Service.

Allow Access using a NetworkPolicy

Now, let’s enable access to the nginx Service using a NetworkPolicy. This will allow incoming connections from our access Pod, but not from anywhere else.

Create a network policy access-nginx with the following contents:

kubectl create -f - <<EOF
kind: NetworkPolicy
apiVersion: extensions/v1beta1
metadata:
  name: access-nginx
  namespace: policy-demo
spec:
  podSelector:
    matchLabels:
      run: nginx
  ingress:
    - from:
      - podSelector:
          matchLabels:
            run: access
EOF

Notice the NetworkPolicy allows traffic from Pods with the label run: access to Pods with the label run: nginx. These are the labels automatically added to Pods started via kubectl run based on the name of the Deployment.

We should now be able to access the Service from the access Pod.

# Run a Pod and try to access the `nginx` Service.
$ kubectl run --namespace=policy-demo access --rm -ti --image busybox /bin/sh
Waiting for pod policy-demo/access-472357175-y0m47 to be running, status is Pending, pod ready: false

If you don't see a command prompt, try pressing enter.

/ # wget -q --timeout=5 nginx -O -

However, we still cannot access the Service from a Pod without the label run: access:

# Run a Pod and try to access the `nginx` Service.
$ kubectl run --namespace=policy-demo cant-access --rm -ti --image busybox /bin/sh
Waiting for pod policy-demo/cant-access-472357175-y0m47 to be running, status is Pending, pod ready: false

If you don't see a command prompt, try pressing enter.

/ # wget -q --timeout=5 nginx -O -
wget: download timed out
/ #

You can clean up the demo by deleting the demo Namespace:

kubectl delete ns policy-demo

This was just a simple example of the Kubernetes NetworkPolicy API and how Calico can secure your Kubernetes cluster. For more information on network policy in Kubernetes, see the Kubernetes user-guide.

For a slightly more detailed demonstration of Policy, check out the stars demo.