K4wd [keɪ ˈfɔrwərd]

kubectl port-forward on steroids

Docs are WiP

General

K4wd allows to make multiple resources in Kubernetes clusters available locally for development and debugging purposes in a pleasant way. It doesn't reinvent the wheel as it is basically a wrapper around PortForwarder.ForwardPorts with some extras. While there are many similar tools available, K4wd might fill a niche. The primary goals are:

• No need to install additional software in the clusters
• No elevated privileges or additional software on the client
• Declarative configuration for complex setups
• Easy integration in development workflows

Use cases

• Local development against upstream resources running in Kubernetes clusters
• Comparison of workload bahaviours in different Kubernetes contexts

Quickstart / Demo

• Install k4wd: go install github.com/tmsmr/k4wd/cmd/k4wd@latest
• Have some resources deployed: kubectl apply -f docs/example.yaml
• Write a Forwardfile (docs/Forwardfile):

[forwards.nginx-pod]
pod = "nginx"
namespace = "k4wd"
remote = "80"
local = "1234"

[forwards.nginx-deployment]
deployment = "nginx"
namespace = "k4wd"
remote = "80"

[forwards.nginx-service]
service = "nginx"
namespace = "k4wd"
remote = "http-alt"
local = "8080"

• Start k4wd:

$ k4wd -f docs/Forwardfile
INFO[09:02:47] starting 3 forwards
INFO[09:02:47] nginx-service ready (127.0.0.1:8080 -> k4wd/nginx-77b4fdf86c-f4wt6:80) 
INFO[09:02:47] nginx-pod ready (127.0.0.1:1234 -> k4wd/nginx:80) 
INFO[09:02:47] nginx-deployment ready (127.0.0.1:49758 -> k4wd/nginx-77b4fdf86c-f4wt6:80)

Note that for nginx-deployment, a random free port was assigned since no value is defined in the Forwardfile

• (Optional) Get a new shell and request the active forwards as env variables, e.g.:

$ k4wd -f docs/Forwardfile -e
export NGINX_SERVICE_ADDR=127.0.0.1:8080
export NGINX_POD_ADDR=127.0.0.1:1234
export NGINX_DEPLOYMENT_ADDR=127.0.0.1:0

• Use the forwards, e.g.:

$ eval $(k4wd -f docs/Forwardfile -e)
$ curl $NGINX_SERVICE_ADDR -I
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
...

• Stop the k4wd process and clean up: kubectl delete -f docs/example.yaml

Installation

For every tagged version the binaries are attached to the release. You can download it and put it in your $PATH. Releases are available here. While the binaries are not signed, you can verify the checksum from SHA256SUMS.txt.

If you have go installed, you can also install k4wd using go install github.com/tmsmr/k4wd/cmd/k4wd@latest.

Usage

$ k4wd -h
Usage of k4wd:
  -d    enable debug logging
  -e    print environment instead of running k4wd
  -f string
        path to Forwardfile (context) (default "Forwardfile")
  -k string
        alternative path to kubeconfig
  -o string
        output format for environment (env, no-export, json, ps, cmd) (default "env")

Forwardfile

Configuration

TBD

Context

TBD

Limitations

TBD

Disclaimer

Check LICENSE for details. If this tool eats your dog, it's not my fault.