Enabling EndpointSlices

This page provides an overview of enabling EndpointSlices in Kubernetes.

Before you begin

You need to have a Kubernetes cluster, and the kubectl command-line tool must be configured to communicate with your cluster. If you do not already have a cluster, you can create one by using Minikube, or you can use one of these Kubernetes playgrounds:

To check the version, enter kubectl version.

Introduction

EndpointSlices provide a scalable and extensible alternative to Endpoints in Kubernetes. They build on top of the base of functionality provided by Endpoints and extend that in a scalable way. When Services have a large number (>100) of network endpoints, they will be split into multiple smaller EndpointSlice resources instead of a single large Endpoints resource.

Enabling EndpointSlices

FEATURE STATE: Kubernetes v1.17 [beta]
Note: Although EndpointSlices may eventually replace Endpoints, many Kubernetes components still rely on Endpoints. For now, enabling EndpointSlices should be seen as an addition to Endpoints in a cluster, not a replacement for them.

EndpointSlice functionality in Kubernetes is made up of several different components, most are enabled by default:

Using EndpointSlices

With EndpointSlices fully enabled in your cluster, you should see corresponding EndpointSlice resources for each Endpoints resource. In addition to supporting existing Endpoints functionality, EndpointSlices include new bits of information such as topology. They will allow for greater scalability and extensibility of network endpoints in your cluster.

What's next

Last modified June 08, 2020 at 2:01 PM PST: Updating EndpointSlice documentation for Kubernetes 1.19 (028af758b)