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Select Protocol for Mesh

Specify traffic protocols in the mesh.

Protocols

greymatter.io supports a variety of protocols. This document describes each type of connection we support and how to configure it.

Each protocol may be configured with TLS or mTLS.

HTTP

HTTP is the default protocol used if no other protocol is set.

In order to configure HTTP, no other protocols should be configured and the ssl_config attribute in the service’s domain and cluster objects should be omitted or set to an empty curly brace to disable SSL.

Example cluster:

{
  "zone_key": "default-zone",
  "cluster_key": "exapmle-cluster",
  "name": "example",
  "instances": []
}

Example domain:

{
  "zone_key": "default-zone",
  "domain_key": "example-domain",
  "name": "*",
  "port": 8080
}

This will ensure the sidecar both handles incoming connections and makes outgoing upstream connections as HTTP.

HTTP/2

HTTP/2 is similar to HTTP, but with added performance and optimizations. It enables the usage of advanced protocols such as gRPC. For more information see HTTP/2 specifications.

HTTP/2 is supported by greymatter.io via Envoy’s Protocol Selection attribute.

To configure the sidecar to use HTTP/2, the http2_protocol_options attribute should be set in the service’s listener or cluster objects. When set in the listener, all incoming HTTP/2 requests to the sidecar will be handled with the configured options. When set in the cluster, all requests to the cluster from any sidecar will be handled with the configured options.

When utilizing a bi-directional stream over HTTP/2, we recommend setting a route timeout of "0s" and the option allow_connect: true inside the http2_protocol_options. This will enable the stream to stay open while not closing due to inactivity.

For information on http2_protocol_options settings, see Envoy HTTP/2 Options.

Example listener:

{
  "zone_key": "zone-default-zone",
  "listener_key": "example-listener",
  "domain_keys": ["example-domain"],
  "name": "example",
  "ip": "0.0.0.0",
  "port": 10808,
  "protocol": "http_auto",
  "http2_protocol_options": {}
}

Example cluster:

{
  "zone_key": "default-zone",
  "cluster_key": "example-cluster",
  "name": "example",
  "instances": [],
  "http2_protocol_options": {}
}

gRPC

gRPC is an RPC framework that uses protocol buffers as an interface for bidirectional streaming. When using the bi-directional streaming features of gRPC, the following options need to be configured:

{
  "zone_key": "zone-default-zone",
  "cluster_key": "example-cluster",
  "name": "example",
  "instances": [],
  "require_tls": true,
  "http2_protocol_options": {
    "allow_connect": true
  }
}

In this case, allow_connect upgrades the connection through the cluster, enabling support for a bi-directional stream. Listeners will auto detect the protocol, but if 2-way streaming is required we also recommend setting the http2_protocol_options with allow_connect: true on the listener.

Note you will also want to define a timeout: "0s" on your associated route to tell the Proxy it should hold the connection open even after remaining idle. If you do not want to hold streams open simply remove the timeout and it will default to a 15s duration.

WebSockets

WebSockets open a two-way interactive stream between the client and server, whereas other protocols such as HTTP are unidirectional. WebSockets can be configured for a sidecar sitting in front of a compatible backend service by enabling WebSocket and HTTP Upgrades. To enable WebSockets, set upgrades to "websocket" in a service’s proxy object. A full example is below:

{
  "proxy_key": "gm-proxy-proxy",
  "zone_key": "default-zone",
  "name": "gm-proxy",
  "domain_keys": ["domain"],
  "listener_keys": ["listener"],
  "upgrades": "websocket",
}

Note that setting upgrades configures WebSocket connections, but will defer to the protocol of the incoming request. This allows for the sidecar to handle WebSocket connections to certain routes and clusters, and HTTP requests for others.

Network Layer Protocols

Sidecars are able to field incoming and outgoing network layer protocol requests using a variety of network filters.

TCP

To enable connecting over TCP, enable the TCP proxy filter in the service’s listener object. Refer to envoy’s TCP proxy documentation. Note that this cannot be configured with the Redis or Dubbo proxy filters.

Mongo

To enable connecting to a MongoDB server, enable the Mongo proxy filter with the TCP proxy filter in the service’s listener object. Refer to envoy’s Mongo proxy documentation.

Redis

To enable connecting with to a Redis server, enable the Redis proxy filter in the service’s listener object. Refer to envoy’s Redis proxy documentation. Note that this cannot be configured with the TCP and Dubbo proxy filters.

Kafka

To enable connecting with to a Kafka server, enable the Kafka proxy filter in the service’s listener object.

MySQL

To enable connecting to a MySQL server, enable the MySQL proxy filter with the TCP proxy filter in the service’s listener object. Refer to envoy’s MySQL proxy documentation.

Zookeeper

To enable connecting to a Zookeeper server, enable the Zookeeper proxy filter with the TCP proxy filter in the service’s listener object. Refer to *envoy’s Zookeeper proxy *documentation.

Thrift

To enable connecting with to a Thrift server, enable the Thrift proxy filter in the service’s listener object.

Encryption

TLS may be configured by configuring the ssl_config attribute in the service’s domain and cluster objects.

Example cluster:

{
  "zone_key": "default-zone",
  "cluster_key": "example-cluster",
  "name": "example",
  "instances": [],
  "ssl_config": {
      "protocols": [
        "TLSv1.2"
      ],
    "require_client_certs": true,
    "trust_file": "/etc/proxy/tls/sidecar/ca.crt",
    "cert_key_pairs": [
      {
        "certificate_path": "/etc/proxy/tls/sidecar/server.crt",
        "key_path": "/etc/proxy/tls/sidecar/server.key"
      }
    ]
  },
  "require_tls": true,
}

Example domain:

{
  "zone_key": "default-zone",
  "domain_key": "example-domain",
  "name": "*",
  "port": 8080,
  "ssl_config": {
      "protocols": [
        "TLSv1.2"
      ],
    "require_client_certs": true,
    "trust_file": "/etc/proxy/tls/sidecar/ca.crt",
    "cert_key_pairs": [
      {
        "certificate_path": "/etc/proxy/tls/sidecar/server.crt",
        "key_path": "/etc/proxy/tls/sidecar/server.key"
      }
    ]
  },
  "force_https": true,
}

Together, the configured proxy will only handle incoming and create outgoing HTTPS requests with valid cert/key pairs using mutual TLS version 1.2. For more information on different types of HTTPS configurations,