Gloo Edge 1.16: API Gateway Evolution and Gateway API Support

Introduction

Gloo Edge 1.16, released on June 8, 2023, is most relevant if you expose services on Kubernetes and need stable, debuggable traffic paths. The practical wins usually show up at the edge: clearer traffic behavior, fewer surprises during failover, and easier debugging when routes go weird.

Gateway API Support

• Gateway API implementation provides native support for the Kubernetes Gateway API standard.
• HTTPRoute support enables sophisticated routing rules and traffic management.
• TLSRoute capabilities enable secure routing with automatic certificate management.
• BackendRef improvements provide better service and endpoint selection.

Performance Improvements

1. Envoy integration updates leverage latest Envoy performance improvements.
2. Connection handling optimizations reduce latency and improve throughput.
3. Resource usage improvements reduce CPU and memory footprint.
4. Scaling enhancements enable better handling of high-traffic scenarios.

Security Features

• TLS termination improvements provide better certificate management and rotation.
• mTLS support enables mutual TLS for service-to-service communication.
• Authentication enhancements expand OAuth2, JWT, and API key support.
• Authorization improvements provide fine-grained access control policies.

Getting Started

helm repo add gloo https://storage.googleapis.com/solo-public-helm
helm install gloo gloo/gloo --version 1.16.0 --namespace gloo-system --create-namespace

Create a Gateway:

apiVersion: gateway.networking.k8s.io/v1beta1
kind: Gateway
metadata:
  name: my-gateway
  namespace: gloo-system
spec:
  gatewayClassName: gloo
  listeners:
  - name: web
    protocol: HTTP
    port: 80

Summary

Gloo Edge 1.16 continues to evolve as a leading API gateway solution with Gateway API support and enhanced performance.