---
layout: docs
page_title: 'Configuration Entry Kind: Ingress Gateway'
sidebar_title: ingress-gateway
description: >-
  The `ingress-gateway` config entry kind allows for configuring Ingress gateways
  with listeners that expose a set of services outside the Consul service mesh.
---

# Ingress Gateway

-> **1.8.0+:** This config entry is available in Consul versions 1.8.0 and newer.

The `ingress-gateway` config entry kind allows you to configure ingress gateways
with listeners that expose a set of services outside the Consul service mesh.
See [Ingress Gateway](/docs/connect/ingress-gateway) for more information.

~> [Configuration entries](/docs/agent/config-entries) are global in scope. A configuration entry for a gateway name applies
across all federated Consul datacenters. If ingress gateways in different Consul datacenters need to route to different
sets of services within their datacenter then the ingress gateways **must** be registered with different names.

See [Ingress Gateway](/docs/connect/ingress-gateway) for more information.

## Wildcard service specification

Ingress gateways can optionally target all services within a Consul namespace by
specifying a wildcard `*` as the service name. A wildcard specifier allows
for a single listener to route traffic to all available services on the
Consul service mesh, differentiating between the services by their host/authority
header.

A wildcard specifier provides the following properties for an ingress
gateway:

- All services with the same
  [protocol](/docs/agent/config-entries/ingress-gateway#protocol) as the
  listener will be routable.
- The ingress gateway will route traffic based on the host/authority header,
  expecting a value matching `<service-name>.ingress.*`, or if using namespaces,
  `<service-name>.ingress.<namespace>.*`. This matches the [Consul DNS
  ingress subdomain](/docs/agent/dns#ingress-service-lookups).

A wildcard specifier cannot be set on a listener of protocol `tcp`.

## Sample Config Entries

### TCP listener

<Tabs>
<Tab heading="HCL">

Set up a TCP listener on an ingress gateway named "us-east-ingress" to proxy traffic to the "db" service:

```hcl
Kind = "ingress-gateway"
Name = "us-east-ingress"

Listeners = [
  {
    Port     = 3456
    Protocol = "tcp"
    Services = [
      {
        Name = "db"
      }
    ]
  }
]
```

</Tab>
<Tab heading="HCL (Consul Enterprise)">

Set up a TCP listener on an ingress gateway named "us-east-ingress" in the default namespace
to proxy traffic to the "db" service in the ops namespace:

```hcl
Kind = "ingress-gateway"
Name = "us-east-ingress"
Namespace = "default"

Listeners = [
  {
    Port     = 3456
    Protocol = "tcp"
    Services = [
      {
        Namespace = "ops"
        Name = "db"
      }
    ]
  }
]
```

</Tab>
<Tab heading="JSON">

Set up a TCP listener on an ingress gateway named "us-east-ingress" to proxy traffic to the "db" service:

```json
{
  "Kind": "ingress-gateway",
  "Name": "us-east-ingress",
  "Listeners": [
    {
      "Port": 3456,
      "Protocol": "tcp",
      "Services": [
        {
          "Name": "db"
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}
```

</Tab>
<Tab heading="JSON (Consul Enterprise)">

Set up a TCP listener on an ingress gateway named "us-east-ingress" in the default namespace
to proxy traffic to the "db" service in the ops namespace:

```json
{
  "Kind": "ingress-gateway",
  "Name": "us-east-ingress",
  "Namespace": "default",
  "Listeners": [
    {
      "Port": 3456,
      "Protocol": "tcp",
      "Services": [
        {
          "Namespace": "ops",
          "Name": "db"
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}
```

</Tab>
</Tabs>

### Wildcard HTTP listener

<Tabs>
<Tab heading="HCL">

Set up a wildcard HTTP listener on an ingress gateway named "us-east-ingress" to proxy traffic to all services in the datacenter.
Also make two services available over a custom port with user-provided hosts, and enable TLS on every listener:

```hcl
Kind = "ingress-gateway"
Name = "us-east-ingress"

TLS {
  Enabled = true
}

Listeners = [
  {
    Port     = 8080
    Protocol = "http"
    Services = [
      {
        Name = "*"
      }
    ]
  },
  {
    Port     = 4567
    Protocol = "http"
    Services = [
      {
        Name  = "api"
        Hosts = ["foo.example.com", "foo.example.com:4567"]
      },
      {
        Name  = "web"
        Hosts = ["website.example.com", "website.example.com:4567"]
      }
    ]
  }
]
```

</Tab>
<Tab heading="HCL (Consul Enterprise)">

Set up a wildcard HTTP listener on an ingress gateway named "us-east-ingress" to proxy traffic to all services in the frontend namespace.
Also make two services in the frontend namespace available over a custom port with user-provided hosts, and enable TLS on every listener:

```hcl
Kind = "ingress-gateway"
Name = "us-east-ingress"
Namespace = "default"

TLS {
  Enabled = true
}

Listeners = [
  {
    Port     = 8080
    Protocol = "http"
    Services = [
      {
        Namespace = "frontend"
        Name = "*"
      }
    ]
  },
  {
    Port     = 4567
    Protocol = "http"
    Services = [
      {
        Namespace = "frontend"
        Name  = "api"
        Hosts = ["foo.example.com", "foo.example.com:4567"]
      },
      {
        Namespace = "frontend"
        Name  = "web"
        Hosts = ["website.example.com", "website.example.com:4567"]
      }
    ]
  }
]
```

</Tab>
<Tab heading="JSON">

Set up a wildcard HTTP listener on an ingress gateway named "us-east-ingress" to proxy traffic to all services in the datacenter.
Also make two services available over a custom port with user-provided hosts, and enable TLS on every listener:

```json
{
  "Kind": "ingress-gateway",
  "Name": "us-east-ingress",
  "TLS": {
    "Enabled": true
  },
  "Listeners": [
    {
      "Port": 8080,
      "Protocol": "http",
      "Services": [
        {
          "Name": "*"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "Port": 4567,
      "Protocol": "http",
      "Services": [
        {
          "Name": "api",
          "Hosts": ["foo.example.com", "foo.example.com:4567"]
        },
        {
          "Name": "web",
          "Hosts": ["website.example.com", "website.example.com:4567"]
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}
```

</Tab>
<Tab heading="JSON (Consul Enterprise)">

Set up a wildcard HTTP listener on an ingress gateway named "us-east-ingress" to proxy traffic to all services in the frontend namespace.
Also make two services in the frontend namespace available over a custom port with user-provided hosts, and enable TLS on every listener:

```json
{
  "Kind": "ingress-gateway",
  "Name": "us-east-ingress",
  "Namespace": "default",
  "TLS": {
    "Enabled": true
  },
  "Listeners": [
    {
      "Port": 8080,
      "Protocol": "http",
      "Services": [
        {
          "Namespace": "frontend",
          "Name": "*"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "Port": 4567,
      "Protocol": "http",
      "Services": [
        {
          "Namespace": "frontend",
          "Name": "api",
          "Hosts": ["foo.example.com", "foo.example.com:4567"]
        },
        {
          "Namespace": "frontend",
          "Name": "web",
          "Hosts": ["website.example.com", "website.example.com:4567"]
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}
```

</Tab>
</Tabs>

### HTTP listener with path-based routing

<Tabs>
<Tab heading="HCL">

Set up a HTTP listener on an ingress gateway named "us-east-ingress" to proxy
traffic to a virtual service named "api".

```hcl
Kind = "ingress-gateway"
Name = "us-east-ingress"

Listeners = [
  {
    Port     = 80
    Protocol = "http"
    Services = [
      {
        Name = "api"
      }
    ]
  }
]
```

</Tab>
<Tab heading="HCL (Consul Enterprise)">

Set up a HTTP listener on an ingress gateway named "us-east-ingress" in the
default namespace to proxy traffic to a virtual service named "api".

```hcl
Kind = "ingress-gateway"
Name = "us-east-ingress"
Namespace = "default"

Listeners = [
  {
    Port     = 80
    Protocol = "http"
    Services = [
      {
        Name = "api"
        Namespace = "frontend"
      }
    ]
  }
]
```

</Tab>
<Tab heading="JSON">

Set up a HTTP listener on an ingress gateway named "us-east-ingress" to proxy
traffic to a virtual service named "api".

```json
{
  "Kind": "ingress-gateway",
  "Name": "us-east-ingress",
  "Listeners": [
    {
      "Port": 80,
      "Protocol": "http",
      "Services": [
        {
          "Name": "api",
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}
```

</Tab>
<Tab heading="JSON (Consul Enterprise)">

Set up a HTTP listener on an ingress gateway named "us-east-ingress" in the
default namespace to proxy traffic to a virtual service named "api".

```json
{
  "Kind": "ingress-gateway",
  "Name": "us-east-ingress",
  "Namespace": "default",
  "Listeners": [
    {
      "Port": 80,
      "Protocol": "http",
      "Services": [
        {
          "Name": "api",
          "Namespace": "frontend"
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}
```

</Tab>
</Tabs>

The `api` service is not an actual registered service. It exist as a "virtual"
service for L7 configuration only. A `service-router` is defined for this
virtual service which uses path-based routing to route requests to different
backend services.

<Tabs>
<Tab heading="HCL">

```hcl
Kind = "service-router"
Name = "api"
Routes = [
  {
    Match {
      HTTP {
        PathPrefix = "/billing"
      }
    }

    Destination {
      Service = "billing-api"
    }
  },
  {
    Match {
      HTTP {
        PathPrefix = "/payments"
      }
    }

    Destination {
      Service = "payments-api"
    }
  }
]
```

</Tab>
<Tab heading="HCL (Consul Enterprise)">

```hcl
Kind = "service-router"
Name = "api"
Namespace = "default"
Routes = [
  {
    Match {
      HTTP {
        PathPrefix = "/billing"
      }
    }

    Destination {
      Service = "billing-api"
      Namespace = "frontend"
    }
  },
  {
    Match {
      HTTP {
        PathPrefix = "/payments"
      }
    }

    Destination {
      Service = "payments-api"
      Namespace = "frontend"
    }
  }
]
```

</Tab>
<Tab heading="JSON">

```json
{
  "Kind": "service-router",
  "Name": "api",
  "Routes": [
    {
      "Match": {
        "HTTP": {
          "PathPrefix": "/billing"
        }
      },
      "Destination": {
        "Service": "billing-api"
      }
    },
    {
      "Match": {
        "HTTP": {
          "PathPrefix": "/payments"
        }
      },
      "Destination": {
        "Service": "payments-api"
      }
    }
  ]
}
```

</Tab>
<Tab heading="JSON (Consul Enterprise)">

```json
{
  "Kind": "service-router",
  "Name": "api",
  "Namespace": "default",
  "Routes": [
    {
      "Match": {
        "HTTP": {
          "PathPrefix": "/billing"
        }
      },
      "Destination": {
        "Service": "billing-api",
        "Namespace": "frontend"
      }
    },
    {
      "Match": {
        "HTTP": {
          "PathPrefix": "/payments"
        }
      },
      "Destination": {
        "Service": "payments-api",
        "Namespace": "frontend"
      }
    }
  ]
}
```
</Tab>
</Tabs>

## Available Fields

- `Kind` - Must be set to `ingress-gateway`

- `Name` `(string: <required>)` - Set to the name of the gateway being configured.

- `Namespace` `(string: "default")` - <EnterpriseAlert inline /> Specifies
  the namespace the config entry will apply to. This must be the namespace
  the gateway is registered in. If omitted, the namespace will be inherited
  from [the request](/api/config#ns) or will default to the `default` namespace.

- `Meta` `(map<string|string>: nil)` - Specifies arbitrary KV metadata pairs. Added in Consul 1.8.4.

- `TLS` `(TLSConfig: <optional>)` - TLS configuration for this gateway.

  - `Enabled` `(bool: false)` - Set this configuration to enable TLS for
    every listener on the gateway.

  If TLS is enabled, then each host defined in the `Host` field will be added
  as a DNSSAN to the gateway's x509 certificate.

- `Listeners` `(array<IngressListener>: <optional>)` - A list of listeners that
  the ingress gateway should setup, uniquely identified by their port number.

  - `Port` `(int: 0)` - The port that the listener should receive traffic on.

  - `Protocol` `(string: "tcp")` - The protocol associated with the listener.
    One of `tcp`, `http`, `http2`, or `grpc`.

  - `Services` `(array<IngressService>: <optional>)` - A list of services to be
    exposed via this listener. For "tcp" listeners, only a single service is
    allowed.

    - `Name` `(string: "")` - The name of the service that should be exposed
      through this listener. This can be either a service registered in the
      catalog, or a service defined only by [other config
      entries](/docs/connect/l7-traffic-management). If the wildcard specifier,
      `*`, is provided, then ALL services will be exposed through the listener.
      This is not supported for listener's with protocol "tcp".

    - `Namespace` `(string: "")` - <EnterpriseAlert inline /> The namespace to resolve the service from
      instead of the current namespace. If empty the current namespace is
      assumed.

    - `Hosts` `(array<string>: <optional>)` - A list of hosts that specify what
      requests will match this service. This cannot be used with a `tcp`
      listener, and cannot be specified alongside a `*` service name. If not
      specified, the default domain `<service-name>.ingress.*` will be used to
      match services. Requests **must** send the correct host to be routed to
      the defined service.

      The wildcard specifier, `*`, can be used by itself to match all traffic
      coming to the ingress gateway, if TLS is not enabled. This allows a user
      to route all traffic to a single service without specifying a host,
      allowing simpler tests and demos. Otherwise, the wildcard specifier can
      be used as part of the host to match multiple hosts, but only in the
      leftmost DNS label. This ensures that all defined hosts are valid DNS
      records. For example, `*.example.com` is valid, while `example.*` and
      `*-suffix.example.com` are not.

      ~> **Note:** If a well-known port is not used, i.e. a port other than 80
      (http) or 443 (https), then the port must be appended to the host to
      correctly match traffic. This is defined in the [HTTP/1.1
      RFC](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2616#section-14.23). If TLS is
      enabled, then the host **without** the port must be added to the `Hosts`
      field as well. TLS verification only matches against the hostname of the
      incoming connection, and thus does not take into account the port.

## ACLs

Configuration entries may be protected by
[ACLs](https://learn.hashicorp.com/tutorials/consul/access-control-setup-production).

Reading an `ingress-gateway` config entry requires `service:read` on the `Name`
field of the config entry.

Creating, updating, or deleting an `ingress-gateway` config entry requires
`operator:write`.
