# Establish external routing on the RedisEnterpriseCluster

```json metadata
{
  "title": "Establish external routing on the RedisEnterpriseCluster",
  "description": "",
  "categories": ["docs","operate","kubernetes"],
  "tableOfContents": {"sections":[{"id":"install-ingress-controller","title":"Install Ingress controller"},{"id":"configure-dns","title":"Configure DNS"},{"children":[{"id":"nginx-or-haproxy-ingress-controllers","title":"NGINX or HAproxy ingress controllers"},{"id":"openshift-routes","title":"OpenShift routes"}],"id":"edit-the-rec-spec","title":"Edit the REC spec"}]}

,
  "codeExamples": []
}
```An Ingress is an API resource that provides a standardized and flexible way to manage external access to services running within a Kubernetes cluster.

## Install Ingress controller

Redis Enterprise for Kubernetes supports the Ingress controllers below:
* [HAProxy](https://haproxy-ingress.github.io/)
* [NGINX](https://kubernetes.github.io/ingress-nginx/)
* [Istio](https://istio.io/latest/docs/setup/getting-started/)

OpenShift users can use [routes](https://redis.io/docs/latest/operate/kubernetes/networking/routes) instead of an Ingress.

Install your chosen Ingress controller, making sure `ssl-passthrough` is enabled. `ssl-passthrough` is turned off by default for NGINX but enabled by default for HAProxy.

## Configure DNS

1. Choose the hostname (FQDN) you will use to access your database according to the recommended naming conventions below, replacing `<placeholders>` with your own values.

     REC API hostname: `api-<rec-name>-<rec-namespace>.<subdomain>`
     REAADB hostname: `-db-<rec-name>-<rec-namespace>.<subdomain>`
     
     We recommend using a wildcard (`*`) in place of the database name, followed by the hostname suffix.

1. Retrieve the `EXTERNAL-IP` of your Ingress controller's `LoadBalancer` service.

     ``` sh
     $ kubectl get svc <haproxy-ingress | ingress-ngnix-controller> \
                         -n <ingress-ctrl-namespace>
     ```

     Below is example output for an HAProxy ingress controller running on a K8s cluster hosted by AWS.  

     ``` sh
     NAME              TYPE           CLUSTER-IP    EXTERNAL-IP                                                              PORT(S)                      AGE   
     haproxy-ingress   LoadBalancer   10.43.62.53   a56e24df8c6173b79a63d5da54fd9cff-676486416.us-east-1.elb.amazonaws.com   80:30610/TCP,443:31597/TCP   21m
     ```

1. Create DNS records to resolve your chosen REC API hostname and database hostname to the `EXTERNAL-IP` found in the previous step.

## Edit the REC spec

Edit the RedisEnterpriseCluster (REC) spec to add the `ingressOrRouteSpec` field, replacing `<placeholders>` below with your own values.

### NGINX or HAproxy ingress controllers

* Define the REC API hostname (`apiFqdnUrl`) and database hostname suffix (`dbFqdnSuffix`) you chose when configuring DNS.
* Set `method` to `ingress`.
* Set `ssl-passthrough` to "true".
* Add any additional annotations required for your ingress controller. See [NGINX docs](https://kubernetes.github.io/ingress-nginx/user-guide/nginx-configuration/annotations/) or [HAproxy docs](https://haproxy-ingress.github.io/docs/configuration/keys/) for more information.

```sh
kubectl patch rec  <rec-name> --type merge --patch "{\"spec\": \
    {\"ingressOrRouteSpec\": \
      {\"apiFqdnUrl\": \"api-<rec-name>-<rec-namespace>.example.com\", \
      \"dbFqdnSuffix\": \"-db-<rec-name>-<rec-namespace>.example.com\", \
      \"ingressAnnotations\": \
       {\"<kubernetes | github>.io/ingress.class\": \
       \"<ingress-controller>\", \
       \"<ingress-controller-annotation>/ssl-passthrough\": \ \"true\"}, \
      \"method\": \"ingress\"}}}"
```

### OpenShift routes

* Define the REC API hostname (`apiFqdnUrl`) and database hostname suffix (`dbFqdnSuffix`) you chose when configuring DNS.
* Set `method` to `openShiftRoute`.

```sh
kubectl patch rec <rec-name> --type merge --patch "{\"spec\": \
     {\"ingressOrRouteSpec\": \
     {\"apiFqdnUrl\": \"api-<rec-name>-<rec-namespace>.example.com\" \ 
     \"dbFqdnSuffix\": \"-db-<rec-name>-<rec-namespace>.example.com\", \
     \"method\": \"openShiftRoute\"}}}"
```

OpenShift routes do not require any `ingressAnnotations` in the `ingressOrRouteSpec`.