sigs.k8s.io/gateway-api@v1.0.0/site-src/faq.md (about) 1 # Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) 2 3 * **Q: How can I get involved with Gateway API?<br>** 4 A: The [community](/contributing/community) page keeps track of how to get 5 involved with the project. 6 7 * **Q: Will Gateway API replace the Ingress API?<br>** 8 A: No. The Ingress API is GA since Kubernetes 1.19. There are no 9 plans to deprecate this API and we expect most Ingress controllers 10 to support it indefinitely. 11 12 * **Q: What are the differences between Ingress and Gateway API?<br>** 13 A: Ingress primarily targets exposing HTTP applications with a 14 simple, declarative syntax. Gateway API exposes a more general API 15 for proxying that can be used for more protocols than just HTTP, 16 and models more infrastructure components to provide better 17 deployment and management options for cluster operators. 18 19 For more information, see the [Migrating from Ingress](https://gateway-api.sigs.k8s.io/guides/migrating-from-ingress/) guide. 20 21 * **Q: Will there be a default controller implementation (in this repo)?<br>** 22 A: There is no current plan to have an "official" or "default" 23 implementation. You will see the controller code in this repo be 24 used for testing the support libraries. 25 26 * **Q: How can I expose custom capabilities through Gateway API?<br>** 27 A: There are a few mechanisms available 28 for extending the API with implementation-specific capabilities: 29 30 * The [Policy Attachment](https://gateway-api.sigs.k8s.io/reference/policy-attachment/) 31 model allows you to decorate Gateway API objects with implementation-specific CRDs. A 32 policy or configuration object could match the Gateway API object either 33 by name or by using an explicit object reference. 34 35 * Use implementation-specific values for string fields in Gateway API resources. 36 37 * As a last resort, use implementation-specific annotations on Gateway API objects. 38 39 * Use API-defined extension points. Some Gateway 40 API objects have explicit [extension points](/concepts/api-overview#extension-points) 41 for implementations to use. 42 43 * **Q: Where can I find Gateway API releases?<br>** 44 A: Gateway API releases are tags of the [Github repository][1]. 45 The [Github releases][2] page shows all the releases. 46 47 * **Q: How should I think about alpha API versions?<br>** 48 A: Similar to upstream Kubernetes, alpha API versions indicate that resources 49 are still experimental in nature and may either be removed or changed in 50 breaking ways in future releases of Gateway API. 51 52 See the [Versioning](https://gateway-api.sigs.k8s.io/concepts/versioning/) documentation for more info. 53 54 * **Q: Which Kubernetes versions are supported?<br>** 55 A: See our policy on [Supported Version](https://gateway-api.sigs.k8s.io/concepts/versioning/#supported-versions) 56 57 * **Q: Is SSL Passthrough supported?<br>** 58 A: SSL Passthrough (wherein a Gateway routes traffic with the [Transport 59 Layer Security (TLS)][tls] encryption _intact_ to a backend service instead of 60 terminating it) is supported by [TLSRoutes][tlsroute]. See the 61 [TLS Guide][tlsguide] for more details about passthrough and other TLS 62 configurations. 63 64 * **Q: What's the difference between Gateway API and an API Gateway?<br>** 65 A: An API Gateway is a general concept that describes anything that exposes 66 capabilities of a backend service, while providing extra capabilities for 67 traffic routing and manipulation, such as load balancing, request and response 68 transformation, and sometimes more advanced features like authentication and 69 authorization, rate limiting, and circuit breaking. 70 71 Gateway API is an interface, or set of resources, that model service networking 72 in Kubernetes. One of the main resources is a `Gateway`, which declares the 73 Gateway type (or class) to instantiate and its configuration. As a Gateway 74 Provider, you can implement the Gateway API to model Kubernetes service 75 networking in an expressive, extensible, and role-oriented way. 76 77 Most Gateway API implementations are API Gateways to some extent, but not all 78 API Gateways are Gateway API implementations. 79 80 * **Q: Is Gateway API a standard for API Management?<br>** 81 A: No. API Management is a much broader concept than what Gateway API aims to 82 be, or what an API Gateway is intended to provide. An API Gateway can be an 83 essential part of an API Management solution. Gateway API can be seen as a 84 way to standardize on that aspect of API Management. 85 86 [1]: https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/gateway-api 87 [2]: https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/gateway-api/releases 88 [tls]:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_Layer_Security 89 [tlsroute]:/concepts/api-overview#tlsroute 90 [tlsguide]:/guides/tls