--- name: linkerd-patterns-695e6fa308fb description: Implement Linkerd service mesh patterns for lightweight, security-focused service mesh deployments. Use when setting up Linkerd, configuring traffic policies, or implementing zero-trust networking with minimal overhead. --- # Linkerd Patterns Production patterns for Linkerd service mesh - the lightweight, security-first service mesh for Kubernetes. ## When to Use This Skill - Setting up a lightweight service mesh - Implementing automatic mTLS - Configuring traffic splits for canary deployments - Setting up service profiles for per-route metrics - Implementing retries and timeouts - Multi-cluster service mesh ## Core Concepts ### 1. Linkerd Architecture ``` ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Control Plane │ │ ┌─────────┐ ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────────┐ │ │ │ destiny │ │ identity │ │ proxy-inject │ │ │ └─────────┘ └──────────┘ └──────────────┘ │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Data Plane │ │ ┌─────┐ ┌─────┐ ┌─────┐ │ │ │proxy│────│proxy│────│proxy│ │ │ └─────┘ └─────┘ └─────┘ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ┌──┴──┐ ┌──┴──┐ ┌──┴──┐ │ │ │ app │ │ app │ │ app │ │ │ └─────┘ └─────┘ └─────┘ │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ``` ### 2. Key Resources | Resource | Purpose | | ----------------------- | ------------------------------------ | | **ServiceProfile** | Per-route metrics, retries, timeouts | | **TrafficSplit** | Canary deployments, A/B testing | | **Server** | Define server-side policies | | **ServerAuthorization** | Access control policies | ## Templates ### Template 1: Mesh Installation ```bash # Install CLI curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSfL https://run.linkerd.io/install | sh # Validate cluster linkerd check --pre # Install CRDs linkerd install --crds | kubectl apply -f - # Install control plane linkerd install | kubectl apply -f - # Verify installation linkerd check # Install viz extension (optional) linkerd viz install | kubectl apply -f - ``` ### Template 2: Inject Namespace ```yaml # Automatic injection for namespace apiVersion: v1 kind: Namespace metadata: name: my-app annotations: linkerd.io/inject: enabled --- # Or inject specific deployment apiVersion: apps/v1 kind: Deployment metadata: name: my-app annotations: linkerd.io/inject: enabled spec: template: metadata: annotations: linkerd.io/inject: enabled ``` ### Template 3: Service Profile with Retries ```yaml apiVersion: linkerd.io/v1alpha2 kind: ServiceProfile metadata: name: my-service.my-namespace.svc.cluster.local namespace: my-namespace spec: routes: - name: GET /api/users condition: method: GET pathRegex: /api/users responseClasses: - condition: status: min: 500 max: 599 isFailure: true isRetryable: true - name: POST /api/users condition: method: POST pathRegex: /api/users # POST not retryable by default isRetryable: false - name: GET /api/users/{id} condition: method: GET pathRegex: /api/users/[^/]+ timeout: 5s isRetryable: true retryBudget: retryRatio: 0.2 minRetriesPerSecond: 10 ttl: 10s ``` ### Template 4: Traffic Split (Canary) ```yaml apiVersion: split.smi-spec.io/v1alpha1 kind: TrafficSplit metadata: name: my-service-canary namespace: my-namespace spec: service: my-service backends: - service: my-service-stable weight: 900m # 90% - service: my-service-canary weight: 100m # 10% ``` ### Template 5: Server Authorization Policy ```yaml # Define the server apiVersion: policy.linkerd.io/v1beta1 kind: Server metadata: name: my-service-http namespace: my-namespace spec: podSelector: matchLabels: app: my-service port: http proxyProtocol: HTTP/1 --- # Allow traffic from specific clients apiVersion: policy.linkerd.io/v1beta1 kind: ServerAuthorization metadata: name: allow-frontend namespace: my-namespace spec: server: name: my-service-http client: meshTLS: serviceAccounts: - name: frontend namespace: my-namespace --- # Allow unauthenticated traffic (e.g., from ingress) apiVersion: policy.linkerd.io/v1beta1 kind: ServerAuthorization metadata: name: allow-ingress namespace: my-namespace spec: server: name: my-service-http client: unauthenticated: true networks: - cidr: 10.0.0.0/8 ``` ### Template 6: HTTPRoute for Advanced Routing ```yaml apiVersion: policy.linkerd.io/v1beta2 kind: HTTPRoute metadata: name: my-route namespace: my-namespace spec: parentRefs: - name: my-service kind: Service group: core port: 8080 rules: - matches: - path: type: PathPrefix value: /api/v2 - headers: - name: x-api-version value: v2 backendRefs: - name: my-service-v2 port: 8080 - matches: - path: type: PathPrefix value: /api backendRefs: - name: my-service-v1 port: 8080 ``` ### Template 7: Multi-cluster Setup ```bash # On each cluster, install with cluster credentials linkerd multicluster install | kubectl apply -f - # Link clusters linkerd multicluster link --cluster-name west \ --api-server-address https://west.example.com:6443 \ | kubectl apply -f - # Export a service to other clusters kubectl label svc/my-service mirror.linkerd.io/exported=true # Verify cross-cluster connectivity linkerd multicluster check linkerd multicluster gateways ``` ## Monitoring Commands ```bash # Live traffic view linkerd viz top deploy/my-app # Per-route metrics linkerd viz routes deploy/my-app # Check proxy status linkerd viz stat deploy -n my-namespace # View service dependencies linkerd viz edges deploy -n my-namespace # Dashboard linkerd viz dashboard ``` ## Debugging ```bash # Check injection status linkerd check --proxy -n my-namespace # View proxy logs kubectl logs deploy/my-app -c linkerd-proxy # Debug identity/TLS linkerd identity -n my-namespace # Tap traffic (live) linkerd viz tap deploy/my-app --to deploy/my-backend ``` ## Best Practices ### Do's - **Enable mTLS everywhere** - It's automatic with Linkerd - **Use ServiceProfiles** - Get per-route metrics and retries - **Set retry budgets** - Prevent retry storms - **Monitor golden metrics** - Success rate, latency, throughput ### Don'ts - **Don't skip check** - Always run `linkerd check` after changes - **Don't over-configure** - Linkerd defaults are sensible - **Don't ignore ServiceProfiles** - They unlock advanced features - **Don't forget timeouts** - Set appropriate values per route ## Resources - [Linkerd Documentation](https://linkerd.io/2.14/overview/) - [Service Profiles](https://linkerd.io/2.14/features/service-profiles/) - [Authorization Policy](https://linkerd.io/2.14/features/server-policy/) --- Source attribution: Dicklesworthstone Original project: https://github.com/Dicklesworthstone/pi_agent_rust/blob/f28fc46ee0db8e710d95b8b55592cd38d60f2b26/tests/ext_conformance/artifacts/agents-wshobson/cloud-infrastructure/skills/linkerd-patterns/SKILL.md License: MIT License information: https://opensource.org/license/mit Original upstream instructions; downloaded from Mega AI Hub. ## Upstream license notice MIT License (with OpenAI/Anthropic Rider) Copyright (c) 2026 Jeffrey Emanuel Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions: ADDITIONAL RIDER / RESTRICTION (OpenAI / Anthropic): This rider is part of the "conditions" of this License. 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IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE. # Mega AI Hub resource metadata Creator / publisher: Dicklesworthstone Original project: https://github.com/Dicklesworthstone/pi_agent_rust/blob/f28fc46ee0db8e710d95b8b55592cd38d60f2b26/tests/ext_conformance/artifacts/agents-wshobson/cloud-infrastructure/skills/linkerd-patterns/SKILL.md Attribution basis: Source repository record Fields of work: Development & Engineering Roles: Backend Developer, Data Engineer, DevOps / SRE Specialties: Backend, DevOps Tools: Kubernetes, Linkerd Country applicability: Country not specified Classification basis: Source catalog labels Instruction SHA-256: 38ecc7e880bbaddbdba7be52ec6e57481dd6eaabcbfa1d4a6209896a73c7e25d