How to access kubernetes service on localhost with Docker for Windows - docker

Question

I have Windows 10 Pro with Docker for Windows v18.06.1-ce with kubernetes enabled.
Using kubectl create -f, I've created rc.yml:
apiVersion: v1
kind: ReplicationController
metadata:
name: hello-rc
spec:
replicas: 9
selector:
app: hello-world
template:
metadata:
labels:
app: hello-world
spec:
containers:
- name: hello-ctr
image: nigelpoulton/pluralsight-docker-ci:latest
ports:
- containerPort: 8080
svc.yml
apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
name: hello-svc
labels:
app: hello-world
spec:
type: NodePort
ports:
- port: 8080
nodePort: 30001
protocol: TCP
selector:
app: hello-world
How do I access the website behind the service?
I would expect localhost:8080 to be working, but it isn't, nor is 10.108.96.27:8080
> kubectl describe service/hello-svc
Name: hello-svc
Namespace: default
Labels: app=hello-world
Annotations: <none>
Selector: app=hello-world
Type: NodePort
IP: 10.108.96.27
LoadBalancer Ingress: localhost
Port: <unset> 8080/TCP
TargetPort: 8080/TCP
NodePort: <unset> 30001/TCP
Endpoints: 10.1.0.10:8080,10.1.0.11:8080,10.1.0.12:8080 + 6 more...
Session Affinity: None
External Traffic Policy: Cluster
Events: <none>

Answer 1

There are two ways to expose a service to the outer world from a Kubernetes cluster:
type: LoadBalancer. However, it works only with cloud providers.
type: NodePort. As you used in this case. Now, to access service inside Kubernetes cluster, you need to use the IP address of one of your Nodes and the port from the field nodePort
For example, 12.34.56.78:30001
For more information, look through the official documentation.

Answer 2

For local development:
kubectl port-forward <my-pod-name> 8080:8080
Your pod will be accessible on localhost:8080.
More about port forwarding here.

Answer 3

This might help someone (it took me 1/2 a day to work it out!)
You can use the built in "port-forward" utility (as #aedm suggests), but this will only make your service accessible locally, as it binds to the loopback network. But you can also bind to all networks and make the service accessible externally:
kubectl port-forward <service/name> 80:8080 --address='0.0.0.0'
This will make it accessible to a browser (http) from the outisde.