minikube service %servicename% --url return nothing - docker

Question

I'm trying to expose my api so I can send request to it. However when I used the command minikube service api --url I get nothing. All my pods are running fine according to kubectl get pods so I'm abit stuck about what this could be.
api-1007925651-0rt1n 1/1 Running 0 26m
auth-1671920045-0f85w 1/1 Running 0 26m
blankit-app 1/1 Running 5 5d
logging-2525807854-2gfwz 1/1 Running 0 26m
mongo-1361605738-0fdq4 1/1 Running 0 26m
jwl:.build jakewlace$ kubectl get services
NAME CLUSTER-IP EXTERNAL-IP PORT(S) AGE
api 10.0.0.194 <none> 3001/TCP 23m
auth 10.0.0.36 <none> 3100/TCP 23m
kubernetes 10.0.0.1 <none> 443/TCP 5d
logging 10.0.0.118 <none> 3200/TCP 23m
mongo 10.0.0.132 <none> 27017/TCP 23m
jwl:.build jakewlace$
jwl:.build jakewlace$ minikube service api --url
jwl:.build jakewlace$
Any help would be massively appreciated, thank you.
I realised that the question here could be perceived as being minimal, but that is because I'm not sure what more information I could show from the tutorials I've been following it should just work. If you need more information please do let me know I will let you know.
EDIT:
api-service.yml
apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
creationTimestamp: null
labels:
io.kompose.service: api
name: api
spec:
ports:
- name: "3001"
port: 3001
targetPort: 3001
selector:
io.kompose.service: api
status:
loadBalancer: {}
api-deployment.yml
apiVersion: extensions/v1beta1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
creationTimestamp: null
labels:
io.kompose.service: api
name: api
spec:
replicas: 1
strategy: {}
template:
metadata:
creationTimestamp: null
labels:
io.kompose.service: api
spec:
containers:
- image: blankit/web:0.0.1
name: api
imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent
ports:
- containerPort: 3001
resources: {}
restartPolicy: Always
status: {}

Answer 1

Your configuration is fine, but only missing one thing.
There are many types of Services in Kubernetes, but in this case you should know about two of them:
ClusterIP Services:
Exposes the service on a cluster-internal IP. Choosing this value makes the service only reachable from within the cluster. This is the default.
NodePort:
Exposes the service on each Node’s IP at a static port (the NodePort). A ClusterIP service, to which the NodePort service will route, is automatically created. You’ll be able to contact the NodePort service, from outside the cluster, by requesting <NodeIP>:<NodePort>.
Note:
If you have a multi-node cluster and you've exposed a NodePort Service, you can access is from any other node on the same port, not necessarily the same node the pod is deployed onto.
So, getting back to your service, you should specify the service type in your spec:
kind: Service
apiVersion: v1
metadata:
...
spec:
type: NodePort
selector:
...
ports:
- protocol: TCP
port: 3001
Now if you minikube service api --url, it should return a URL like http://<NodeIP>:<NodePort>.
Note: The default Kubernetes configuration will chose a random port from 30000-32767. But you can override that if needed.
Useful references:
Kubernetes / Publishing services - service types
Kubernetes / Connect a Front End to a Back End Using a Service