linkerd-patterns
Production patterns for Linkerd service mesh - the lightweight, security-first service mesh for Kubernetes.
Documentation
Linkerd Patterns
Production patterns for Linkerd service mesh - the lightweight, security-first service mesh for Kubernetes.
Do not use this skill when
- The task is unrelated to linkerd patterns
- You need a different domain or tool outside this scope
Instructions
- Clarify goals, constraints, and required inputs.
- Apply relevant best practices and validate outcomes.
- Provide actionable steps and verification.
- If detailed examples are required, open
resources/implementation-playbook.md.
Use this skill when
- 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
# Install CLI
brew install linkerd
# Alternative: download the official installer, inspect it, then execute it
tmpdir="$(mktemp -d)"
trap 'rm -rf "$tmpdir"' EXIT
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSfL https://run.linkerd.io/install -o "$tmpdir/linkerd-install.sh"
sed -n '1,160p' "$tmpdir/linkerd-install.sh"
sh "$tmpdir/linkerd-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
# 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
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)
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
# 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:
Quick Info
- Source
- antigravity
- Category
- Document Processing
- Repository
- View Repo
- Scraped At
- Jan 29, 2026
Tags
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