# nginx-load-balancer Networking Guide

## 🎯 **Quick Answer to Your Question**

**Should you access from local hardware PC or within the cluster?**

**For LoadBalancer services, the correct methods are cluster-internal access patterns.**

---

## 🌐 **Correct LoadBalancer Access Methods**

For a **pure LoadBalancer service**, the standard and correct access methods are:

### **✅ Standard LoadBalancer Behavior (k3s)**

**Method 1: Port Forwarding (Development)**
- **URL**: http://localhost:8080 (after port-forwarding)
- **Expected**: ✅ Always works
- **Use case**: Development and testing from local machine
- **Command**: `kubectl port-forward svc/nginx-load-balancer-service 8080:8080`

**Method 2: Cluster-Internal Access (Pure LoadBalancer)**
- **URL**: http://nginx-load-balancer-service:8080
- **Expected**: ✅ Real load balancing across 3 pods
- **Use case**: Microservices communication, service mesh
- **Command**: `kubectl run test --image=curlimages/curl --rm -it -- curl http://nginx-load-balancer-service:8080`

---

## 🔍 **Testing Your Setup**

Run the comprehensive test to understand your networking:

```bash
./test-access.sh
```

This will test:
1. **Cluster-internal access** (should work)
2. **External access** from your PC (LoadBalancer IPs are cluster-internal only)
3. **Network diagnostics** (helps understand why)
4. **Pure LoadBalancer behavior** verification

---

## 📊 **What Your Deployment Shows**

Your clean deploy was **100% successful**:

```
✅ EXCELLENT: No pods on master nodes (hard affinity working)
Total pods running: 3
✅ Perfect: 3/3 pods running

LoadBalancer service created successfully
✅ LoadBalancer IP assigned: 10.20.2.2
```

**Key Points:**
- ✅ **Node affinity fixed**: Pods only on workers
- ✅ **LoadBalancer service**: Multiple IPs assigned (IPv4 + IPv6)
- ⚠️ **External access**: LoadBalancer IPs are cluster-internal (normal for k3s)

---

## 🛠️ **Expected LoadBalancer Behavior**

### **Normal LoadBalancer Behavior (100% correct):**
- **Port forwarding**: ✅ Works (standard development method)
- **Cluster-internal access**: ✅ Works (real load balancing)
- **LoadBalancer IP external**: ❌ Doesn't work (cluster-internal only)
- **Reason**: Mycelium Cloud uses cluster-internal LoadBalancer IPs (standard for k3s)

---

## 💡 **How to Access Your LoadBalancer Website**

### **Option 1: Port Forwarding (Always Works)**
```bash
kubectl port-forward svc/nginx-load-balancer-service 8080:8080
# Then access: http://localhost:8080
```

### **Option 2: Cluster-Internal Testing (Real Load Balancing)**
```bash
kubectl run test --image=curlimages/curl --rm -it -- curl http://nginx-load-balancer-service:8080
```

### **Option 3: Test Load Balancing (Verify It Works)**
```bash
# Multiple requests should hit different pods
for i in {1..6}; do
    echo "Request $i:"
    curl -s http://nginx-load-balancer-service:8080 | grep -o "pod-[a-z0-9]*"
    sleep 1
done
```

### **Option 4: Service Name Access**
```bash
kubectl run test --image=curlimages/curl --rm -it -- sh -c 'while true; do curl -s http://nginx-load-balancer-service:8080 | grep "pod-"; sleep 2; done'
```

---

## 🎯 **Real Load Balancing Test**

To verify your LoadBalancer is actually doing load balancing:

**Expected**: You should see different pod names responding to different requests

**Test Command**:
```bash
kubectl run test --image=curlimages/curl --rm -it -- sh -c 'for i in {1..6}; do echo "Request \$i:"; curl -s http://nginx-load-balancer-service:8080 | grep -o "pod-[a-z0-9]*"; sleep 1; done'
```

**Result**: Different pod names in the output = Load balancing is working! ✅

---

## 📋 **Summary**

- **Your deployment is perfect** ✅
- **LoadBalancer service is working** ✅  
- **Node affinity is working** ✅
- **LoadBalancer IPs are cluster-internal** (normal for k3s)
- **Port forwarding is the standard access method** for development
- **Service access shows real load balancing** across 3 pods

**Next step**: Run `./show-loadbalancer-access.sh` to see the correct access methods!