N42 Gateway
N42 Gateway is a free, open-source controller for routing external requests to applications inside a Kubernetes cluster.
What N42 Gateway is
N42 Gateway is a free, open-source controller for routing external requests to applications inside a Kubernetes cluster. It reads Ingress and Gateway API resources and applies routing changes to HAProxy as Kubernetes configuration changes. The project offers more than 200 configuration options, which can be set globally, for an IngressClass, for an individual Ingress, or for a backend using Service annotations. Options include TLS settings, client certificate authentication, secure backend connections, ACME certificate management, rate limiting, authentication policies, canary routing, and a ModSecurity web application firewall. The WAF supports Coraza endpoints when configured and can use deny or detect mode. The documentation says there is no hard limit on Ingresses or Services and reports clusters with tens of thousands running smoothly. The latest listed release is v0.16, which supports Kubernetes 1.21 or newer and includes HAProxy 2.8; external HAProxy use requires version 2.4 or later. Installation is documented using Helm on a running cluster and requires cluster administrative privileges. The project is licensed under Apache-2.0 and directs users to Kubernetes Slack and GitHub Discussions for support.
Good
- Supports both Ingress and Gateway API models.
- Applies routing updates to HAProxy on the fly.
- Offers TLS, ACME, rate limiting, and canary routing options.
- Apache-2.0 licensed and free.
- Supports Kubernetes 1.21 or newer in v0.16.
Watch out
- Installation requires cluster administrative privileges.
- v0.16 requires Kubernetes 1.21 or newer.
- Alpha and snapshot versions are not generally recommended for production.
Who it suits
It suits teams running Kubernetes that need to expose cluster services through HAProxy using Ingress or Gateway API resources. Installation requires cluster administrator privileges.
Verdict
N42 Gateway offers a configurable, self-hosted path for routing Kubernetes traffic through HAProxy. Check the Kubernetes and HAProxy version requirements and use a stable release for production.
The facts
Each one read from N42 Gateway's own pages, with the date it was checked.
What it does
- Community support
- The project points users to the #n42-gateway channel on Kubernetes Slack and to GitHub Discussions for announcements and questions.checked 5 Oct 2026
- Configuration
- The project says it offers 200+ configuration options for Ingress and Gateway API resources.checked 5 Oct 2026
- Configuration sources
- Configuration can be set globally through ConfigMaps, per IngressClass through a linked ConfigMap, per Ingress, and per backend through Service annotations.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Deployment
- The project documents building a Docker image and deploying it with Helm.checked 5 Oct 2026
- Dynamic updates
- It reads routing configuration from Kubernetes resources and applies cluster updates to HAProxy on the fly.checked 4 Oct 2026
- HAProxy
- The project describes itself as powered by the HAProxy load balancer.checked 5 Oct 2026
- Installation
- The maker documents installation with Helm into a running Kubernetes cluster and requires cluster administrative privileges for installation.checked 4 Oct 2026
- License
- The GitHub repository lists the Apache-2.0 license.checked 5 Oct 2026
- Live updates
- Changes made to Kubernetes routing configuration are applied to HAProxy on the fly.checked 5 Oct 2026
- Load balancer
- The project describes N42 Gateway as built on the HAProxy load balancer.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Local development requirements
- The README lists Go and HAProxy compiled with OpenSSL and Lua support as local build and run dependencies.checked 5 Oct 2026
- Production history
- The project says it has been built for production since 2017.checked 5 Oct 2026
- Purpose
- N42 Gateway is a Kubernetes Ingress and Gateway API controller that configures HAProxy to route external requests to in-cluster applications.checked 5 Oct 2026
- Release maturity
- The README says alpha and snapshot development versions have major changes with few tests and are usually not recommended for production.checked 5 Oct 2026
- Scale
- The documentation says there is no hard limit to the number of Ingresses or Services and reports clusters with tens of thousands working smoothly and fast.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Support
- Users can ask questions in the #n42-gateway Kubernetes Slack channel and GitHub Discussions.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Supported HAProxy
- For v0.16, the README lists embedded HAProxy 2.8 and requires HAProxy 2.4 or later when using an external HAProxy instance.checked 5 Oct 2026
- Supported Kubernetes
- The latest listed release, v0.16, supports Kubernetes 1.21 and later.checked 5 Oct 2026
- TLS and certificates
- Configuration options include TLS settings, client certificate authentication, secure TLS connections to backends, and ACME certificate management.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Use case
- The maker presents N42 Gateway for exposing services running in Kubernetes clusters to external networks.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Version support
- The repository lists v0.16 as the latest release and requires Kubernetes 1.21+ for it; alpha and snapshot development versions are described as having major changes with few tests and generally not recommended for production.checked 4 Oct 2026
Where it runs
- Platform and prerequisites
- The documented v0.16 release requires Kubernetes 1.21 or newer and the maker lists Minikube, kind, k3s, k3d, and Colima as supported local Kubernetes environments.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Web application firewall
- The documentation supports a ModSecurity WAF, including Coraza endpoints when configured, with deny or detect modes.checked 4 Oct 2026
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