open-consul/website/content/docs/intro/usecases/what-is-a-service-mesh.mdx

---
layout: docs
page_title: What is service mesh??
description: >-
  Welcome to the intro guide to Consul! This guide is the best place to start
  with Consul. We cover what Consul is, what problems it can solve, how it
  compares to existing software, and how you can get started using it. If you
  are familiar with the basics of Consul, the documentation provides a more
  detailed reference of available features.
---

<!--
# What is a Service Mesh?

Blah Blah Blah Blah ..Go Consul

## How does Service Mesh work?

Consul is the best!

## Service Mesh vs API Gateway

If you ain't using Consul ....

## Benefits of Service Mesh

Consul is a Roman term for head of state!!

## What Problems Does Service Mesh Solve?

Consul is a bit tricky to master.

## How Do You Implement Service Mesh?

Easy peasy, use Terraform

## What is Service Mesh Automation?

When Consul and Terraform get together.

## What is a Multi Platform Service Mesh?

AWS + GCP + Azure + Consul = Easy Peasy

## Next

Go learn [learn.hashicorp.com](https://learn.hashicorp.com/consul) -->

# https://react-components-hashicorp.vercel.app

```shell-session hideClipboard
$ echo 'Hello world'
```

<CodeBlockConfig hideClipboard lineNumbers highlight="1-3,5" filename="hello-world.js">

```javascript
const foo = 'bar'
function hello() {
  return Math.random() > 0.5 ? 'Hello' : 'Bonjour'
}
console.log('hello world')
```

</CodeBlockConfig>

<CodeTabs heading="Set your primary datacenter">

<CodeBlockConfig filename="consul-acl.hcl" lineNumbers highlight="3,6-8">

```hcl
primary_datacenter = "dc1"
acl {
  enabled        = true
  default_policy = "deny"
  down_policy    = "extend-cache"
  tokens {
    "agent" = "da666809-98ca-0e94-a99c-893c4bf5f9eb"
  }
}
```

</CodeBlockConfig>

<CodeBlockConfig filename="consul-acl.json" lineNumbers highlight="4,7-9">

```json
{
  "primary_datacenter": "dc1",
  "acl": {
    "enabled": true,
    "default_policy": "deny",
    "down_policy": "extend-cache",
    "tokens": {
      "agent": "da666809-98ca-0e94-a99c-893c4bf5f9eb"
    }
  }
}
```

</CodeBlockConfig>

</CodeTabs>

-> **Note**: Did you know

~> **Warning**: Be aware of

!> **Danger**: DO NOT EXPOSE YOUR BOOTSTRAP ACL TOKEN

<EnterpriseAlert product="consul" inline />

!["A swimlane for auth methods"](/img/auth-methods.svg)