29 lines
1.3 KiB
Plaintext
29 lines
1.3 KiB
Plaintext
---
|
|
layout: docs
|
|
page_title: API Gateways Overview
|
|
description: API gateways are objects in Consul that enable ingress requests to services in your service mesh. Learn about API gateways for VMs in this overview.
|
|
---
|
|
|
|
# API gateway overview
|
|
|
|
API gateways enable external network clients to access applications and services
|
|
running in a Consul datacenter. This type of network traffic is commonly
|
|
called _north-south_ network traffic because it refers to the flow of
|
|
data into and out of a specific environment. API gateways can also forward
|
|
requests from clients to specific destinations based on path or request
|
|
protocol.
|
|
|
|
API gateways solve the following primary use cases:
|
|
|
|
- **Control access at the point of entry**: Set the protocols of external connection
|
|
requests and secure inbound connections with TLS certificates from trusted
|
|
providers, such as Verisign and Let's Encrypt.
|
|
- **Simplify traffic management**: Load balance requests across services and route
|
|
traffic to the appropriate service by matching one or more criteria, such as
|
|
hostname, path, header presence or value, and HTTP method.
|
|
|
|
Consul supports API
|
|
gateways for virtual machines and Kubernetes networks. Refer to the following documentation for next steps:
|
|
- [API Gateways on VMs](/consul/docs/connect/gateways/api-gateway/usage)
|
|
- [API Gateways for Kubernetes](/consul/docs/api-gateway).
|