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jakman85andClaude Opus 5.5 a1e808e697 feat(dns): publish Gateway names to the WAN via in-cluster DDNS
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gate / conformance (pull_request) Has been skipped
Gateway-published records now CNAME to wan.${BASE_DOMAIN}, which a
favonia/cloudflare-ddns Deployment keeps at the home WAN's current public
IP. Operator decision: every Gateway-published name goes public; internal
services (controller: none) remain unpublished.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <[email protected]>
2026-10-03 16:59:53 -05:00
jakman85 bcb8931b4f Merge pull request 'fix(runbooks): Plex hw transcoding WORKS — the dashboard was never the proof' (#39) from fix/plex-quicksync-verification into main
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Reviewed-on: #39
Reviewed-by: Keith Jackson <[email protected]>
2026-10-02 06:43:04 +00:00
6 changed files with 224 additions and 30 deletions

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@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
---
date: 2026-10-03
branch: feat/public-dns-wan-target
title: Public DNS now points at the WAN — Gateway-published names CNAME to an in-cluster DDNS record
---
## What changed
The operator closed the open "public-target gap" recorded in
`platform/externaldns/helmrelease.yaml`. The WAN NAT / port-forwarding (80/443 → Gateway VIP
192.168.2.20) was done by the operator outside this repo.
Operator decisions (2026-10-03):
1. **Scope: every Gateway-published name goes public.** That covers the five `exposure: public`
apps (plex, gitea, keycloak, nextcloud, seerr) and also the hand-authored admin UIs (auth,
crafty, grafana, headlamp, the `home.keithjackson.dev` apex). `internal` services still publish
nothing: their `controller: none` route annotation is checked before the target is read.
2. **The WAN IP is kept current in-cluster**, not hardcoded.
Implementation:
- `platform/gateway/gateway.yaml`: `external-dns.alpha.kubernetes.io/target: wan.${BASE_DOMAIN}` on
the shared Gateway. Every gateway-sourced record changes from `A 192.168.2.20` to
`CNAME wan.home.keithjackson.dev`.
- `platform/externaldns/ddns.yaml` (new): `favonia/cloudflare-ddns:1.17.1` Deployment in the
`external-dns` namespace. It reuses `cloudflare-api-token` and keeps `wan.${BASE_DOMAIN}` an
unproxied IPv4 A record at the WAN IP (detected via Cloudflare trace, checked every 5 min,
`DELETE_ON_STOP=false`). external-dns has no TXT registry entry for it, so it never owns or
deletes it.
- The helmrelease comment block and the README now describe the decision instead of the gap.
Known consequence: **k3s nodes resolve through public DNS** (`node_baseline_dns_servers` = 8.8.8.8 /
1.1.1.1). The kube-apiserver's OIDC issuer `keycloak.home.keithjackson.dev` therefore resolves to the
WAN IP from the nodes, and kubectl SSO works only if the router hairpins WAN:443 back to the Gateway.
A LAN-side probe of `136.51.115.252:443` on 2026-10-03 returned a **self-signed placeholder cert**,
not the Gateway's Let's Encrypt wildcard. That suggests no hairpin. The cert-based admin kubeconfig
is unaffected.
## What I verified
- Live prod, 2026-10-03, before the change: Gateway `gateway/shared` ADDRESS `192.168.2.20`.
External-dns args include `--source=gateway-httproute --source=service --policy=sync
--txt-owner-id=prod --domain-filter=keithjackson.dev`, and it logs "All records are already up to
date".
- Public answers at 1.1.1.1: plex/gitea/keycloak/grafana/auth/apex → `192.168.2.20`;
`crafty-mc` → `.22` and `unifi` → `.21` (service source, not affected by this change); jackett →
none (internal, correctly unpublished).
- The authority (betty.ns.cloudflare.com) has no unprefixed TXT, AAAA or MX at `plex.` or the apex,
so the A→CNAME switch has no co-existing record to collide with.
- WAN IP from the workstation: `136.51.115.252`.
- No CiliumNetworkPolicy or NetworkPolicy in `external-dns`. The Kyverno label and default-deny
policies match only `app-namespace` namespaces. The vpn egress policy selects only
`egress-class: vpn` pods.
- Toolbox gate result: see the PR description (run after this commit).
## What I did NOT verify
- **The outside-in path.** I have no vantage point outside the LAN. Whether
`https://<svc>.home.keithjackson.dev` from the internet reaches the Gateway with the LE cert is
UNVERIFIED.
- **Hairpin / kubectl SSO after the flip.** Likely broken per the probe above. Fix candidates: a
node `/etc/hosts` pin for `keycloak.${BASE_DOMAIN}` → Gateway VIP via `node_baseline`, or router
NAT reflection.
- **The record-type flip itself**, until Flux reconciles: whether Cloudflare accepts external-dns's
create-CNAME in the same batch as the delete-A, or converges one interval later.
- `favonia/cloudflare-ddns` under this pod securityContext. The README warns that
`no-new-privileges` misbehaves on some Proxmox-style hosts. These are bare-metal nodes, but it is
untested until the pod runs.
- Whether the L4 service-source names (crafty-mc, unifi) should also go public. Not decided, not
changed.
- `conformance/tests/l0-static/internal-services-publish-no-public-dns/check.sh` header lines 39–40
still describe the target as open. That is a sensitive path, so it is left for a follow-up.
+24
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@@ -20,6 +20,30 @@ A wildcard `*.keithjackson.dev` matches only one label deep, so `<svc>.home.keit
its own record. **`internal` services need NO public record** — PiHole resolves them to the internal
Gateway VIP (split-horizon). ExternalDNS manages **`public`** services' records only.
## Public target + in-cluster DDNS (2026-10-03)
Gateway-published records are **CNAMEs to `wan.home.keithjackson.dev`**, not the Gateway VIP:
```
plex.home.keithjackson.dev CNAME wan.home.keithjackson.dev <- external-dns (Gateway `target` annotation)
wan.home.keithjackson.dev A <current WAN IP> <- cloudflare-ddns (ddns.yaml), every 5m
```
- The `target` annotation is on the **shared Gateway** (`platform/gateway/gateway.yaml`), so it
applies to every route that publishes at all. `internal` routes (`controller: none`) still publish
nothing.
- `ddns.yaml` runs `favonia/cloudflare-ddns` in this namespace with the same `cloudflare-api-token`.
It detects the WAN IP through Cloudflare's trace endpoint, so the pod **must not** carry
`egress-class: vpn`.
- LAN and pods resolve `*.home.keithjackson.dev` to the Gateway VIP via PiHole and CoreDNS
(split-horizon) and never use the public path.
- **Nodes resolve through public DNS** (`node_baseline_dns_servers`), so from a node, the apiserver's
OIDC issuer `keycloak.home.keithjackson.dev` resolves to the WAN IP. kubectl SSO therefore relies on
the router hairpinning (NAT reflection) WAN:443 back to the Gateway.
Check: `dig +short @1.1.1.1 plex.home.keithjackson.dev` → `wan.home.keithjackson.dev.` then the WAN IP;
`kubectl -n external-dns logs deploy/cloudflare-ddns`.
## Secrets
Cloudflare API token referenced **by name** (`cloudflare-api-token`, shared with cert-manager),
+87
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@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
---
# In-cluster dynamic DNS for the home WAN (2026-10-03).
#
# Keeps ONE record, `wan.${BASE_DOMAIN}` (A, IPv4 only, not proxied), pointed at the home WAN's
# current public IP. Every public name external-dns publishes from the shared Gateway is a CNAME to
# it (platform/gateway/gateway.yaml `external-dns.alpha.kubernetes.io/target`), so a WAN IP change
# moves all of them through this one record, with no Git change and no external-dns involvement.
#
# OWNERSHIP SPLIT WITH EXTERNAL-DNS. This record carries no external-dns TXT registry entry, so
# external-dns (policy: sync, owner `prod`) never treats it as its own and never deletes it.
# Conversely this updater manages only the names in DOMAINS and never touches external-dns's records.
#
# IP DETECTION. Default `cloudflare.trace`: an HTTPS request to Cloudflare's trace endpoint, which
# reports the address the request arrived from. Correct here only because this pod is NOT in the
# `vpn` egress class — the CiliumEgressGatewayPolicy (platform/vpn-egress) selects pods by
# `homelab.keithjackson.dev/egress-class: vpn` alone, cluster-wide. Labelling this pod `vpn` would
# publish the VPN exit IP instead of the WAN IP.
#
# TOKEN. Reuses this namespace's `cloudflare-api-token` (same Zone:DNS:Edit token as external-dns
# and cert-manager) — no new secret.
#
# TIER NOTE. This lives in the gating `platform` Flux Kustomization (wait: true) next to
# external-dns. If it ever crashloops, `platform` goes not-Ready and apps stop reconciling (no
# outage). Kept here rather than in its own non-gating Kustomization to avoid a clusters/** change.
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
name: cloudflare-ddns
namespace: external-dns
labels:
app.kubernetes.io/name: cloudflare-ddns
spec:
replicas: 1 # exactly one writer for the record
revisionHistoryLimit: 3
strategy:
type: Recreate # never two updaters at once
selector:
matchLabels:
app.kubernetes.io/name: cloudflare-ddns
template:
metadata:
labels:
app.kubernetes.io/name: cloudflare-ddns
spec:
automountServiceAccountToken: false
securityContext:
runAsNonRoot: true
runAsUser: 1000
runAsGroup: 1000
seccompProfile:
type: RuntimeDefault
containers:
- name: cloudflare-ddns
image: favonia/cloudflare-ddns:1.17.1
imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent
env:
- name: CLOUDFLARE_API_TOKEN
valueFrom:
secretKeyRef:
name: cloudflare-api-token
key: api-token
- name: DOMAINS
value: "wan.${BASE_DOMAIN}"
- name: IP6_PROVIDER
value: "none" # IPv4 WAN only; leaves any AAAA alone
- name: PROXIED
value: "false" # DNS-only: Plex/Gitea/etc. terminate TLS on the Gateway
- name: UPDATE_CRON
value: "@every 5m"
- name: DELETE_ON_STOP
value: "false" # a pod restart must not blank the record every CNAME depends on
- name: RECORD_COMMENT
value: "managed by k3s cloudflare-ddns (platform/externaldns/ddns.yaml)"
- name: EMOJI
value: "false"
resources:
requests:
cpu: 5m
memory: 16Mi
limits:
memory: 64Mi
securityContext:
allowPrivilegeEscalation: false
readOnlyRootFilesystem: true
capabilities:
drop:
- ALL
+21 -30
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@@ -81,38 +81,29 @@ spec:
# what this instance can see or own; per-resource exclusion only ever REMOVES an object from
# this instance's view, so it cannot make prod capable of deleting a record it does not own.
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# THE PUBLIC-TARGET GAP — STILL OPEN, AND NOT FIXABLE HERE ON v0.21.0 (operator decision)
# THE PUBLIC TARGET — DECIDED 2026-10-03 (operator): every Gateway-published name goes public
#
# The five `exposure: public` services (plex, gitea, seerr, keycloak, nextcloud) publish records
# that point at 192.168.2.20 — the Gateway VIP, an unroutable RFC1918 address — so they are not
# actually reachable from the internet either. Their records are LEFT EXACTLY AS THEY ARE by
# this change, for two independent reasons:
# Until 2026-10-03 every gateway-sourced record answered with the Gateway VIP (192.168.2.20,
# RFC1918), so nothing published here was reachable from the internet. Two facts constrained the
# fix, and both still hold:
# * `external-dns.alpha.kubernetes.io/target` is read in v0.21.0's gateway-httproute source ONLY
# from the GATEWAY (source/gateway.go: `overrides: annotations.TargetsFromTargetAnnotation(
# gw.Annotations)`) and from a ListenerSet listener — NEVER from an HTTPRoute. A target on the
# shared Gateway therefore moves EVERY gateway-sourced record at once.
# * The home WAN IP is residential and can change, so a literal IP in Git would rot.
#
# 1. THE VALUE IS NOT ESTABLISHED. The one public IP this repo knows is 136.51.115.252
# (clusters/prod/kustomization.yaml, where the zone's `*.keithjackson.dev` wildcard also
# points). It belongs to the LEGACY non-k3s stack and currently serves a placeholder
# certificate. Whether prod's public services belong behind it, behind a new forward, or
# are not meant to be public at all is an operator decision. Breaking five services' DNS
# on a guess is worse than leaving a known-wrong-but-stable state.
# 2. THE MECHANISM CANNOT BE SCOPED TO THEM. `external-dns.alpha.kubernetes.io/target` is a
# real override, but in v0.21.0's gateway-httproute source it is read ONLY from the
# GATEWAY (source/gateway.go: `overrides: annotations.TargetsFromTargetAnnotation(
# gw.Annotations)`) and from a ListenerSet listener — NEVER from the HTTPRoute. So there is
# no per-service target override while every public service shares the `shared` Gateway.
# Annotating the Gateway would move EVERY gateway-sourced record, which after this change
# still includes auth, crafty, grafana, headlamp and the apex — i.e. it would publish a
# routable address for admin UIs. That is strictly worse than the status quo.
#
# SO THE DECISION THE OPERATOR OWNS IS TWO-PART, and no knob is added here until the first half
# is answered, because a knob that cannot take effect invites someone to set it and expect one:
# (a) WHAT address should the five public names answer with — 136.51.115.252 as-is, a new
# port-forward/WAN address, or nothing (drop `exposure: public` to `internal` instead)?
# (b) HOW should they be separated from the non-public names that share the Gateway? Options,
# roughly in ascending cost: a SECOND Gateway (or a ListenerSet) carrying the target
# annotation, with only the public services' routes attached; or publishing the five names
# from the `crd` source (DNSEndpoint objects the renderer emits for `public` services),
# which restores per-service targeting without a second Gateway.
# Only (b) is a manifest change; (a) is a fact about the home WAN that has to be checked.
# The operator's answers: (a) yes, ALL of them — the five `exposure: public` apps AND the admin
# UIs (auth, crafty, grafana, headlamp, the apex), which sit behind Keycloak / oauth2-proxy;
# (b) the address is kept current IN-CLUSTER. Implementation:
# * platform/gateway/gateway.yaml sets `target: wan.${BASE_DOMAIN}` on the shared Gateway, so
# each published name becomes a CNAME to that one hostname;
# * platform/externaldns/ddns.yaml (favonia/cloudflare-ddns) keeps `wan.${BASE_DOMAIN}` an A
# record at the current WAN IP. That record has no external-dns TXT registry entry, so this
# instance never owns or garbage-collects it.
# Internal services are unchanged: their routes carry `controller: none` (above), which is
# checked BEFORE the target is read, so they still publish nothing. The `service` source (the L4
# LoadBalancers crafty-mc, unifi) does not read the Gateway's annotation and still publishes its
# LB VIP. Whether those should go public is a separate, still-open question.
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# CROSS-CLUSTER DNS OWNERSHIP. Read before changing either knob below.
#
+2
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@@ -8,3 +8,5 @@ resources:
# SOPS-encrypted Cloudflare token (env CF_API_TOKEN) — SAME token as cert-manager, second copy in
# the external-dns namespace. Flux decrypts at reconcile.
- cloudflare-api-token.sops.yaml
# DDNS for `wan.${BASE_DOMAIN}` — the CNAME target every Gateway-published record points at.
- ddns.yaml
+17
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@@ -7,6 +7,23 @@ kind: Gateway
metadata:
name: shared
namespace: gateway
annotations:
# PUBLIC DNS TARGET (2026-10-03, operator decision). Without this, external-dns publishes every
# route on this Gateway with the Gateway's OWN address (${GATEWAY_VIP}, RFC1918), which is
# unreachable from the internet. With it, every published `<svc>.${BASE_DOMAIN}` (and the apex)
# becomes a CNAME to `wan.${BASE_DOMAIN}`, an A record that platform/externaldns/ddns.yaml keeps
# pointed at the home WAN's current public IP. The WAN forwards 80/443 to ${GATEWAY_VIP}.
#
# Scope is EVERY route on this Gateway that publishes at all — the operator chose to make the
# admin UIs (auth, grafana, headlamp, crafty, apex) publicly resolvable alongside the five
# `exposure: public` apps. `internal` services stay unpublished via their
# `external-dns.alpha.kubernetes.io/controller: none` route annotation, which external-dns checks
# BEFORE it reads this target. external-dns v0.21.0 reads `target` from the Gateway only, never
# from an HTTPRoute — see platform/externaldns/helmrelease.yaml.
#
# LAN and in-cluster clients are unaffected: PiHole and CoreDNS answer ${BASE_DOMAIN} with
# ${GATEWAY_VIP} directly (split-horizon), so they never take this public path.
external-dns.alpha.kubernetes.io/target: "wan.${BASE_DOMAIN}"
spec:
gatewayClassName: cilium
listeners: