Files
home-network-k3s-impl/platform/vpn-egress/README.md
T
jakman85andClaude Opus 4.8 aafb4ca378 docs(vpn-egress): reflect ADR-0015 node-tunnel egress, retire gluetun narrative
The in-cluster Gluetun gateway is retired; VPN egress is now a node-level host
OpenVPN split-tunnel (Ansible role vpn_egress_gateway) steered by a Cilium
Egress Gateway policy with a host nftables kill-switch (ADR-0015). Credentials
moved host-side to the Ansible vault. Update docs/comments only:

- platform/vpn-egress/README.md: rewrite for ADR-0015 (live + conformance-green);
  drop the resolved "option 1 not viable with Gluetun" finding to a brief history note.
- platform/kustomization.yaml: Phase 3 comment -> node tunnel + Cilium steering.
- platform/kyverno/.../require-egress-class-label.yaml: ADR-0013 -> ADR-0015 steering.
- schemas/servicedefinition.schema.json: egress=vpn description -> node tunnel + Cilium.
- clusters/base/cluster-vars.yaml: reframe PIA_REGION / CLUSTER_POD_CIDR WHY comments
  to ADR-0015 (Cilium excludedCIDRs); both keys retained (still referenced/documented).
- platform/vpn-egress/namespace.yaml: no privileged gateway pod under ADR-0015.
- pia-credentials.sops.yaml / pia-custom-ovpn.sops.yaml: comment headers only note
  they are now UNUSED (creds host-side), retained pending cleanup; payloads untouched.

No runtime manifest behavior, alert exprs, kustomization resources, or SOPS payloads
changed. No spec-repo edits.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <[email protected]>
2026-08-24 14:50:08 -05:00

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3.7 KiB
Markdown

# platform/vpn-egress — VPN egress steering (Phase 3, ADR-0015)
`vpn`-class services (sonarr, radarr, jackett, qbittorrent) egress **only** through a PIA VPN
tunnel; `internet`-class services go out the normal WAN. Serves **R-NET-05/06/07**.
Egress is realized per **[ADR-0015](../../../home-network-k3s/decisions/adr-0015-vpn-egress-steering-node-tunnel-cilium.md)**
(spec `docs/03`): a **node-level host OpenVPN split-tunnel** on a labeled egress-gateway node, steered
by a **Cilium Egress Gateway** policy, with a **host nftables kill-switch**. There is **no in-cluster
gateway pod** — the tunnel is host infrastructure, not a Flux workload.
> **STATUS: live + conformance-green.** The node tunnel was validated end-to-end; the `egress-class`
> (R-NET-05/07) and `vpn-killswitch` (R-NET-06) conformance tests pass against the live cluster.
## How it works (ADR-0015)
Three layers, two owners:
- **Tunnel — host OpenVPN (Ansible).** A labeled egress-gateway node runs a **host OpenVPN systemd
service** (PIA over OpenVPN-UDP — provider/protocol still per ADR-0013). It is **split-tunnel**
(`route-noexec` + policy routing): it creates `tun0` but never becomes the node default route, so the
node's own traffic (control plane, image pulls, other pods) stays on the WAN. Managed by the Ansible
role **`infra/ansible/roles/vpn_egress_gateway/`**, like k3s itself — not a cluster workload.
- **Steering — Cilium Egress Gateway (GitOps).** `egress-steering.yaml` holds a
`CiliumEgressGatewayPolicy` that selects pods labeled `homelab.keithjackson.dev/egress-class=vpn`
(Kyverno-enforced) and SNATs them out the gateway node's `tun0`. Native Cilium eBPF — no client-pod
changes, no sidecar, no overlay. `excludedCIDRs` keeps RFC1918 / cluster / LAN traffic on the local
datapath; only public destinations leave via the tunnel.
- **Kill-switch — host nftables (Ansible).** A host nftables rule on the gateway node DROPS the steered
`vpn`-class traffic whenever `tun0` is down (fail-closed, R-NET-06), scoped to vpn-class only so
`internet`-class and node traffic are unaffected.
## Secrets — host-side now
PIA credentials + the `.ovpn` live **on the gateway node via Ansible vault** (see spec `docs/07`), **not**
a cluster SOPS Secret. SOPS still governs in-cluster secrets; VPN egress simply no longer needs one.
The `pia-credentials.sops.yaml` and `pia-custom-ovpn.sops.yaml` secrets in this directory are **now
UNUSED** — leftovers from the retired Gluetun pod, **retained pending a separate cleanup change**.
## Pieces in this directory
- `namespace.yaml` — the `vpn-egress` namespace (now holds only the Cilium policy + the retained,
unused secrets; no privileged gateway pod under ADR-0015).
- `egress-steering.yaml` — the `CiliumEgressGatewayPolicy` (the steering datapath).
- `pia-credentials.sops.yaml`, `pia-custom-ovpn.sops.yaml` — **unused**, retained pending cleanup.
## History (brief)
ADR-0013 originally placed the VPN in a single shared **Gluetun pod** and deferred the steering
mechanism. Implementation proved that a Gluetun-in-a-pod tunnel **cannot be a Cilium Egress Gateway
target**: the policy SNATs out a *node* interface, but the pod's `tun0` lives in the pod netns, and
running Gluetun `hostNetwork` to expose `tun0` on the node hijacks the node's default route (breaking
k3s/etcd/kubelet). ADR-0015 resolved this by moving the tunnel to the **node** (host OpenVPN
split-tunnel) and steering with Cilium's native egress gateway. See ADR-0015 for the full rationale.
## Port forwarding (qBittorrent) — follow-up
PIA assigns a forwarded port that can change on reconnect. Under ADR-0015 this is re-solved **host-side**
(a small pf/natpmp helper on the gateway node that publishes the assigned port to the app) — Phase 6,
alongside the qBittorrent app.