This tutorial will guide you through implementing the Gateway API based on Nginx Gateway Fabric, helping you prepare your infrastructure for the post-Ingress era.

The New Stack is a publication covering trends and technologies in cloud-native development, DevOps, and software delivery. Developers can learn about containerization, Kubernetes, and cloud computing, as well as explore topics such as microservices architecture, serverless computing, and continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipelines.

The New Stack

Kubernetes Ingress Nginx is retiring in March 2026, prompting a shift to the Gateway API. This guide demonstrates implementing Nginx Gateway Fabric as a modern alternative, covering installation of CRDs, deployment via Helm, gateway configuration, and HTTPRoute setup to expose internal services. The tutorial uses a K3s cluster and walks through routing traffic to sample web and API endpoints using the standardized Gateway API, which offers advanced traffic management, multiprotocol routing, and fine-grained control without vendor-specific annotations.

Tutorial: Implement a Nginx Gateway Fabric as an Alternative to Ingress

Step 3: Define the Route to the Sample App

Step 4: Access the HTTP Endpoints Exposed by the Gateway