Flags and Environment Variables

Flags

These flags are typically used in the kube-vip manifest generation process.

Category	Flag property	Usage	Notes
Troubleshooting
	`--log`	default 4	Set to `-4` for debugging logs
Mode
	`--arp`	Enables ARP broadcasts from Leader
	`--bgp`	Enables BGP peering from kube-vip
	`--table`	Enables routing entries to be created
	`--wireguard`	Enables services to be exposed over Wireguard
Features
	`--controlplane`	Enables kube-vip control plane functionality
	`--services`	Enables kube-vip to watch services of type `LoadBalancer`
	`--enableEndpointSlices`	Enables use of `EndopintSlices` instead of `Endpoints`
VIP Config
	`--vip`	`<IP Address>`	(deprecated)
	`--address`	`<IP Address>` or `<DNS name>`
	`--ddns`	Enables DDNS support	Requires `--address` is used and set to FQDN
	`--interface`	Linux interface on the node
	`--leaderElection`	Enables Kubernetes LeaderElection	Used by ARP, as only the leader can broadcast
	`--enableLoadBalancer`	Enables IPVS load balancer	kube-vip ≥ 0.4.0
	`--lbPort`	6443	The port that the api server will load-balanced on
	`--lbForwardingMethod`	Select the forwarding method (default local)	The IPVS forwarding method (local, masquerade, tunnel, directroute, bypass)
Services
	`--vipSubnet`	Defaults ""	The Virtual IP address subnet e.g. /32 /24 /8 etc..
	`--cidr`	Defaults "Detected at runtime: /32 for IPv4 and /128 for IPv6"	Used when advertising BGP addresses (typically as `x.x.x.x/32`)
	`--servicesInterface`	""	(Optional) different interface to bind services too
	`--servicesElection`	false	Enables a leadership Election for each Service, allowing them to be distributed
	`--onlyAllowTrafficServicePorts`	false	Only allow traffic to service ports, others will be dropped
Kubernetes
	`--inCluster`	Required for kube-vip as DaemonSet.	Runs kube-vip with a ServiceAccount called kube-vip.
	`--taint`	Required for kube-vip as DaemonSet.	Adds node affinity rules forcing kube-vip Pods to run on control plane.
LeaderElection
	`--leaseDuration`	default 15	Seconds a lease is held for
	`--leaseRenewDuration`	default 10	Seconds a leader can attempt to renew the lease
	`--leaseRetry`	default 2	Number of times the leader will hold the lease for
	`--namespace`	"kube-vip"	The namespace where the lease will reside
ARP
	`--enableNodeLabeling`	false	Enable leader node labeling with `kube-vip.io/has-ip=<VIP address>`
BGP
	`--bgpRouterID`	`<IP Address>`	Typically the address of the local node
	`--localAS`	default 65000	The AS we peer from
	`--bgppeers`	`<address:AS:password:multihop>`	Comma separated list of BGP peers
	`--peerAddress`	`<IP Address>`	Address of a single BGP Peer
	`--peerAS`	default 65000	AS of a single BGP Peer
	`--peerPass`	""	Password to work with a single BGP Peer
	`--multiHop`	Enables eBGP MultiHop	Enable multiHop with a single BGP Peer
	`--sourceif`	Source Interface	Determines which interface BGP should peer from
	`--sourceip`	Source Address	Determines which IP address BGP should peer from
	`--annotations`	`<provider string>`	Startup will be paused until the node annotations contain the BGP configuration
Equinix Metal			(May be deprecated)
	`--metal`	Enables Equinix Metal API calls
	`--metalKey`	Equinix Metal API token
	`--metalProject`	Equinix Metal Project (Name)
	`--metalProjectID`	Equinix Metal Project (UUID)
	`--provider-config`	Path to the Equinix Metal provider configuration	Requires the Equinix Metal CCM

Environment Variables

These environment variables are usually part of a kube-vip manifest and used when running the kube-vip Pod.

More environment variables can be read through the pkg/kubevip/config_envvar.go file.

Category	Environment Variable property	Usage	Notes
Troubleshooting
	`vip_loglevel`	default 4	Set to `-4` for debugging logs
Mode
	`cp_enable`	Enables kube-vip control plane functionality
	`svc_enable`	Enables kube-vip to watch Services of type `LoadBalancer`
VIP Config
	`vip_arp`	Enables ARP broadcasts from Leader
	`bgp_enable`	Enables BGP peering from kube-vip
	`vip_address`	`<IP Address>`	(deprecated)
	`address`	`<IP Address>` or `<DNS name>`
	`vip_ddns`	Boolean. Enables Dynamic DNS support.	Requires `vip_address` is set to FQDN
	`vip_interface`	`<linux interface>`
	`vip_leaderelection`	Enables Kubernetes LeaderElection	Used by ARP, as only the leader can broadcast
	`lb_enable`	Enables IPVS LoadBalancer	kube-vip ≥ 0.4.0. Adds nodes to the IPVS load balancer
	`lb_port`	6443	The IPVS port that will be used to load-balance control plane requests
	`lb_fwdmethod`	Select the forwarding method (default local)	The IPVS forwarding method (local, masquerade, tunnel, directroute, bypass)
Services
	`vip_servicesinterface`	""	Defines an optional different interface to bind
	`svc_election`	Enables a leadership Election for each Service, allowing them to be distributed
	`vip_cidr`	Detected at runtime: /32 for IPv4 and /128 for IPv6	Used when advertising BGP addresses (typically as `x.x.x.x/32`)
	`enable_service_security`	Boolean. Enable service security feature, defaults false	Restrict traffic to only service ports
LeaderElection
	`vip_leaseduration`	default 15	Seconds a lease is held for
	`vip_renewdeadline`	default 10	Seconds a leader can attempt to renew the lease
	`vip_retryperiod`	default 2	Number of times the leader will hold the lease for
	`cp_namespace`	"kube-vip"	The namespace where the lease will reside
	`egress_podcidr`	"10.0.0.0/16"	The CIDR range where pods will be allocated and IP address
	`egress_servicecidr`	"10.96.0.0/12"	The CIDR range where services will be allocated and IP address
ARP
	`enable_node_labeling`	false	Enable leader node labeling with `kube-vip.io/has-ip=<VIP address>`
BGP
	`bgp_routerid`	`<IP Address>`	Typically the address of the local node
	`bgp_routerinterface`	Interface name	Used to associate the `routerID` with the control plane's interface.
	`bgp_as`	default 65000	The AS we peer from
	`bgp_peers`	`<address:AS:password:multihop>`	Comma separated list of BGP peers
	`bgp_peeraddress`	`<IP Address>`	Address of a single BGP Peer
	`bgp_peeras`	default 65000	AS of a single BGP Peer
	`bgp_peerpass`	""	Password to work with a single BGP Peer
	`bgp_multihop`	Enables eBGP MultiHop	Enable multiHop with a single BGP Peer
	`bgp_sourceif`	Source Interface	Determines which interface BGP should peer from
	`bgp_sourceip`	Source Address	Determines which IP address BGP should peer from
	`annotations`	`<provider string>`	Startup will be paused until the node annotations contain the BGP configuration
Equinix Metal			(May be deprecated)
	`vip_packet`	Enables Equinix Metal API calls
	`PACKET_AUTH_TOKEN`	Equinix Metal API token
	`vip_packetproject`	Equinix Metal Project (Name)
	`vip_packetprojectid`	Equinix Metal Project (UUID)
	`provider_config`	Path to the Equinix Metal provider configuration	Requires the Equinix Metal CCM
Egress
	`EGRESS_CLEAN`	Enables kube-vip to clean left over iptables rules
	`egress_withnftables`	Uses nftables instead of iptables