inletsctl
inletsctl automates the task of creating an exit-node on cloud infrastructure.
Once provisioned, you'll receive a command to connect with. You can use this
tool whether you want to use inlets or inlets-pro for L4 TCP.
It needs to exist as a separate binary and CLI, so that the core inlets tool does not become bloated. The EC2 and AWS SDKs for Golang are very heavy-weight and result in a binary of over 30MB vs the small and nimble inlets and inlets-pro binaries.
Conceptual diagram
Case-study with receiving webhooks from https://blog.alexellis.io/webhooks-are-great-when-you-can-get-them/
Use-cases:
- Setup L7 HTTP and L4 TCP tunnels for your local services using inlets with
inletsctl create - Port-forward services your local Kubernetes cluster using
inletsctl kfwd
Video demo
In the demo we:
- Create a cloud host on DigitalOcean with a single command
- Run a local Python HTTP server
- Connect our
inlets client - Access the Python HTTP server via the DigitalOcean Public IP
- Use the CLI to delete the host
inletsctl is the quickest and easiest way to automate both inlets and inlets-pro, whilst retaining complete control.
Features/backlog
Completed:
- Provisioner: DigitalOcean
- Provisioner: Scaleway
- Provisioner: Civo.com support
- Provisioner: Google Cloud
- Provisioner: Packet.com
- Provisioner: AWS EC2
- Provisioner: Azure
-
inletsctl deletecommand - Add poll interval
--poll 5sfor use with Civo that applies rate-limiting - Install
inlets/inlets-proviainletsctl download#12
Pending:
- Enable
inletsctl deletevia--ipvs. instance ID #2 - Enable
inlets-proand TCP withinletsctl kfwd#13 - Generate systemd unit files for tunnels
inlets projects
Inlets is a Cloud Native Tunnel and is listed on the Cloud Native Landscape under Service Proxies.
- inlets - Cloud Native Tunnel for L7 / HTTP traffic written in Go
- inlets-pro - Cloud Native Tunnel for L4 TCP
- inlets-operator - Public IPs for your private Kubernetes Services and CRD
- inletsctl - Automate the cloud for fast HTTP (L7) and TCP (L4) tunnels
How much will this cost?
The inletsctl create command will provision a cloud host with the provider and region of your choice and then start running inlets server. The host is configured with the standard VM image for Ubuntu or Debian Linux and inlets is installed via userdata/cloud-init.
The provision package contains defaults for OS images to use and for cloud host plans and sizing. You'll find all available options on inletsctl create --help
The cost for cloud hosts varies depending on a number of factors such as the region, bandwidth used, and so forth. A rough estimation is that it could cost around 5 USD / month to host a VM on for DigitalOcean, Civo, or Scaleway. The VM is required to provide your public IP. Some hosting providers supply credits and a free-tier such as GCE and AWS.
See the pricing grid on the inlets-operator for a detailed breakdown.
inletsctl does not automatically delete your exit nodes (read cloud hosts), so you'll need to do that in your dashboard or via inletsctl delete when you are done.
Install inletsctl
# Install to local directory (and for Windows users)
curl -sLSf https://inletsctl.inlets.dev