Skaffold with OrbStack - Port-Forward-Free Development Overview OrbStack provides superior local Kubernetes networking compared to other tools (minikube, kind, Docker Desktop). Services are accessible directly from macOS without port-forward. Key OrbStack Advantages Feature OrbStack minikube/kind LoadBalancer auto-provision ✅ Yes ❌ Needs MetalLB Wildcard DNS ( *.k8s.orb.local ) ✅ Yes ❌ No cluster.local from host ✅ Yes ❌ No Pod IP direct access ✅ Yes ❌ No Auto HTTPS certificates ✅ Yes ❌ No Service Access Methods Method 1: LoadBalancer Services (Simplest) Change service type from ClusterIP to LoadBalancer: apiVersion : v1 kind : Service metadata : name : my - app spec : type : LoadBalancer

OrbStack auto-provisions external IP

ports : - port : 80 targetPort : 8080 selector : app : my - app Access : curl http://my-app.default.svc.cluster.local from macOS Method 2: Ingress with Wildcard DNS (Recommended) One-time setup - Install Ingress controller:

Ingress-NGINX (recommended)

kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kubernetes/ingress-nginx/controller-v1.8.1/deploy/static/provider/cloud/deploy.yaml

OR Traefik

helm repo add traefik https://traefik.github.io/charts helm install traefik traefik/traefik Create Ingress for your service: apiVersion : networking.k8s.io/v1 kind : Ingress metadata : name : my - app spec : ingressClassName : nginx rules : - host : my - app.k8s.orb.local http : paths : - path : / pathType : Prefix backend : service : name : my - app port : number : 80 Access : http://my-app.k8s.orb.local (auto-resolves) Method 3: Direct Service DNS (cluster.local) OrbStack exposes cluster DNS to macOS:

Access any service directly

curl http://my-app.default.svc.cluster.local:8080

Full DNS pattern

curl http:// < service

. < namespace

.svc.cluster.local: < port

Skaffold Configuration for OrbStack Minimal skaffold.yaml (No Port-Forward Needed) apiVersion : skaffold/v4beta11 kind : Config metadata : name : my - app build : local : push : false useBuildkit : true artifacts : - image : my - app docker : dockerfile : Dockerfile deploy : kubeContext : orbstack kubectl : manifests : - k8s/ *.yaml statusCheck : true statusCheckDeadlineSeconds : 180

Port-forward REMOVED - use LoadBalancer/Ingress instead

Profile: Local with Ingress profiles : - name : local - ingress deploy : kubeContext : orbstack kubectl : manifests : - k8s/base/ .yaml - k8s/ingress/ .yaml

Ingress resources

Profile: Services-Only (Frontend Local Dev) profiles : - name : services - only build : artifacts : [ ]

Don't build frontend

deploy : kubeContext : orbstack kubectl : manifests : - k8s/namespace.yaml - k8s/database/ .yaml - k8s/api/ .yaml Access backend at http://api.k8s.orb.local while running npm run dev locally. Kubernetes Manifest Templates LoadBalancer Service Template

k8s/service.yaml

apiVersion : v1 kind : Service metadata : name : { { .name } } labels : app : { { .name } } spec : type : LoadBalancer ports : - name : http port : 80 targetPort : { { .containerPort | default 8080 } } selector : app : { { .name } } Ingress Template

k8s/ingress.yaml

apiVersion : networking.k8s.io/v1 kind : Ingress metadata : name : { { .name } } annotations : nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/rewrite-target : / spec : ingressClassName : nginx rules : - host : { { .name } } .k8s.orb.local http : paths : - path : / pathType : Prefix backend : service : name : { { .name } } port : number : 80 Migration: Port-Forward to LoadBalancer Before (Traditional)

skaffold.yaml with port-forward

portForward : - resourceType : service resourceName : api port : 8080 localPort : 8080 address : 127.0.0.1 - resourceType : service resourceName : frontend port : 3000 localPort : 3000 address : 127.0.0.1 skaffold dev

Services at localhost:8080, localhost:3000

After (OrbStack Native)

k8s/services.yaml - Change service types

apiVersion : v1 kind : Service metadata : name : api spec : type : LoadBalancer

Changed from ClusterIP

ports : - port : 8080

apiVersion : v1 kind : Service metadata : name : frontend spec : type : LoadBalancer

Changed from ClusterIP

ports : - port : 3000

skaffold.yaml - Remove portForward section entirely

deploy : kubeContext : orbstack kubectl : manifests : - k8s/ *.yaml

No portForward needed!

skaffold dev

Services at api.default.svc.cluster.local:8080

frontend.default.svc.cluster.local:3000

Common Patterns Database Access

k8s/postgresql.yaml

apiVersion : v1 kind : Service metadata : name : postgresql spec : type : LoadBalancer

Access from local tools (DBeaver, pgAdmin)

ports : - port : 5432 Connection string : postgres://user:pass@postgresql.default.svc.cluster.local:5432/db Multi-Service Application

k8s/ingress.yaml - Single Ingress for all services

apiVersion : networking.k8s.io/v1 kind : Ingress metadata : name : app - ingress spec : ingressClassName : nginx rules : - host : api.k8s.orb.local http : paths : - path : / pathType : Prefix backend : service : name : api port : number : 8080 - host : web.k8s.orb.local http : paths : - path : / pathType : Prefix backend : service : name : frontend port : number : 3000 - host : admin.k8s.orb.local http : paths : - path : / pathType : Prefix backend : service : name : admin - panel port : number : 8000 Security Considerations Default: Localhost Only OrbStack restricts services to localhost by default - safe on untrusted networks. Expose to LAN (Use with Caution) Settings → Kubernetes → "Expose services to local network devices" Only enable when: Testing from mobile devices on same network Sharing local environment with team On trusted network Troubleshooting Service Not Accessible Check service type: kubectl get svc Verify LoadBalancer has EXTERNAL-IP (not ) Test DNS: nslookup my-app.default.svc.cluster.local Ingress Not Working Verify Ingress controller is running: kubectl -n ingress-nginx get pods Check Ingress controller has LoadBalancer IP: kubectl -n ingress-nginx get svc Verify Ingress resource: kubectl describe ingress my-app DNS Resolution Issues

Test cluster DNS from macOS

nslookup my-service.default.svc.cluster.local

If short names fail, use full domain

❌ my-service.default.svc

✅ my-service.default.svc.cluster.local

Pod IP Direct Access (Debugging)

Get pod IP

kubectl get pods -o wide

Connect directly (OrbStack routes pod network to macOS)

curl http://10.42.0.15:8080 Quick Setup Checklist Install Ingress controller (one-time) Change service types to LoadBalancer Create Ingress resources for pretty URLs Remove portForward from skaffold.yaml Set kubeContext: orbstack in deploy config Update local .env/config to use .k8s.orb.local URLs Commands Reference

Start development (no --port-forward needed)

skaffold dev --kube-context

orbstack

Run specific profile

skaffold dev -p services-only --kube-context = orbstack

Check service accessibility

kubectl get svc -o wide

Verify Ingress

kubectl get ingress