DKP implements the ability to use additional software-defined networks (hereinafter referred to as additional networks) for application workloads (pods, virtual machines). You can use the following types of networks:

  • Cluster (public) — a network that is publicly available in each project, configured and managed by the administrator. An example is a public WAN network or a shared network for traffic exchange between projects. To create such a network and use it for application pods, contact the cluster administrator.
  • Project network (user network) — a network accessible within a namespace, created and managed by the user using the NetworkClass manifest provided by the administrator.

For more information about additional software-defined networks, see Configuring and connecting additional virtual networks for use in application pods.

Creating a project network (user network)

To create a network for a specific project, use the Network and NetworkClass custom resources provided to you by the administrator:

  1. Create and apply the Network manifest by specifying the name of the NetworkClass obtained from the administrator in the spec.networkClass field:

    apiVersion: network.deckhouse.io/v1alpha1
kind: Network
metadata:
  name: my-network
  namespace: my-namespace
spec:
  networkClass: my-network-class # The name of the NetworkClass obtained from the administrator.

    Static identification of the VLAN ID number from the pool assigned by the cluster or network administrator is supported. If the value of the spec.vlan.id field is not specified, the VLAN ID will be assigned dynamically.

  2. After creating the Network object you can check its status:

    d8 k -n my-namespace get network my-network -o yaml

    Example of the status of a Network object:

    apiVersion: network.deckhouse.io/v1alpha1
kind: Network
metadata:
...
status:
  bridgeName: d8-br-600
  conditions:
  - lastTransitionTime: "2025-09-29T14:51:26Z"
    message: All node interface attachments are ready
    reason: AllNodeInterfaceAttachmentsAreReady
    status: "True"
    type: AllNodeAttachementsAreReady
  - lastTransitionTime: "2025-09-29T14:51:26Z"
    message: Network is operational
    reason: NetworkReady
    status: "True"
    type: Ready
  nodeAttachementsCount: 1
  observedGeneration: 1
  readyNodeAttachementsCount: 1
  vlanID: 600

After creating a network, you can connect it to pods.

Connecting additional networks to pods

You can connect cluster networks and project networks to pods. To do this, use the pod annotation, specifying the parameters of the additional networks to be connected.

Example of a pod manifest with two additional networks added (the cluster network my-cluster-network and the project network my-network):

The ifName field (optional) specifies the name of the TAP interface within the subnet. The mac field (optional) specifies the MAC address to be assigned to the TAP interface.

apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
metadata:
  name: app-with-additional-networks
  namespace: my-namespace
  annotations:
    network.deckhouse.io/networks-spec: |
      [
        {
          "type": "Network",
          "name": "my-network",
          "ifName": "veth_mynet",
          "mac": "aa:bb:cc:dd:ee:ff"
        },
        {
          "type": "ClusterNetwork",
          "name": "my-cluster-network",
          "ifName": "veth_public"
        }
      ]
spec:
  containers:
    - name: app
    # other parameters...