Port forwarding

Forward a port

1. Open a pod. Its overview has a Port Forwarding section with one row per port the containers declare.
2. The local port is pre-filled with the container port. Change it if that port is taken on your machine.
3. Click Forward.

The row now shows localhost:<port> — click it to open http://localhost:<port> in your browser — and a Stop button.

A pod that declares no ports shows No ports defined. Forwards are started from pods; to reach a Service, forward a port of one of the pods behind it.

Save a forward

Click the bookmark on an active forward to save it. A saved forward:

• targets the workload that owns the pod — the Deployment, StatefulSet or DaemonSet — rather than the pod itself, so it still works after the pod is replaced;
• reconnects on its own when the pod goes away, retrying up to eight times with growing pauses;
• belongs to the context you saved it in.

Click the bookmark again to forget it.

The Port Forwards view

Open it from Network → Port Forwards in the sidebar, or click the forward counter in the status bar.

• Saved forwards — each with its target, its ports and its state, and the buttons Start, Stop, Open, Retry after an error, and a bin to forget it. Turn Auto on and the forward starts every time this context connects — when you launch the app or switch to it.
• Active forwards — everything running now, with Save, Open and Stop. Double-click a cell to copy its value.

Good to know

• Active forwards stop when you switch context or namespace, and when you quit. Saved forwards with Auto on come back by themselves.
• Open always uses http://. For anything else, copy the port and use your own client.
• You need the pods/portforward permission in the namespace.