Network Policies [page]deterministic

If you want to control traffic flow at the IP address or port level for TCP, UDP, and SCTP protocols, then you might consider using Kubernetes NetworkPolicies for particular applications in your cluster. NetworkPolicies are an application-centric construct which allow you to specify how a [pod](#gloss:pod) is allowed to communicate with various network "entities" (we use the word "entity" here to avoid overloading the more common terms such as "endpoints" and "services", which have specific Kubernetes connotations) over the network. NetworkPolicies apply to a connection with a pod on one or both ends, and are not relevant to other connections.

The entities that a Pod can communicate with are identified through a combination of the following three identifiers:

1. Other pods that are allowed (exception: a pod cannot block access to itself) 1. Namespaces that are allowed 1. IP blocks (exception: traffic to and from the node where a Pod is running is always allowed, regardless of the IP address of the Pod or the node)

When defining a pod- or namespace-based NetworkPolicy, you use a [selector](#gloss:selector) to specify what traffic is allowed to and from the Pod(s) that match the selector.

Meanwhile, when IP-based NetworkPolicies are created, we define policies based on IP blocks (CIDR ranges).

## Prerequisites

Network policies are implemented by the [network plugin](/docs/concepts/extend-kubernetes/compute-storage-net/network-plugins/). To use network policies, you must be using a networking solution which supports NetworkPolicy. Creating a NetworkPolicy resource without a controller that implements it will have no effect.

## The two sorts of pod isolation

There are two sorts of isolation for a pod: isolation for egress, and isolation for ingress. They concern what connections may be established. "Isolation" here is not absolute, rather it means "some restrictions apply". The alternative, "non-isolated for $direction", means that no restrictions apply in the stated direction. The two sorts of isolation (or not) are declared independently, and are both relevant for a connection from one pod to another.

By default, a pod is non-isolated for egress; all outbound connections are allowed. A pod is isolated for egress if there is any NetworkPolicy that both selects the pod and has "Egress" in its `policyTypes`; we say that such a policy applies to the pod for egress. When a pod is isolated for egress, the only allowed connections from the pod are those allowed by the `egress` list of some NetworkPolicy that applies to the pod for egress. Reply traffic for those allowed connections will also be implicitly allowed. The effects of those `egress` lists combine additively.

By default, a pod is non-isolated for ingress; all inbound connections are allowed. A pod is isolated for ingress if there is any NetworkPolicy that both selects the pod and has "Ingress" in its `policyTypes`; we say that such a policy applies to the pod for ingress. When a pod is isolated for ingress, the only allowed connections into the pod are those from the pod's node and those allowed by the `ingress` list of some NetworkPolicy that applies to the pod for ingress. Reply traffic for those allowed connections will also be implicitly allowed. The effects of those `ingress` lists combine additively.

Network policies do not conflict; they are additive. If any policy or policies apply to a given pod for a given direction, the connections allowed in that direction from that pod is the union of what the applicable policies allow. Thus, order of evaluation does not affect the policy result.

For a connection from a source pod to a destination pod to be allowed, both the egress policy on the source pod and the ingress policy on the destination pod need to allow the connection. If either side does not allow the connection, it will not happen.

## The NetworkPolicy resource {#networkpolicy-resource}

See the [NetworkPolicy](/docs/reference/generated/kubernetes …(trimmed)