Architecture

Components, their Purpose, and Languages

Meshery and its components are written using the following languages and technologies.

Components	Languages and Technologies
Meshery Server	Golang, gRPC, GraphQL, SMP
Meshery Adapters	Golang, gRPC, CloudEvents, SMI, OAM
Meshery WASM Filters	Rust and C++
Meshery UI	ReactJS, NextJS, BillboardJS
Meshery Provider UI	ReactJS, NextJS
Meshery Remote Providers	any - must adhere to Meshery Extension Points
Meshery Operator	Golang
MeshSync	Golang
Broker	Golang, NATS
Meshery Database	Golang, SQLlite
Meshery CLI	Golang

Deployments

Meshery deploys as a set of containers. Meshery’s containers can be deployed to either Docker or Kubernetes. Meshery components connect to one another via gRPC requests. Meshery Server stores the location of the other components and connects with those components as needed. Typically, a connection from Meshery Server to Meshery Adapters is initiated from a client request (usually either mesheryctl or Meshery UI) to gather information from the Adapter or invoke an Adapter’s operation.

Adapters

In Meshery v0.6.0, Adapters will register with Meshery Server over HTTP POST. If Meshery Server is not available, Meshery Adapters will backoff and retry to connect to Meshery Server perpetually.

Figure: Meshery deploys inside or outside of a Kubernetes cluster

Adapters and Capabilities Registry

Each Meshery Adapter delivers its own unique specific functionality. As such, at time of deployment, the Meshery Adapter will register its cloud native infrastructure-specific capabilities (its operations) with Meshery Server’s capability registry.

Figure: Meshery Adapter Operation Registration

Clients

Meshery’s REST API may be consumed by any number of clients. Clients need to present valid JWT token.

Figure: Clients use Meshery’s REST API, GraphQL API, or a combination of both.

Providers

As a point of extensibility, Meshery supports two types of providers: Local and Remote.

Object Model

This diagram outlines logical constructs within Meshery and their relationships.

Meshery Operator and MeshSync

Meshery Operator is the multi-cluster Kubernetes operator that manages MeshSync and Meshery Broker.

See the Operator section for more information on the function of an operator and MeshSync section for more information on the function of meshsync.

Database

Meshery Server’s database is responsible for collecting and centralizing the state of all elements under management, including infrastructure, application, and Meshery’s own components. Meshery’s database, while persisted to file, is treated as a cache.

See the Database section for more information on the function of the database.

Meshery Docker Extension

Meshery’s Docker extension provides a simple and flexible way to design and operate cloud native infrastructure on top of Kubernetes using Docker containers. The architecture of this extension is designed to be modular and extensible, with each component serving a specific purpose within the overall deployment process.

Meshery CLI

The Command Line Interface ( also known as mesheryctl ) that is used to manage Meshery. Use mesheryctl to both manage the lifecycle of Meshery itself and to access and invoke any of Meshery’s application and cloud native management functions.

Statefulness in Meshery components

Some components within Meshery’s architecture are concerned with persisting data while others are only concerned with a long-lived configuration, while others have no state at all.

Components	Persistence	Description
mesheryctl	stateless	command line interface that has a configuration file
Meshery Adapters	stateless	interface with cloud native infrastructure on a transactional basis
Meshery Server	caches state	application cache is stored in $HOME/.meshery/ folder
Meshery Providers	stateful	location of persistent user preferences, environment, tests and so on
Meshery Operator	stateless	operator of Meshery custom controllers, notably MeshSync
MeshSync	stateless	Kubernetes custom controller, continuously running discovery

Network Ports

Meshery uses the following list of network ports to interface with its various components:

Component	Port	Purpose
Meshery Server	9081/tcp	UI, REST and GraphQL APIs
Meshery Server	80/tcp	Websocket
Meshery Broker	4222/tcp	Client communication with Meshery Server
Meshery Broker	8222/tcp	HTTP management port for monitoring Meshery Broker. Available as of Meshery v0.5.0
Meshery Broker	6222/tcp	Routing port for Broker clustering. Unused as of Meshery v0.6.0-rc-2
Meshery Broker	7422/tcp	Incoming/outgoing leaf node connections. Unused as of Meshery v0.6.0-rc-2
Meshery Broker	7522/tcp	Gateway to gateway communication. Unused as of Meshery v0.6.0-rc-2
Meshery Broker	7777/tcp	used for Prometheus NATS Exporter. Unused as of Meshery v0.6.0-rc-2
Learn Layer5 Application	10011/tcp	SMI conformance testing
Meshery Remote Providers	443/tcp	e.g. Meshery Cloud
Meshery Adapter for App Mesh	10005/gRPC	Communication with Meshery Server
Meshery Adapter for Cilium Service Mesh	10012/gRPC	Communication with Meshery Server
Meshery Adapter for Consul	10002/gRPC	Communication with Meshery Server
Meshery Adapter for Istio	10000/gRPC	Communication with Meshery Server
Meshery Adapter for Kuma	10007/gRPC	Communication with Meshery Server
Meshery Adapter for Linkerd	10001/gRPC	Communication with Meshery Server
Meshery Adapter for NGINX Service Mesh	10010/gRPC	Communication with Meshery Server
Meshery Adapter for Nighthawk	10013/gRPC	Communication with Meshery Server
Meshery Adapter for Network Service Mesh	10004/gRPC	Communication with Meshery Server
Meshery Adapter for Open Service Mesh	10009/gRPC	Communication with Meshery Server
Meshery Adapter for Tanzu Service Mesh	10011/gRPC	Communication with Meshery Server
Meshery Adapter for Traefik Mesh	10006/gRPC	Communication with Meshery Server
Meshery Perf	10013/gRPC	Performance Management

See the Adapters section for more information on the function of an adapter.

Meshery Connections and their Actions

Connection Type			Action / Behaviour
	Connect mesheryctl	Connect Meshery UI	Disconnect	Ad hoc Connectivity Test	Ongoing Connectivity Test	Synthetic Check	Deploy mesheryctl	Undeploy mesheryctl	Deploy Meshery UI	Undeploy Meshery UI
Kubernetes clusters	`system start`	Upload kubeconfig	Click "X" on chip	On click of connection chip	Yes, via MeshSync	No	No	No	No	No
Grafana Servers	No	Enter IP/hostname into Meshery UI	Click "X" on chip	On click of connection chip	No	No	No	No	No	No
Prometheus Servers	No	Enter IP/hostname into Meshery UI	Click "X" on chip	On click of connection chip	Yes, when metrics are configured in a dashboard	Yes	No	No	No	No
Meshery Adapters	`system check`	Server to Adapter on every UI refresh	Click "X on" chip	Server to Adapter every click on adapter chip in UI	Server to Adapter every 10 seconds	-	Yes, as listed in meshconfig contexts	Yes, as listed in meshconfig contexts	Toggle switch needed	Toggle switch needed
Meshery Operator	`system check`	Upon upload of kubeconfig	No	On click of connection chip in UI to Server to Kubernetes to Meshery Operator	No	-	`system start`	`system stop`	Upon upload of kubeconfig & Toggle of switch	Toggle of switch
MeshSync	`system check`	follows the lifecycle of Meshery Operator	No	On click of connection chip in UI to Server to Kubernetes to Meshery Operator to MeshSync	Managed by Meshery Operator	On click of connection chip	follows the lifecycle of Meshery Operator	follows the lifecycle of Meshery Operator	follows the lifecycle of Meshery Operator	follows the lifecycle of Meshery Operator
Broker	`system check`	follows the lifecycle of Meshery Operator	No	On click of connection chip in UI to Server to Brokers exposed service port	NATS Topic Subscription	On click of connection chip	follows the lifecycle of Meshery Operator	follows the lifecycle of Meshery Operator	follows the lifecycle of Meshery Operator	follows the lifecycle of Meshery Operator

Please also see the Troubleshooting Toolkit and the Meshery v0.7.0: Connection States (Kubnernetes) Design Review