Camel Kubernetes plugin

Export, build, push, and deploy Camel integrations to Kubernetes — develop locally with Camel CLI, then promote to any cluster.

Prerequisites: kubectl installed, connected to a Kubernetes cluster (remote, Kind, or Minikube).

Enable the plugin:

camel plugin add kubernetes

Kubernetes export

Export a Maven project with a Kubernetes manifest (kubernetes.yml) containing Deployment, Service, ConfigMap, and other resources:

camel kubernetes export route.yaml --dir some/path/to/project

The default runtime is Quarkus (--runtime=quarkus). Build and deploy:

./mvnw package -Dquarkus.container-image.build=true
./mvnw package -Dquarkus.kubernetes.deploy=true

The export command provides several options to customize the project:

Health probes

The export includes camel-observability-services by default, which prefixes health probes with /observe:

• Quarkus: /observe/health/live, /observe/health/ready, /observe/health/started
• Spring Boot: /observe/health/liveness, /observe/health/readiness

Kubernetes manifest options

Customize the Kubernetes manifest using traits (from Camel K). Trait configuration precedence:

1. --trait command options
2. Annotations with prefix trait.camel.apache.org/*
3. Properties in application-<profile>.properties with prefix camel.jbang.trait.*
4. Properties in application.properties with prefix camel.jbang.trait.*

Container trait

Customize the container specification (image, ports, resources):

Example:

camel kubernetes export Sample.java --trait container.name=my-container --trait container.port=8088 --trait container.request-cpu=0.005 --trait container.request-memory=100Mi

CronJob trait

Generate a CronJob instead of a Deployment (requires enabled=true and schedule):

camel kubernetes export Sample.java --trait=cronjob.enabled=true --trait=cronjob.schedule="* * * * 2"

Labels and annotations

By default, resources have the label app.kubernetes.io/name set to the project name. Add custom labels and annotations:

camel kubernetes export Sample.java --annotation project.team=camel-experts --label env=staging

Environment variables

Set environment variables with --trait environment.vars=KEY=VALUE or the shortcut --env KEY=VALUE:

camel kubernetes export Sample.java --env MY_ENV=foo --env FOO_ENV=bar

Service trait

A Service resource is auto-generated when routes expose HTTP endpoints (e.g., platform-http). Customize it:

Knative service trait

Use Knative serving for serverless workloads with auto-scaling and scale-to-zero.

Property Type Description

knative-service.enabled

bool

Can be used to enable or disable a trait. All traits share this common property.

knative-service.annotations

map[string]string

The annotations added to route. This can be used to set knative service-specific annotations CLI usage example: -t "knative-service.annotations.'haproxy.router.openshift.io/balance'=true"

knative-service.class

string

Configures the Knative autoscaling class property (e.g., to set hpa.autoscaling.knative.dev or kpa.autoscaling.knative.dev autoscaling).

Refer to the Knative documentation for more information.

knative-service.autoscaling-metric

string

Configures the Knative autoscaling metric property (e.g., to set concurrency based or cpu based autoscaling).

Refer to the Knative documentation for more information.

knative-service.autoscaling-target

int

Sets the allowed concurrency level or CPU percentage (depending on the autoscaling metric) for each Pod.

Refer to the Knative documentation for more information.

knative-service.min-scale

int

The minimum number of Pods that should be running at any time for the integration. It’s zero by default, meaning that the integration is scaled down to zero when not used for a configured amount of time.

Refer to the Knative documentation for more information.

knative-service.max-scale

int

An upper bound for the number of Pods that can be running in parallel for the integration. Knative has its own cap value that depends on the installation.

Refer to the Knative documentation for more information.

knative-service.rollout-duration

string

Enables to gradually shift traffic to the latest Revision and sets the rollout duration. It’s disabled by default and must be expressed as a Golang time.Duration string representation, rounded to a second precision.

knative-service.visibility

string

Setting cluster-local, Knative service becomes a private service. Specifically, this option applies the networking.knative.dev/visibility label to Knative service.

Refer to the Knative documentation for more information.

knative-service.timeout-seconds

int

The maximum duration in seconds that the request instance is allowed to respond to a request. This field propagates to the integration Pod’s terminationGracePeriodSeconds.

Refer to the Knative documentation for more information.

Knative component trait

Configure the Camel Knative component to interact with Knative eventing and Knative serving. The export auto-configures both the component and the Kubernetes manifest.

Property Type Description

knative.enabled

bool

Can be used to enable or disable a trait. (default: true)

knative.configuration

string

Can be used to inject a Knative complete configuration in JSON format

knative.channel-sinks

[]string

List of channels used as destination of camel routes. Can contain simple channel names or full Camel URIs.

Refer to the Knative documentation for more information.

knative.channel-sources

[]string

List of channels used as the source of camel routes. Can contain simple channel names or full Camel URIs.

knative.endpoint-sinks

[]string

List of endpoints used as destination of camel routes. Can contain simple endpoint names or full Camel URIs.

knative.endpoint-sources

[]string

List of endpoints used as sources of camel routes. Can contain simple endpoint names or full Camel URIs.

knative.event-sinks

[]string

List of endpoints used as destination of integration routes. Can contain simple endpoint names or full Camel URIs.

knative.event-sources

[]string

List of event types that the integration will be subscribed to. Can contain simple event types or full Camel URIs (to use a specific broker different from "default").

knative.sink-binding

bool

Allows binding the integration to a sink via a Knative SinkBinding resource. This can be used when the integration targets a single sink. It’s enabled by default when the integration targets a single sink (except when the integration is owned by a Knative source).

knative.filters

[]string

Sets filter attributes on the event stream (such as event type, source, subject and so on). A list of key-value pairs that represent filter attributes and its values. The syntax is KEY=VALUE, e.g., source="my.source". Filter attributes get set on the Knative trigger that is being created as part of this integration.

knative.filter-event-type

bool

Enables the default filtering for the Knative trigger using the event type If this is true, the created Knative trigger uses the event type as a filter on the event stream when no other filter criteria is given. (default: true)

Knative trigger

When a route consumes from knative:event, the plugin automatically generates a Knative Trigger in the manifest:

- route:
    from:
      uri: knative:event/camel.evt.type
      parameters:
        name: my-broker
      steps:
        - to:
            uri: log:info

Export with camel kubernetes export knative-route.yaml — the trigger, service, and knative.json configuration are all generated automatically.

Knative channel subscription

Similarly, routes consuming from knative:channel/my-channel automatically generate a Knative Subscription in the manifest. The knative.json configuration is auto-generated.

Knative sink binding

Routes that produce to knative:event, knative:channel, or knative:endpoint automatically get a SinkBinding resource in the manifest. Knative injects the target URL via the K_SINK environment variable at deployment time, so the route doesn’t need to know the actual URL. === Mount trait

Configure volume mounts from ConfigMaps, Secrets, and PVCs. Shortcuts: --volume, --config, --resource.

Example:

camel kubernetes export Sample.java --config secret:my-credentials --resource configmap:my-data --volume my-pvc:/container/path

Mount paths follow Camel conventions: configs go to /etc/camel/conf.d/, resources to /etc/camel/resources.d/, and the application is auto-configured to read these paths.

Ingress trait

Add an Ingress resource to expose the application externally (requires a Service resource):

Example:

camel kubernetes export Sample.java --trait ingress.enabled=true --trait ingress.host=example.com --trait ingress.path=/sample

Route trait (OpenShift)

Add an OpenShift Route resource to expose the application externally:

Example:

camel kubernetes export Sample.java --cluster-type=openshift --trait route.enabled=true --trait route.host=example.com --trait route.tls-termination=edge

Jolokia trait

Enable JMX access via Jolokia (requires Jolokia configured in the application):

Example:

camel kubernetes export Sample.java --trait jolokia.enabled=true --trait jolokia.expose=true

OpenAPI trait

Mount OpenAPI specs from ConfigMaps:

camel kubernetes export Sample.java --open-api configmap:my-spec

Deploy to OpenShift

Use --cluster-type=openshift to generate OpenShift-specific resources (Route, ImageStream, BuildConfig):

camel kubernetes export Sample.java --cluster-type=openshift

The default image builder switches to S2I for OpenShift. Override with --image-builder=jib to push to an external registry instead.

Kubernetes run

The run command exports, builds, pushes, and deploys in one step:

camel kubernetes run route.yaml --image-registry=kind

The command auto-detects local clusters (kind, minikube, OpenShift) and configures the registry accordingly. Disable with --disable-auto.

Customize the image:

camel kubernetes run route.yaml --image-registry=kind --image-group camel-experts
camel kubernetes run route.yaml --image quay.io/camel-experts/demo-app:1.0

The run command supports the same trait options as export for customizing the Kubernetes manifest.

Auto reload with --dev

Watch for source file changes and automatically rebuild/redeploy:

camel kubernetes run route.yaml --image-registry=kind --dev

Terminate the process to stop dev mode — the deployment is automatically removed on shutdown.

Setting properties and resources at runtime

Set properties inline, from files, or from Kubernetes resources:

camel kubernetes run route.yaml --property my-key=my-val
camel kubernetes run route.yaml --property file:/some/directory/file.properties

Properties from ConfigMaps and Secrets

Use --config to mount ConfigMap/Secret data as properties files, automatically configured for Camel property placeholders:

camel kubernetes run route.java --config configmap:game-config
camel kubernetes run route.java --config configmap:game-config/game.properties
camel kubernetes run route.java --config secret:my-credentials

Mount paths: --config configmap: maps to /etc/camel/conf.d/_configmaps/<name>/<key>, --config secret: maps to /etc/camel/conf.d/_secrets/<name>/<key>. Each ConfigMap key becomes a file.

Mounting generic files

Use --resource to mount files without property placeholder configuration. Syntax: [configmap|secret]:name[/key][@path]:

camel kubernetes run route.java --resource configmap:my-data
camel kubernetes run route.java --resource configmap:my-data/config.xml@/etc/my-config.xml

Mount paths: /etc/camel/resources.d/_configmaps/<name>/<key> (or _secrets). Use @path to override the destination.

Show logs

Stream log output from a running deployment:

camel kubernetes logs --name=route

Delete deployments

Remove a deployment and all its resources:

camel kubernetes delete --name=route

Minikube deployment tips

Quick start for local development with Minikube (Camel 4.10+):

minikube start --addons registry --driver=docker
eval $(minikube -p minikube docker-env)
camel kubernetes run demo.camel.yaml

Deployment tips and troubleshooting

• If there is any error with camel kubernetes run, set --verbose to display additional logging.
• You may want to examine the generated maven project in .camel-jbang-run/<name>.
• If there are issues building the container image or deploying the kubernetes manifests, consider disabling the kubernetes cluster detection with --disable-auto.
• Note that Docker multi-platform build is used. It requires to have followed these Docker requirements.