How to Write Config Entries to the Agent Configuration file – HashiCorp Help Center

Overview

In configuring Consul, there are multiple methods to manage config entries

Create a config entry file and use the command consul config write to apply it.
- This method is straightforward and suitable for individual configurations.
Another approach involves incorporating config_entries.bootstrap directly within the Consul agent configuration file.
- This method allows you to preload config entries when the Consul server agent starts and it ensures all configuration entries are loaded upfront.

This article focuses on using the config_entries.bootstrap option.

Config Entries: Bootstrap

To create a config entry from the Consul agent configuration file, the following is an example of agent configuration in HCL format:

datacenter = "dc1"
data_dir = "/opt/consul"
server = true
config_entries {
  bootstrap = [
    {
      Kind = "mesh"
    }
  ]
}

- It's important to enclose the bootstrap entries within square brackets [ ] to define them as a list. Each config entry should be enclosed in curly braces { }, separated by commas , if multiple entries exist.

Below is a detailed example:

datacenter = "dc1"
data_dir = "/opt/consul"
node_name = "server1"
server = true
bootstrap_expect = 1
log_level = "DEBUG"
config_entries {
  bootstrap = [
    {
      Kind = "mesh"
      TLS {
        Incoming {
          TLSMinVersion = "TLSv1_2"
        }
      }
      HTTP {
        SanitizeXForwardedClientCert = true
      }
    },
    {
      Kind = "ingress-gateway"
      Name = "ingress-gateway"
    }
  ]
}

When Consul agent starts up, it will load all config entries from the agent configuration file (e.g. consul.hcl)

$ consul agent -config-file="/etc/consul.d/consul.hcl"

Once the agent is up and running, verify the config entries using commands like:

$ consul config list -kind=mesh
$ consul config list -kind=ingress-gateway

To inspect the details of a specific config entry, such as a mesh:

$ consul config read -kind=mesh -name=mesh

Moreover, you can also hit the config entries endpoint to verify detailed configuration:

$ curl 0:8500/v1/config/mesh?pretty

Conclusion

This method ensures all necessary config entries are in place when Consul agent starts up.

In Consul Enterprise, it is important to ensure that config entries are applied only to namespaces and partitions that already exist. Please refer to our documentation linked below:

Overview

Config Entries: Bootstrap

Conclusion

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