Definition:
- special type of Kubernetes Init Container
- the secondary containers that run along with the main application container within the same pod
- such as logging, monitoring, security, proxy, reverse proxy or data synchronization
- Use cases:
- sidecar pattern:
- log collection
- monitoring
- data synchronization
- ambassador pattern:
- SSL termination
- API gateway
- connection management
- adapter pattern
- metrics transform
- log normalization
Sidecar containers in Kubernetes
- can specify a
restartPolicy for containers listed in a Pod’s initContainersfield.
- These restartable sidecar containers are independent from other init containers and from the main application container(s) within the same pod.
- these can be started, stopped or restarted without affecting the main application container and other Kubernetes Init Container