Managing Consul Service Mesh Intentions

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Defining Intentions with a Service-Intentions Config Entry

kind = "service-intentions"
name = "db-01"

sources = [
  {
    name   = "web-01"
    action = "deny"
  },
]

• kind: Must be service-intentions.
• name: The upstream service (here, db-01).
• sources: List of downstream services and their actions (allow or deny).

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Viewing and Managing Intentions in the UI

1. Log in to the Consul UI.
2. Click the Intentions tab in the sidebar to see all configured intentions.

1. Select the service (e.g., front-end e-commerce).
2. Open its Intentions tab.
3. Delete or modify any intention directly.

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Managing Intentions with the HTTP API

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Create or Update an Intention

1. Create a payload.json:
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   {
     "SourceType": "consul",
     "Action": "allow"
   }
   
2. Send the PUT request:
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   curl --request PUT \
     --data @payload.json \
     https://consul.example.com:8500/v1/connect/intentions/exact?source=web-01&destination=db-01
   

true

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List and Delete

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Managing Intentions via CLI

# Set your ACL token
export CONSUL_HTTP_TOKEN=aba7cbe5-879b-999a-07cc-2efd9ac0ffe

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Common Commands

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Examples

# Allow web-01 → db-01
consul intention create web-01 db-01
# Deny web-01 → db-01
consul intention create --deny web-01 db-01
# Output: Created: web-01 => db-01 (deny)

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Links and References

• Consul Service Mesh Intentions (Official Docs)
• Consul HTTP API Reference
• Consul CLI Commands
• HashiCorp Learn: Service Mesh with Consul