Kubernetes configuration file to create and expose Nginx Ingress Controller Service with sticky sessions, virtual host stats and default backend

nginx-ingress-lb.yaml

---
################################################################################
## K8S Default Backend for Nginx if no endpoint is available e.g. 404 servers
###############################################################################
apiVersion: extensions/v1beta1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: nginx-default-backend
  namespace: kube-system
  labels:
    app: nginx-default-backend
spec:
  replicas: 1
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: nginx-default-backend
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app:  nginx-default-backend
        group: lb
    spec:
      terminationGracePeriodSeconds: 60
      containers:
      - name:  defaultbackend
        # Any image is permissable as long as: 1. It serves a 404 page at /
        # and 2. It serves 200 on a /healthz endpoint
        image: gcr.io/google_containers/defaultbackend:1.0
        imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent
        livenessProbe:
          httpGet:
            path: /healthz
            port: 8080
            scheme: HTTP
          initialDelaySeconds: 30
          timeoutSeconds: 5
        ports:
        - containerPort: 8080
        resources:
          limits:
            cpu: 10m
            memory: 20Mi
          requests:
            cpu: 10m
            memory: 20Mi

---
################################################################################
## K8S Service configuration default backend. in NGINX Deployment config
## use arg --default-backend-service=$(POD_NAMESPACE)/nginx-default-backend
################################################################################
apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
  name: nginx-default-backend
  namespace: kube-system
  labels:
    app: nginx-default-backend
    group: lb
spec:
  type: NodePort
  ports:
  - port: 8080
    targetPort: 8080
  selector:
    app: nginx-default-backend

---
##################################################################################################
## K8S config map for NGINX LB Controller. supply as arg in deployment config
## - --nginx-configmap=$(POD_NAMESPACE)/nginx-ingress-lb-cfg
## See link below for all config options
## https://github.com/kubernetes/contrib/blob/master/ingress/controllers/nginx/configuration.md
###################################################################################################
apiVersion: v1
kind: ConfigMap
metadata:
  name: nginx-ingress-lb-cfg
  namespace: kube-system
  labels:
    app: nginx-ingress-lb
    group: lb
data:
  enable-sticky-sessions: 'true'   ## use ROUTE cookie to provide session affinity
  enable-vts-status: 'true'   ## Allows the replacement of the default status page nginx-module-vts

---
############################################################################################
## K8S deplox config for NGINX LB gcr.io/google_containers/nginx-ingress-controller
## https://github.com/kubernetes/contrib/tree/master/ingress/controllers/nginx
#########################################################################################
apiVersion: extensions/v1beta1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: nginx-ingress-controller
  namespace: kube-system
  labels:
    app: nginx-ingress-lb
    group: lb
spec:
  replicas: 1
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: nginx-ingress-lb
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: nginx-ingress-lb
        name: nginx-ingress-lb
        group: lb
    spec:
      terminationGracePeriodSeconds: 60
      containers:
      - name: nginx-ingress-lb
        image: gcr.io/google_containers/nginx-ingress-controller:0.8.3
        imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent
        readinessProbe:
          httpGet:
            path: /healthz
            port: 10254
            scheme: HTTP
        livenessProbe:
          httpGet:
            path: /healthz
            port: 10254
            scheme: HTTP
          initialDelaySeconds: 10
          timeoutSeconds: 1
        # use downward API
        env:
          - name: POD_NAME
            valueFrom:
              fieldRef:
                fieldPath: metadata.name
          - name: POD_NAMESPACE
            valueFrom:
              fieldRef:
                fieldPath: metadata.namespace
        ports:
        - containerPort: 80
          hostPort: 80
        ## if you terminate SSL at the AWS ELB you don't need port 443 here
        - containerPort: 18080 ## we expose 18080 to access nginx stats in url /nginx-status
          hostPort: 18080
        ## https://github.com/kubernetes/contrib/issues/1662 --watch-namespace  to limit on one namespace
        args:
        - /nginx-ingress-controller
        - --default-backend-service=$(POD_NAMESPACE)/nginx-default-backend
        - --nginx-configmap=$(POD_NAMESPACE)/nginx-ingress-lb-cfg
---
#######################################
# K8S NGINX LB Controller Service
#######################################
apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
  name: nginx-ingress-lb
  namespace: kube-system
  labels:
    app: nginx-ingress-lb
    group: lb
  annotations:
    service.beta.kubernetes.io/aws-load-balancer-internal: 0.0.0.0/0
    service.beta.kubernetes.io/aws-load-balancer-ssl-cert: "YOUR_AWS_CERT_ID"
    service.beta.kubernetes.io/aws-load-balancer-ssl-ports: https
    service.beta.kubernetes.io/aws-load-balancer-backend-protocol: http
spec:
  type: LoadBalancer
  ports:
  - port: 443
    targetPort: 80 ## terminate ssl
    name: https
    protocol: TCP
  #- port: 80   ### disable unless you have http->https redirect or really want to support http besides https
  #  targetPort: 80
  #  name: http
  #  protocol: TCP
  - port: 18080
    targetPort: 18080
    name: nginxstatus
    protocol: TCP
  selector:
    app: nginx-ingress-lb
---
############################################################
## K8S Ingress to access Nginx status page from LB
############################################################
apiVersion: extensions/v1beta1
kind: Ingress
metadata:
 name: nginx-ingress-lb-stats
 namespace: kube-system
 labels:
  app: nginx-ingress-lb
  group: lb
  stage: kube-system
 annotations:
  kubernetes.io/ingress.class: nginx
spec:
 rules:
 - host: your.host.com
   http:
    paths:
    - path: /nginx_status
      backend:
       serviceName: nginx-ingress-lb
       servicePort: 18080

See also http://stackoverflow.com/questions/33792919/in-kubernetes-how-do-i-implement-session-affinity-using-an-ingress

This was a huge help to me. The part with the ConfigMap was the missing link... Wanted to say thanks!

So with an additional service (say a node.js deployment), does the nginx controller provide sticky sessions to that service's pods? I'm trying to achieve affinity to pods for websocket purposes.

Also, can you describe how traffic gets into the system? Is it Client -> ELB -> Nginx Ingress Controller Service -> Nginx Ingress Controller plus ingress rules -> MyApp Service -> MyApp Pod #N