# Access EMQX Cluster through LoadBalancer

## Objective

Access the EMQX cluster through a Service of type LoadBalancer.

## Configure EMQX Cluster

EMQX CRD `apps.emqx.io/v2` supports:
* Configuring the EMQX Dashboard Service through `.spec.dashboardServiceTemplate`.
* Configuring the EMQX cluster listener Service through `.spec.listenersServiceTemplate`.

Refer to the [respective documentation](../reference/v2-reference.md#emqxspec) for more details.

1. Save the following as a YAML file and deploy it using `kubectl apply`.

   ```yaml
   apiVersion: apps.emqx.io/v2
   kind: EMQX
   metadata:
     name: emqx
   spec:
     image: emqx/emqx:6.2.0
     config:
       data: |
         license {
           key = "..."
         }
     listenersServiceTemplate:
       spec:
         type: LoadBalancer
     dashboardServiceTemplate:
       spec:
         type: LoadBalancer
   ```

   ::: tip

   By default, EMQX starts an MQTT TCP listener `tcp-default` on port 1883 and a Dashboard HTTP listener on port 18083.

   Users can configure new or existing listeners through `.spec.config.data`, or manage them through the EMQX Dashboard.

   EMQX Operator automatically reflects the default listener information in the Service resources. When there is a conflict between the Service configured by the user and the listener configured by EMQX (name or port fields are repeated), EMQX Operator prioritizes the user configuration.

   :::

2. Wait for the EMQX cluster to become ready.

   Check the status of the EMQX cluster with `kubectl get` and make sure that `STATUS` is `Ready`. This may take some time.

   ```bash
   $ kubectl get emqx emqx
   NAME   STATUS   AGE
   emqx   Ready    10m
   ```

## Add New Listener through EMQX Dashboard

1. Add a new listener.

   - Open the EMQX Dashboard and navigate to **Management** -> **Listeners**.

   - Click the **Add Listener** to add a new listener with the name `test` and port `1884`, as shown in the following figure:

     ![emqx-add-listener](./assets/configure-service/emqx-add-listener.png)

   - Click **Add** to create the listener. As shown in the following figure, the new listener has been created.

     ![emqx-listeners](./assets/configure-service/emqx-listeners.png)

2. Check if the new listener is reflected in the Service.

   ```bash
   kubectl get svc
   
   NAME             TYPE       CLUSTER-IP       EXTERNAL-IP   PORT(S)                                         AGE
   emqx-dashboard   NodePort   10.105.110.235   <none>        18083:32012/TCP                                 13m
   emqx-listeners   NodePort   10.106.1.58      <none>        1883:32010/TCP,1884:30763/TCP                   12m
   ```

   This output shows that the newly added listener on port 1884 has been reflected in the `emqx-listeners` Service resource.

## Connect to the New Listener Using MQTTX

1. Obtain the external IP of the EMQX listeners service.

   ```bash
   external_ip=$(kubectl get svc emqx-listeners -o json | jq -r '.status.loadBalancer.ingress[0].ip')
   ```

2. Connect to the new listener using MQTTX CLI.

   ```bash
   $ mqttx conn -h ${external_ip} -p 1884
   
   [4/17/2023] [5:17:31 PM] › … Connecting...
   [4/17/2023] [5:17:31 PM] › ✔ Connected
   ```