Adding Flannel back to CNI page and adding link back.

Signed-off-by: Sunil Singh <sunil.singh@suse.com>
2026-09-25 20:48:11 +00:00 · 2025-07-30 16:52:52 -07:00
parent 1f757c4152
commit 64a7416a42
5 changed files with 39 additions and 5 deletions
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ CNI network providers using this network model include Calico and Cilium. Cilium

 ### RKE2 Kubernetes clusters

-Out-of-the-box, Rancher provides the following CNI network providers for RKE2 Kubernetes clusters: Calico, Canal, and Cilium.
+Out-of-the-box, Rancher provides the following CNI network providers for RKE2 Kubernetes clusters: Calico, Canal, Cilium, and Flannel.

 You can choose your CNI network provider when you create new Kubernetes clusters from Rancher.

@@ -121,6 +121,23 @@ spec:
      - remote-node
 ```

+#### Flannel
+
+![Flannel Logo](/img/flannel-logo.png)
+
+Flannel is a simple and easy way to configure L3 network fabric designed for Kubernetes. Flannel runs a single binary agent named flanneld on each host, which is responsible for allocating a subnet lease to each host out of a larger, preconfigured address space. Flannel uses either the Kubernetes API or etcd directly to store the network configuration, the allocated subnets, and any auxiliary data (such as the host's public IP). Packets are forwarded using one of several backend mechanisms, with the default encapsulation being [VXLAN](https://github.com/flannel-io/flannel/blob/master/Documentation/backends.md#vxlan).
+
+Encapsulated traffic is unencrypted by default. Flannel provides two solutions for encryption:
+
+* [IPSec](https://github.com/flannel-io/flannel/blob/master/Documentation/backends.md#ipsec), which makes use of [strongSwan](https://www.strongswan.org/) to establish encrypted IPSec tunnels between Kubernetes workers. It is an experimental backend for encryption.
+* [WireGuard](https://github.com/flannel-io/flannel/blob/master/Documentation/backends.md#wireguard), which is a more faster-performing alternative to strongSwan.
+
+Kubernetes workers should open UDP port `8472` (VXLAN). See [the port requirements for user clusters](../how-to-guides/new-user-guides/kubernetes-clusters-in-rancher-setup/node-requirements-for-rancher-managed-clusters.md#networking-requirements) for more details.
+
+![Flannel Diagram](/img/flannel-diagram.png)
+
+For more information, see the [Flannel GitHub Page](https://github.com/flannel-io/flannel).
+
 ## CNI Features by Provider

 The following table summarizes the different features available for each CNI network provider provided by Rancher.
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ version's release notes in the following two ways:

 - Create custom cluster and adding ARM64 based node(s)
  - Kubernetes cluster version must be 1.12 or higher
-  - CNI Network Provider must be Flannel
+  - CNI Network Provider must be [Flannel](../../../faq/container-network-interface-providers.md#flannel)
 - Importing clusters that contain ARM64 based nodes
  - Kubernetes cluster version must be 1.12 or higher

@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ title: "在 ARM64 上运行 Rancher（实验性）"

 - 创建自定义集群并添加使用 ARM64 架构的节点
   - Kubernetes 集群必须为 1.12 或更高版本
-   - CNI 网络插件必须是 Flannel
+   - CNI 网络插件必须是 [Flannel](../../../faq/container-network-interface-providers.md#flannel)
 - 导入包含使用 ARM64 架构的节点的集群
   - Kubernetes 集群必须为 1.12 或更高版本

@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ title: "在 ARM64 上运行 Rancher（实验性）"

 - 创建自定义集群并添加使用 ARM64 架构的节点
   - Kubernetes 集群必须为 1.12 或更高版本
-   - CNI 网络插件必须是 Flannel
+   - CNI 网络插件必须是 [Flannel](../../../faq/container-network-interface-providers.md#flannel)
 - 导入包含使用 ARM64 架构的节点的集群
   - Kubernetes 集群必须为 1.12 或更高版本

@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ CNI network providers using this network model include Calico and Cilium. Cilium

 ### RKE2 Kubernetes clusters

-Out-of-the-box, Rancher provides the following CNI network providers for RKE2 Kubernetes clusters: Calico, Canal, and Cilium.
+Out-of-the-box, Rancher provides the following CNI network providers for RKE2 Kubernetes clusters: Calico, Canal, Cilium, and Flannel.

 You can choose your CNI network provider when you create new Kubernetes clusters from Rancher.

@@ -121,6 +121,23 @@ spec:
      - remote-node
 ```

+#### Flannel
+
+![Flannel Logo](/img/flannel-logo.png)
+
+Flannel is a simple and easy way to configure L3 network fabric designed for Kubernetes. Flannel runs a single binary agent named flanneld on each host, which is responsible for allocating a subnet lease to each host out of a larger, preconfigured address space. Flannel uses either the Kubernetes API or etcd directly to store the network configuration, the allocated subnets, and any auxiliary data (such as the host's public IP). Packets are forwarded using one of several backend mechanisms, with the default encapsulation being [VXLAN](https://github.com/flannel-io/flannel/blob/master/Documentation/backends.md#vxlan).
+
+Encapsulated traffic is unencrypted by default. Flannel provides two solutions for encryption:
+
+* [IPSec](https://github.com/flannel-io/flannel/blob/master/Documentation/backends.md#ipsec), which makes use of [strongSwan](https://www.strongswan.org/) to establish encrypted IPSec tunnels between Kubernetes workers. It is an experimental backend for encryption.
+* [WireGuard](https://github.com/flannel-io/flannel/blob/master/Documentation/backends.md#wireguard), which is a more faster-performing alternative to strongSwan.
+
+Kubernetes workers should open UDP port `8472` (VXLAN). See [the port requirements for user clusters](../how-to-guides/new-user-guides/kubernetes-clusters-in-rancher-setup/node-requirements-for-rancher-managed-clusters.md#networking-requirements) for more details.
+
+![Flannel Diagram](/img/flannel-diagram.png)
+
+For more information, see the [Flannel GitHub Page](https://github.com/flannel-io/flannel).
+
 ## CNI Features by Provider

 The following table summarizes the different features available for each CNI network provider provided by Rancher.