Using Multiple Adapters

Advanced Configuration

Meshery can run zero or more adapters. Many Meshery features need no adapter at all. Adapters are optional components that enhance and extend Meshery’s core functionality.

Modifying the default adapter deployment configuration

You can configure how many adapters run, which ones, where they run, what they are named, and which port each one listens on. On Docker, mesheryctl writes the deployment to ~/.meshery/meshery.yaml, a Docker Compose file. It downloads that file again and rewrites its services from your current mesheryctl context every time you run mesheryctl system start, so manual edits to it do not last. Configure adapters through your context instead.

Configuration: Running fewer Meshery adapters

Each mesheryctl context in your meshconfig (~/.meshery/config.yaml) lists the adapters, which mesheryctl calls components, to deploy with Meshery. To choose a different set, create a context that lists only the adapters you want, and make it current:

	
		mesheryctl system context create my-context --components meshery-istio --components meshery-linkerd --set

mesheryctl can deploy meshery-istio, meshery-linkerd, meshery-consul, meshery-nsm, meshery-kuma, meshery-traefik-mesh, and meshery-cilium. To run no adapters, create a context without --components.

Configuration: Running more than one instance of the same Meshery adapter

You can run more than one instance of the same Meshery Adapter, for example two instances of the Meshery Adapter for Istio. A mesheryctl context deploys at most one instance of each adapter, so run the additional instance yourself, then register its host and port with Meshery Server in one of these ways:

In Meshery UI, go to Lifecycle > Adapters and enter the host and port of the additional adapter.
Add its host:port to Meshery Server’s ADAPTER_URLS environment variable.

Use a host:port that Meshery Server itself can resolve and reach. An address such as localhost:10000 on your workstation does not work when Meshery Server runs in a container or a cluster. See Server Environment Variables.

Configuration: Choosing an adapter while installing Mesheryctl

When you install mesheryctl with the Bash installation script, you can choose which adapters to load by passing the ADAPTERS environment variable to the script.

For example: curl -L https://meshery.io/install | ADAPTERS=consul PLATFORM=kubernetes bash - installs mesheryctl, creates a context named custom that lists only the Meshery Adapter for Consul, and starts Meshery Server in your current Kubernetes cluster with that adapter.