Kubernetes Ingress Returns 404 for Everything

The controller is up and answering — that is why you get a tidy 404. The request just is not matching a route to your service.

What you'll see

Root causes

ingressClassName mismatch

Ingress says class X, the cluster runs controller Y, so nobody claims the object.

Service selector does not match pod labels

Ingress routes to a service whose endpoints list is empty — traffic goes nowhere.

Hostname/path rules don't match the request

Spec has host a.example.com, request is for b.example.com, or pathType mismatch.

Fix it

  1. Confirm an ingress controller exists and which class it claims
    kubectl get ingressclass
  2. Verify the service actually has endpoints
    kubectl get endpoints <service>
  3. Match spec to controller and hostname
    spec:
  ingressClassName: nginx
  rules:
    - host: app.example.com
      http:
        paths:
          - path: /
            pathType: Prefix
            backend:
              service:
                name: app
                port: { number: 80 }

Field note

kubectl get ingress -o yaml shows the object fine whether or not any controller claimed it — an empty endpoints list is the single most common root cause.

Common questions

The service works via port-forward but Ingress 404s — why?

The ingress controller is routing, but nothing matches: wrong host header (test with curl -H 'Host: your.host'), path mismatch between ingress rules and the service, or the ingress lacks a matching backend. Controller logs name the decision.

Why do I get the controller's default 404 page?

That page means the controller received the request but no ingress rule matched host+path. Compare exactly: trailing slashes, case, and the host the client sends (SNI/Host) against your ingress spec.

Related fixes

Ship it right the first time

Kustomize base with probes, PDBs, and zero-downtime rollouts already wired.

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