MetalLB on Bare Metal: LoadBalancer Without a Cloud Provider

📰 Dev.to · Guatu

Learn how to use MetalLB to create a LoadBalancer Service on bare metal without a cloud provider and troubleshoot common issues

intermediate Published 27 Jun 2026
Action Steps
  1. Install MetalLB on your bare-metal cluster
  2. Configure MetalLB to use L2 mode
  3. Assign a real LAN IP to your LoadBalancer Service using MetalLB
  4. Test your LoadBalancer Service to ensure it's working as expected
  5. Troubleshoot common issues that may cause your LoadBalancer Service to get stuck in Pending state
Who Needs to Know This

DevOps engineers and developers who work with bare-metal infrastructure and need to configure LoadBalancer Services will benefit from this article, as it provides a solution to a common problem and shares troubleshooting experiences

Key Insight

💡 MetalLB can be used to create a LoadBalancer Service on bare metal without a cloud provider by handing out real LAN IPs, and L2 mode is a key configuration option

Share This
🚀 Get your LoadBalancer Service up and running on bare metal with MetalLB! 🚀

Key Takeaways

Learn how to use MetalLB to create a LoadBalancer Service on bare metal without a cloud provider and troubleshoot common issues

Full Article

Your bare-metal LoadBalancer Service is stuck Pending. Here's how MetalLB hands out real LAN IPs, why L2 mode works, and the traps that cost me hours.
Read full article → ← Back to Reads