Network service discovery

A method comprising:

• encoding, by a first network controller executing in a software defined network (SDN), one or more attributes with information identifying a network service, wherein the one or more attributes conform to a routing protocol;
• generating, by the first network controller, an advertisement in a first network cluster executing within a container orchestration platform of the SDN, wherein the advertisement conforms to the routing protocol and includes the one or more attributes;
• broadcasting, by the first network controller and to a second network cluster executing within the container orchestration platform of the SDN, the advertisement in accordance with the routing protocol;
• extracting, by a second network controller executing in the SDN, the information identifying the network service by processing the one or more attributes;
• generating, by the second network controller, a network service directory in the second network cluster;
• adding, by the second network controller and with the network service directory, one or more virtual execution elements executing on the second network cluster as endpoints of the network service;
• and
• implementing a network policy to forward, by one or more virtual routers executing in the SDN, network traffic between endpoints of the network service.

Computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed, are configured to cause processing circuitry of a network system to:

• encode, by a first network controller executing in a software defined network (SDN), one or more attributes with information identifying a network service, wherein the one or more attributes conform to a routing protocol;
• generate, by the first network controller, an advertisement in a first network cluster executing within a container orchestration platform of the SDN, wherein the advertisement conforms to the routing protocol and includes the one or more attributes;
• broadcast, by the network controller and to a second network cluster executing within the container orchestration platform of the SDN, the advertisement in accordance with the routing protocol;
• extract, by a second network controller executing in the SDN, the information identifying the network service by processing the one or more attributes;
• generate, by the second network controller and based on the information identifying the network service, a network service directory in the second network cluster;
• and
• add, by the second network controller and with the network service directory, one or more virtual execution elements executing on the second network cluster as endpoints of the network service.