--- title: "Cilium Networking & eBPF-Powered Security Policies on RKE2" url: https://daily.dev/posts/cilium-networking-ebpf-powered-security-policies-on-rke2-nmwxjmkj2 source_url: https://diabelmehdi.de/cilium-networking-ebpf-powered-security-policies-on-rke2/ type: article source: "cilium" published: 2026-02-24T09:26:11.659Z updated: 2026-02-24T09:26:35.722Z tags: ["security", "linux", "kubernetes", "cilium"] reading_time: 15 upvotes: 2 comments: 0 language: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Cilium Networking & eBPF-Powered Security Policies on RKE2 **[cilium](https://daily.dev/sources/cilium)** · 15 min read · 2 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A detailed guide on replacing RKE2's default Canal CNI (Calico + Flannel) with Cilium to gain eBPF-powered networking and security. Covers why iptables-based CNIs hit performance walls at scale, how Cilium's eBPF datapath achieves O(1) policy lookups via kernel hash maps, and step-by-step instructions for both fresh installs and live Canal-to-Cilium migrations using Helm. Also covers CiliumNetworkPolicy for L3/L4/L7 enforcement, Hubble for real-time observability, common troubleshooting scenarios on RKE2, and a feature comparison table between Cilium, Canal, and standalone Calico. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Understanding Kubernetes Network Security](https://daily.dev/posts/understanding-kubernetes-network-security-i5js8crfk) · cilium · 4 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#security](https://daily.dev/tags/security), [#linux](https://daily.dev/tags/linux), [#kubernetes](https://daily.dev/tags/kubernetes), [#cilium](https://daily.dev/tags/cilium) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/cilium-networking-ebpf-powered-security-policies-on-rke2-nmwxjmkj2)