---
layout: docs
page_title: Configuration Entry Overview
description: >-
  Configuration entries define service mesh behaviors in order to secure and manage traffic. Learn about Consul’s different config entry kinds and get links to configuration reference pages.
---

# Configuration Entry Overview

Configuration entries can be used to configure the behavior of Consul service mesh.

The following configuration entries are supported:

- [API Gateway](/consul/docs/connect/config-entries/api-gateway) - defines the configuration for an API gateway

- [Ingress Gateway](/consul/docs/connect/config-entries/ingress-gateway) - defines the
  configuration for an ingress gateway

- [Mesh](/consul/docs/connect/config-entries/mesh) - controls
  mesh-wide configuration that applies across namespaces and federated datacenters.
  
- [Exported Services](/consul/docs/connect/config-entries/exported-services) - enables 
  Consul to export service instances to other peers or to other admin partitions local or remote to the datacenter. 

- [Proxy Defaults](/consul/docs/connect/config-entries/proxy-defaults) - controls
  proxy configuration

- [Sameness Group](/consul/docs/connect/config-entries/sameness-group) - defines partitions and cluster peers with identical services

- [Service Defaults](/consul/docs/connect/config-entries/service-defaults) - configures
  defaults for all the instances of a given service

- [Service Intentions](/consul/docs/connect/config-entries/service-intentions) - defines
  the [intentions](/consul/docs/connect/intentions) for a destination service

- [Service Resolver](/consul/docs/connect/config-entries/service-resolver) - matches
  service instances with a specific Connect upstream discovery requests

- [Service Router](/consul/docs/connect/config-entries/service-router) - defines
  where to send layer 7 traffic based on the HTTP route

- [Service Splitter](/consul/docs/connect/config-entries/service-splitter) - defines
  how to divide requests for a single HTTP route based on percentages

- [Terminating Gateway](/consul/docs/connect/config-entries/terminating-gateway) - defines the
  services associated with terminating gateway

## Managing Configuration Entries

See [Agent - Config Entries](/consul/docs/agent/config-entries).

## Using Configuration Entries For Service Defaults

Outside of Kubernetes, when the agent is
[configured](/consul/docs/agent/config/config-files#enable_central_service_config) to enable
central service configurations, it will look for service configuration defaults
that match a registering service instance. If it finds any, the agent will merge
those defaults with the service instance configuration. This allows for things
like service protocol or proxy configuration to be defined globally and
inherited by any affected service registrations.