--- layout: docs page_title: Required Ports sidebar_current: docs-install-ports description: >- Before starting Consul it is important to have the necessary bind ports accessible. --- # Required Ports Consul requires up to 6 different ports to work properly, some on TCP, UDP, or both protocols. Below we document the requirements for each port. ## Ports Table Before running Consul, you should ensure the following bind ports are accessible. | Use | Default Ports | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------- | | DNS: The DNS server (TCP and UDP) | 8600 | | HTTP: The HTTP API (TCP Only) | 8500 | | HTTPS: The HTTPs API | disabled (8501)\* | | gRPC: The gRPC API | disabled (8502)\* | | LAN Serf: The Serf LAN port (TCP and UDP) | 8301 | | Wan Serf: The Serf WAN port (TCP and UDP) | 8302 | | server: Server RPC address (TCP Only) | 8300 | | Sidecar Proxy Min: Inclusive min port number to use for automatically assigned sidecar service registrations. | 21000 | | Sidecar Proxy Max: Inclusive max port number to use for automatically assigned sidecar service registrations. | 21255 | \*For `HTTPS` and `gRPC` the ports specified in the table are recommendations. ## Port Information **DNS Interface** Used to resolve DNS queries. **HTTP API** This is used by clients to talk to the HTTP API. **HTTPS API** (Optional) Is off by default, but port 8501 is a convention used by various tools as the default. **gRPC API** (Optional). Currently gRPC is only used to expose the xDS API to Envoy proxies. It is off by default, but port 8502 is a convention used by various tools as the default. Defaults to 8502 in `-dev` mode. **Serf LAN** This is used to handle gossip in the LAN. Required by all agents. **Serf WAN** This is used by servers to gossip over the WAN, to other servers. As of Consul 0.8 the WAN join flooding feature requires the Serf WAN port (TCP/UDP) to be listening on both WAN and LAN interfaces. See also: [Consul 0.8.0 CHANGELOG](https://github.com/hashicorp/consul/blob/master/CHANGELOG.md#080-april-5-2017) and [GH-3058](https://github.com/hashicorp/consul/issues/3058) **Server RPC** This is used by servers to handle incoming requests from other agents. Note, the default ports can be changed in the [agent configuration](/docs/agent/options.html#ports).