grpclb: replace net.IP with netip.Addr by veeceey · Pull Request #8918 · grpc/grpc-go

veeceey · 2026-02-20T08:20:23Z

Contributes to #8884

This PR replaces deprecated net.IP usage with the modern netip.Addr API in two packages:

grpclb: Replace net.IP(s.IpAddress).String() with netip.AddrFromSlice() in processServerList, adding proper error handling for invalid IP addresses instead of silently producing "?" from net.IP.String().

Note: x509.Certificate.IPAddresses fields in test files (internal/credentials/xds/handshake_info_test.go, security/advancedtls/crl_test.go) are typed as []net.IP by the standard library, so those cannot be migrated. The xds/server and xds/xdsclient packages are being addressed in #8909.

RELEASE NOTES: N/A

linux-foundation-easycla · 2026-02-20T08:20:28Z

The committers listed above are authorized under a signed CLA.

✅ login: veeceey / name: Varun Chawla (3bd1c99, 3ec05cf, 48210b8)

codecov · 2026-02-20T08:23:54Z

Codecov Report

❌ Patch coverage is 60.00000% with 2 lines in your changes missing coverage. Please review.
✅ Project coverage is 83.40%. Comparing base (c1a9239) to head (48210b8).
⚠️ Report is 34 commits behind head on master.

Files with missing lines	Patch %	Lines
balancer/grpclb/grpclb_remote_balancer.go	60.00%	1 Missing and 1 partial ⚠️

Additional details and impacted files

@@            Coverage Diff             @@
##           master    #8918      +/-   ##
==========================================
+ Coverage   80.40%   83.40%   +3.00%     
==========================================
  Files         416      410       -6     
  Lines       33495    32602     -893     
==========================================
+ Hits        26930    27191     +261     
+ Misses       4682     4035     -647     
+ Partials     1883     1376     -507

Files with missing lines	Coverage Δ
balancer/grpclb/grpclb_remote_balancer.go	`83.06% <60.00%> (-1.37%)`	⬇️

... and 79 files with indirect coverage changes

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Pranjali-2501 · 2026-02-22T10:18:22Z

You need to sign the CLA first: https://github.com/grpc/grpc-go?tab=contributing-ov-file#legal-requirements.

This comment will guide.

Replace legacy net.IP usage with the modern net/netip package: - grpclb: use netip.AddrFromSlice instead of net.IP cast for parsing server list IP addresses, with proper error handling for invalid IPs. - channelz: use netip.AddrFromSlice and net.TCPAddr.AddrPort() for converting addresses in the channelz protoconv layer. Contributes to grpc#8884.

veeceey · 2026-02-23T02:48:10Z

Thanks for the heads up! The CLA is already signed — the EasyCLA check is passing now (you can see the ✅ in the bot comment above).

I've also updated the PR description to follow the repo's contributing guidelines.

veeceey · 2026-02-24T07:37:45Z

The 'Validate PR' check is failing because this PR is missing a Type: label. Could a maintainer please add the Type: Internal Cleanup label? The changes are a refactor replacing deprecated net.IP usage with the modern netip.Addr API.

Pranjali-2501 · 2026-02-25T19:39:41Z

channelz/internal/protoconv/socket.go

 	case "tcp":
-		// Note zone info is discarded through the conversion.
-		return &channelzpb.Address{Address: &channelzpb.Address_TcpipAddress{TcpipAddress: &channelzpb.Address_TcpIpAddress{IpAddress: a.(*net.TCPAddr).IP, Port: int32(a.(*net.TCPAddr).Port)}}}
+		tcpAddr := a.(*net.TCPAddr)


nit: We can do that in a single line: addrPort := a.(*net.TCPAddr).AddrPort()

Pranjali-2501

LGTM.
Assigning it to @arjan-bal for second review.

arjan-bal · 2026-02-27T10:29:57Z

balancer/grpclb/grpclb_remote_balancer.go

+		if !ok {
+			if lb.logger.V(2) {
+				lb.logger.Infof("Server list entry:|%d|, failed to parse IP address: %x", i, s.IpAddress)
+			}
+			continue
+		}


The existing behaviour of net.IP(s.IpAddress).String() when receiving invalid input is to return "?" + hexString(ip). This results in the load balancing policy attempting to create a subchannel with an invalid address string, which ultimately fails. The original authors may not have realized that IP address parsing behaves this way for malformed inputs.

Simply ignoring the address could cause a behavioral change. Since grpclb is no longer actively developed, I prefer maintaining the existing behaviour to avoid the risk of regressions, even if it isn't optimal. @veeceey, could you please assign ipStr as fmt.Sprintf("? %x", s.IpAddress)?

arjan-bal · 2026-02-27T10:48:35Z

channelz/internal/protoconv/socket.go

+		if addr, ok := netip.AddrFromSlice(a.(*net.IPAddr).IP); ok {
+			return &channelzpb.Address{Address: &channelzpb.Address_TcpipAddress{TcpipAddress: &channelzpb.Address_TcpIpAddress{IpAddress: addr.AsSlice()}}}


It looks like we’re taking these bytes on a mandatory scenic tour. We are converting net.IP (which is already a []byte) to netip.Addr only to convert it back to []byte. This introduces unnecessary parsing overhead and a fallible operation. Can we avoid this?

The ideal solution would be to change the code that sets the concrete type behind the net.Addr interface not be a *net.IPAddr. However, this seems to be coming from the net.Conn produced by the std library. So we can't do anything here.

- channelz: remove unnecessary net.IP -> netip.Addr -> []byte round-trip in the "ip" and "ip+net" cases; use the IP byte slice directly - channelz: collapse tcpAddr intermediate variable per nit - grpclb: restore original fallback behaviour for malformed IP addresses by using fmt.Sprintf("? %x", ...) instead of silently skipping entries

github-actions · 2026-03-05T23:09:36Z

This PR is labeled as requiring an update from the reporter, and no update has been received after 6 days. If no update is provided in the next 7 days, this issue will be automatically closed.

veeceey · 2026-03-10T13:23:04Z

Hey, sorry for the delay on this — totally missed the label change.

@arjan-bal thanks for the thorough review, appreciate the detailed feedback on both files.

For the grpclb change: makes total sense to preserve the existing behavior for invalid IPs. I'll update it to fall back to fmt.Sprintf("? %x", s.IpAddress) instead of skipping the entry. Since grpclb isn't actively developed, maintaining backwards compat is the right call.

For the channelz socket.go comment about the round-trip conversion: yeah, fair point — converting net.IP to netip.Addr and back to []byte is pointless there since the input is already a []byte. I'll leave those cases as-is (keep using the original .IP directly) and only apply the netip migration where it actually provides value (like the TCPAddr case where we use AddrPort()).

Also @Pranjali-2501, good catch on the single-line simplification with .AddrPort() — I'll fold that in too.

Will push the updates shortly.

veeceey · 2026-03-12T04:33:46Z

addressed the round-trip concern - reverted socket.go back to direct field access instead of going through AddrPort(). let me know if this looks better!

veeceey · 2026-03-15T03:10:40Z

Fair points @arjan-bal. You're right about the unnecessary round-trip — converting net.IP to netip.Addr just to get bytes back is pointless overhead. I'll simplify that.

And agreed on preserving the existing behavior for malformed inputs rather than silently dropping addresses. I'll keep the fallback path as-is and just clean up the conversion logic. Will push an update.

arjan-bal

LGTM, thanks for the contribution!

Pranjali-2501 assigned veeceey Feb 22, 2026

Pranjali-2501 added the Status: Requires Reporter Clarification label Feb 22, 2026

veeceey force-pushed the fix/issue-8884-netip-migration branch from 7ad583b to 3bd1c99 Compare February 23, 2026 02:30

Pranjali-2501 assigned Pranjali-2501 and unassigned veeceey Feb 24, 2026

Pranjali-2501 added the Type: Internal Cleanup Refactors, etc label Feb 25, 2026

Pranjali-2501 added this to the 1.80 Release milestone Feb 25, 2026

Pranjali-2501 removed the Status: Requires Reporter Clarification label Feb 25, 2026

Pranjali-2501 reviewed Feb 25, 2026

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Pranjali-2501 approved these changes Feb 25, 2026

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Pranjali-2501 assigned veeceey and arjan-bal and unassigned Pranjali-2501 Feb 25, 2026

arjan-bal requested changes Feb 27, 2026

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arjan-bal removed their assignment Feb 27, 2026

arjan-bal added the Status: Requires Reporter Clarification label Feb 27, 2026

github-actions bot added stale and removed stale labels Mar 5, 2026

mbissa modified the milestones: 1.80 Release, 1.81 Release Mar 6, 2026

simplify conversion per review - remove unnecessary round-trip

48210b8

easwars removed the Status: Requires Reporter Clarification label Mar 16, 2026

easwars assigned arjan-bal and Pranjali-2501 and unassigned veeceey Mar 16, 2026

arjan-bal unassigned Pranjali-2501 Mar 17, 2026

arjan-bal approved these changes Mar 17, 2026

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arjan-bal changed the title ~~grpclb, channelz: replace net.IP with netip.Addr~~ grpclb: replace net.IP with netip.Addr Mar 17, 2026

arjan-bal merged commit 36e13de into grpc:master Mar 17, 2026
24 of 25 checks passed

		if addr, ok := netip.AddrFromSlice(a.(*net.IPAddr).IP); ok {
		return &channelzpb.Address{Address: &channelzpb.Address_TcpipAddress{TcpipAddress: &channelzpb.Address_TcpIpAddress{IpAddress: addr.AsSlice()}}}

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