fix: should not return when service type is ExternalName

[ronething]

Type of change:

• Bugfix
• New feature provided
• Improve performance
• Backport patches
• Documentation
• Refactor
• Chore
• CI/CD or Tests

What this PR does / why we need it:

ref: apache/apisix-ingress-controller#2468

Pre-submission checklist:

• Did you explain what problem does this PR solve? Or what new features have been added?
• Have you added corresponding test cases?
• Have you modified the corresponding document?
• Is this PR backward compatible? If it is not backward compatible, please discuss on the mailing list first

[Copilot]

Pull Request Overview

This PR addresses a bug where ExternalName services caused the reconciler to exit early, preventing additional backendRefs from being processed, and adds an end-to-end test to verify load balancing across ExternalName services.

• Changed the reconciler to continue instead of return when encountering ServiceTypeExternalName
• Added an E2E test that spins up ExternalName services, a BackendTrafficPolicy, and an HTTPRoute, then validates round-robin behavior
• Defined a servicesSpec block in tests to create two ExternalName services and associated HTTPRoute

Reviewed Changes

Copilot reviewed 2 out of 2 changed files in this pull request and generated 2 comments.

File	Description
test/e2e/gatewayapi/httproute.go	New E2E test for HTTPRoute load balancing with ExternalName types
internal/controller/httproute_controller.go	Replace return with continue when handling ExternalName services

Comments suppressed due to low confidence (1)

internal/controller/httproute_controller.go:504

• Add a unit test for processHTTPRouteBackendRefs covering the ServiceTypeExternalName path to ensure these services get added to tctx.Services without exiting the loop.

			continue

[Copilot]

Instead of a fixed time.Sleep, use a polling loop or Gomega's Eventually to wait for the HTTPRoute to become ready. This reduces flakiness and can shorten test run time.

Suggested change

	time.Sleep(5 * time.Second)
	Eventually(func() bool {
	resp, err := s.NewAPISIXClient().GET("/headers").Expect().Raw()
	if err != nil {
	return false
	}
	return resp.StatusCode == http.StatusOK
	}, 30*time.Second, 1*time.Second).Should(BeTrue(), "HTTPRoute should become ready")

[Copilot]

[nitpick] Avoid fixed delays inside the request loop. If pacing is needed, consider using parallel requests with a timeout or parameterizing the delay to speed up the suite.

Suggested change

	for i := 0; i < totalRequests; i++ {
	resp := s.NewAPISIXClient().GET("/headers").Expect().Status(http.StatusOK)
	// Parse JSON response to get the Host header
	var responseBody map[string]any
	resp.JSON().Decode(&responseBody)
	if headers, ok := responseBody["headers"].(map[string]any); ok {
	var host string
	if host, ok = headers["Host"].(string); !ok {
	host, ok = headers["host"].(string)
	}
	if ok && host != "" {
	upstreamHosts[host]++
	}
	Expect(ok).To(BeTrue(), "Host header should be present")
	Expect(host).Should(Or(Equal("httpbin.org"), Equal("mock.api7.ai")))
	}
	time.Sleep(100 * time.Millisecond) // Small delay between requests
	}
	var wg sync.WaitGroup
	var mu sync.Mutex
	for i := 0; i < totalRequests; i++ {
	wg.Add(1)
	go func() {
	defer wg.Done()
	resp := s.NewAPISIXClient().GET("/headers").Expect().Status(http.StatusOK)
	// Parse JSON response to get the Host header
	var responseBody map[string]any
	resp.JSON().Decode(&responseBody)
	if headers, ok := responseBody["headers"].(map[string]any); ok {
	var host string
	if host, ok = headers["Host"].(string); !ok {
	host, ok = headers["host"].(string)
	}
	if ok && host != "" {
	mu.Lock()
	upstreamHosts[host]++
	mu.Unlock()
	}
	Expect(ok).To(BeTrue(), "Host header should be present")
	Expect(host).Should(Or(Equal("httpbin.org"), Equal("mock.api7.ai")))
	}
	}()
	}
	wg.Wait()

[github-actions]

conformance test report - apisix-standalone mode

apiVersion: gateway.networking.k8s.io/v1
date: "2025-07-16T12:04:16Z"
gatewayAPIChannel: standard
gatewayAPIVersion: v1.2.0
implementation:
  contact: null
  organization: APISIX
  project: apisix-ingress-controller
  url: https://github.com/apache/apisix-ingress-controller.git
  version: v2.0.0
kind: ConformanceReport
mode: default
profiles:
- core:
    failedTests:
    - HTTPRouteCrossNamespace
    result: failure
    skippedTests:
    - HTTPRouteHTTPSListener
    statistics:
      Failed: 1
      Passed: 31
      Skipped: 1
  name: GATEWAY-HTTP
  summary: Core tests failed with 1 test failures.

[github-actions]

conformance test report - apisix mode

apiVersion: gateway.networking.k8s.io/v1
date: "2025-07-16T12:04:34Z"
gatewayAPIChannel: standard
gatewayAPIVersion: v1.2.0
implementation:
  contact: null
  organization: APISIX
  project: apisix-ingress-controller
  url: https://github.com/apache/apisix-ingress-controller.git
  version: v2.0.0
kind: ConformanceReport
mode: default
profiles:
- core:
    failedTests:
    - HTTPRouteCrossNamespace
    result: failure
    skippedTests:
    - HTTPRouteHTTPSListener
    statistics:
      Failed: 1
      Passed: 31
      Skipped: 1
  name: GATEWAY-HTTP
  summary: Core tests failed with 1 test failures.

[github-actions]

conformance test report

apiVersion: gateway.networking.k8s.io/v1
date: "2025-07-16T10:19:06Z"
gatewayAPIChannel: standard
gatewayAPIVersion: v1.2.0
implementation:
  contact: null
  organization: APISIX
  project: apisix-ingress-controller
  url: https://github.com/apache/apisix-ingress-controller.git
  version: v2.0.0
kind: ConformanceReport
mode: default
profiles:
- core:
    result: partial
    skippedTests:
    - HTTPRouteHTTPSListener
    statistics:
      Failed: 0
      Passed: 32
      Skipped: 1
  name: GATEWAY-HTTP
  summary: Core tests partially succeeded with 1 test skips.