Kubernetes PowerPack Release Notes, version 103

Version 103 of the Kubernetes PowerPack includes support for the discovery of multiple EKS clusters in different regions, the option to not align Dynamic Applications from the Linux Base Pack, and addresses a number of issues.

  • Minimum Required SL1 Version: 8.12.2.6

Before You Install or Upgrade

Ensure that you are running version 8.12.2.6 or later of SL1 before installing "Kubernetes" PowerPack version 103.

For details on upgrading SL1, see the relevant SL1 Platform Release Notes.

In addition, before installing or upgrading the PowerPack, you must first import and install the Linux Base Pack PowerPack version 103. The PowerPack leverages the Linux Base Pack PowerPack and will not work properly if it is not also installed.

If you are upgrading from version 101 to version 102 or later of the PowerPack, you must delete the version 101 dashboards on SL1. To do so, perform the following steps:

  1. Go to the Device Dashboards page (System > Customize > Device Dashboards).
  2. Search for "Kubernetes" in the Device Dashboard Name column.
  3. Select the checkbox for each Kubernetes dashboard.
  4. In the Select Actions drop-down field, select Delete Dashboards.
  5. Click the Go button.
  6. Click the OK button to confirm.

Installation and Upgrade Process

If you are currently using the Dynamic Applications in this PowerPack to monitor devices, collection errors might occur for one or two polling cycles during the installation of a new version. To prevent collection errors during an upgrade, you can optionally disable collection for monitored devices before performing the following steps and re-enable collection after the upgrade.

To install this PowerPack:

  1. Search for and download the PowerPack from the PowerPacks page (Product Downloads > PowerPacks & SyncPacks) at the ScienceLogic Support Site.
  2. In SL1, go to the PowerPacks page (System > Manage > PowerPacks).
  3. Click the Actions menu and choose Import PowerPack. The Import PowerPack modal appears.
  4. Click Browse and navigate to the PowerPack file from step 1.
  5. Select the PowerPack file and click Import. The PowerPack Installer modal displays a list of the PowerPack contents.
  6. Click Install. The PowerPack is added to the PowerPack Manager page.

NOTE: If you are upgrading from version 100 or greater of the Kubernetes PowerPack, install the DockerPowerPack version 102 or greater before upgrading, if you have not done so already.

For more information about using the PowerPack, see the Monitoring Windows Systems with PowerShell manual.

Included Features

This release includes the following features:

  • Dynamic Applications to discover and monitor Kubernetes devices
  • Device Classes for each of the Kubernetes devices the PowerPack can monitor
  • Event Policies and corresponding alerts that are triggered when Kubernetes devices meet certain status criteria
  • A Dashboard and Dashboard Widget that you must use to create Credentials for discovering Kubernetes devices
  • An SSH/Key Credential that the Kubernetes Token Entry Dashboard uses as a template for creating additional SSH/Key Credentials for monitoring Kubernetes clusters

You must use the Kubernetes Token Entry Dashboard that is included in the PowerPack to create a master SSH/Key Credential, a node SSH/Key Credential, and a SOAP/XML Credential. By doing so, you can specify the Kubernetes device topology that you want to discover. For more information, see the Monitoring Kubernetes manual.

You must not edit the SSH/Key Credential that is included in the PowerPack.

  • Run Book Action and Automation policies that do the following:
  • Automatically create Kubernetes clusters whenever the ScienceLogic platform discovers a Kubernetes host
  • Align Dynamic Applications from the Linux Base Pack PowerPack to Kubernetes nodes and report if a successful alignment has occurred to the ScienceLogic Data Collector or All-in-One Appliance
  • Ensure that Namespaces (and their children) have a 1-hour vanishing timer, to properly reflect topology changes

Enhancements and Issues Addressed

The following enhancements and addressed issues are included this release of the "Kubernetes" PowerPack:

  • Users can now configure discovery to make the inclusion of Linux Base Pack PowerPack Dynamic Applications optional.
  • The "Kubernetes: Node Performance" Dynamic Application was added to the PowerPack. This Dynamic Application requires that the Kubernetes Metrics Server be installed in the Kubernetes cluster.
  • Support was added for the automatic discovery of multiple EKS clusters in different regions.
  • The Kubernetes Token Entry dashboard was updated to address an issue in which users, who had updated to SL1 version 10.1.6 or later, could not create or modify Kubernetes credentials using the dashboard.
  • An issue was addressed in which component devices would switch between multiple parent devices with the same device ID, but in different namespaces, resulting in clogged device logs.
  • An issue was addressed in which discovered GKE Kubernetes clusters were using the GCP project name as the virtual root device name. This has been updated so they will now appear using the cluster name.
  • An issue was addressed in the "Kubernetes: Events Configuration" and "Kubernetes: Pod Configuration" Dynamic Applications in which they were unable to receive the auth-token for an EKS cluster.
  • An issue was addressed in which the root Kubernetes cluster was not created after the "Kubernetes: Cluster Creation" Dynamic Application was aligned in systems with customized SL1 API ports.

Known Issues

The following known issues affect version 103 of the Kubernetes PowerPack:

  • The poll frequency of the "Kubernetes: Events Configuration" Dynamic Application was updated to 15 minutesin order to reduce the potential of SIGTERM during discovery, depending on the number of events. It is recommended that you change the poll frequency to 5 minutes for each Kubernetes | Namespace component after a couple of hours.
  • In systems in which a Kubernetes cluster is deleted or shut down, errors and exceptions may continue to appear in system and device logs. If your cluster has been deleted, you can disable data collection to stop the creation of more system log exceptions.
  • Users can discover Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS) and Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) clusters with "Kubernetes" version 103, but full support and testing for EKS and GKE has not yet been implemented.
  • When using SL1 platform version 8.14.0 with this PowerPack, Kubernetes device discovery will fail. Therefore it is not recommended to use this version of the PowerPack. SL1 platform version 8.14.1 and later accurately discovers Kubernetes devices.