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+# Kubernetes monitoring with Netdata
+
+This document gives an overview of what visualizations Netdata provides on Kubernetes deployments.
+
+At Netdata, we've built Kubernetes monitoring tools that add visibility without complexity while also helping you
+actively troubleshoot anomalies or outages. This guide walks you through each of the visualizations and offers best
+practices on how to use them to start Kubernetes monitoring in a matter of minutes, not hours or days.
+
+Netdata's Kubernetes monitoring solution uses a handful of [complementary tools and
+collectors](#related-reference-documentation) for peeling back the many complex layers of a Kubernetes cluster,
+_entirely for free_. These methods work together to give you every metric you need to troubleshoot performance or
+availability issues across your Kubernetes infrastructure.
+
+## Challenge
+
+While Kubernetes (k8s) might simplify the way you deploy, scale, and load-balance your applications, not all clusters
+come with "batteries included" when it comes to monitoring. Doubly so for a monitoring stack that helps you actively
+troubleshoot issues with your cluster.
+
+Some k8s providers, like GKE (Google Kubernetes Engine), do deploy clusters bundled with monitoring capabilities, such
+as Google Stackdriver Monitoring. However, these pre-configured solutions might not offer the depth of metrics,
+customization, or integration with your preferred alerting methods.
+
+Without this visibility, it's like you built an entire house and _then_ smashed your way through the finished walls to
+add windows.
+
+## Solution
+
+In this tutorial, you'll learn how to navigate Netdata's Kubernetes monitoring features, using
+[robot-shop](https://github.com/instana/robot-shop) as an example deployment. Deploying robot-shop is purely optional.
+You can also follow along with your own Kubernetes deployment if you choose. While the metrics might be different, the
+navigation and best practices are the same for every cluster.
+
+## What you need to get started
+
+To follow this tutorial, you need:
+
+- A free Netdata Cloud account. [Sign up](https://app.netdata.cloud/sign-up?cloudRoute=/spaces) if you don't have one
+ already.
+- A working cluster running Kubernetes v1.9 or newer, with a Netdata deployment and connected parent/child nodes. See
+ our [Kubernetes deployment process](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/packaging/installer/methods/kubernetes.md) for details on deployment and
+ conneting to Cloud.
+- The [`kubectl`](https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/kubectl/overview/) command line tool, within [one minor version
+ difference](https://kubernetes.io/docs/tasks/tools/install-kubectl/#before-you-begin) of your cluster, on an
+ administrative system.
+- The [Helm package manager](https://helm.sh/) v3.0.0 or newer on the same administrative system.
+
+### Install the `robot-shop` demo (optional)
+
+Begin by downloading the robot-shop code and using `helm` to create a new deployment.
+
+```bash
+git clone git@github.com:instana/robot-shop.git
+cd robot-shop/K8s/helm
+kubectl create ns robot-shop
+helm install robot-shop --namespace robot-shop .
+```
+
+Running `kubectl get pods` shows both the Netdata and robot-shop deployments.
+
+```bash
+kubectl get pods --all-namespaces
+NAMESPACE NAME READY STATUS RESTARTS AGE
+default netdata-child-29f9c 2/2 Running 0 10m
+default netdata-child-8xphf 2/2 Running 0 10m
+default netdata-child-jdvds 2/2 Running 0 11m
+default netdata-parent-554c755b7d-qzrx4 1/1 Running 0 11m
+kube-system aws-node-jnjv8 1/1 Running 0 17m
+kube-system aws-node-svzdb 1/1 Running 0 17m
+kube-system aws-node-ts6n2 1/1 Running 0 17m
+kube-system coredns-559b5db75d-f58hp 1/1 Running 0 22h
+kube-system coredns-559b5db75d-tkzj2 1/1 Running 0 22h
+kube-system kube-proxy-9p9cd 1/1 Running 0 17m
+kube-system kube-proxy-lt9ss 1/1 Running 0 17m
+kube-system kube-proxy-n75t9 1/1 Running 0 17m
+robot-shop cart-b4bbc8fff-t57js 1/1 Running 0 14m
+robot-shop catalogue-8b5f66c98-mr85z 1/1 Running 0 14m
+robot-shop dispatch-67d955c7d8-lnr44 1/1 Running 0 14m
+robot-shop mongodb-7f65d86c-dsslc 1/1 Running 0 14m
+robot-shop mysql-764c4c5fc7-kkbnf 1/1 Running 0 14m
+robot-shop payment-67c87cb7d-5krxv 1/1 Running 0 14m
+robot-shop rabbitmq-5bb66bb6c9-6xr5b 1/1 Running 0 14m
+robot-shop ratings-94fd9c75b-42wvh 1/1 Running 0 14m
+robot-shop redis-0 0/1 Pending 0 14m
+robot-shop shipping-7d69cb88b-w7hpj 1/1 Running 0 14m
+robot-shop user-79c445b44b-hwnm9 1/1 Running 0 14m
+robot-shop web-8bb887476-lkcjx 1/1 Running 0 14m
+```
+
+## Explore Netdata's Kubernetes monitoring charts
+
+The Netdata Helm chart deploys and enables everything you need for monitoring Kubernetes on every layer. Once you deploy
+Netdata and connect your cluster's nodes, you're ready to check out the visualizations **with zero configuration**.
+
+To get started, [sign in](https://app.netdata.cloud/sign-in?cloudRoute=/spaces) to your Netdata Cloud account. Head over
+to the War Room you connected your cluster to, if not **General**.
+
+Netdata Cloud is already visualizing your Kubernetes metrics, streamed in real-time from each node, in the
+[Overview](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/docs/cloud/visualize/overview.md):
+
+![Netdata's Kubernetes monitoring
+dashboard](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/1153921/109037415-eafc5500-7687-11eb-8773-9b95941e3328.png)
+
+Let's walk through monitoring each layer of a Kubernetes cluster using the Overview as our framework.
+
+## Cluster and node metrics
+
+The gauges and time-series charts you see right away in the Overview show aggregated metrics from every node in your
+cluster.
+
+For example, the `apps.cpu` chart (in the **Applications** menu item), visualizes the CPU utilization of various
+applications/services running on each of the nodes in your cluster. The **X Nodes** dropdown shows which nodes
+contribute to the chart and links to jump a single-node dashboard for further investigation.
+
+![Per-application monitoring in a Kubernetes
+cluster](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/1153921/109042169-19c8fa00-768d-11eb-91a7-1a7afc41fea2.png)
+
+For example, the chart above shows a spike in the CPU utilization from `rabbitmq` every minute or so, along with a
+baseline CPU utilization of 10-15% across the cluster.
+
+Read about the [Overview](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/docs/cloud/visualize/overview.md) and some best practices on [viewing
+an overview of your infrastructure](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/docs/visualize/overview-infrastructure.md) for details on using composite charts to
+drill down into per-node performance metrics.
+
+## Pod and container metrics
+
+Click on the **Kubernetes xxxxxxx...** section to jump down to Netdata Cloud's unique Kubernetes visualizations for view
+real-time resource utilization metrics from your Kubernetes pods and containers.
+
+![Navigating to the Kubernetes monitoring
+visualizations](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/1153921/109049195-349f6c80-7695-11eb-8902-52a029dca77f.png)
+
+### Health map
+
+The first visualization is the [health map](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/docs/cloud/visualize/kubernetes.md#health-map),
+which places each container into its own box, then varies the intensity of their color to visualize the resource
+utilization. By default, the health map shows the **average CPU utilization as a percentage of the configured limit**
+for every container in your cluster.
+
+![The Kubernetes health map in Netdata
+Cloud](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/1153921/109050085-3f0e3600-7696-11eb-988f-52cb187f53ea.png)
+
+Let's explore the most colorful box by hovering over it.
+
+![Hovering over a
+container](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/1153921/109049544-a8417980-7695-11eb-80a7-109b4a645a27.png)
+
+The **Context** tab shows `rabbitmq-5bb66bb6c9-6xr5b` as the container's image name, which means this container is
+running a [RabbitMQ](https://github.com/netdata/go.d.plugin/blob/master/modules/rabbitmq/README.md) workload.
+
+Click the **Metrics** tab to see real-time metrics from that container. Unsurprisingly, it shows a spike in CPU
+utilization at regular intervals.
+
+![Viewing real-time container
+metrics](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/1153921/109050482-aa580800-7696-11eb-9e3e-d3bdf0f3eff7.png)
+
+### Time-series charts
+
+Beneath the health map is a variety of time-series charts that help you visualize resource utilization over time, which
+is useful for targeted troubleshooting.
+
+The default is to display metrics grouped by the `k8s_namespace` label, which shows resource utilization based on your
+different namespaces.
+
+![Time-series Kubernetes monitoring in Netdata
+Cloud](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/1153921/109075210-126a1680-76b6-11eb-918d-5acdcdac152d.png)
+
+Each composite chart has a [definition bar](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/docs/cloud/visualize/overview.md#definition-bar)
+for complete customization. For example, grouping the top chart by `k8s_container_name` reveals new information.
+
+![Changing time-series charts](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/1153921/109075212-139b4380-76b6-11eb-836f-939482ae55fc.png)
+
+## Service metrics
+
+Netdata has a [service discovery plugin](https://github.com/netdata/agent-service-discovery), which discovers and
+creates configuration files for [compatible
+services](https://github.com/netdata/helmchart#service-discovery-and-supported-services) and any endpoints covered by
+our [generic Prometheus collector](https://github.com/netdata/go.d.plugin/blob/master/modules/prometheus/README.md).
+Netdata uses these files to collect metrics from any compatible application as they run _inside_ of a pod. Service
+discovery happens without manual intervention as pods are created, destroyed, or moved between nodes.
+
+Service metrics show up on the Overview as well, beneath the **Kubernetes** section, and are labeled according to the
+service in question. For example, the **RabbitMQ** section has numerous charts from the [`rabbitmq`
+collector](https://github.com/netdata/go.d.plugin/blob/master/modules/rabbitmq/README.md):
+
+![Finding service discovery
+metrics](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/1153921/109054511-2eac8a00-769b-11eb-97f1-da93acb4b5fe.png)
+
+> The robot-shop cluster has more supported services, such as MySQL, which are not visible with zero configuration. This
+> is usually because of services running on non-default ports, using non-default names, or required passwords. Read up
+> on [configuring service discovery](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/packaging/installer/methods/kubernetes.md#configure-service-discovery) to collect
+> more service metrics.
+
+Service metrics are essential to infrastructure monitoring, as they're the best indicator of the end-user experience,
+and key signals for troubleshooting anomalies or issues.
+
+## Kubernetes components
+
+Netdata also automatically collects metrics from two essential Kubernetes processes.
+
+### kubelet
+
+The **k8s kubelet** section visualizes metrics from the Kubernetes agent responsible for managing every pod on a given
+node. This also happens without any configuration thanks to the [kubelet
+collector](https://github.com/netdata/go.d.plugin/blob/master/modules/k8s_kubelet/README.md).
+
+Monitoring each node's kubelet can be invaluable when diagnosing issues with your Kubernetes cluster. For example, you
+can see if the number of running containers/pods has dropped, which could signal a fault or crash in a particular
+Kubernetes service or deployment (see `kubectl get services` or `kubectl get deployments` for more details). If the
+number of pods increases, it may be because of something more benign, like another team member scaling up a
+service with `kubectl scale`.
+
+You can also view charts for the Kubelet API server, the volume of runtime/Docker operations by type,
+configuration-related errors, and the actual vs. desired numbers of volumes, plus a lot more.
+
+### kube-proxy
+
+The **k8s kube-proxy** section displays metrics about the network proxy that runs on each node in your Kubernetes
+cluster. kube-proxy lets pods communicate with each other and accept sessions from outside your cluster. Its metrics are
+collected by the [kube-proxy
+collector](https://github.com/netdata/go.d.plugin/blob/master/modules/k8s_kubeproxy/README.md).
+
+With Netdata, you can monitor how often your k8s proxies are syncing proxy rules between nodes. Dramatic changes in
+these figures could indicate an anomaly in your cluster that's worthy of further investigation.
+
+## What's next?
+
+After reading this guide, you should now be able to monitor any Kubernetes cluster with Netdata, including nodes, pods,
+containers, services, and more.
+
+With the health map, time-series charts, and the ability to drill down into individual nodes, you can see hundreds of
+per-second metrics with zero configuration and less time remembering all the `kubectl` options. Netdata moves with your
+cluster, automatically picking up new nodes or services as your infrastructure scales. And it's entirely free for
+clusters of all sizes.
+
+### Related reference documentation
+
+- [Netdata Helm chart](https://github.com/netdata/helmchart)
+- [Netdata service discovery](https://github.com/netdata/agent-service-discovery)
+- [Netdata Agent · `kubelet`
+ collector](https://github.com/netdata/go.d.plugin/blob/master/modules/k8s_kubelet/README.md)
+- [Netdata Agent · `kube-proxy`
+ collector](https://github.com/netdata/go.d.plugin/blob/master/modules/k8s_kubeproxy/README.md)
+- [Netdata Agent · `cgroups.plugin`](https://github.com/netdata/netdata/blob/master/collectors/cgroups.plugin/README.md)
+
+