How does Logging in Kubernetes Work?

What is Kubernetes?

Kubernetes is an open-source Container Orchestrator tool that helps in managing the containers in term of pods. It provides several functionalities and features around that with some monitoring features too. Kubernetes itself is a huge and complex project under CNCF (Cloud Native Computing Foundation). It facilitates in simplifying the management of complex microservice architectures in production environments....

What is Kubernetes Monitoring And Why Should You Care About It?

Kubernetes monitoring or simply monitoring is a set of practices used to make sure that our Kubernetes cluster is working properly, and in-case any unusual thing happens with our cluster for example – some pods are crashing again and again, some pods are not starting, authentication errors etc. Then through some set of practices and methods we identify the cause of the issue and then troubleshoot it. For this purpose we monitor some thing called as ‘Metrics’. Metrics are basically the parameters that we monitor for our monitoring purpose. Monitoring in terms of cloud-native world is also known as ‘Observability’....

Kubernetes Logging Architecture

Kubernetes logging architecture is the one that designed for capturing, storing, and analyzing the logs from applications and system components that are running within a cluster. It ensures that logs are accessible for debugging, monitoring, and auditing purposes. The architecture mostly involves in collecting logs from various sources, aggregating them, and storing them in a centralized system where they can be analyzed. The following are some of its key points:...

System Component Logs

The System component logs in Kubernetes include the logs from core components that manage the cluster. These components basically generate the logs which helps in monitoring and troubleshooting the cluster’s health and performance. The following are the some of the system component logs:...

Cluster Logging Architecture

Cluster logging architecture in Kubernetes refers to the setup that collects, processes, and stores logs from all nodes and applications in a cluster. It typically involves using logging agents on each node to forward logs to a central log management system....

Types of Kubernetes Logs

The Kubernetes logs are generally categorized into 3 types as follows:...

What Metrics To Monitor For Monitoring?

There are ‘n’ no. of parameters that you can assess for monitoring but it will not be feasible. Below are listed some of the most important metrics that you must have to monitor and they cover most part of your application. You can also assess some additional metrics as per use-case....

What Options Are Available For Monitoring Kubernetes Cluster?

Kubernetes Dashboard: Kubernetes itself provides a dashboard which you can access via a web-browser, it roughly covers main metrics and gives a glimpse of what is happening in cluster. Prometheus: It is one of the most famous monitoring tool in the entire market. It provides powerful metrics with lots of functionalities and cluster integration for Kubernetes specially. Grafana: Grafana dashboard is popular for its visual UI dashboard that makes it very interesting to measure and keep track of different clusters and metrics. It is oftenly used with Prometheus for creating a powerful monitoring setup. EFK Stack: It provides a centralized way to collect logs, and then those logs are depicted in a dashboard for visual representation. Here EFK stands for ‘ElasticSearch‘, ‘Fluentd’, ‘Kibana’ which are basically respective tools for collecting logs, integration to dashboard, and finally the dashboard. Cloud-based monitoring: Many cloud providers provide there own services for allowing users of there cloud to not look anywhere for different toolings and instead they provide all monitoring setup as a single setup which is specific to use through their cloud....

How to perform Kubernetes Monitoring and Logging? A Step-By-Step Guide

Step 1: Install Kubernetes dashboard locally:...

Features of monitoring and logging

A good Logging & Monitoring setup ensures the reliable use of application while taking care of security of the cluster/application. Some of the key points that describe this importance is as below:...

How does Logging in Kubernetes Work?

Logging in Kubernetes involves collecting, storing, and analyzing logs from applications and system components running within the cluster. Kubernetes uses logging agents on each node to collect logs from various sources and forward them to a centralized logging system. This centralized system allows for efficient log aggregation, search, and analysis, helping with debugging, monitoring, and auditing. The following are the kubernetes logging workflow:...

How is Logging in Kubernetes different from Others?

Logging in Kubernetes differs from traditional logging due to its containerized and distributed nature. Traditional logging typically involves logs from monolithic applications running on static servers, whereas Kubernetes logging deals with dynamic and ephemeral containers running across a distributed cluster. The following are the some of the kubernetes logging differences from others....

Popular Kubernetes Logging Topics

The Kubernetes logging focus on best practices, tools, and strategies that will facilitates with effective log management in Kubernetes environments. These involves in choosing the right logging agents, setting up centralized logging, and ensuring log security and compliance. The following are the some of the popular kubernetes logging topics that focuses on best practices, tools and strategies for effective log management:...

Kubernetes Logging Tools

The following are the some of the logging tools that help in managing logs efficiently in a Kubernetes environment:...

Kubectl logs and Other Useful kubectl Commands

kubectl logs is a command used to fetch logs from Kubernetes pods. It is a vital tool for debugging applications and monitoring their behavior directly from the command line. The following are the some of the kubectl logs command for fetching logs:...

Best Practices of Kubernetes Monitoring

The following are the best practices of kubernetes monitoring:...

Kubernetes Logging Best Practices

Implementing best practices in Kubernetes logging ensures efficient log management, enhances performance, and aids in quick troubleshooting. These practices help maintain a robust logging infrastructure. The following are the some of the best practices of kubernetes logging:...

Conclusion

Monitoring and logging are crucial things for troubleshooting a cluster. Monitoring or Observability is basically the process of watching out for current and changing state of containers and components in the cluster and making us aware of state of application through alerts. Logging or Logs are basically info of every small thing happening inside the containers (e.g. ‘namespace created’ –> ‘pod is yet to start’ –> ‘pod is running’ –> ‘pod is restarting’ etc.). We have different-different monitoring and logging solutions for different requirements and use cases. The set up depends upon use case and the functionalities you require. Documentation and their slack community can be referred in case you need any further help....

Kubernetes Monitoring and Logging – FAQs

Should I use (K8s native monitoring setup) or (Prometheus & Grafana) or (Cloud services)?...