Kubernetes discovery

Kind: k8s

Overview

Netdata can automatically discover monitorable workloads inside a Kubernetes cluster — pods (with their containers and ports) or Services. The discoverer watches the Kubernetes API in real time, exposes per-pod-container or per-service-port targets to the rule engine, and lets you generate collector jobs from labels, annotations, container images, and ports.

This page covers Kubernetes-specific setup. For the broader Service Discovery model and the shared template-helper reference, see Service Discovery.

How it works

Each Kubernetes discovery pipeline runs as either a pod discoverer or a service discoverer (selected by the role option). It then:

1. Connects to the Kubernetes API using the in-cluster service-account credentials (no api_server config — the discoverer uses the standard k8s client config-loader chain).
2. Watches Pods (or Services) in the configured namespaces[], optionally narrowed by label/field selectors.
3. Builds targets:
   • role: pod → one target per (pod, container, container-port) triple. Container env, image, labels, annotations, and node name are all exposed.
   • role: service → one target per (service, service-port) pair, with the cluster-internal DNS name (name.ns.svc:port) as .Address.
4. Runs the services: rules against each target, producing collector jobs.
5. Reconciles in real time — pod/service add/update/delete events update the target set without polling.

Limitations

• Stock conf ships in the Helm chart, not this repo: a stock /etc/netdata/go.d/sd/k8s.conf is not packaged with the agent. On Kubernetes deployments you should install Netdata via the Helm chart — the chart renders both the discoverer config and a curated rule set tailored to your cluster’s Netdata setup.
• Outside Kubernetes: this discoverer requires kube-API access (in-cluster service-account or kubeconfig). Running it on a workstation requires a kubeconfig and is not a typical use case.
• Two roles per pipeline, never both: role is a single-valued option. If you want both pod and service discovery, configure two pipelines.
• local_mode for pods is opt-in: by default the pod discoverer watches all pods in the configured namespaces. Set pod.local_mode: true to restrict to pods on the same node as the Netdata Agent (intended for the parent-on-every-node Helm topology). When local_mode is enabled, the env var MY_NODE_NAME must be set on the Netdata pod (the Helm chart sets this via the downward API).
• TLS to the API server is mTLS via the in-cluster CA bundle — there is no per-pipeline TLS configuration to override.

Setup

You can configure the k8s discoverer in two ways:

Prerequisites

Run on Kubernetes via the Netdata Helm chart

The supported way to run the k8s discoverer is via the Netdata Helm chart. The chart provisions the right RBAC (get/list/watch on pods, services, configmaps, secrets), wires MY_NODE_NAME for local_mode, and ships a stock services: rule set tuned to its parent/child topology.

RBAC permissions

The discoverer needs the following verbs from its service account:

• pods: get, list, watch (cluster-wide or per-namespace, matching namespaces[])
• services: get, list, watch (only when role: service)
• configmaps, secrets: get, list, watch (only when role: pod — used to enrich pod targets with referenced env values)

The Helm chart’s default RBAC role covers all of these.

For pod.local_mode: true, set MY_NODE_NAME

When local_mode is enabled, the Netdata Agent reads its node name from MY_NODE_NAME. The Helm chart sets this via the downward API:

env:
  - name: MY_NODE_NAME
    valueFrom:
      fieldRef:
        fieldPath: spec.nodeName

Configuration

Options

The configuration file has two top-level blocks: discoverer: (the options below) and services: (rules that turn discovered pods/services into collector jobs — see Service Rules).

After editing the file, restart the Netdata Agent to load the updated discovery pipeline. The default and recommended deployment path on Kubernetes is the Netdata Helm chart — the chart renders this file and the rules for you.

role

• pod — produces one target per (pod, container, port) triple. Use this for the bulk of in-cluster monitoring (databases, exporters, applications).
• service — produces one target per (service, port) pair. Use this for cluster-internal endpoints monitored at the service-name DNS level.

To watch both, configure two pipelines.

selector.label

Standard Kubernetes label-selector syntax: app=foo, environment in (prod, staging), etc. Reduces watch traffic when only a subset of pods/services is interesting.

selector.field

Useful field selectors: status.phase=Running, spec.nodeName=node-1. When pod.local_mode: true, the discoverer automatically appends spec.nodeName=$MY_NODE_NAME.

pod.local_mode

Only applies when role: pod. Requires MY_NODE_NAME to be set on the Netdata container. Used by the Helm chart’s parent-on-every-node topology to keep watch traffic local.

via UI

1. Open the Netdata Dynamic Configuration UI.
2. Go to Collectors -> go.d -> ServiceDiscovery -> k8s.
3. Add a new discovery pipeline and give it a name.
4. Fill in the discoverer-specific settings and the service rules.
5. Save the discovery pipeline.

via File

Define the discovery pipeline in /etc/netdata/go.d/sd/k8s.conf.

The file has two top-level blocks: discoverer: (the options above) and services: (rules that turn discovered targets into collector jobs — see Service Rules).

After editing the file, restart the Netdata Agent to load the updated discovery pipeline.

Examples

Pod discovery, local mode (Helm-style)

The configuration the Helm chart renders by default for the parent-on-every-node topology.

disabled: no
discoverer:
  k8s:
    role: pod
    pod:
      local_mode: true
services: [ ]

Service discovery in a specific namespace

Watch only Services in the monitoring namespace, scoped by a label selector.

disabled: no
discoverer:
  k8s:
    role: service
    namespaces:
      - monitoring
    selector:
      label: app.kubernetes.io/component=metrics-endpoint
services: [ ]

Troubleshooting

Permission denied (RBAC)

The service account needs get, list, watch on pods (or services), and on configmaps + secrets for pod-role env enrichment. The Helm chart provisions this; out-of-Helm deployments must bind the equivalent role.

local_mode enabled but env “MY_NODE_NAME” not set

When pod.local_mode: true is set but MY_NODE_NAME is missing, the discoverer fails at startup with local_mode is enabled, but env 'MY_NODE_NAME' not set. Set the env via the downward API on the Netdata pod (the Helm chart does this).

No targets discovered

• Confirm pods/services exist in the configured namespaces[].
• If selector.label or selector.field is set, verify the targets actually carry the matching labels/fields.
• With local_mode, only pods on the same node as the Netdata pod are visible.

Generated jobs fail to start

The Address resolves to the pod’s CNI IP — the Netdata Agent must be able to reach pod IPs. Most CNIs allow this from a pod running in the same cluster, but flat-network requirements differ. For service-role targets, the cluster-internal DNS name (<svc>.<ns>.svc) is used and should always resolve from inside the cluster.