Event monitoring

Scenario 1: Use node-problem-detector with the Kubernetes event center of Log Service to sink cluster events

node-problem-detector works with third-party plug-ins to detect node anomalies and generate cluster events. A Kubernetes cluster also generates events when the status of the cluster changes. For example, when a pod is evicted or an image pull fails, a related event is generated. The Kubernetes event center of Log Service collects, stores, and visualizes cluster events. It allows you to query and analyze these events, and configure alerts. To sink cluster events to the Kubernetes event center in the Log Service console, use the following methods:

Method 1: If Install node-problem-detector and Create Event Center was selected when you created the cluster, perform the following steps to go to the Kubernetes event center. For more information about how to install node-problem-detector and deploy the Kubernetes event center when you create a cluster, see Create a managed Kubernetes cluster.

1. Log on to the ACK console.
2. In the left-side navigation pane of the ACK console, click Clusters.
3. On the Clusters page, find the cluster that you want to manage and click the name of the cluster or click Details in the Actions column. The details page of the cluster appears.
4. Choose Operations > Event Center.
5. Click Cluster Events Management in the upper-right corner of the page to go to the K8s Event Center page. In the left-side navigation pane of the K8s Event Center page, find the cluster that you want to manage. Then, click the icon to the left of the cluster name to view event details that are provided by the Kubernetes event center.
   The Kubernetes event center provides event overview, event details, and information about pod lifecycles. You can also customize queries and configure alerts.

Method 2: If the Kubernetes event center was not deployed when you created the cluster, perform the following steps to deploy and use the Kubernetes event center:

1. Install ack-node-problem-detector in the monitored cluster and enable Log Service for the monitored cluster. For more information, see Scenario 3: Use DingTalk to generate alerts upon Kubernetes events.
   Note If ack-node-problem-detector is deployed but Log Service is disabled, delete and reinstall ack-node-problem-detector.

   1. In the left-side navigation pane, click Clusters.
   2. On the Clusters page, find the cluster that you want to manage and click the name or click Details in the Actions column.
   3. Choose Applications > Helm.
   4. On the Helm page, uninstall node-problem-detector by deleting the ack-node-problem-detector plug-in.

   When you configure parameters for node-problem-detector, create a Log Service project for the cluster by setting eventer.sinks.sls.enabled to true.

   After ack-node-problem-detector is redeployed, a related Log Service project is automatically created in the Log Service console for the cluster.
2. Log on to the Log Service console to configure the Kubernetes event center for the cluster.
   1. In the Import Data section, click Kubernetes - Standard Output.
   2. Select the Log Service project that is automatically created in the preceding step from the Project drop-down list, and select k8s-event from the Logstore drop-down list.
   3. Click Next and click Complete Installation.
3. In the Projects section of the Log Service console, find and click the Log Service project.
4. In the left-side navigation pane, click the Dashboard icon and click Kubernetes Event Center V1.1.
   
   On the dashboard of the Kubernetes event center, you can view all cluster events.

Scenario 2: Configure node-problem-detector to diagnose a cluster and send events of anomalies to sinks

node-problem-detector is a tool that is used to diagnose Kubernetes nodes. node-problem-detector detects node anomalies, generates node events, and works with kube-eventer to generate alerts upon these events. node-problem-detector generates node events when the following anomalies are detected: Docker engine hangs, Linux kernel hangs, outbound traffic anomalies, and file descriptor anomalies. Perform the following steps to configure node-problem-detector:

1. Log on to the ACK console.
2. In the left-side navigation pane, choose Marketplace > App Catalog. On the App Catalog page, find and click ack-node-problem-detector.
   Note If the Kubernetes event center is deployed, you must first delete the ack-node-problem-detector component.

   1. In the left-side navigation pane, click Clusters.
   2. On the Clusters page, find the cluster that you want to manage and click the name or click Details in the Actions column.
   3. Choose Applications > Helm.
   4. On the Helm page, delete the ack-node-problem-detector component.
3. On the App Catalog - ack-node-problem-detector page, click the Parameters tab to view the default configurations of node-problem-detector.
   

   You can set the sink parameters as described in the following table for kube-eventer.

   Table 1. Parameter description

   Parameter	Description	Default
   npd.image.repository	The image address of node-problem-detector.	registry.aliyuncs.com/acs/node-problem-detector
   npd.image.tag	The image version of node-problem-detector.	v0.6.3-28-160499f
   alibaba_cloud_plugins	Plug-ins that are used for node diagnostics. For more information, see the Node diagnostics plug-ins supported by node-problem-detector table.	fd_check, ntp_check, network_problem_check, and inode_usage_check are supported.
   plugin_settings.check_fd_warning_percentage	The alerting threshold for monitoring the percentage of opened file descriptors.	80
   plugin_settings.inode_warning_percenage	The alerting threshold for monitoring the inode usage.	80
   eventer.image.repository	The image address of kube-eventer.	registry.cn-hangzhou.aliyuncs.com/acs/eventer
   eventer.image.tag	The image version of kube-eventer image.	v1.6.0-4c4c66c-aliyun
   eventer.image.pullPolicy	The policy that specifies how the kube-eventer image is pulled.	IfNotPresent
   eventer.sinks.sls.enabled	Specifies whether to enable Log Service as a sink of kube-eventer.	false
   eventer.sinks.sls.project	The name of the Log Service project.	No
   eventer.sinks.sls.logstore	The name of the Logstore in the Log Service project.	No
   eventer.sinks.dingtalk.enabled	Specifies whether to enable DingTalk as a sink of kube-eventer.	false
   eventer.sinks.dingtalk.level	The level of events at which alerts are generated.	warning
   eventer.sinks.dingtalk.label	The labels of the events.	No
   eventer.sinks.dingtalk.token	The token of the DingTalk chatbot.	No
   eventer.sinks.dingtalk.monitorkinds	The type of resource for which event monitoring is enabled.	No
   eventer.sinks.dingtalk.monitornamespaces	The namespace of the resources for which event monitoring is enabled.	No
   eventer.sinks.eventbridge.enable	Specifies whether to enable eventBridge as a sink of kube-eventer.	false

   Node diagnostics plug-ins supported by node-problem-detector are listed in the following table.

   Plug-in	Feature	Description
   fd_check	Checks whether the percentage of opened file descriptors on each cluster node exceeds 80%.	The default threshold is 80%. The threshold is adjustable. This plug-in requires a great amount of resources. We recommend that you disable this plug-in.
   ram_role_check	Checks whether cluster nodes are assigned the required Resource Access Management (RAM) role and whether the AccessKey ID and AccessKey secret are configured for the RAM role.	N/A
   ntp_check	Checks whether the system clocks of cluster nodes are properly synchronized through Network Time Protocol (NTP).	The plug-in is enabled by default.
   nvidia_gpu_check	Checks whether the NVIDIA GPUs of cluster nodes can generate Xid messages.	N/A
   network_problem_check	Checks whether the connection tracking (conntrack) table usage on each cluster node exceeds 90%.	The plug-in is enabled by default.
   inodes_usage_check	Checks whether the inode usage on the system disk of each cluster node exceeds 80%.	The default threshold is 80%. The threshold is adjustable. The plug-in is enabled by default.
   csi_hang_check	Checks whether the Container Storage Interface (CSI) plug-in functions as expected on cluster nodes.	N/A
   ps_hang_check	Checks whether processes in the uninterruptible sleep (D) state exist in the systems of cluster nodes.	N/A
   public_network_check	Checks whether cluster nodes can access the Internet.	N/A
   irqbalance_check	Checks whether the irqbalance daemon functions as expected in the systems of cluster nodes.	N/A
   pid_pressure_check	Checks whether the ratio of pid processes in the node system to the maximum pid processes allowed in the kernel exceeds 85%.	The plug-in is enabled by default.
   docker_offline_check	Checks whether the docker daemon functions as expected on cluster nodes.	The plug-in is enabled by default.

   Note Some plug-ins are enabled by default, as shown in the preceding table. You can find these plug-ins if you select Install node-problem-detector and Create Event Center when you enable Log Service for the cluster. You can also find these plug-ins when you install the ack-node-problem-detector component on the Add-ons page. You must manually enable some plug-ins when you deploy the ack-node-problem-detector component from the App Catalog page.
4. In the Deploy section, select the monitored cluster from the Cluster drop-down list and click Create. The Namespace parameter is automatically set to kube-system, and the Release Name parameter is automatically set to ack-node-problem-detector.

   Go to the Clusters page. On the Clusters page, find and click the name of the monitored cluster or Applications in the Actions column. On the page that appears, click the DaemonSets tab. On the DaemonSets tab, you can find that ack-node-problem-detector-daemonset is running as expected.

   When both node-problem-detector and kube-eventer are running as expected, the system sinks events and generates alerts based on the kube-eventer configuration.

Scenario 3: Use DingTalk to generate alerts upon Kubernetes events

Using a DingTalk chatbot to monitor Kubernetes events and generate alerts is a typical scenario of ChatOps. Perform the following steps to configure node-problem-detector:

1. Click the icon in the upper-right corner of the chatbox of a DingTalk group to open the Group Settings page.
2. Click Group Assistant, and then click Add Robot. In the ChatBot dialog box, click the + icon and select the chatbot that you want to use. In this example, Custom is selected.
   
3. On the Robot details page, click Add to open the Add Robot page.
   
4. Set the following parameters, read and accept the DingTalk Custom Robot Service Terms of Service, and then click Finished.

   Parameter	Description
   Edit profile picture	The avatar of the chatbot. This parameter is optional.
   Chatbot name	The name of the chatbot.
   Add to Group	The DingTalk group to which the chatbot is added.
   Security settings	Three types of security setting are supported: custom keywords, additional signatures, and IP addresses (or CIDR blocks). Only Custom Keywords are supported for filtering alerts that are generated upon cluster events. Select Custom Keywords and enter Warning to receive alerts. If the chatbot frequently sends messages, you can add more keywords to filter the messages. You can add up to 10 keywords. Messages from ACK are also filtered through these keywords before the chatbot sends them to the DingTalk group.

5. Click Copy to copy the webhook URL.
   

   Note On the ChatBot page, find the chatbot and click the icon to perform the following operations:

   • Modify the avatar and name of the chatbot.
   • Enable or disable message push.
   • Reset the webhook URL.
   • Remove the chatbot.
6. Log on to the ACK console.
7. In the left-side navigation pane, choose Marketplace > App Catalog. On the App Catalog page, find and click ack-node-problem-detector.
   Note If the Kubernetes event center is deployed, you must first delete the ack-node-problem-detector component.

   1. In the left-side navigation pane, click Clusters.
   2. On the Clusters page, find the cluster that you want to manage and click the name or click Details in the Actions column.
   3. Choose Applications > Helm.
   4. On the Helm page, delete the ack-node-problem-detector component.
8. On the App Catalog - ack-node-problem-detector page, click the Parameters tab and modify the following settings:
   • In the npd section, set the enabled parameter to false.
   • In the eventer.sinks.dingtalk.enabled section, set the enabled parameter to true.
   • Enter the token that is contained in the webhook URL generated in Step 5.

   
9. On the right side of the page, select the cluster for which you want to enable event monitoring. Then, verify that the Namespace parameter is set to kube-system and the Release Name parameter is set to ack-node-problem-detector, and click Create.

Expected results:

Kube-eventer takes effect about 30 seconds after the deployment is complete. When an event with a severity level higher than the threshold occurs, you will receive an alert in the DingTalk group, as shown in the following figure.

Scenario 4: Sink Kubernetes events to Log Service

You can sink Kubernetes events to Log Service for persistent storage, and archive and audit these events. For more information, see Create and use a Kubernetes event center.

1. Create a Log Service project and a Logstore.
   1. Log on to the Log Service console.
   2. In the Projects section, click Create Project. In the Create Project panel, set the parameters and click OK.
      In this example, a Log Service project named k8s-log4j is created in the China (Hangzhou) region where the monitored ACK cluster is deployed.

      Note We recommend that you create a Log Service project in the region where the monitored ACK cluster is deployed. When a Log Service project and an ACK cluster are deployed in the same region, log data is transmitted over the internal network. This enables quick retrieval of log data. This also avoids cross-region transmission, which requires additional bandwidth and time costs.
   3. In the Projects section, find and click the k8s-log4j project. The details page of the project appears.
   4. On the Logstores tab, click the + icon to open the Create Logstore panel.
   5. In the Create Logstore panel, set the parameters and click OK.
      In this example, a Logstore named k8s-logstore is created.
   6. After the k8s-logstore Logstore is created, instructions on how to use the Data Import wizard appear on the page. Click Data Import Wizard. The Import Data dialog box appears.
   7. Select log4jAppender and configure the settings by following the steps on the page.
      In this example, Log4jAppender uses the default settings. You can also customize the settings to meet your business requirements.

      

2. Configure Log4jAppender for the monitored ACK cluster.
   1. Log on to the ACK console.
   2. In the left-side navigation pane, choose Marketplace > App Catalog. On the App Catalog page, find and click ack-node-problem-detector.
      Note If the Kubernetes event center is deployed, you must first delete the ack-node-problem-detector component.

      1. In the left-side navigation pane, click Clusters.
      2. On the Clusters page, find the cluster that you want to manage and click the name or click Details in the Actions column.
      3. Choose Applications > Helm.
      4. On the Helm page, delete the ack-node-problem-detector component.
   3. On the App Catalog - ack-node-problem-detector page, click the Parameters tab and modify the following settings:
      • In the npd section, set the enabled parameter to false.
      • In the eventer.sinks.dingtalk.enabled section, set the enabled parameter to true.
      • Enter the names of Project and Logstore that are created in Step 1 in the related fields.

        If you do not customize Project when you create the ACK cluster, the Project parameter is set to k8s-log-{YOUR_CLUSTER_ID} by default.

      
   4. Click Create to deploy kube-eventer in the monitored cluster.
3. An event is generated after an operation is performed on the cluster, such as a pod deletion or an application creation. You can log on to the Log Service console to view the collected log data. For more information, see Consume log data.
   
4. Set indexes and archiving. For more information, see Configure indexes.
   1. Log on to the Log Service console. In the Projects section, find and click the name of the project.
   2. Click the icon next to the name of the Logstore, and then select Search & Analysis.
   3. In the upper-right corner of the page that appears, click Enable Index.
   4. In the Search & Analysis panel, set the parameters.
   5. Click OK.
      The log query and analysis page appears.

      Note

      • The index configuration takes effect within one minute.
      • A newly enabled or modified index applies to only data that is imported after the index is enabled or modified.
   6. If you need to implement offline archiving and computing, you can ship data from the Logstore to Object Storage Service (OSS). For more information, see Ship log data to OSS.

Scenario 5: Sink Kubernetes events to EventBridge

EventBridge is a serverless event service provided by Alibaba Cloud. Alibaba Cloud services, custom applications, and software as a service (SaaS) applications can connect to EventBridge in a standardized and centralized manner. In addition, EventBridge can route events among these applications based on standardized CloudEvents 1.0 protocol. ACK events can be sunk to EventBridge, which allows you to build a loosely-coupled and distributed event-driven architecture in EventBridge. For more information about EventBridge, see What is EventBridge?.

1. Activate EventBridge. For more information, see Activate EventBridge and grant permissions to a RAM user.
2. Log on to the ACK console.
3. In the left-side navigation pane, choose Marketplace > App Catalog. On the App Catalog page, find and click ack-node-problem-detector.
   Note If the Kubernetes event center is deployed, you must first delete the ack-node-problem-detector component.

   1. In the left-side navigation pane, click Clusters.
   2. On the Clusters page, find the cluster that you want to manage and click the name or click Details in the Actions column.
   3. Choose Applications > Helm.
   4. On the Helm page, delete the ack-node-problem-detector component.
4. On the App Catalog - ack-node-problem-detector page, click the Parameters tab and modify the following settings:
   Configure the Kubernetes event center and enable EventBridge as a sink of Kubernetes events.

   • In the npd section, set the enabled parameter to true.
   • In the eventer.sinks.eventbridge.enable section, set the parameter to true.
5. After the configurations are complete, click Create to deploy the ack-node-problem-detector component.
6. After EventBridge is enabled as a sink of Kubernetes events, you can view Kubernetes events in the EventBridge console.
   1. Log on to the EventBridge console.
   2. In the left-side navigation pane, click System Event Bus.
   3. In the left-side navigation pane of the System Event Bus page, click Event Query.
   4. Select a query method and a query range, and click Search.
   5. In the list of events, find the event and click Event Details in the Actions column.