Get started with Kubernetes platform monitoring + Application observability

This page provides instructions for deploying Dynatrace Operator to enable Kubernetes platform monitoring and Application observability. This configuration is ideal for monitoring Kubernetes environments and containerized applications.

Use cases

If you’re looking to gain a complete view of your Kubernetes environment, check out the deployment overview to learn about Full-Stack observability. You can further expand your Kubernetes observability on Log Analytics, Digital Experience, and Application Security.

Before you begin

Before installing Dynatrace on your Kubernetes cluster, ensure that you meet the following requirements:

  • Your kubectl CLI is connected to the Kubernetes cluster that you want to monitor.
  • You have sufficient privileges on the monitored cluster to run kubectl or oc commands.

Cluster setup and configuration

  • You must allow egress for Dynatrace pods (default: Dynatrace namespace) to your Dynatrace environment URL.

  • For OpenShift Dedicated, you need the cluster-admin role.

  • Helm installation Use Helm version 3.

Supported versions

See supported Kubernetes/OpenShift platform versions and distributions.

Configuring SCC is required for OpenShift for cloudNativeFullStack and applicationMonitoring with CSI driver deployments.

The combination of hostMonitoring and applicationMonitoring in a Kubernetes cluster in the same environment is not supported.

Installation options

Choose one of the installation methods that best suits your needs.

Helm

Helm

Manifest

Helm

Dynatrace Operator version 0.8.0+

New Helm installation and upgrade instructions use our Helm chart available from an OCI registry. Therefore, if the Dynatrace repository is currently added to your local Helm repositories, it can be safely removed.

helm repo remove dynatrace

The installation process is independent of whether you are using Kubernetes or OpenShift. The platform is auto-detected during the installation.

  1. Install Dynatrace Operator

    You have two options:

    The following command works for both default installations and installations using an OCI registry.

    helm install dynatrace-operator oci://public.ecr.aws/dynatrace/dynatrace-operator \
       --create-namespace \
       --namespace dynatrace \
       --atomic \

    Edit the values.yaml sample from GitHub, and then run the install command, passing the YAML file as an argument:

    helm install dynatrace-operator oci://public.ecr.aws/dynatrace/dynatrace-operator \
       --create-namespace \
       --namespace dynatrace \
       --atomic \
       -f values.yaml

    If installCRD is set to false, you need to create the custom resource definition manually before starting the Helm installation:

    kubectl apply -f https://github.com/Dynatrace/dynatrace-operator/releases/download/v1.4.0/dynatrace-operator-crd.yaml

    VMware Tanzu Kubernetes (TKGI) and IBM Kubernetes Service (IKS) require additional configuration.

  2. Create secret for access tokens

    Create a secret named dynakube for the Dynatrace Operator token and data ingest token obtained in Tokens and permissions required.

    kubectl -n dynatrace create secret generic dynakube --from-literal="apiToken=<OPERATOR_TOKEN>" --from-literal="dataIngestToken=<DATA_INGEST_TOKEN>"

  3. Create your DynaKube custom resource YAML file.

    You can review the available parameters or how-to guides, and adapt the DynaKube custom resource according to your requirements.

    apiVersion: dynatrace.com/v1beta3
    kind: DynaKube
    metadata:
      name: dynakube
      namespace: dynatrace
      annotations:
        feature.dynatrace.com/k8s-app-enabled: "true"
        feature.dynatrace.com/injection-readonly-volume: "true"
    spec:
      # For detailed instructions on DynaKube parameters in the spec section, visit https://docs.dynatrace.com/docs/ingest-from/setup-on-k8s/reference/dynakube-parameters
    

      # Dynatrace apiUrl including the /api path at the end.
      # Replace 'ENVIRONMENTID' with your environment ID.
      # For instructions on how to determine the environment ID and how to configure the apiUrl address, see https://www.dynatrace.com/support/help/reference/dynatrace-concepts/environment-id/.
      apiUrl: https://ENVIRONMENTID.live.dynatrace.com/api
    

      metadataEnrichment:
        enabled: true
    

      oneAgent:
        applicationMonitoring: {}
    

      activeGate:
        capabilities:
          - routing
          - kubernetes-monitoring
    

        resources:
          requests:
            cpu: 500m
            memory: 512Mi
          limits:
            cpu: 1000m
            memory: 1.5Gi

  4. Apply the DynaKube custom resource

    Run the command below to apply the DynaKube custom resource, making sure to replace <your-DynaKube-CR> with your actual DynaKube custom resource file name. A validation webhook will provide helpful error messages if there's a problem.

    kubectl apply -f <your-DynaKube-CR>.yaml

  5. optional Verify deployment

    Verify that your DynaKube is running and all pods in your Dynatrace namespace are running and ready.

    > kubectl get dynakube -n dynatrace
    NAME         APIURL                                          STATUS     AGE
    dynakube     https://<ENVIRONMENTID>.live.dynatrace.com/api  Running    45s

    In a default DynaKube configuration with CSI driver, you should see the following pods:

    > kubectl get pods -n dynatrace
    NAME                                  READY   STATUS    RESTARTS        AGE
    dynakube-activegate-0                 1/1     Running   0               50s
    dynatrace-oneagent-csi-driver-qxfwx   4/4     Running   0               2m49s
    dynatrace-oneagent-csi-driver-xk5c4   4/4     Running   0               2m49s
    dynatrace-oneagent-csi-driver-mz6ch   4/4     Running   0               2m49s
    dynatrace-operator-7dc8dc7d8c-wmh4z   1/1     Running   0               2m59s
    dynatrace-webhook-7bb6957fb5-l8fsq    1/1     Running   0               2m59s
    dynatrace-webhook-7bb6957fb5-rqnqk    1/1     Running   0               2m59s

    CSI driver is optional (see Step 2). If enabled, it gets deployed as DaemonSet and results in a CSI-driver pod on each node.

Manifest

Licensing

Kubernetes platform monitoring + Application observability requires Dynatrace Platform Subscription (DPS). Kubernetes platform monitoring is licensed by number of pods per hour (pod-hours) and Application observability by the sum of container memory (GiB-hours).

Learn more

After you've successfully installed the Dynatrace Operator, you may find the following resources helpful for further learning and troubleshooting.

Get actionable answers

Start to analyze your Kubernetes clusters and containerized Apps with Dynatrace and benefit from actionable answers.

Guides

Learn how you can configure Dynatrace Operator to support specific use cases.

Troubleshooting

Troubleshoot any challenges you may encounter while working with the Dynatrace Operator and its various components.

How it works

Want to learn more about the Dynatrace components in your Kubernetes cluster?

Reference

API reference and configuration options for all Dynatrace components within your Kubernetes cluster.

Dynatrace Operator release notes

See release notes for Dynatrace Operator.

Update or uninstall

This page provides a detailed instructions on how to update and uninstall Dynatrace Operator.

Related topics