Kubernetes Explorer
Use the ServiceNow® Kubernetes Explorer to drill-down and view the Kubernetes environments and resources of your organization.
Important: Cloud Discovery Workspace is now deprecated and no longer supported or available for new activation. Discovery Admin Workspace provides the latest experience for this functionality. For details, see the Application/Plugin Deprecation Process [KB0867184] article in the Now Support knowledge base.
Cloud Resources Explorer.
The Kubernetes Explorer supports the following cloud providers:
- Amazon Web Services (AWS): Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS)
- Microsoft Azure Cloud: Azure Kubernetes Service
- Google Cloud Platform (GCP): Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE)
- OpenShift
Important: In the Kubernetes Explorer, any Kubernetes resource hosted on OpenShift is considered on-prem. Whereas, any Kubernetes resource hosted on Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP) is considered cloud hosted.
Required ServiceNow AI Platform roles
The sn_cloud_ops_ws.cloud_ops_admin role is required to view the Kubernetes Explorer.
Access the Kubernetes Explorer
To open the dashboard, navigate to All > Cloud Discovery Workspace > Kubernetes Explorer.
Important: Starting with the Zurich release, Cloud Discovery Workspace is being prepared for future deprecation. It will be hidden and no longer activated on new instances, but will continue to be supported. Discovery Admin Workspace provides the latest experience for this functionality. For details, see the Application/Plugin Deprecation Process [KB0867184] article in the Now Support knowledge base.
Use cases
For examples of how different people in your organization would use this dashboard, see these use cases.
| User | Dashboard use |
|---|---|
| Application owner | Review the statistics of the applications and workloads running on the Kubernetes clusters. |
| IT admin, cloud admin | - Review the statistics of the Kubernetes infrastructure: Clusters, Nodes, Namespaces, Services, Pods, and Workloads. - Review the distribution of the pods across dimensions such as region/datacenter, geo location, or country. - Review the distribution of the pods across namespaces. - Review the list of Kubernetes docker images used in your organization. |
Indicators
Clusters
A Kubernetes cluster is a set of nodes that run containerized applications. The Clusters indicator displays the daily total count and discovery trend of the Kubernetes clusters discovered across the Kubernetes deployments of your organization.
The Kubernetes Explorer reads the Kubernetes Cluster Analytics [sn_cow_k8s_cluster_analytics] table to compute the Clusters indicator.
Nodes
A node is a worker machine in Kubernetes and may be either a virtual or a physical machine, depending on the cluster. The Nodes indicator displays the daily total count and discovery trend of the Kubernetes nodes discovered across the Kubernetes deployments of your organization.
The Kubernetes Explorer reads the Kubernetes Node Analytics [sn_cow_k8s_node_analytics] table to compute the Nodes indicator.
Namespaces
Kubernetes namespaces provides a mechanism for isolating groups of resources within the cluster. The Namespaces indicator displays the daily total count and discovery trend of the Kubernetes namespaces discovered across the Kubernetes deployments of your organization.
The Kubernetes Explorer reads the Kubernetes Namespace Analytics [sn_cow_k8s_namespace_analytics] table to compute the Namespaces indicator.
Services
Kubernetes service is an abstraction which defines a logical set of pods and a policy by which to access them (sometimes this pattern is called a micro-service). The Services indicator displays the daily total count and discovery trend of the Kubernetes services discovered across the Kubernetes deployments of your organization.
The Kubernetes Explorer reads the Kubernetes Service Analytics [sn_cow_k8s_service_analytics] table to compute the Services indicator.
The Services indicator is also available on the Services tab of the Kubernetes Explorer.
Breakdowns
Pod distribution: This breakdown displays the distribution of Kubernetes pods hosted on the on-prem infrastructure and the cloud infrastructure.
You can filter the breakdown across the following dimensions:
- Region/Datacenter
- Geo Location
- Country The Pod distribution breakdown is available on the Overview tab of the Kubernetes Explorer.
Kubernetes services by platform or Kubernetes services by type: This breakdown displays the distribution of Kubernetes services across dimensions such as platform and type.
- Nodes by region: This breakdown displays the distribution of the Kubernetes nodes across hosting regions.
Filter
You can filter the list by interacting with the data visualizations such as donut and single score card.
Data visualizations
| Title | Type | Source table | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kubernetes pods by namespace | Donut Image omitted: inline-data-vis-donut.png Kubernetes donut icon | Kubernetes Pod Analytics \[sn\_cow\_k8s\_pod\_analytics\] | This report displays the distribution of Kubernetes pods across the discovered namespaces.This report is available on the Overview tab. |
| Total clusters | List Image omitted: inline-data-vis-score-list.png Total clusters list icon | Kubernetes Cluster Analytics \[sn\_cow\_k8s\_cluster\_analytics\] | This report lists the Kubernetes clusters discovered across the Kubernetes deployments of your organization.This report is available on the Clusters tab. When you click the cluster name, the Dependency Views map appears for Cluster Configuration Item. |
| Total services | Single score Image omitted: inline-data-vis-single-score.png Total services single score icon | Kubernetes Workload Analytics \[sn\_cow\_k8s\_service\_analytics\] | This report displays the total count of the Kubernetes services.This report is available on the Services tab. |
| Kubernetes services by platform / type | Donut Image omitted: inline-data-vis-donut.png Kubernetes services donut icon | Kubernetes Node Analytics \[sn\_cow\_k8s\_service\_analytics\] | This report displays the distribution of the Kubernetes services across the providers.This report is available on the Services tab. |
| Kubernetes services | List Image omitted: inline-data-vis-score-list.png Kubernetes services list icon | Kubernetes Namespace Analytics \[sn\_cow\_k8s\_service\_analytics\] | This report lists the Kubernetes services discovered.This report is available on the Services tab. When you click the service name, the Dependency Views map appears for Cluster Configuration Item. |
| Nodes by cluster | Donut Image omitted: inline-data-vis-donut.png Nodes by cluster donut icon | Kubernetes Node Analytics \[sn\_cow\_k8s\_node\_analytics\] | This report displays the distribution of the Kubernetes nodes across the discovered clusters.This report is available on the Nodes tab. |
| Nodes by region | Donut Image omitted: inline-data-vis-donut.png Nodes by region donut icon | Kubernetes Node Analytics \[sn\_cow\_k8s\_node\_analytics\] | This report displays the distribution of the Kubernetes nodes across the discovered clusters.This report is available on the Nodes tab. |
| Total nodes | List Image omitted: inline-data-vis-score-list.png Total nodes list icon | Kubernetes Node Analytics \[sn\_cow\_k8s\_node\_analytics\] | This report lists the Kubernetes nodes discovered across the Kubernetes deployments of your organization.This report is available on the Nodes tab. When you click the node name, the Dependency Views map appears for Cluster Configuration Item. |
| Total workloads | Single score Image omitted: inline-data-vis-single-score.png Total workloads single score icon | Kubernetes Workload Analytics \[sn\_cow\_k8s\_workload\_analytics\] | This report displays the total count of the Kubernetes workloads discovered across the Kubernetes deployments of your organization.This report is available on the Workloads tab. |
| Desired/available replicas mismatch | Single score Image omitted: inline-data-vis-single-score.png Desired available replicas mismatch single score icon | Kubernetes Workload Analytics \[sn\_cow\_k8s\_workload\_analytics\] | This report displays the count of mismatch between the desired and available replicas.If there's a mismatch, take suitable action to remediate the issue. |
| Workloads by class | Donut Image omitted: inline-data-vis-donut.png Workload by class donut icon | Kubernetes Workload Analytics \[sn\_cow\_k8s\_workload\_analytics\] | This report displays the workloads by the workload class.This report is available on the Workloads tab. |
| Total workloads | List Image omitted: inline-data-vis-score-list.png Total workloads list icon | Kubernetes Workload Analytics \[sn\_cow\_k8s\_workload\_analytics\] | This report lists the Kubernetes workloads discovered across the Kubernetes deployments of your organization.This report is available on the Workloads tab. When you click the workload name, the Dependency Views map appears for Cluster Configuration Item. |
| Total pods | Single score Image omitted: inline-data-vis-single-score.png Total pods single score icon | Kubernetes Pod Analytics \[sn\_cow\_k8s\_pod\_analytics\] | This report displays the total count of Kubernetes pods discovered across the Kubernetes deployments of your organization.This report is available on the Pods tab. |
| Running pods | Single score Image omitted: inline-data-vis-single-score.png Running pods single score icon | Kubernetes Pod Analytics \[sn\_cow\_k8s\_pod\_analytics\] | This report displays the total count of the Kubernetes pods that are in running state.This report is available on the Pods tab. |
| Pending pods | Single score Image omitted: inline-data-vis-single-score.png Pending pods single score icon | Kubernetes Pod Analytics \[sn\_cow\_k8s\_pod\_analytics\] | This report displays the total count of the Kubernetes pods that are in pending state.This report is available on the Pods tab. |
| Creating pods | Single score Image omitted: inline-data-vis-single-score.png Creating pods single score icon | Kubernetes Pod Analytics \[sn\_cow\_k8s\_pod\_analytics\] | This report displays the total count of the Kubernetes pods that are in the creating state.This report is available on the Pods tab. |
| Crashloop backoff pods | Single score Image omitted: inline-data-vis-single-score.png Crashloop backoff single score icon | Kubernetes Pod Analytics \[sn\_cow\_k8s\_pod\_analytics\] | This report displays the total count of the Kubernetes pods that are in the crashloop backoff state.This report is available on the Pods tab. |
| Total pods | List Image omitted: inline-data-vis-score-list.png Total pods list icon | Kubernetes Pod Analytics \[sn\_cow\_k8s\_pod\_analytics\] | This report lists the Kubernetes pods discovered across the Kubernetes deployments of your organization.This report is available on the Pods tab. When you click the pod name, the Dependency Views map appears for Cluster Configuration Item. |
| Docker images | List Image omitted: inline-data-vis-score-list.png Docker images list icon | Kubernetes Image Analytics \[sn\_cow\_k8s\_img\_analytics\] | This report lists the Docker images discovered across the Kubernetes deployments of your organization.This report is available on the Docker images tab. When you click the doker image name, the Dependency Views map appears for Cluster Configuration Item. You can download the SBOM. To generate the SBOM, see Download a software bill of materials (SBOM). |