Kakeru Ishii, an accomplished support engineer at Google and the mind behind the Kubernetes History Inspector (KHI), dives into the fascinating world of Kubernetes log visualization. He explains how KHI simplifies troubleshooting by creating timelines from logs. Kakeru also discusses the complexities of log correlation and the innovative use of WebGL in the tool's design. Plus, he touches on integrating AI to enhance log investigation, making the process faster and more efficient. A treasure trove of insights for anyone in the Kubernetes space!
Kubernetes History Inspector (KHI) offers an innovative way to visualize logs, simplifying the troubleshooting of complex Kubernetes issues.
The tool's directed acyclic graph (DAG) structure enhances log parsing efficiency, allowing for effective correlation and rapid problem-solving.
Deep dives
Introduction to Kubernetes History Inspector
Kubernetes History Inspector (KHI) is an open-source tool designed for visualizing Kubernetes logs to facilitate troubleshooting. It helps users understand the timeline of events around Kubernetes resources, allowing for a detailed view of past incidents that are often challenging to analyze through traditional log files. The tool works by parsing various logs from different components of the Kubernetes environment, generating relationship diagrams and timelines based on the log data. Currently, it supports cloud logging but aims to expand its compatibility with other clusters.
Challenges in Troubleshooting and How KHI Assists
Troubleshooting issues in Kubernetes often involves sifting through multiple logs, which can be a complex and time-consuming task. KHI simplifies this process by enabling support engineers to visualize the correlation between different logs, thus making it easier to identify the root causes of problems. For instance, when a customer reports an authentication error related to workload identity, KHI can display logs from various sources, helping engineers to swiftly ascertain that the issue arose from a third-party security tool affecting container behaviors. This capability is particularly useful for transient issues that happen infrequently.
Technological Backbone and Future of KHI
KHI utilizes a directed acyclic graph (DAG) structure for its log parsing system, which allows for extensibility and efficient log correlation. As users run KHI, its various parsers work together to compile and visualize log data without cluttering the system or slowing down performance. There is potential for future integration of artificial intelligence to provide insights, but the visualization aspect remains crucial for user comprehension. The tool is designed for quick investigations and operates primarily in-memory, reflecting its focus on rapid problem-solving.
Kakeru is the initiator of the Kubernetes History Inspector or KHI. An open source tool that allows you to visualise Kubernetes Logs and troubleshoot issues. We discussed what the tool does, how it's built and what was the motivation behind Open sourcing it.
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