Add a private probe through Kubernetes

Add the private probe into a Kubernetes cluster as a Deployment, a DaemonSet, or as a sidecar container next to your own application.

Before getting started, make sure you have the prerequisites to install the Private Probe. See Private Probe requirements.

The examples provided in this topic assume AMD64 nodes and include optional tolerances for running on master nodes.

Create a Kubernetes secret for the ingestion token

Create a secret for the API token with the following command.

kubectl create secret generic api-token --from-literal=API_TOKEN="<token>"

Option 1: Run the private probe as a Kubernetes Deployment

To add the private probe as a Kubernetes deployment in your cluster, use the following file.

The following example runs a single private probe as a Kubernetes Deployment and uses a Secret for the API token.

apiVersion: apps/v1 
 kind: Deployment 
 metadata: 
   name: private-probe-deployment 
   labels: 
     k8s-app: private-probe 
 spec: 
   replicas: 1
   selector: 
     matchLabels: 
       app: private-probe 
   template: 
     metadata: 
       labels: 
         app: private-probe 
     spec:
       affinity:
         nodeAffinity:
           requiredDuringSchedulingIgnoredDuringExecution:
             nodeSelectorTerms:
               - matchExpressions:
                 - key: kubernetes.io/arch
                   operator: In
                   values:
                     - amd64
       containers: 
         - name: private-probe 
           image: solarwinds/synthetics-private-probe:latest 
           env: 
             - name: SYNTHETICS_COLLECTOR_URL 
               value: <cluster endpoint>
             - name: LOCAL_ID
               value: <private probe id>
             - name: NAME
               value: <private probe name>
             - name: API_TOKEN 
               valueFrom: 
                 secretKeyRef: 
                   name: api-token 
                   key: API_TOKEN
           securityContext:
             capabilities:
               drop:
                 - all
               add:
                 - NET_RAW
       securityContext:
         sysctls:
           - name: net.ipv4.ping_group_range
             value: "0 2147483647"

Save the YAML as private-probe-deployment.yaml.

Execute the following to apply the YAML file.

kubectl apply -f private-probe-deployment.yaml

Execute the following to verify that the pod is running.
```
kubectl get pods -l app=private-probe
```

Once the pod starts and successfully connects to the Synthetics Collector, the probe is automatically registered and appears in SolarWinds Observability.

Option 2 (Optional): Run the Private Probes as a Kubernetes DaemonSet

If you want a private probe instance on every node (to run checks from each node’s perspective, for example), you can add the probe as a DaemonSet instead of a Deployment. The DaemonSet example is similar to the Deployment but uses kind: DaemonSet and runs one pod per suitable node.

To apply the Private Probe as a DaemonSet in your multi-node cluster, use the following file.

apiVersion: apps/v1

kind: DaemonSet

metadata:

name: private-probe-daemonset

labels:

    k8s-app: private-probe

spec:

selector:

    matchLabels:

      name: private-probe

template:

    metadata:

      labels:

        name: private-probe

    spec:

      affinity:

        nodeAffinity:

          requiredDuringSchedulingIgnoredDuringExecution:

            nodeSelectorTerms:

              - matchExpressions:

                - key: kubernetes.io/arch

                  operator: In

                  values:

                    - amd64

      tolerations:

        # this toleration is to have the daemonset runnable on master nodes

        # remove it if your masters can't run pods

        - key: node-role.kubernetes.io/master

          operator: Exists

          effect: NoSchedule

      containers:

        - name: private-probe

          image: solarwinds/synthetics-private-probe:latest

          env:

            - name: SYNTHETICS_COLLECTOR_URL

              value: <cluster endpoint>

            - name: API_TOKEN

              valueFrom:

                secretKeyRef:

                  name: api-token

                  key: API_TOKEN

            - name: LOCAL_ID

              valueFrom:

                fieldRef:

                  fieldPath: spec.nodeName

            - name: NAME

              valueFrom:

                fieldRef:

                  fieldPath: spec.nodeName

          securityContext:

            capabilities:

              drop:

                - all

              add:

                - NET_RAW

      securityContext:

        sysctls:

          - name: net.ipv4.ping_group_range

            value: "0 2147483647"

      terminationGracePeriodSeconds: 30

Option 3 (Optional): Run the Private Probe as a Kubernetes sidecar

You can run the private probe as a sidecar container next to your own application container in a StatefulSet so that each replica has its own probe instance. In this setup, the pod’s own hostname or metadata name can be used as both LOCAL_ID and NAME to keep each replica as a stable identity even when restarted.

Before adding the Private Probe as a sidecar in a replicated workload, you need to make sure that the Local ID does not change when the container is restarted or when a new pod for the replica is started. Use StatefulSet which will always assign the same host name for a replica with a particular ordinal number. The hostname can then be used as Local ID and NAME.

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: StatefulSet
metadata:
name: app-with-private-probe-sidecar
spec:
selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: app-with-private-probe-sidecar
serviceName: app-with-private-probe-sidecar
replicas: 3
template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: app-with-private-probe-sidecar
    spec:
      affinity:
        nodeAffinity:
          requiredDuringSchedulingIgnoredDuringExecution:
            nodeSelectorTerms:
              - matchExpressions:
                - key: kubernetes.io/arch
                  operator: In
                  values:
                    - amd64
      containers:
      # - name: app # main app container
        - name: private-probe-sidecar
          image: solarwinds/synthetics-private-probe:latest
          env:
            - name: SYNTHETICS_COLLECTOR_URL
              value: <cluster endpoint>
            - name: API_TOKEN
              valueFrom:
                secretKeyRef:
                  name: api-token
                  key: API_TOKEN
            - name: LOCAL_ID
              valueFrom:
                fieldRef:
                  fieldPath: metadata.name
            - name: NAME
              valueFrom:
                fieldRef:
                  fieldPath: metadata.name
          securityContext:
            capabilities:
              drop:
                - all
              add:
                - NET_RAW
      securityContext:
        sysctls:
          - name: net.ipv4.ping_group_range
            value: "0 2147483647"

Search SolarWinds Support

Add a private probe through Kubernetes

Create a Kubernetes secret for the ingestion token

Option 1: Run the private probe as a Kubernetes Deployment

Option 2 (Optional): Run the Private Probes as a Kubernetes DaemonSet

Option 3 (Optional): Run the Private Probe as a Kubernetes sidecar