Install the SolarWinds Observability .NET Library on a Kubernetes cluster (Windows Container only)

Before you start

Do not run other APM libraries alongside the SolarWinds Observability .NET Library. Remove other APM libraries from your .NET application before using the SolarWinds Observability .NET Library.

Configure the Kubernetes pod's deployment file

When running SolarWinds Observability .NET Library inside a Kubernetes Windows Container, declare the following environment variables to allow proper Pod identification and correlation:

Environment variable	Environment variable value	k8s API field
SW_K8S_POD_NAMESPACE	Pod's namespace	metadata.namespace
SW_K8S_POD_NAME	Pod's name	metadata.name
SW_K8S_POD_UID	Pod's UID	metadata.uid

SW_K8S_* environment variables can be declared and set in the Pod's deployment file using the Kubernetes downward API. See Downward API in the Kubernetes documentation.

To declare the variables and deploy the library with the Kubernetes downward API:

1. Install the SolarWinds Observability .NET Library inside a Kubernetes Windows Container using the installer or NuGet package.

2. Add SW_K8S_* environment variables to pod's deployment file.

3. Define the service key using the SW_APM_SERVICE_KEY environment variable inside pod's deployment file, in a Windows container as an environment variable set at the system level, or saved inside the solarwinds_apm.config file.

   SolarWinds recommends defining the service key in a pod's deployment file. Setting the service key in a deployment file allows you to replace the service key without building the container and reuse a service key that is defined in the deployment file across multiple deployments. It also prevents the service key from leaking when when using public containers.

4. Redeploy the pod using the updated deployment file.

Example deployment file:

spec:
    ...                
    spec:
      nodeSelector:
        "kubernetes.io/os": windows
      containers:
        - name: your-instrumented-service
          image: your-container-image
        env:
          - name: SW_APM_SERVICE_KEY
            value: 'YourToken:YourServiceKey'

          - name: SW_K8S_POD_NAMESPACE
            valueFrom:
              fieldRef:
                fieldPath: metadata.namespace
                    
          - name: SW_K8S_POD_NAME
            valueFrom:
              fieldRef:
                fieldPath: metadata.name

          - name: SW_K8S_POD_UID
            valueFrom:
              fieldRef:
                fieldPath: metadata.uid

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