Recipes - Dynatrace - Rafay Product Documentation

Dynatrace

The controller provides integrated monitoring and visibility capabilities automatically deploying Prometheus and associated components on the managed Kubernetes clusters. In addition to the built in dashboards on the controller, some organizations may also wish to use a Dynatrace for their Kubernetes clusters' visibility.

This recipe describes how customers can standardize the configuration, deployment and lifecycle management of Dynatrace across their fleet of clusters. The Dynatrace Operator and Dynakube resources will be applied to each cluster that will be monitored. These resources will be added to a custom blueprint which will allow the resources to easily be applied to multiple clusters.

What Will You Do

In this exercise you will,

Obtain customized Dynatrace manifests
Create Dynatrace add-ons
Use the add-ons in a custom cluster blueprint
Apply this cluster blueprint to a managed cluster

Important: This recipe describes the steps to create and use a custom cluster blueprint using the Web Console. The entire workflow can also be fully automated and embedded into an automation pipeline.

Assumptions

You have a Dynatrace account
You have already provisioned or imported one or more Kubernetes clusters using the controller.

Step 1: Obtain Dynatrace Manifests

In this step you will obtain the manifest files for the Dynatrace resources. These manifests contain specific details for your resources and account.

In your Dynatrace account, navigate to Kubernetes.
Click Connect automatically via Dynatrace Operator
Enter dynatrace-cluster for the name
Click Create token for the Dynatrace Operator token
Click Download dynakube.yaml
In the kubectl commands on screen, copy the operator URL. The URL will look similar to " https://github.com/Dynatrace/dynatrace-operator/releases/download/v0.12.1/kubernetes.yaml"
Download the kubernetes.yaml file from the URL

Step 2: Create Namespace

In your project, navigate to Infrastructure -> Namespaces
Click on New Namespace
Enter dynatrace for name
Select Wizard for type
Click Save
Click Save & Go To Placement

Next, select the cluster to deploy the namespace to.

Select Specific Clusters for the placement policy type
Select your cluster
Click Save & Go To Publish

Next, you will publish the namespace to the cluster.

Click Publish

In a few seconds, the configured namespace will be deployed on the target cluster.

Click Exit

Step 3: Create Dynatrace Operator Add-on

In this step, you will create a custom cluster add-on for the Dynatrace Operator. The add-on will then be used in a custom cluster blueprint.

In your project, navigate to Infrastructure -> Add-Ons
Click New Add-On -> Create New Add-On
Enter dynatrace-operator for the name
Select K8s YAML for the type
Select Upload files manually
Select the dynatrace namespace
Click Create
Enter v1 for the version name
Click Upload and select the previously saved kubernetes.yaml file
Click Save Changes

Step 4: Create Dynatrace Dynakube Add-on

In this step, you will create a custom cluster add-on for the Dynatrace Dynakube resources. The add-on will then be used in a custom cluster blueprint.

In your project, navigate to Infrastructure -> Add-Ons
Click New Add-On -> Create New Add-On
Enter dynatrace-dynakube for the name
Select K8s YAML for the type
Select Upload files manually
Select the dynatrace namespace
Click Create
Enter v1 for the version name
Update the previously saved dynakube.yaml file metadata.name fields with {{{ .global.Rafay.ClusterName }}} for both the Secret and the DynaKube resources

The updates should look similar to the following

kind: Secret
metadata:
  name: {{{ .global.Rafay.ClusterName }}
  namespace: dynatrace
type: Opaque
---
apiVersion: dynatrace.com/v1beta1
kind: DynaKube
metadata:
  name: {{{ .global.Rafay.ClusterName }}
  namespace: dynatrace

Click Upload and select the updated dynakube.yaml file
Click Save Changes

Step 5: Create Blueprint

Now, we are ready to assemble a custom cluster blueprint using the newly created Dynatrace add-ons.

In your project, navigate to Infrastructure -> Blueprints
Click New Blueprint
Enter dynatrace for the name
Click Save
Enter v1 for the version name
Click Configure Add-ons
Select the two previously created Dynatrace add-ons
Add the dynatrace-operator as a dependency for the dynatrace-dynakube add-on
Click Save Changes
Click Save Changes

Step 6: Apply Blueprint

Now, we are ready to apply this custom blueprint to a cluster.

In your project, navigate to Infrastructure -> Clusters
Click the gear icon on the cluster card
Select Update Blueprint
Select the dynatrace blueprint and version
Click Save and Publish

This will start the deployment of the add-ons configured in the blueprint. The blueprint sync process can take a few minutes. Once complete, the cluster will display the current cluster blueprint details and whether the sync was successful or not.

Step 7: Verify Deployment

Users can optionally verify whether the correct resources have been created on the cluster. Click on the Kubectl button on the cluster to open a virtual terminal

First, we will verify if the "dynatrace" namespace has been created

kubectl get ns dynatrace
NAME         STATUS   AGE
dynatrace   Active   43m

Next, we will verify the pods in the "dynatrace" namespace. You should see something like the example below showing the running pods. Note, it can take ~3 minutes for all pods to become running.

kubectl get pod -n dynatrace
NAME                                  READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
dynatrace-cluster1-activegate-0       0/1     Running   0          110s
dynatrace-cluster1-oneagent-trz4q     1/1     Running   0          110s
dynatrace-operator-68d8bdb798-x8sjj   1/1     Running   0          2m54s
dynatrace-webhook-b45bd7d5b-c2fz2     1/1     Running   0          2m54s
dynatrace-webhook-b45bd7d5b-vt6k2     1/1     Running   0          2m54s

Step 8: Verify Data Collected

Next, you will verify the data collected in your Dynatrace account.

In your Dynatrace account, navigate to Kubernetes.

You should see your cluster.

Click on the cluster to see additional details

Recap

Congratulations! You have successfully created a custom cluster blueprint with Dynatrace as an add-on. You then applied the blueprint to a managed cluster and viewed the Dynatrace dashboard for your cluster. You can now use this blueprint on as many clusters as you require.