This documentation section describes the design and interaction between the custom resource definitions (CRD) that the Victoria Metrics Operator introduces. [Operator](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator) introduces the following custom resources: - [VMAgent](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmagent) - [VMAlert](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmalert) - [VMAlertManager](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmalertmanager) - [VMAlertManagerConfig](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmalertmanagerconfig) - [VMAuth](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmauth) - [VMCluster](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmcluster) - [VMNodeScrape](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmnodescrape) - [VMPodScrape](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmpodscrape) - [VMProbe](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmprobe) - [VMRule](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmrule) - [VMServiceScrape](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmservicescrape) - [VMStaticScrape](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmstaticscrape) - [VMSingle](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmsingle) - [VMUser](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmuser) - [VMScrapeConfig](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmscrapeconfig) Here is the scheme of relations between the custom resources: ![CR](README_cr-relations.webp) ## Specification You can find the specification for the custom resources on **[API Docs](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/api)**. ### Extra arguments If you can't find necessary field in the specification of custom resource, you can use `extraArgs` field for passing additional arguments to the application. Field `extraArgs` is supported for the following custom resources: - [VMAgent spec](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/api#vmagentspec) - [VMAlert spec](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/api#vmalertspec) - [VMAlertManager spec](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/api#vmalertmanagerspec) - [VMAuth spec](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/api#vmauthspec) - [VMCluster/vmselect spec](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/api#vmselect) - [VMCluster/vminsert spec](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/api#vminsert) - [VMCluster/vmstorage spec](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/api#vmstorage) - [VMSingle spec](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/api#vmsinglespec) Supported flags for each application can be found the in the corresponding documentation: - [VMAgent](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmagent#advanced-usage) - [VMAlert](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmalert#configuration) - [VMAuth](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmauth#advanced-usage) - [VMCluster](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/Cluster-VictoriaMetrics#list-of-command-line-flags) - [VMSingle](https://docs.victoriametrics.com#list-of-command-line-flags) Usage example: ```yaml apiVersion: operator.victoriametrics.com/v1beta1 kind: VMSingle metadata: name: vmsingle-example-exrtaargs spec: retentionPeriod: "1" extraArgs: dedup.minScrapeInterval: 60s # ... ``` ### Extra environment variables Flag can be replaced with environment variable, it's useful for retrieving value from secret. You can use `extraEnvs` field for passing additional arguments to the application. Usage example: ```yaml kind: VMSingle metadata: name: vmsingle-example--exrtaenvs spec: retentionPeriod: "1" extraEnvs: - name: DEDUP_MINSCRAPEINTERVAL valueFrom: secretKeyRef: name: vm-secret key: dedup ``` This feature really useful for using with [`-envflag.enable` command-line argument](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/#environment-variables). ## Examples Page for every custom resource contains examples section: - [VMAgent examples](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmagent#examples) - [VMAlert examples](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmalert#examples) - [VMAlertmanager examples](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmalertmanager#examples) - [VMAlertmanagerConfig examples](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmalertmanagerconfig#examples) - [VMAuth examples](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmauth#examples) - [VMCluster examples](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmcluster#examples) - [VMNodeScrape examples](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmnodescrape#examples) - [VMPodScrape examples](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmpodscrape#examples) - [VMProbe examples](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmprobe#examples) - [VMRule examples](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmrule#examples) - [VMServiceScrape examples](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmservicescrape#examples) - [VMStaticScrape examples](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmstaticscrape#examples) - [VMSingle examples](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmsingle#examples) - [VMUser examples](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmuser#examples) - [VMScrapeConfig examples](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmscrapeconfig#examples) In addition, you can find examples of the custom resources for VIctoriMetrics operator in the **[examples directory](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/operator/tree/master/config/examples) of operator repository**. ## Managing versions of VM Every custom resource with deployable application has a fields for specifying version (docker image) of component: - [Managing versions for VMAgent](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmagent#version-management) - [Managing versions for VMAlert](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmalert#version-management) - [Managing versions for VMAlertmanager](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmalertmanager#version-management) - [Managing versions for VMAuth](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmauth#version-management) - [Managing versions for VMCluster](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmcluster#version-management) - [Managing versions for VMSingle](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmsingle#version-management) ## Managing resources Every custom resource with deployable application has a fields and operator parameters for specifying resources for the component: - [Managing resources for VMAgent](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmagent#resource-management) - [Managing resources for VMAlert](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmalert#resource-management) - [Managing resources for VMAlertmanager](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmalertmanager#resource-management) - [Managing resources for VMAuth](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmauth#resource-management) - [Managing resources for VMCluster](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmcluster#resource-management) - [Managing resources for VMSingle](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmsingle#resource-management) ## High availability VictoriaMetrics operator support high availability for each component of the monitoring stack: - [VMAgent](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmagent#high-availability) - [VMAlert](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmalert#high-availability) - [VMAlertmanager](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmalertmanager#high-availability) - [VMAuth](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmauth#high-availability) - [VMCluster](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmcluster#high-availability) In addition, these CRD support common features, that can be used to increase high availability - resources above have the following fields: - `affinity` - to schedule pods on different nodes ([affinity and anti-affinity in kubernetes docs](https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/scheduling-eviction/assign-pod-node/#affinity-and-anti-affinity)), - `tolerations` - to schedule pods on nodes with taints ([taints and tolerations in kubernetes docs](https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/scheduling-eviction/taint-and-toleration/)), - `nodeSelector` - to schedule pods on nodes with specific labels ([node selector in kubernetes docs](https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/scheduling-eviction/assign-pod-node/#nodeselector)), - `topologySpreadConstraints` - to schedule pods on different nodes in the same topology ([topology spread constraints in kubernetes docs](https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/scheduling-eviction/assign-pod-node/#pod-topology-spread-constraints)). See details about these fields in the [Specification](#specification). ## Enterprise features Operator supports following [Enterprise features for VictoriaMetrics components](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/enterprise): - [VMAgent Enterprise features](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmagent#enterprise-features): - [Reading metrics from kafka](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmagent#reading-metrics-from-kafka) - [Writing metrics to kafka](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmagent#writing-metrics-to-kafka) - [VMAlert Enterprise features](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmalert#enterprise-features): - [Reading rules from object storage](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmalert#reading-rules-from-object-storage) - [Multitenancy](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmalert#multitenancy) - [VMAuth Enterprise features](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmauth#enterprise-features) - [IP Filters](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmauth#ip-filters) - [VMCluster Enterprise features](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmcluster#enterprise-features) - [Downsampling](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmcluster#downsampling) - [Multiple retentions / Retention filters](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmcluster#retention-filters) - [Advanced per-tenant statistic](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmcluster#advanced-per-tenant-statistic) - [mTLS protection](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmcluster#mtls-protection) - [Backup automation](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmcluster#backup-automation) - [VMRule Enterprise features](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmrule#enterprise-features) - [Multitenancy](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmrule#multitenancy) - [VMSingle Enterprise features](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmsingle#enterprise-features) - [Downsampling](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmsingle#downsampling) - [Retention filters](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmsingle#retention-filters) - [Backup automation](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmsingle#backup-automation) - [VMUser Enterprise features](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmuser#enterprise-features) - [IP Filters](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmuser#ip-filters) More information about enterprise features you can read on [VictoriaMetrics Enterprise page](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/enterprise#victoriametrics-enterprise). ## Configuration synchronization ### Basic concepts VictoriaMetrics applications, like many other applications with configuration file deployed at Kubernetes, uses `ConfigMaps` and `Secrets` for configuration files. Usually, it's out of application scope to watch for configuration on-disk changes. Applications reload their configuration by a signal from a user or some other tool, that knows how to watch for updates. At Kubernetes, the most popular design for this case is a sidecar container, that watches for configuration file changes and sends an HTTP request to the application. `Configmap` or `Secret` that mounted at `Pod` holds a copy of its content. Kubernetes component `kubelet` is responsible for content synchronization between an object at Kubernetes API and a file served on disk. It's not efficient to sync its content immediately, and `kubelet` eventually synchronizes it. There is a configuration option, that controls this period. That's why, applications managed by operator don't receive changes immediately. It usually takes 1-2 min, before content will be updated. It may trigger errors when an application was deleted, but [`VMAgent`](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/resources/vmagent) still tries to scrape it. ### Possible mitigations The naive solution for this case decrease the synchronization period. But it configures globally and may be hard for operator users. That's why operator uses a few hacks. For `ConfigMap` updates, operator changes annotation with a time of `Configmap` content update. It triggers `ConfigMap`'s content synchronization by kubelet immediately. It's the case for `VMAlert`, it uses `ConfigMap` as a configuration source. For `Secret` it doesn't work. And operator offers its implementation for side-car container. It can be configured with env variable for operator: ``` - name: VM_USECUSTOMCONFIGRELOADER value: "true" ``` If it's defined, operator uses own [config-reloader](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/operator/tree/master/cmd/config-reloader) instead of [prometheus-config-reload](https://github.com/prometheus-operator/prometheus-operator/tree/main/cmd/prometheus-config-reloader). It watches corresponding `Secret` for changes with Kubernetes API watch call and writes content into emptyDir. This emptyDir shared with the application. In case of content changes, `config-reloader` sends HTTP requests to the application. It greatly reduces the time for configuration synchronization.