Get started with Kubernetes observability

However, if you're interested in gaining a more comprehensive view of your environment that includes aspects such as Application observability and user experience, you should consider a full Kubernetes observability approach, such as cloud native full stack or classic full stack.

This page provides instructions for deploying the Dynatrace Operator in host monitoring configuration to a Kubernetes cluster.

Prerequisites

Before you begin

Before installing Dynatrace on your Kubernetes cluster, ensure that you meet the following requirements:

Your kubectl CLI is connected to the Kubernetes cluster that you want to monitor.
You have sufficient privileges on the monitored cluster to run kubectl or oc commands.

Cluster setup and configuration

You must allow egress for Dynatrace pods (default: Dynatrace namespace) to your Dynatrace environment or to your Environment ActiveGate
For OpenShift Dedicated, you need the cluster-admin role.
Helm installation Use Helm version 3.

Supported versions

See supported Kubernetes/OpenShift platform versions and distributions.

Installation options

Choose one of the installation methods that best suits your needs.

Manifest

Helm

Manifest

KubernetesOpenShift

Create a dynatrace namespace

bash
kubectl create namespace dynatrace

Install Dynatrace Operator
```
bash
kubectl apply -f https://github.com/Dynatrace/dynatrace-operator/releases/download/v0.13.0/kubernetes.yaml
kubectl apply -f https://github.com/Dynatrace/dynatrace-operator/releases/download/v0.13.0/kubernetes-csi.yaml
```
Without CSI driver when fileystem for OneAgent is mounted read-write
Whenever the CSI driver is in use the host file-system is mounted readonly by OneAgent. If you don't want to use the CSI driver, the file-system needs to be mounted read-write by disabling the readonly-mode. For more information how to disable readonly-mode, see Read-only file systems support.
```
bash
kubectl apply -f https://github.com/Dynatrace/dynatrace-operator/releases/download/v0.13.0/kubernetes.yaml
```
For VMware Tanzu Kubernetes (TGKI) where CSI driver is used
For VMware Tanzu Kubernetes Grid Integrated Edition (formerly PKE), follow the steps below instead.
1. Get kubernetes-csi.yaml from GitHub.
2. Adjust the YAML file by replacing the /var/lib/kubelet/ path with /var/vcap/data/kubelet/ in all instances.
3. Run the commands below.
```
bash
kubectl apply -f https://github.com/Dynatrace/dynatrace-operator/releases/download/v0.13.0/kubernetes.yaml
kubectl apply -f kubernetes-csi.yaml
```
For IBM Kubernetes Service (IKS) where CSI driver is used
For IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service (IKS), follow the steps below.
1. Get kubernetes-csi.yaml from GitHub.
2. Adjust the YAML file by replacing the /var/lib/kubelet/ path with /var/data/kubelet in all instances.
3. Run the commands below.
```
bash
kubectl apply -f https://github.com/Dynatrace/dynatrace-operator/releases/download/v0.11.0/kubernetes.yaml
kubectl apply -f kubernetes-csi.yaml
```
Run the following command to see when Dynatrace Operator components finish initialization:
```
bash
kubectl -n dynatrace wait pod --for=condition=ready --selector=app.kubernetes.io/name=dynatrace-operator,app.kubernetes.io/component=webhook --timeout=300s
```
Create secret for API token

Create a secret named dynakube for the API token obtained in Tokens and permissions required.
```
bash
kubectl -n dynatrace create secret generic dynakube --from-literal="apiToken=<API_TOKEN>"
```
Apply the DynaKube custom resource

Download the DynaKube custom resource sample for host monitoring from GitHub. In addition, you can review the available parameters or how-to-guides, and adapt the DynaKube custom resource according to your requirements.

Run the command below to apply the DynaKube custom resource, making sure to replace <your-DynaKube-CR> with your actual DynaKube custom resource file name. A validation webhook will provide helpful error messages if there's a problem.
```
bash
kubectl apply -f <your-DynaKube-CR>.yaml
```

optional Verify deployment

Verify that your DynaKube is running and all pods in your Dynatrace namespace are running and ready.

bash
> kubectl get dynakube -n dynatrace
NAME         APIURL                                          STATUS     AGE
dynakube     https://<ENVIRONMENTID>.live.dynatrace.com/api  Running    45s

In a default DynaKube configuration with CSI driver, you should see the following pods:

bash
> kubectl get pods -n dynatrace
NAME                                  READY   STATUS    RESTARTS        AGE
dynakube-activegate-0                 1/1     Running   0               50s
dynakube-oneagent-b88rn               1/1     Running   0               50s
dynakube-oneagent-m5jm4               1/1     Running   0               50s
dynakube-oneagent-qhd9u               1/1     Running   0               50s
dynatrace-oneagent-csi-driver-qxfwx   4/4     Running   0               2m49s
dynatrace-oneagent-csi-driver-xk5c4   4/4     Running   0               2m49s
dynatrace-oneagent-csi-driver-mz6ch   4/4     Running   0               2m49s
dynatrace-operator-7dc8dc7d8c-wmh4z   1/1     Running   0               2m59s
dynatrace-webhook-7bb6957fb5-l8fsq    1/1     Running   0               2m59s
dynatrace-webhook-7bb6957fb5-rqnqk    1/1     Running   0               2m59s

As OneAgent and CSI-driver are deployed as DaemonSet you should have a OneAgent and CSI-driver pod on each node.

Add a dynatrace project

bash
oc adm new-project --node-selector="" dynatrace

Install Dynatrace Operator

bash
oc apply -f https://github.com/Dynatrace/dynatrace-operator/releases/download/v0.13.0/openshift.yaml
oc apply -f https://github.com/Dynatrace/dynatrace-operator/releases/download/v0.13.0/openshift-csi.yaml

Without CSI driver when fileystem for OneAgent is mounted read-write

Whenever the CSI driver is in use the host file-system is mounted readonly by OneAgent. If you don't want to use the CSI driver, the file-system needs to be mounted read-write by disabling the readonly-mode. For more information how to disable readonly-mode, see Read-only file systems support.

bash
oc apply -f https://github.com/Dynatrace/dynatrace-operator/releases/download/v0.13.0/kubernetes.yaml

Run the following command to see when Dynatrace Operator components finish initialization:

bash
oc -n dynatrace wait pod --for=condition=ready --selector=app.kubernetes.io/name=dynatrace-operator,app.kubernetes.io/component=webhook --timeout=300s

Create secret for API token

Create a secret named dynakube for the API token obtained in Tokens and permissions required.
```
bash
oc -n dynatrace create secret generic dynakube --from-literal="apiToken=<API_TOKEN>"
```
Apply the DynaKube custom resource

Download the DynaKube custom resource sample for host monitoring from GitHub. In addition, you can review the available parameters or how-to-guides, and adapt the DynaKube custom resource according to your requirements.

Run the command below to apply the DynaKube custom resource, making sure to replace <your-DynaKube-CR> with your actual DynaKube custom resource file name. A validation webhook will provide helpful error messages if there's a problem.
```
bash
oc apply -f <your-DynaKube-CR>.yaml
```

optional Verify deployment

Verify that your DynaKube is running and all pods in your Dynatrace namespace are running and ready.

bash
> oc get dynakube -n dynatrace
NAME         APIURL                                          STATUS     AGE
dynakube     https://<ENVIRONMENTID>.live.dynatrace.com/api  Running    45s

In a default DynaKube configuration with CSI driver, you should see the following pods:

bash
> oc get pods -n dynatrace
NAME                                  READY   STATUS    RESTARTS        AGE
dynakube-activegate-0                 1/1     Running   0               50s
dynakube-oneagent-b88rn               1/1     Running   0               50s
dynakube-oneagent-m5jm4               1/1     Running   0               50s
dynakube-oneagent-qhd9u               1/1     Running   0               50s
dynatrace-oneagent-csi-driver-qxfwx   4/4     Running   0               2m49s
dynatrace-oneagent-csi-driver-xk5c4   4/4     Running   0               2m49s
dynatrace-oneagent-csi-driver-mz6ch   4/4     Running   0               2m49s
dynatrace-operator-7dc8dc7d8c-wmh4z   1/1     Running   0               2m59s
dynatrace-webhook-7bb6957fb5-l8fsq    1/1     Running   0               2m59s
dynatrace-webhook-7bb6957fb5-rqnqk    1/1     Running   0               2m59s

As OneAgent and CSI-driver are deployed as DaemonSet you should have a OneAgent and CSI-driver pod on each node.

Helm

Dynatrace Operator version 0.8.0+

KubernetesOpenShift

Add the Dynatrace Helm repository
```
bash
helm repo add dynatrace \
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Dynatrace/dynatrace-operator/main/config/helm/repos/stable
```
Note that attempting to access the above URL will result in a 404 error page as it is only used internally by the Helm client.
Install Dynatrace Operator

You have two options:

Option 1: Install Dynatrace Operator using the default values:
```
bash
helm install dynatrace-operator dynatrace/dynatrace-operator \
  --set "installCRD=true" \
  --set "csidriver.enabled=true" \
  --atomic \
  --create-namespace --namespace dynatrace
```
Option 2: For additional configuration to the Helm chart, edit the values.yaml sample from GitHub, then run the install command passing the YAML file as an argument:
Without CSI driver when fileystem for OneAgent is mounted read-write
Whenever the CSI driver is in use the host file-system is mounted readonly by OneAgent. If you don't want to use the CSI driver, the file-system needs to be mounted read-write by disabling the readonly-mode. For more information how to disable readonly-mode, see Read-only file systems support.
```
bash
kubectl apply -f https://github.com/Dynatrace/dynatrace-operator/releases/download/v0.12.1/kubernetes.yaml
```
For VMware Tanzu Kubernetes (TGKI) with CSI driver enabled
For VMware Tanzu Kubernetes Grid Integrated Edition (formerly PKE), you need to set the csidriver.kubeletPath value in values.yaml to /var/vcap/data/kubelet/.
```
yaml
csidriver:
    enabled: true
    kubeletPath: "/var/vcap/data/kubelet"
```
For IBM Kubernetes Service (IKS) with CSI driver enabled
Dynatrace Operator version 0.9.0+
For IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service (IKS), you need to set the csidriver.kubeletPath value in values.yaml to /var/data/kubelet.
```
yaml
csidriver:
    enabled: true
    kubeletPath: "/var/data/kubelet"
```
```
bash
helm install dynatrace-operator dynatrace/dynatrace-operator \
  -f values.yaml \
  --atomic \
  --create-namespace --namespace dynatrace
```
If installCRD is set to false, you need to create the custom resource definition manually before starting the Helm installation:
```
bash
kubectl apply -f https://github.com/Dynatrace/dynatrace-operator/releases/download/v0.13.0/dynatrace-operator-crd.yaml
```
Create secret for API token

Create a secret named dynakube for the API token obtained in Tokens and permissions required.
```
bash
kubectl -n dynatrace create secret generic dynakube --from-literal="apiToken=<API_TOKEN>"
```
Apply the DynaKube custom resource

Download the DynaKube custom resource sample for host monitoring from GitHub. In addition, you can review the available parameters or how-to-guides, and adapt the DynaKube custom resource according to your requirements.

Run the command below to apply the DynaKube custom resource, making sure to replace <your-DynaKube-CR> with your actual DynaKube custom resource file name. A validation webhook will provide helpful error messages if there's a problem.
```
bash
kubectl apply -f <your-DynaKube-CR>.yaml
```

optional Verify deployment

Verify that your DynaKube is running and all pods in your Dynatrace namespace are running and ready.

bash
> kubectl get dynakube -n dynatrace
NAME         APIURL                                          STATUS     AGE
dynakube     https://<ENVIRONMENTID>.live.dynatrace.com/api  Running    45s

In a default DynaKube configuration with CSI driver, you should see the following pods:

bash
> kubectl get pods -n dynatrace
NAME                                  READY   STATUS    RESTARTS        AGE
dynakube-activegate-0                 1/1     Running   0               50s
dynakube-oneagent-b88rn               1/1     Running   0               50s
dynakube-oneagent-m5jm4               1/1     Running   0               50s
dynakube-oneagent-qhd9u               1/1     Running   0               50s
dynatrace-oneagent-csi-driver-qxfwx   4/4     Running   0               2m49s
dynatrace-oneagent-csi-driver-xk5c4   4/4     Running   0               2m49s
dynatrace-oneagent-csi-driver-mz6ch   4/4     Running   0               2m49s
dynatrace-operator-7dc8dc7d8c-wmh4z   1/1     Running   0               2m59s
dynatrace-webhook-7bb6957fb5-l8fsq    1/1     Running   0               2m59s
dynatrace-webhook-7bb6957fb5-rqnqk    1/1     Running   0               2m59s

As OneAgent and CSI-driver are deployed as DaemonSet you should have a OneAgent and CSI-driver pod on each node.

Add the Dynatrace Helm repository
```
bash
helm repo add dynatrace \
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Dynatrace/dynatrace-operator/main/config/helm/repos/stable
```
Note that attempting to access the above URL will result in a 404 error page as it is only used internally by the Helm client.

Install Dynatrace Operator

You have two options:

Option 1: Install Dynatrace Operator using the default values:

bash
helm install dynatrace-operator dynatrace/dynatrace-operator \
  --set "installCRD=true" \
  --set "csidriver.enabled=true" \
  --atomic \
  --create-namespace --namespace dynatrace

Option 2: For additional configuration to the Helm chart, edit the values.yaml sample from GitHub, then run the install command passing the YAML file as an argument:

bash
helm install dynatrace-operator dynatrace/dynatrace-operator \
  -f values.yaml \
  --atomic \
  --create-namespace --namespace dynatrace

If installCRD is set to false, you need to create the custom resource definition manually before starting the Helm installation:

bash
oc apply -f https://github.com/Dynatrace/dynatrace-operator/releases/download/v0.13.0/dynatrace-operator-crd.yaml

Create secret for API token

Create a secret named dynakube for the API token obtained in Tokens and permissions required.
```
bash
oc -n dynatrace create secret generic dynakube --from-literal="apiToken=<API_TOKEN>"
```
Apply the DynaKube custom resource

Download the DynaKube custom resource sample for host monitoring from GitHub. In addition, you can review the available parameters or how-to-guides, and adapt the DynaKube custom resource according to your requirements.

Run the command below to apply the DynaKube custom resource, making sure to replace <your-DynaKube-CR> with your actual DynaKube custom resource file name. A validation webhook will provide helpful error messages if there's a problem.
```
bash
oc apply -f <your-DynaKube-CR>.yaml
```

optional Verify deployment

Verify that your DynaKube is running and all pods in your Dynatrace namespace are running and ready.

bash
> oc get dynakube -n dynatrace
NAME         APIURL                                          STATUS     AGE
dynakube     https://<ENVIRONMENTID>.live.dynatrace.com/api  Running    45s

In a default DynaKube configuration with CSI driver, you should see the following pods:

bash
> oc get pods -n dynatrace
NAME                                  READY   STATUS    RESTARTS        AGE
dynakube-activegate-0                 1/1     Running   0               50s
dynakube-oneagent-b88rn               1/1     Running   0               50s
dynakube-oneagent-m5jm4               1/1     Running   0               50s
dynakube-oneagent-qhd9u               1/1     Running   0               50s
dynatrace-oneagent-csi-driver-qxfwx   4/4     Running   0               2m49s
dynatrace-oneagent-csi-driver-xk5c4   4/4     Running   0               2m49s
dynatrace-oneagent-csi-driver-mz6ch   4/4     Running   0               2m49s
dynatrace-operator-7dc8dc7d8c-wmh4z   1/1     Running   0               2m59s
dynatrace-webhook-7bb6957fb5-l8fsq    1/1     Running   0               2m59s
dynatrace-webhook-7bb6957fb5-rqnqk    1/1     Running   0               2m59s

As OneAgent and CSI-driver are deployed as DaemonSet you should have a OneAgent and CSI-driver pod on each node.

Learn more

After you've successfully installed the Dynatrace Operator, you may find the following resources helpful for further learning and troubleshooting.

Get actionable answers

Start to analyze your Kubernetes clusters and containerized Apps with Dynatrace and benefit from actionable answers.

Guides

Learn how you can configure Dynatrace Operator to support specific use cases.

Troubleshooting

Troubleshoot any challenges you may encounter while working with the Dynatrace Operator and its various components.

How it works

Want to learn more about the Dynatrace components in your Kubernetes cluster?

Reference

API reference and configuration options for all Dynatrace components within your Kubernetes cluster.

Dynatrace Operator release notes

See release notes for Dynatrace Operator.

Update or uninstall

This page provides a detailed instructions on how to update and uninstall Dynatrace Operator.