Cluster integrations (deprecated) (FREE)

• Deprecated in GitLab 14.5.
• Disabled on self-managed in GitLab 15.0.

WARNING: This feature was deprecated in GitLab 14.5.

FLAG: On self-managed GitLab, by default this feature is not available. To make it available, ask an administrator to enable the feature flag named certificate_based_clusters.

GitLab provides several ways to integrate applications to your Kubernetes cluster.

To enable cluster integrations, first add a Kubernetes cluster to a GitLab project or group or instance.

You can install your applications manually as shown in the following sections, or use the Cluster management project template that automates the installation.

Although, the Cluster management project template still requires that you manually do the last steps of this section, Enable Prometheus integration for your cluster. An issue exists to automate this step.

Prometheus cluster integrations can only be enabled for clusters connected through cluster certificates.

To enable Prometheus for your cluster connected through the GitLab agent, you can integrate it manually.

There is no option to enable Elastic Stack for your cluster if it is connected with the GitLab agent. Follow this issue for updates.

Prometheus cluster integration

Introduced in GitLab 13.11.

WARNING: This feature was deprecated in GitLab 14.5. However, you can still use Prometheus for Kubernetes clusters connected to GitLab through the agent by enabling Prometheus manually.

You can integrate your Kubernetes cluster with Prometheus for monitoring key metrics of your apps directly from the GitLab UI.

Once enabled, you can see metrics from services available in the metrics library.

Prometheus Prerequisites

To use this integration:

1. Prometheus must be installed in your cluster in the gitlab-managed-apps namespace.
2. The Service resource for Prometheus must be named prometheus-prometheus-server.

You can manage your Prometheus however you like, but as an example, you can set it up using Helm as follows:

# Create the required Kubernetes namespace
kubectl create ns gitlab-managed-apps

# Download Helm chart values that is compatible with the requirements above.
# These are included in the Cluster Management project template.
wget https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/project-templates/cluster-management/-/raw/master/applications/prometheus/values.yaml

# Add the Prometheus community Helm chart repository
helm repo add prometheus-community https://prometheus-community.github.io/helm-charts

# Install Prometheus
helm install prometheus prometheus-community/prometheus -n gitlab-managed-apps --values values.yaml

Alternatively, you can use your preferred installation method to install Prometheus as long as you meet the requirements above.

Enable Prometheus integration for your cluster

To enable the Prometheus integration for your cluster:

1. Go to the cluster's page:
   • For a project-level cluster, go to your project's Infrastructure > Kubernetes clusters.
   • For a group-level cluster, go to your group's Kubernetes page.
   • For an instance-level cluster, go to your instance's Kubernetes page.
2. Select the Integrations tab.
3. Check the Enable Prometheus integration checkbox.
4. Select Save changes.
5. Go to the Health tab to see your cluster's metrics.