AKS monitoring with Container Insights in Azure - Cheat Sheet & Quick Revision

Recall & Review

beginner

What is Container Insights in AKS?

Container Insights is a feature in Azure Monitor that helps you collect, view, and analyze performance and health data from your Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) clusters.

beginner

How do you enable Container Insights on an AKS cluster?

You enable Container Insights by connecting your AKS cluster to Azure Monitor using the Azure portal, Azure CLI, or ARM templates. This installs monitoring agents that collect data from your cluster.

intermediate

What types of data does Container Insights collect from AKS?

Container Insights collects metrics like CPU and memory usage, node and pod health, container logs, and performance data to help you understand your cluster's state.

intermediate

Which Azure service stores the data collected by Container Insights?

The data collected by Container Insights is stored in a Log Analytics workspace, where you can query and analyze it using Kusto Query Language (KQL).

beginner

Name one benefit of using Container Insights for AKS monitoring.

Container Insights provides real-time visibility into your AKS cluster's health and performance, helping you quickly detect and troubleshoot issues.

What is the primary purpose of Container Insights in AKS?

A To monitor and analyze AKS cluster performance and health

B To deploy applications to AKS

C To manage user access to AKS

D To backup AKS cluster data

Container Insights is designed to monitor and analyze the performance and health of AKS clusters.

Where is the monitoring data from Container Insights stored?

A Azure Cosmos DB

B Azure Blob Storage

C Azure SQL Database

D Log Analytics workspace

Container Insights stores its data in a Log Analytics workspace for querying and analysis.

Which tool can you use to query Container Insights data?

A Azure CLI

B Kusto Query Language (KQL)

C Terraform

D PowerShell

Kusto Query Language (KQL) is used to query data in Log Analytics workspaces.

How can you enable Container Insights on an existing AKS cluster?

A By connecting the cluster to Azure Monitor via Azure portal or CLI

B By installing Helm charts manually

C By creating a new AKS cluster with monitoring enabled

D By configuring Kubernetes Ingress

You enable Container Insights by connecting your AKS cluster to Azure Monitor using the Azure portal or CLI.

Which of these is NOT a metric collected by Container Insights?

A CPU usage of pods

B Memory usage of nodes

C User login history

D Container logs

User login history is not collected by Container Insights; it focuses on cluster and container metrics.

Explain how Container Insights helps you monitor an AKS cluster.

Think about what data is collected and how it helps you understand your cluster.

Describe the steps to enable Container Insights on an existing AKS cluster.

Focus on the tools and actions needed to start monitoring.

Practice

1. What is the primary purpose of enabling Container Insights on an AKS cluster?

easy

A. To increase the number of nodes in the cluster automatically

B. To deploy applications faster on AKS

C. To monitor the health and performance of the AKS cluster

D. To secure the AKS cluster with firewall rules

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand Container Insights role

   Container Insights is designed to collect and display health and performance data for AKS clusters.

2. Step 2: Compare options with Container Insights function

   Only monitoring health and performance matches Container Insights' purpose; other options relate to scaling, deployment, or security.

3. Final Answer:

   To monitor the health and performance of the AKS cluster -> Option C

4. Quick Check:

   Container Insights = Monitoring AKS health [OK]

Hint: Container Insights is about monitoring, not scaling or security [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Confusing monitoring with scaling features
• Thinking it deploys apps faster
• Assuming it manages security rules

2. Which Azure CLI command correctly enables Container Insights monitoring on an existing AKS cluster named myCluster in resource group myGroup?

easy

A. az aks update --enable-monitoring --name myCluster --resource-group myGroup

B. az aks enable-addons --addons monitoring --name myCluster --resource-group myGroup

C. az aks create --addons monitoring --name myCluster --resource-group myGroup

D. az monitor enable --resource-group myGroup --name myCluster

Solution

1. Step 1: Identify the correct command to enable addons

   The command to enable addons on an existing AKS cluster is az aks enable-addons with the --addons monitoring flag.

2. Step 2: Verify command syntax and parameters

   az aks enable-addons --addons monitoring --name myCluster --resource-group myGroup uses the correct command and parameters: cluster name and resource group are specified properly.

3. Final Answer:

   az aks enable-addons --addons monitoring --name myCluster --resource-group myGroup -> Option B

4. Quick Check:

   Enable addons command = az aks enable-addons --addons monitoring --name myCluster --resource-group myGroup [OK]

Hint: Use 'az aks enable-addons' with '--addons monitoring' [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Using 'az aks create' instead of enable-addons
• Trying 'az aks update' with wrong flags
• Confusing Azure Monitor commands with AKS commands

3. After enabling Container Insights on your AKS cluster, you run this command:

az aks show --name myCluster --resource-group myGroup --query addonProfiles

What output indicates that monitoring is enabled?

medium

A. {"omsagent": {"enabled": true}}

B. {"monitoring": {"status": "active"}}

C. {"containerInsights": {"enabled": false}}

D. {"omsagent": {"enabled": false}}

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand addonProfiles output for monitoring

   The monitoring addon in AKS is called 'omsagent'. When enabled, its 'enabled' property is true.

2. Step 2: Match output with enabled monitoring

   {"omsagent": {"enabled": true}} shows 'omsagent' with 'enabled': true, indicating monitoring is active.

3. Final Answer:

   {"omsagent": {"enabled": true}} -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   omsagent enabled = true means monitoring active [OK]

Hint: 'omsagent' enabled true means Container Insights is on [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Looking for 'monitoring' or 'containerInsights' keys instead of 'omsagent'
• Confusing enabled false as active
• Misreading JSON structure

4. You enabled monitoring on your AKS cluster but do not see any logs or metrics in Azure Monitor. Which of the following is the most likely cause?

medium

A. Container Insights only works with Windows nodes, not Linux

B. The AKS cluster nodes are running an unsupported Kubernetes version

C. The Azure CLI command used was missing the --resource-group parameter

D. The Log Analytics workspace was not linked or created during monitoring setup

Solution

1. Step 1: Identify key requirement for Container Insights data

   Container Insights requires a Log Analytics workspace to collect and store logs and metrics.

2. Step 2: Analyze why no data appears

   If the workspace was not linked or created, no data will flow to Azure Monitor, causing empty logs and metrics.

3. Final Answer:

   The Log Analytics workspace was not linked or created during monitoring setup -> Option D

4. Quick Check:

   Missing workspace = no logs in Azure Monitor [OK]

Hint: Check Log Analytics workspace linkage if no monitoring data shows [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Assuming Kubernetes version blocks monitoring data
• Thinking missing CLI parameters always cause no data
• Believing Container Insights only supports Windows nodes

5. You want to set up alerts in Azure Monitor for your AKS cluster using Container Insights to notify you when CPU usage exceeds 80% for 5 minutes. Which steps should you follow?

hard

A. Create a Log Analytics query for CPU usage, then create an alert rule based on that query with a 5-minute evaluation period

B. Enable monitoring with az aks enable-addons, then configure alerts directly in AKS cluster settings

C. Install a custom agent on each node to send CPU metrics, then configure alerts in Azure Monitor

D. Use Azure CLI to scale the cluster automatically when CPU exceeds 80%

Solution

1. Step 1: Use Log Analytics to query CPU metrics

   Container Insights sends metrics to Log Analytics, where you can write queries to analyze CPU usage.

2. Step 2: Create an alert rule in Azure Monitor

   Set an alert rule using the query with a condition for CPU > 80% sustained over 5 minutes to trigger notifications.

3. Final Answer:

   Create a Log Analytics query for CPU usage, then create an alert rule based on that query with a 5-minute evaluation period -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   Alerts need queries + rules in Azure Monitor [OK]

Hint: Use Log Analytics queries to create alerts in Azure Monitor [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Thinking alerts are configured directly in AKS without Azure Monitor
• Assuming custom agents are needed for CPU metrics
• Confusing scaling actions with alert setup