Datadog Plugin for kubectl
Datadog provides a kubectl plugin with helper utilities that gives visibility into internal components. You can use the plugin with Operator installations or with the Datadog Helm chart.
Install the plugin
Run:
kubectl krew install datadog
This uses the Krew plugin manager.
$ kubectl krew install datadog
Installing plugin: datadog
Installed plugin: datadog
\
| Use this plugin:
| kubectl datadog
| Documentation:
| https://github.com/DataDog/datadog-operator
/
Available commands
$ kubectl datadog --help
Usage:
datadog [command]
Available Commands:
agent
autoscaling Manage autoscaling features
clusteragent
completion Generate the autocompletion script for the specified shell
flare Collect a Datadog's Operator flare and send it to Datadog
get Get DatadogAgent deployment(s)
helm2dda Map Datadog Helm values to DatadogAgent CRD schema
help Help about any command
metrics
validate
Agent sub-commands
$ kubectl datadog agent --help
Usage:
datadog agent [command]
Available Commands:
check Find check errors
find Find datadog agent pod monitoring a given pod
upgrade Upgrade the Datadog Agent version
Cluster Agent sub-commands
$ kubectl datadog clusteragent --help
Usage:
datadog clusteragent [command]
Available Commands:
leader Get Datadog Cluster Agent leader
upgrade Upgrade the Datadog Cluster Agent version
Validate sub-commands
$ kubectl datadog validate ad --help
Usage:
datadog validate ad [command]
Available Commands:
pod Validate the autodiscovery annotations for a pod
service Validate the autodiscovery annotations for a service
Autoscaling sub-commands (Technical Preview)
Note: The autoscaling commands are part of the Datadog Cluster Autoscaling feature, which is in technical preview. APIs and behaviors may change in future releases.
These commands install and configure Karpenter on an EKS cluster so that Datadog can manage cluster autoscaling.
$ kubectl datadog autoscaling cluster --help
Manage cluster autoscaling
Usage:
datadog autoscaling cluster [command]
Available Commands:
evict-legacy-nodes Drain workloads from non-Datadog node groups onto Datadog-managed Karpenter NodePools
install Install autoscaling on an EKS cluster
uninstall Uninstall autoscaling from an EKS cluster
update Update an existing autoscaling installation on an EKS cluster
autoscaling cluster install
Installs Karpenter on an EKS cluster and configures it for use with Datadog Cluster Autoscaling. The command:
- Creates two AWS CloudFormation stacks holding the IAM roles, permissions and AWS-side plumbing Karpenter needs.
- Installs Karpenter via Helm from the OCI registry. By default the controller runs on dedicated Fargate nodes, so that it never runs on the nodes it manages; pass
--install-mode=existing-nodes to run it on the cluster’s own nodes instead. - Optionally creates
EC2NodeClass and NodePool Karpenter resources, inferred from existing cluster nodes or EKS node groups.
If something goes wrong, those CloudFormation stacks and that Helm release are the two places to look. The command installs nothing and exits with an explanatory message when EKS auto-mode is active, or when the cluster already runs a Karpenter installation kubectl-datadog does not manage in the requested namespace. Re-running it over its own installation is not a no-op: with the default --create-karpenter-resources=all it re-creates the EC2NodeClass and NodePool, discarding manual edits — use update for that.
The cluster name must not be longer than 46 characters: the autoscaling cluster commands refuse a longer name up front, before creating or changing anything.
$ kubectl datadog autoscaling cluster install --help
Install autoscaling on an EKS cluster
Usage:
datadog autoscaling cluster install [flags]
Examples:
# install autoscaling
kubectl datadog autoscaling cluster install
Flags:
--cluster-name string Name of the EKS cluster
--create-karpenter-resources CreateKarpenterResources Which Karpenter resources to create: none, ec2nodeclass, all (default: all) (default all)
--debug Enable debug logs
--fargate-subnets strings Override auto-discovery of private subnets for the Fargate profile (comma-separated subnet IDs). Only used when --install-mode=fargate.
--inference-method InferenceMethod Method to infer EC2NodeClass and NodePool properties: nodes, nodegroups (default nodegroups)
--install-mode InstallMode How to run the Karpenter controller: fargate (on dedicated Fargate nodes, default) or existing-nodes (on existing cluster nodes) (default fargate)
--karpenter-namespace string Name of the Kubernetes namespace to deploy Karpenter into (default "dd-karpenter")
--karpenter-version string Version of Karpenter to install (default to latest)
autoscaling cluster update
Refreshes an autoscaling installation previously created by kubectl datadog: it updates the CloudFormation stacks and upgrades the Karpenter Helm release in place. The command refuses to touch a Karpenter installation it did not create.
The parameters that cannot change after the initial install — Karpenter namespace, install mode, and Fargate subnets — are read back from the CloudFormation stack install created, and are therefore not exposed as flags.
Unlike install, --create-karpenter-resources defaults to none, so that manual edits to the EC2NodeClass and NodePool resources survive an update. Pass ec2nodeclass to regenerate the EC2NodeClass alone, or all to regenerate both.
$ kubectl datadog autoscaling cluster update --help
Update an existing autoscaling installation on an EKS cluster
Usage:
datadog autoscaling cluster update [flags]
Examples:
# update a previously installed kubectl-datadog Karpenter deployment
kubectl datadog autoscaling cluster update
Flags:
--cluster-name string Name of the EKS cluster
--create-karpenter-resources CreateKarpenterResources Which Karpenter resources to (re-)create: none (default), ec2nodeclass, all (default none)
--debug Enable debug logs
--inference-method InferenceMethod Method to infer EC2NodeClass and NodePool properties when --create-karpenter-resources is set: nodes, nodegroups (default nodegroups)
--karpenter-version string Version of Karpenter to upgrade to (default to latest)
autoscaling cluster evict-legacy-nodes
Migrates a cluster off the node groups Datadog does not manage — EC2 Auto Scaling groups, EKS managed node groups, user Karpenter NodePools and standalone EC2 instances — so that their workloads can reschedule onto the Datadog-managed Karpenter NodePools. It scales down the cluster-autoscaler if there is one, then cordons and drains each target’s nodes and scales the target down to zero, one target at a time.
Select the targets with --all or with one or more --target, and preview a run with --dry-run. The command displays its plan and asks for confirmation before draining anything. It is re-runnable: a node that fails to drain keeps its workloads and its instance is never terminated, so a later run can pick up where this one stopped.
The migration is one-way — the plugin does not restore the previous capacity, nor scale the cluster-autoscaler back up. Note also that a user Karpenter NodePool is only drained, not disabled, so Karpenter may provision new nodes from it unless you retire it yourself.
$ kubectl datadog autoscaling cluster evict-legacy-nodes --help
Drain workloads from non-Datadog node groups onto Datadog-managed Karpenter NodePools
Usage:
datadog autoscaling cluster evict-legacy-nodes [flags]
Examples:
# evict every node group that is not Datadog-managed (cluster-autoscaler ASGs,
# EKS managed node groups, user Karpenter NodePools, standalone EC2)
kubectl datadog autoscaling cluster evict-legacy-nodes --all
# evict a single ASG by name
kubectl datadog autoscaling cluster evict-legacy-nodes --target=asg/my-legacy-asg
# preview the actions without performing them
kubectl datadog autoscaling cluster evict-legacy-nodes --all --dry-run
Flags:
--all Evict every node group that is not managed by Datadog
--cluster-name string Name of the EKS cluster
--debug Enable debug logs
--dry-run Log the actions that would be taken without performing them
--ensure-pdbs Create temporary PodDisruptionBudgets (maxUnavailable: 1) for workloads without one, and remove them at the end (default true)
--eviction-timeout duration Time budget per pod for the Eviction API to succeed before giving up (PDB-blocked pods) (default 5m0s)
--karpenter-namespace string Namespace where Karpenter is deployed (auto-detected when empty)
--node-timeout duration Time budget per node for it to become empty after pods have been evicted (default 15m0s)
--skip-cluster-autoscaler Do not scale the cluster-autoscaler Deployment to 0 replicas as step 1
--target standalone Target a specific node group: <manager>/<name>, with <manager> one of asg, eksManagedNodeGroup, karpenter. Use standalone (no name) for standalone EC2 instances. Repeatable. Mutually exclusive with --all.
--yes Skip the confirmation prompt
autoscaling cluster uninstall
Removes Karpenter and the associated resources from an EKS cluster. Deletes the NodePool and EC2NodeClass resources it created, waits for the corresponding EC2 instances to terminate, uninstalls the Karpenter Helm release, cleans up IAM, and removes the CloudFormation stacks.
The nodes provisioned from the NodePool resources it created are drained and terminated in the process, so make sure the cluster has other capacity first; hand-created and third-party NodePools are left alone. Each step is independent and best-effort, so an interrupted run can simply be re-run.
$ kubectl datadog autoscaling cluster uninstall --help
Uninstall autoscaling from an EKS cluster
Usage:
datadog autoscaling cluster uninstall [flags]
Examples:
# uninstall autoscaling
kubectl datadog autoscaling cluster uninstall
Flags:
--cluster-name string Name of the EKS cluster
--karpenter-namespace string Name of the Kubernetes namespace where Karpenter is deployed (default "dd-karpenter")
--yes Skip confirmation prompt
