Deploying Container Observability shared services

Container Observability (CO) deployment installs a set of northbound UI and analytics services together with southbound data collectors to give you end‑to‑end visibility into Kubernetes clusters and containerized workloads. Using Helm‑based charts, you deploy shared services such as Kafka, VictoriaMetrics, and metrics APIs, then layer on the CO frontend, backend, and south components that collect metrics, logs, traces, and events from your clusters. This architecture separates control‑plane functions from data‑plane collection so you can scale ingest independently, connect to cloud and on‑prem Kubernetes environments, and provide SREs and platform teams with a unified, topology‑aware view of application health and performance across hybrid infrastructure.

Prerequisites

Before you begin the installation, ensure that your environment meets the following basic requirements:

You have Helm installed and configured to access your Kubernetes cluster.
You have added the Virtana Helm repository to your Helm configuration.
You know the storage class names to use for Kafka and VictoriaMetrics.
You have Docker registry credentials if you need to pull images from a private registry.

Create the Shared Services values file

Create a new file named app-mon-shared-services-values.yaml in your terminal or default editor. This file defines the configuration for:

Global deployment parameters
Shared Kafka (oc-shared-kafka)
Metrics service (cp-metrics-service)
VictoriaMetrics cluster (victoria-metrics-cluster)

Update the placeholder values according to your environment.

Deployment-wide settings

The global section sets values that apply across all shared-services components.

global:
  environment: "app"
  machine_type: "small" 
  secret_source: "valuesfile" 
  dockerRegistryCredentials: 
    DOCKER_SERVER: "https://index.docker.io/v2/"
    DOCKER_USERNAME: "username"
    DOCKER_PASSWORD: "password"

The following table describes each field of above YAML file:

Table 36.

Field	Description	Default value
`global.environment`	Set this to identify the deployment environment, for example "app", "dev", or "prod".	"app"
`global.machine_type`	Controls resource sizing presets. Supported values: "small", "medium", "large".	"small"
`global.secret_source`	Docker credentials are provided directly in values file.	"valuesfile"
`global.dockerRegistryCredentials`	Credentials to pull container images from a Docker registry.
`DOCKER_SERVER`	Registry URL.	"https://index.docker.io/v2/"
`DOCKER_USERNAME`	Registry username.	"username"
`DOCKER_PASSWORD`	Registry password.	"password"

Shared Kafka parameters

This section configures the shared Kafka controller, including persistence, resource sizing, JVM heap, topic provisioning, and Kafka server properties.

oc-shared-kafka:
  controller:
    persistence:
      storageClass: ""
      size: 100Gi
    resources:
      requests:
        cpu: 500m
        memory: 1536Mi
      limits:
        cpu: 1
        memory: 1536Mi
    heapOpts: -Xmx1g -Xms512m
    provisioning:
      enabled: true
      topics:
      - name: ops_ingester_tsdb
        partitions: 40
    extraConfig: |
      num.partitions=40
      default.replication.factor=1
      log.retention.hours=1
      log.segment.bytes=1073741824
      message.max.bytes=20981520
      socket.send.buffer.bytes=102400
      socket.receive.buffer.bytes=102400
      socket.request.max.bytes=104857600
      offsets.topic.replication.factor=1
      transaction.state.log.min.isr=1
      transaction.state.log.replication.factor=1
    nodeSelector: {}
    tolerations: []

The following table describes each field of above YAML file:

Table 37.

Field	Description	Default value
`oc-shared-kafka.controller.persistence.storageClass`	Chooses the Kubernetes StorageClass for Kafka persistent volumes.	" "
`oc-shared-kafka.controller.persistence.size`	Sets the size of the Kafka persistent volume claim (PVC).	100 Gib
`oc-shared-kafka.controller.resources.requests.cpu`	Minimum CPU reserved for the Kafka container (in millicores).	500 m
`oc-shared-kafka.controller.resources.requests.memory`	Minimum memory reserved for Kafka.	1536 Mi
`oc-shared-kafka.controller.resources.limits.cpu`	The maximum CPU Kafka can consume.	1
`oc-shared-kafka.controller.resources.limits.memory`	The maximum memory Kafka can consume.	1536 Mi
`oc-shared-kafka.controller.heapOpts`	Sets Kafka JVM heap options where `-Xmx` is the maximum heap size, and `-Xms` is the initial heap size.	-Xmx1g -Xms512m
`oc-shared-kafka.controller.provisioning.enabled`	Enables/disables auto-creation/provisioning of Kafka topics during deployment.	true/false
`oc-shared-kafka.controller.provisioning.topics`	Defines topics to create.	Each entry includes: `name`: Topic name (example: ops_ingester_tsdb). `partitions`: Number of partitions (example: 40).
`oc-shared-kafka.controller.extraConfig`	Injects Kafka controller configuration properties.	-
`oc-shared-kafka.controller.nodeSelector`	Constrains Kafka pods to nodes with matching labels.	{ }
`oc-shared-kafka.controller.tolerations`	Allows Kafka pods to schedule onto tainted nodes.	[ ]

Metrics service parameters

This section configures the metrics service behavior (Kafka listener concurrency) and auto-scaling. It also defines a shared nodeSelector anchor you can reuse.

cp-metrics-service:
  global:
    nodeSelector: &nodeSelector {}
  env:
    KAFKA_LISTENER_CONCURRENCY: "2"
  horizontalPodAutoscaler:
    enabled: true
    maxReplicas: 5
    minReplicas: 2

The following table describes each field of above YAML file:

Table 38.

Field	Decription	Default value
`cp-metrics-service.global.nodeSelector`	Node selection rules for the metrics service.	&nodeSelector { }
`cp-metrics-service.env.KAFKA_LISTENER_CONCURRENCY`	Controls how many concurrent Kafka listener threads the service uses.	"2"
`cp-metrics-service.horizontalPodAutoscaler.enabled`	Enables/disables Horizontal Pod Auto-scaling (HPA) for the metrics service.	true/false
`cp-metrics-service.horizontalPodAutoscaler.minReplicas`	Minimum number of replicas when auto-scaling is enabled.	5
`cp-metrics-service.horizontalPodAutoscaler.maxReplicas`	Maximum number of replicas when auto-scaling is enabled.	2

VictoriaMetrics cluster parameters

This section configures VictoriaMetrics cluster following components:

vmstorage for durable time-series storage
vminsert for ingest/write path
vmselect for query/read path

Each component supports scheduling controls and autoscaling where applicable.

victoria-metrics-cluster:
  vmstorage:
    replicaCount: 4
    retentionPeriod: 1
    persistentVolume:
      storageClassName: ""
      size: 100Gi
    resources:
      limits:
        cpu: 500m
        memory: 1Gi
      requests:
        cpu: 500m
        memory: 1Gi
    nodeSelector: {}
    tolerations: []
  vmselect:
    horizontalPodAutoscaler:
      minReplicas: 2
      maxReplicas: 10
    nodeSelector: {}
    tolerations: []
  vminsert:
    horizontalPodAutoscaler:
      minReplicas: 2
      maxReplicas: 10
    nodeSelector: {}
    tolerations: []

The following table describes each field of above YAML file:

Table 39.

Field	Description	Default value
`victoria-metrics-cluster.vmstorage.replicaCount`	Number of vmstorage replicas.	4
`victoria-metrics-cluster.vmstorage.retentionPeriod`	Data retention window.	Supported values 1w, 1d, number without measurement means month, for example 2 = 2month
`victoria-metrics-cluster.vmstorage.persistentVolume.storageClassName`	StorageClass for VictoriaMetrics PVCs.	" "
`victoria-metrics-cluster.vmstorage.persistentVolume.size`	PVC size per `vmstorage` replica.	100 Gib
victoria-metrics-cluster.vmstorage.resources.requests.* / limits.*	Requests reserve capacity and limits cap usage. Ensure resources match expected ingest and query load. Storage nodes often need stable CPU and memory.	-
`victoria-metrics-cluster.vmstorage.nodeSelector` and `tolerations`	Controls which nodes `vmstorage` can run on.	-
`victoria-metrics-cluster.vmselect.horizontalPodAutoscaler.minReplicas`	Minimum `vmselect` replicas.	2
`victoria-metrics-cluster.vmselect.horizontalPodAutoscaler.maxReplicas`	Maximum `vmselect` replicas.	10
`victoria-metrics-cluster.vminsert.horizontalPodAutoscaler.minReplicas`	Minimum `vminsert` replicas.	2
`victoria-metrics-cluster.vminsert.horizontalPodAutoscaler.maxReplicas`	Maximum `vminsert` replicas.	10

Deploy shared services

You deploy shared services using the virtana-co-controller chart and the values file you created.

Check the latest chart version

Update the Helm repository in your terminal and list available versions of the controller chart:

helm repo update
helm search repo virtana-repo/virtana-co-controller

Deploy using Helm CLI

This installs shared services into the oc-shared-services namespace and enables the shared-services tag.

helm upgrade --install opscruise-shared-services virtana-repo/virtana-co-controller \
  --namespace oc-shared-services --create-namespace \
  --set tags.oc_shared_services=true -f app-mon-shared-services-values.yaml \
  --version <LATEST_VERSION>

Deploy using Argo CD

This method deploys the same Helm chart via Argo CD GitOps and keeps it continuously reconciled.

apiVersion: argoproj.io/v1alpha1
kind: Application
metadata:
  name: opscruise-shared-services
  namespace: argocd
  finalizers:
    - resources-finalizer.argocd.argoproj.io
spec:
  destination:
    server: https://kubernetes.default.svc
    namespace: oc-shared-services
  source:
    chart: virtana-co-controller
    repoURL: https://virtana.gitlab.io/helm-charts
    targetRevision: <LATEST_VERSION> # Provide latest version
    helm:
      releaseName: opscruise-shared-services
      parameters:
        - name: "tags.oc_shared_services"
          value: "true"
      values: |
        <contents of app-mon-shared-services-values.yaml>
  syncPolicy:
    automated:
      prune: true
      selfHeal: true
    syncOptions:
      - CreateNamespace=true

Table 40.

Field	Description	Default value
`metadata.name`	Argo CD application name.	opscruise-shared-services
`spec.destination.server`	Target cluster API server.	https://kubernetes.default.svc
`spec.destination.namespace`	Target namespace.	oc-shared-services
`spec.source.chart / repoURL / targetRevision`	Chart coordinates and version.
`spec.source.helm.releaseName`	Helm release name Argo CD will manage.
`spec.source.helm.parameters`		sets: `- name: "tags.oc_shared_services"` `value: "true"`
`spec.source.helm.values`	Inline values.	Paste the full contents of `app-mon-shared-services-values.yaml`
`syncPolicy.automated.prune`	Removes resources not in the desired state.	true
`syncPolicy.automated.selfHeal`	Re-applies drifted resources automatically.	true
`syncOptions.CreateNamespace=true`	Creates namespace if missing.

Deploy using Terraform

This method installs the chart using Terraform’s Helm provider and allows you to inject credentials via variables.

resource "helm_release" "opscruise_shared_services" {
  name             = "opscruise-shared-services"
  create_namespace = true
  namespace        = "oc-shared-services"
  chart            = "virtana-co-controller"
  repository       = "https://virtana.gitlab.io/helm-charts"
  version          = var.helm_version
  timeout          = 600
  wait             = true

  values = [
    templatefile("${path.module}/../values/app-mon-shared-services-values.yaml", {
      docker_password = var.docker_password
      docker_username = var.docker_username
    })
  ]

  set {
    name  = "tags.oc_shared_services"
    value = "true"
  }
}

Table 41.

Field	Description
`name = "opscruise-shared-services"`	Helm release name.
`create_namespace = true`	Boolean flag to create the target namespace.
`namespace = "oc-shared-services"`	Kubernetes namespace where the release will be installed.
`chart = "virtana-co-controller"`	Helm chart name.
`repository = "https://virtana.gitlab.io/helm-charts"`	Helm chart repository URL.
`version = var.helm_version`	Chart version to deploy.
`timeout = 600`	Deployment timeout in seconds.
`wait = true`	Wait behavior flag.
`values = [templatefile(...)]`	Renders a values YAML from a template.
`set { name = "tags.oc_shared_services" ... }`	enables shared services tag

Use a private image registry (optional)

You can add this as an optional setting in your terminal if your cluster cannot pull images from the default public registry locations.

Add the following command to app-mon-shared-services-values.yaml and replace the example.io with your registry:

cp-metrics-service:
  image:
    registry: example.io

oc-shared-kafka:
  image:
    registry: example.io
    repository: kafka

victoria-metrics-cluster:
  vminsert:
    image:
      repository: example.io/vminsert
  vmselect:
    image:
      repository: example.io/vmselect
  vmstorage:
    image:
      repository: example.io/vmstorage

Table 42.

Field	Description	Default value
`cp-metrics-service.image.registry`	Sets the container image registry host for the `cp-metrics-service` image.	example.io
`oc-shared-kafka.image.registry`	Defines the registry host from which the Kafka image is pulled.	example.io
`oc-shared-kafka.image.repository`	Defines the image repository within the registry.	kafka
`victoria-metrics-cluster.vminsert.image.repository`	Sets the full image repository path for the `vminsert` component.	example.io/vminsert
`victoria-metrics-cluster.vmselect.image.repository`	Sets the full repository path for the `vmselect` image.	example.io/vmselect
`victoria-metrics-cluster.vmstorage.image.repository`	Sets the full repository path for the `vmstorage` image.	example.io/vmstorage

In this section:

Deploying Container Observability shared services

Prerequisites

Create the Shared Services values file

Deployment-wide settings

Shared Kafka parameters

Metrics service parameters

VictoriaMetrics cluster parameters

Deploy shared services

Check the latest chart version

Deploy using Helm CLI

Deploy using Argo CD

Deploy using Terraform

Use a private image registry (optional)

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