Integrating APItoolkit with Kubernetes

This guide demonstrates how to integrate APItoolkit with Kubernetes using OpenTelemetry for API monitoring and observability.

Prerequisites

A Kubernetes cluster
kubectl CLI tool installed
APItoolkit account with an API key

Setup OpenTelemetry in Kubernetes

1. Create ConfigMap for OpenTelemetry Environment Variables

Create a file named otel-configmap.yaml:

apiVersion: v1
kind: ConfigMap
metadata:
  name: otel-config
data:
  OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT: "http://otelcol.apitoolkit.io:4317"
  OTEL_SERVICE_NAME: "your-service-name"
  OTEL_RESOURCE_ATTRIBUTES: "at-project-key=YOUR_API_KEY"
  OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_PROTOCOL: "grpc"

Replace YOUR_API_KEY with your actual APItoolkit project key.

2. Apply the ConfigMap

kubectl apply -f otel-configmap.yaml

3. Update Your Deployment to Use the ConfigMap

Modify your application deployment to include the OpenTelemetry environment variables:

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: your-app
spec:
  replicas: 1
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: your-app
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: your-app
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: your-app
        image: your-app-image:tag
        envFrom:
        - configMapRef:
            name: otel-config

4. Apply the Updated Deployment

kubectl apply -f your-deployment.yaml

OpenTelemetry Collector Sidecar (Alternative Approach)

For more advanced setups, you can deploy the OpenTelemetry Collector as a sidecar container:

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: your-app
spec:
  replicas: 1
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: your-app
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: your-app
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: your-app
        image: your-app-image:tag
        env:
        - name: OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT
          value: "http://localhost:4317"
        - name: OTEL_SERVICE_NAME
          value: "your-service-name"

      - name: otel-collector
        image: otel/opentelemetry-collector:latest
        args:
        - "--config=/conf/otel-collector-config.yaml"
        volumeMounts:
        - name: otel-collector-config
          mountPath: /conf
        env:
        - name: OTEL_RESOURCE_ATTRIBUTES
          value: "at-project-key=YOUR_API_KEY"

      volumes:
      - name: otel-collector-config
        configMap:
          name: otel-collector-config

Verifying the Setup

After deploying your application with OpenTelemetry configuration:

Check that your pods are running correctly: bash kubectl get pods
View pod logs to ensure OpenTelemetry is working: bash kubectl logs <pod-name>
Check your APItoolkit dashboard to see incoming data from your Kubernetes application.

Next Steps

Set up Kubernetes Horizontal Pod Autoscaler based on API metrics
Configure alerts in APItoolkit for critical API performance issues
Explore APItoolkit dashboard to monitor your API performance in real-time