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Installing Sematext Agent on Kubernetes

Helm Chart

The preferred way to install Sematext Agent is via a Helm chart. Sematext Agent helm chart is available in official charts' repositories, and it installs the Sematext Agent to all nodes in your cluster via DaemonSet resource.

To install it, run the following command:

helm install st-agent \
  --set infraToken=<YOUR_INFRA_APP_TOKEN> \
  --set region=<"US" or "EU"> \
  stable/sematext-agent

For more details, refer to our helm chart docs.

Updating/Upgrading Sematext Agent using Helm

To update or upgrade the Sematext Agent to the latest version using Helm, run the following commands:

helm repo update
helm upgrade st-agent stable/sematext-agent \
  --set infraToken=<YOUR_INFRA_APP_TOKEN> \
  --set region=<"US" or "EU">

This will fetch the latest chart version and apply the changes to the existing installation.

Uninstalling Sematext Agent using Helm

To uninstall Sematext Agent installed via Helm, run:

helm uninstall st-agent

This command will remove the Sematext Agent DaemonSet and all related Kubernetes resources.

---

Sematext Operator

The Sematext Operator for Kubernetes provides an easy way to deploy Sematext Agent. Sematext Operator is available in OperatorHub.io, and in RedHat's OpenShift Container Platform.

To install the operator, run the following command:

kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sematext/sematext-operator/master/bundle.yaml

Once installed, you can create a SematextAgent resource that deploys Sematext Agent to all nodes in your cluster via a DaemonSet resource:

apiVersion: sematext.com/v1alpha1
kind: SematextAgent
metadata:
  name: test-sematextagent
spec:
  region: <"US" or "EU">
  infraToken: <YOUR_INFRA_APP_TOKEN>

This operator uses all the same options as the Sematext Agent helm chart. For more details, refer to the operator docs.

Updating/Upgrading Sematext Agent using Sematext Operator

To update the Sematext Agent when using the Sematext Operator, you can apply an updated SematextAgent manifest with new configuration values or update the operator itself:

1. Updating the Operator: If there's a new version of the operator, apply the new bundle:

    kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sematext/sematext-operator/master/bundle.yaml

1. Updating the SematextAgent Resource: If you need to change the configuration (e.g., new token or region), edit the SematextAgent resource and apply the changes:

    kubectl apply -f your-updated-sematextagent.yaml

Uninstalling Sematext Agent using Sematext Operator

To uninstall the Sematext Agent when using the Sematext Operator:

1. Remove the SematextAgent Resource:

    kubectl delete sematextagent test-sematextagent

1. Uninstall the Sematext Operator:

    kubectl delete -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sematext/sematext-operator/master/bundle.yaml

---

Manual Installation

Configure RBAC

If your cluster has RBAC enabled, add ClusterRole and ClusterRoleBindings resources.

Create a st-agent-crb.yml file for the ClusterRole and the ClusterRoleBinding. Update the REPLACE_WITH_NAMESPACE value to match the namespace where the Sematext Agent will be installed:

apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
kind: ClusterRoleBinding
metadata:
  name: sematext-agent
  labels:
    app: sematext-agent
roleRef:
  apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
  kind: ClusterRole
  name: sematext-agent
subjects:
- kind: ServiceAccount
  name: sematext-agent
  namespace: <REPLACE_WITH_NAMESPACE>
---
apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
kind: ClusterRole
metadata:
  name: sematext-agent
  labels:
    app: sematext-agent
rules:
- apiGroups:
  - ""
  resources:
  - events
  - pods
  - configmaps
  - nodes
  - secrets
  verbs:
  - list
  - get
  - watch
- apiGroups:
  - ""
  resources:
  - nodes/metrics
  verbs:
  - get
  - create
- apiGroups:
  - ""
  resources:
  - pods
  - configmaps
  verbs:
  - create
  - delete
  - update
- apiGroups:
  - apps
  resources:
  - deployments
  verbs:
  - watch
  - list
- apiGroups:
  - extensions
  resources:
  - replicasets
  verbs:
  - get
  - watch
  - list

Deploy the ClusterRoleBinding and ClusterRole:

kubectl apply -f st-agent-crb.yml

Create and Deploy the DaemonSet

Create a st-agent-ds.yml file for the deployment (replace with your token and region):

apiVersion: v1
kind: ServiceAccount
metadata:
  name: sematext-agent
  labels:
    app: sematext-agent
---
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: DaemonSet
metadata:
  name: sematext-agent
  labels:
    app: sematext-agent
spec:
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: sematext-agent
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: sematext-agent
    spec:
      serviceAccountName: sematext-agent
      hostNetwork: true
      dnsPolicy: ClusterFirstWithHostNet
      containers:
      - name: agent
        image: sematext/agent:latest
        imagePullPolicy: Always
        env:
        - name: AUTODISCO_VECTOR_SERVICE_ACCOUNT
          value: sematext-agent-vector
        - name: INFRA_TOKEN
          value: <YOUR_INFRA_APP_TOKEN>
        - name: REGION
          value: <"US" or "EU">
        - name: KUBERNETES_CLUSTER_ID
          value: "default"
        - name: API_SERVER_PORT
          value: "8675"
        - name: STA_NAMESPACE
          valueFrom:
          fieldRef:
            fieldPath: metadata.namespace
        livenessProbe:
          httpGet:
            path: /health
            port: 8675
        readinessProbe:
          httpGet:
            path: /health
            port: 8675
        volumeMounts:
          - name: hostfs
            mountPath: /hostfs
            readOnly: true
          - name: sysfs
            mountPath: /host/sys
            readOnly: true
          - name: passwd
            mountPath: /etc/passwd
            readOnly: true
          - name: group
            mountPath: /etc/group
            readOnly: true
          - name: debugfs
            mountPath: /sys/kernel/debug
          - name: run
            mountPath: /var/run/
        securityContext:
          privileged: true
        ports:
          - name: http
            containerPort: 8675
            protocol: TCP
      volumes:
        - name: hostfs
          hostPath:
            path: /
        - name: sysfs
          hostPath:
            path: /sys
        - name: passwd
          hostPath:
            path: /etc/passwd
        - name: group
          hostPath:
            path: /etc/group
        - name: debugfs
          hostPath:
            path: /sys/kernel/debug
        - name: run
          hostPath:
            path: /var/run/
      tolerations:
      - effect: NoSchedule
        key: node-role.kubernetes.io/master

Read more about why Sematext Agent needs access to host files and directories.

Deploy the DaemonSet:

kubectl apply -f st-agent-ds.yml

Updating/Upgrading Sematext Agent using Manual Installation

To update the Sematext Agent when installed manually, you need to modify the DaemonSet configuration and apply it:

1. Edit the DaemonSet YAML file: Update the image to the latest version or change any configuration.

    - name: agent
      image: sematext/agent:latest

1. Apply the updated DaemonSet:

    kubectl apply -f st-agent-ds.yml

Uninstalling Sematext Agent using Manual Installation

To uninstall the Sematext Agent when installed manually, remove previous Sematext Agent DaemonSet resource and service accounts. If the installation has been done inside the Sematext namespace you can just delete the namespace:

kubectl delete namespace sematext

Otherwise you can delete the DaemonSets manually:

kubectl delete daemonset sematext-agent --ignore-not-found=true
kubectl delete daemonset sematext-agent-vector --ignore-not-found=true

This will remove the Sematext Agent DaemonSet, ServiceAccount, ClusterRole, and ClusterRoleBinding from your Kubernetes cluster.