diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'gemfeed')
18 files changed, 1268 insertions, 2 deletions
diff --git a/gemfeed/2016-04-09-jails-and-zfs-on-freebsd-with-puppet.md b/gemfeed/2016-04-09-jails-and-zfs-on-freebsd-with-puppet.md index a404257a..8cabdd69 100644 --- a/gemfeed/2016-04-09-jails-and-zfs-on-freebsd-with-puppet.md +++ b/gemfeed/2016-04-09-jails-and-zfs-on-freebsd-with-puppet.md @@ -397,6 +397,7 @@ E-Mail your comments to `paul@nospam.buetow.org` :-) Other *BSD related posts are: +[2025-12-07 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 8: Observability](./2025-12-07-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-8.md) [2025-10-02 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 7: k3s and first pod deployments](./2025-10-02-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-7.md) [2025-07-14 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 6: Storage](./2025-07-14-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-6.md) [2025-05-11 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 5: WireGuard mesh network](./2025-05-11-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-5.md) diff --git a/gemfeed/2022-07-30-lets-encrypt-with-openbsd-and-rex.md b/gemfeed/2022-07-30-lets-encrypt-with-openbsd-and-rex.md index bc316eba..b23a5a58 100644 --- a/gemfeed/2022-07-30-lets-encrypt-with-openbsd-and-rex.md +++ b/gemfeed/2022-07-30-lets-encrypt-with-openbsd-and-rex.md @@ -676,6 +676,7 @@ E-Mail your comments to `paul@nospam.buetow.org` :-) Other *BSD related posts are: +[2025-12-07 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 8: Observability](./2025-12-07-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-8.md) [2025-10-02 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 7: k3s and first pod deployments](./2025-10-02-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-7.md) [2025-07-14 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 6: Storage](./2025-07-14-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-6.md) [2025-05-11 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 5: WireGuard mesh network](./2025-05-11-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-5.md) diff --git a/gemfeed/2024-01-13-one-reason-why-i-love-openbsd.md b/gemfeed/2024-01-13-one-reason-why-i-love-openbsd.md index ae0ce0c7..777eae1b 100644 --- a/gemfeed/2024-01-13-one-reason-why-i-love-openbsd.md +++ b/gemfeed/2024-01-13-one-reason-why-i-love-openbsd.md @@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ E-Mail your comments to `paul@nospam.buetow.org` :-) Other *BSD related posts are: +[2025-12-07 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 8: Observability](./2025-12-07-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-8.md) [2025-10-02 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 7: k3s and first pod deployments](./2025-10-02-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-7.md) [2025-07-14 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 6: Storage](./2025-07-14-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-6.md) [2025-05-11 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 5: WireGuard mesh network](./2025-05-11-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-5.md) diff --git a/gemfeed/2024-04-01-KISS-high-availability-with-OpenBSD.md b/gemfeed/2024-04-01-KISS-high-availability-with-OpenBSD.md index c72c4e0a..62523fd1 100644 --- a/gemfeed/2024-04-01-KISS-high-availability-with-OpenBSD.md +++ b/gemfeed/2024-04-01-KISS-high-availability-with-OpenBSD.md @@ -300,6 +300,7 @@ E-Mail your comments to `paul@nospam.buetow.org` :-) Other *BSD and KISS related posts are: +[2025-12-07 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 8: Observability](./2025-12-07-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-8.md) [2025-10-02 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 7: k3s and first pod deployments](./2025-10-02-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-7.md) [2025-07-14 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 6: Storage](./2025-07-14-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-6.md) [2025-05-11 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 5: WireGuard mesh network](./2025-05-11-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-5.md) diff --git a/gemfeed/2024-11-17-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-1.md b/gemfeed/2024-11-17-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-1.md index a4603be6..62722835 100644 --- a/gemfeed/2024-11-17-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-1.md +++ b/gemfeed/2024-11-17-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-1.md @@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ These are all the posts so far: [2025-05-11 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 5: WireGuard mesh network](./2025-05-11-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-5.md) [2025-07-14 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 6: Storage](./2025-07-14-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-6.md) [2025-10-02 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 7: k3s and first pod deployments](./2025-10-02-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-7.md) +[2025-12-07 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 8: Observability](./2025-12-07-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-8.md) [](./f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-1/f3slogo.png) @@ -163,6 +164,7 @@ Read the next post of this series: Other *BSD-related posts: +[2025-12-07 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 8: Observability](./2025-12-07-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-8.md) [2025-10-02 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 7: k3s and first pod deployments](./2025-10-02-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-7.md) [2025-07-14 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 6: Storage](./2025-07-14-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-6.md) [2025-05-11 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 5: WireGuard mesh network](./2025-05-11-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-5.md) diff --git a/gemfeed/2024-12-03-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-2.md b/gemfeed/2024-12-03-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-2.md index 66ca0abd..942fe29c 100644 --- a/gemfeed/2024-12-03-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-2.md +++ b/gemfeed/2024-12-03-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-2.md @@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ These are all the posts so far: [2025-05-11 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 5: WireGuard mesh network](./2025-05-11-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-5.md) [2025-07-14 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 6: Storage](./2025-07-14-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-6.md) [2025-10-02 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 7: k3s and first pod deployments](./2025-10-02-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-7.md) +[2025-12-07 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 8: Observability](./2025-12-07-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-8.md) [](./f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-1/f3slogo.png) @@ -304,6 +305,7 @@ Read the next post of this series: Other *BSD-related posts: +[2025-12-07 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 8: Observability](./2025-12-07-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-8.md) [2025-10-02 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 7: k3s and first pod deployments](./2025-10-02-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-7.md) [2025-07-14 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 6: Storage](./2025-07-14-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-6.md) [2025-05-11 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 5: WireGuard mesh network](./2025-05-11-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-5.md) diff --git a/gemfeed/2025-02-01-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-3.md b/gemfeed/2025-02-01-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-3.md index 25876a33..ff2e1a30 100644 --- a/gemfeed/2025-02-01-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-3.md +++ b/gemfeed/2025-02-01-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-3.md @@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ This is the third blog post about my f3s series for my self-hosting demands in m [2025-05-11 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 5: WireGuard mesh network](./2025-05-11-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-5.md) [2025-07-14 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 6: Storage](./2025-07-14-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-6.md) [2025-10-02 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 7: k3s and first pod deployments](./2025-10-02-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-7.md) +[2025-12-07 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 8: Observability](./2025-12-07-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-8.md) [](./f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-1/f3slogo.png) @@ -365,6 +366,7 @@ Read the next post of this series: Other BSD related posts are: +[2025-12-07 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 8: Observability](./2025-12-07-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-8.md) [2025-10-02 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 7: k3s and first pod deployments](./2025-10-02-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-7.md) [2025-07-14 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 6: Storage](./2025-07-14-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-6.md) [2025-05-11 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 5: WireGuard mesh network](./2025-05-11-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-5.md) diff --git a/gemfeed/2025-04-05-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-4.md b/gemfeed/2025-04-05-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-4.md index 96f4bc16..a0cea0d6 100644 --- a/gemfeed/2025-04-05-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-4.md +++ b/gemfeed/2025-04-05-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-4.md @@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ This is the fourth blog post about the f3s series for self-hosting demands in a [2025-05-11 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 5: WireGuard mesh network](./2025-05-11-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-5.md) [2025-07-14 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 6: Storage](./2025-07-14-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-6.md) [2025-10-02 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 7: k3s and first pod deployments](./2025-10-02-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-7.md) +[2025-12-07 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 8: Observability](./2025-12-07-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-8.md) [](./f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-1/f3slogo.png) @@ -511,6 +512,7 @@ Read the next post of this series: Other *BSD-related posts: +[2025-12-07 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 8: Observability](./2025-12-07-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-8.md) [2025-10-02 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 7: k3s and first pod deployments](./2025-10-02-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-7.md) [2025-07-14 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 6: Storage](./2025-07-14-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-6.md) [2025-05-11 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 5: WireGuard mesh network](./2025-05-11-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-5.md) diff --git a/gemfeed/2025-05-11-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-5.md b/gemfeed/2025-05-11-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-5.md index f1e5d288..5d76a8d9 100644 --- a/gemfeed/2025-05-11-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-5.md +++ b/gemfeed/2025-05-11-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-5.md @@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ These are all the posts so far: [2025-05-11 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 5: WireGuard mesh network (You are currently reading this)](./2025-05-11-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-5.md) [2025-07-14 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 6: Storage](./2025-07-14-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-6.md) [2025-10-02 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 7: k3s and first pod deployments](./2025-10-02-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-7.md) +[2025-12-07 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 8: Observability](./2025-12-07-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-8.md) [](./f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-1/f3slogo.png) @@ -932,6 +933,7 @@ Read the next post of this series: Other *BSD-related posts: +[2025-12-07 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 8: Observability](./2025-12-07-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-8.md) [2025-10-02 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 7: k3s and first pod deployments](./2025-10-02-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-7.md) [2025-07-14 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 6: Storage](./2025-07-14-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-6.md) [2025-05-11 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 5: WireGuard mesh network (You are currently reading this)](./2025-05-11-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-5.md) diff --git a/gemfeed/2025-07-14-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-6.md b/gemfeed/2025-07-14-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-6.md index 96b755ea..3f018a28 100644 --- a/gemfeed/2025-07-14-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-6.md +++ b/gemfeed/2025-07-14-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-6.md @@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ This is the sixth blog post about the f3s series for self-hosting demands in a h [2025-05-11 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 5: WireGuard mesh network](./2025-05-11-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-5.md) [2025-07-14 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 6: Storage (You are currently reading this)](./2025-07-14-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-6.md) [2025-10-02 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 7: k3s and first pod deployments](./2025-10-02-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-7.md) +[2025-12-07 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 8: Observability](./2025-12-07-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-8.md) [](./f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-1/f3slogo.png) @@ -1809,13 +1810,13 @@ MooseFS is a fault-tolerant, distributed file system that could provide proper h Both technologies could run on top of our encrypted ZFS volumes, combining ZFS's data integrity and encryption features with distributed storage capabilities. This would be particularly interesting for workloads that need either S3-compatible APIs (MinIO) or transparent distributed POSIX storage (MooseFS). What about Ceph and GlusterFS? Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be great native FreeBSD support for them. However, other alternatives also appear suitable for my use case. - Read the next post of this series: [f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 7: k3s and first pod deployments](./2025-10-02-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-7.md) Other *BSD-related posts: +[2025-12-07 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 8: Observability](./2025-12-07-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-8.md) [2025-10-02 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 7: k3s and first pod deployments](./2025-10-02-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-7.md) [2025-07-14 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 6: Storage (You are currently reading this)](./2025-07-14-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-6.md) [2025-05-11 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 5: WireGuard mesh network](./2025-05-11-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-5.md) diff --git a/gemfeed/2025-10-02-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-7.md b/gemfeed/2025-10-02-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-7.md index b7c78f6a..157067ca 100644 --- a/gemfeed/2025-10-02-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-7.md +++ b/gemfeed/2025-10-02-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-7.md @@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ This is the seventh blog post about the f3s series for my self-hosting demands i [2025-05-11 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 5: WireGuard mesh network](./2025-05-11-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-5.md) [2025-07-14 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 6: Storage](./2025-07-14-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-6.md) [2025-10-02 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 7: k3s and first pod deployments (You are currently reading this)](./2025-10-02-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-7.md) +[2025-12-07 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 8: Observability](./2025-12-07-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-8.md) [](./f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-1/f3slogo.png) @@ -939,10 +940,13 @@ These are the charts that already live under `examples/conf/f3s` and run on the * `syncthing` — two-volume setup for config and shared data, fronted by the `syncthing.f3s.foo.zone` ingress. * `wallabag` — read-it-later service with persistent `data` and `images` directories on the NFS export. -I hope you enjoyed this walkthrough. In the next part of this series, I will likely tackle monitoring, backup, or observability. I haven't fully decided yet which topic to cover next, so stay tuned! +I hope you enjoyed this walkthrough. Read the next post of this series: + +[f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 8: Observability](./2025-12-07-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-8.md) Other *BSD-related posts: +[2025-12-07 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 8: Observability](./2025-12-07-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-8.md) [2025-10-02 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 7: k3s and first pod deployments (You are currently reading this)](./2025-10-02-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-7.md) [2025-07-14 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 6: Storage](./2025-07-14-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-6.md) [2025-05-11 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 5: WireGuard mesh network](./2025-05-11-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-5.md) diff --git a/gemfeed/2025-12-07-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-8.md b/gemfeed/2025-12-07-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-8.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..9faf878a --- /dev/null +++ b/gemfeed/2025-12-07-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-8.md @@ -0,0 +1,625 @@ +# f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 8: Observability + +> Published at 2025-12-06T23:58:24+02:00 + +This is the 8th blog post about the f3s series for my self-hosting demands in a home lab. f3s? The "f" stands for FreeBSD, and the "3s" stands for k3s, the Kubernetes distribution I use on FreeBSD-based physical machines. + +[2024-11-17 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 1: Setting the stage](./2024-11-17-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-1.md) +[2024-12-03 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 2: Hardware and base installation](./2024-12-03-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-2.md) +[2025-02-01 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 3: Protecting from power cuts](./2025-02-01-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-3.md) +[2025-04-05 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 4: Rocky Linux Bhyve VMs](./2025-04-05-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-4.md) +[2025-05-11 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 5: WireGuard mesh network](./2025-05-11-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-5.md) +[2025-07-14 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 6: Storage](./2025-07-14-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-6.md) +[2025-10-02 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 7: k3s and first pod deployments](./2025-10-02-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-7.md) +[2025-12-07 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 8: Observability (You are currently reading this)](./2025-12-07-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-8.md) + +[](./f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-1/f3slogo.png) + +## Table of Contents + +* [⇢ f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 8: Observability](#f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd---part-8-observability) +* [⇢ ⇢ Introduction](#introduction) +* [⇢ ⇢ Persistent storage recap](#persistent-storage-recap) +* [⇢ ⇢ The monitoring namespace](#the-monitoring-namespace) +* [⇢ ⇢ Installing Prometheus and Grafana](#installing-prometheus-and-grafana) +* [⇢ ⇢ ⇢ Prerequisites](#prerequisites) +* [⇢ ⇢ ⇢ Deploying with the Justfile](#deploying-with-the-justfile) +* [⇢ ⇢ ⇢ Exposing Grafana via ingress](#exposing-grafana-via-ingress) +* [⇢ ⇢ Installing Loki and Alloy](#installing-loki-and-alloy) +* [⇢ ⇢ ⇢ Prerequisites](#prerequisites) +* [⇢ ⇢ ⇢ Deploying Loki and Alloy](#deploying-loki-and-alloy) +* [⇢ ⇢ ⇢ Configuring Alloy](#configuring-alloy) +* [⇢ ⇢ ⇢ Adding Loki as a Grafana data source](#adding-loki-as-a-grafana-data-source) +* [⇢ ⇢ The complete monitoring stack](#the-complete-monitoring-stack) +* [⇢ ⇢ Using the observability stack](#using-the-observability-stack) +* [⇢ ⇢ ⇢ Viewing metrics in Grafana](#viewing-metrics-in-grafana) +* [⇢ ⇢ ⇢ Querying logs with LogQL](#querying-logs-with-logql) +* [⇢ ⇢ ⇢ Creating alerts](#creating-alerts) +* [⇢ ⇢ Monitoring external FreeBSD hosts](#monitoring-external-freebsd-hosts) +* [⇢ ⇢ ⇢ Installing Node Exporter on FreeBSD](#installing-node-exporter-on-freebsd) +* [⇢ ⇢ ⇢ Adding FreeBSD hosts to Prometheus](#adding-freebsd-hosts-to-prometheus) +* [⇢ ⇢ ⇢ FreeBSD memory metrics compatibility](#freebsd-memory-metrics-compatibility) +* [⇢ ⇢ ⇢ Disk I/O metrics limitation](#disk-io-metrics-limitation) +* [⇢ ⇢ Monitoring external OpenBSD hosts](#monitoring-external-openbsd-hosts) +* [⇢ ⇢ ⇢ Installing Node Exporter on OpenBSD](#installing-node-exporter-on-openbsd) +* [⇢ ⇢ ⇢ Adding OpenBSD hosts to Prometheus](#adding-openbsd-hosts-to-prometheus) +* [⇢ ⇢ ⇢ OpenBSD memory metrics compatibility](#openbsd-memory-metrics-compatibility) +* [⇢ ⇢ Summary](#summary) + +## Introduction + +In this blog post, I set up a complete observability stack for the k3s cluster. Observability is crucial for understanding what's happening inside the cluster—whether its tracking resource usage, debugging issues, or analysing application behaviour. The stack consists of four main components, all deployed into the `monitoring` namespace: + +* Prometheus: time-series database for metrics collection and alerting +* Grafana: visualisation and dashboarding frontend +* Loki: log aggregation system (like Prometheus, but for logs) +* Alloy: telemetry collector that ships logs from all pods to Loki + +Together, these form the "PLG" stack (Prometheus, Loki, Grafana), which is a popular open-source alternative to commercial observability platforms. + +All manifests for the f3s stack live in my configuration repository: + +[codeberg.org/snonux/conf/f3s codeberg.org/snonux/conf/f3s](https:/codeberg.org/snonux/conf/src/branch/master/f3s) + +## Persistent storage recap + +All observability components need persistent storage so that metrics and logs survive pod restarts. As covered in Part 6 of this series, the cluster uses NFS-backed persistent volumes: + +[f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 6: Storage](./2025-07-14-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-6.md) + +The FreeBSD hosts (`f0`, `f1`, `f2`) serve as NFS servers, exporting ZFS datasets that are replicated across hosts using `zrepl`. The Rocky Linux k3s nodes (`r0`, `r1`, `r2`) mount these exports at `/data/nfs/k3svolumes`. This directory contains subdirectories for each application that needs persistent storage—including Prometheus, Grafana, and Loki. + +For example, the observability stack uses these paths on the NFS share: + +* `/data/nfs/k3svolumes/prometheus/data` — Prometheus time-series database +* `/data/nfs/k3svolumes/grafana/data` — Grafana configuration, dashboards, and plugins +* `/data/nfs/k3svolumes/loki/data` — Loki log chunks and index + +Each path gets a corresponding `PersistentVolume` and `PersistentVolumeClaim` in Kubernetes, allowing pods to mount them as regular volumes. Because the underlying storage is ZFS with replication, we get snapshots and redundancy for free. + +## The monitoring namespace + +First, I created the monitoring namespace where all observability components will live: + +```sh +$ kubectl create namespace monitoring +namespace/monitoring created +``` + +## Installing Prometheus and Grafana + +Prometheus and Grafana are deployed together using the `kube-prometheus-stack` Helm chart from the Prometheus community. This chart bundles Prometheus, Grafana, Alertmanager, and various exporters (Node Exporter, Kube State Metrics) into a single deployment. Ill explain what each component does in detail later when we look at the running pods. + +### Prerequisites + +Add the Prometheus Helm chart repository: + +```sh +$ helm repo add prometheus-community https://prometheus-community.github.io/helm-charts +$ helm repo update +``` + +Create the directories on the NFS server for persistent storage: + +```sh +[root@r0 ~]# mkdir -p /data/nfs/k3svolumes/prometheus/data +[root@r0 ~]# mkdir -p /data/nfs/k3svolumes/grafana/data +``` + +### Deploying with the Justfile + +The configuration repository contains a `Justfile` that automates the deployment. `just` is a handy command runner—think of it as a simpler, more modern alternative to `make`. I use it throughout the f3s repository to wrap repetitive Helm and kubectl commands: + +[just - A handy way to save and run project-specific commands](https://github.com/casey/just) +[codeberg.org/snonux/conf/f3s/prometheus](https://codeberg.org/snonux/conf/src/branch/master/f3s/prometheus) + +To install everything: + +```sh +$ cd conf/f3s/prometheus +$ just install +kubectl apply -f persistent-volumes.yaml +persistentvolume/prometheus-data-pv created +persistentvolume/grafana-data-pv created +persistentvolumeclaim/grafana-data-pvc created +helm install prometheus prometheus-community/kube-prometheus-stack \ + --namespace monitoring -f persistence-values.yaml +NAME: prometheus +LAST DEPLOYED: ... +NAMESPACE: monitoring +STATUS: deployed +``` + +The `persistence-values.yaml` configures Prometheus and Grafana to use the NFS-backed persistent volumes I mentioned earlier, ensuring data survives pod restarts. The persistent volume definitions bind to specific paths on the NFS share using `hostPath` volumes—the same pattern used for other services in Part 7: + +[f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 7: k3s and first pod deployments](./2025-10-02-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-7.md) + +### Exposing Grafana via ingress + +The chart also deploys an ingress for Grafana, making it accessible at `grafana.f3s.foo.zone`. The ingress configuration follows the same pattern as other services in the cluster—Traefik handles the routing internally, while the OpenBSD edge relays terminate TLS and forward traffic through WireGuard. + +Once deployed, Grafana is accessible and comes pre-configured with Prometheus as a data source. You can verify the Prometheus service is running: + +```sh +$ kubectl get svc -n monitoring prometheus-kube-prometheus-prometheus +NAME TYPE CLUSTER-IP PORT(S) +prometheus-kube-prometheus-prometheus ClusterIP 10.43.152.163 9090/TCP,8080/TCP +``` + +Grafana connects to Prometheus using the internal service URL `http://prometheus-kube-prometheus-prometheus.monitoring.svc.cluster.local:9090`. The default Grafana credentials are `admin`/`prom-operator`, which should be changed immediately after first login. + +[](./f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-8/grafana-prometheus.png) + +[](./f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-8/grafana-dashboard.png) + +## Installing Loki and Alloy + +While Prometheus handles metrics, Loki handles logs. It's designed to be cost-effective and easy to operate—it doesn't index the contents of logs, only the metadata (labels), making it very efficient for storage. + +Alloy is Grafana's telemetry collector (the successor to Promtail). It runs as a DaemonSet on each node, tails container logs, and ships them to Loki. + +### Prerequisites + +Create the data directory on the NFS server: + +```sh +[root@r0 ~]# mkdir -p /data/nfs/k3svolumes/loki/data +``` + +### Deploying Loki and Alloy + +The Loki configuration also lives in the repository: + +[codeberg.org/snonux/conf/f3s/loki](https://codeberg.org/snonux/conf/src/branch/master/f3s/loki) + +To install: + +```sh +$ cd conf/f3s/loki +$ just install +helm repo add grafana https://grafana.github.io/helm-charts || true +helm repo update +kubectl apply -f persistent-volumes.yaml +persistentvolume/loki-data-pv created +persistentvolumeclaim/loki-data-pvc created +helm install loki grafana/loki --namespace monitoring -f values.yaml +NAME: loki +LAST DEPLOYED: ... +NAMESPACE: monitoring +STATUS: deployed +... +helm install alloy grafana/alloy --namespace monitoring -f alloy-values.yaml +NAME: alloy +LAST DEPLOYED: ... +NAMESPACE: monitoring +STATUS: deployed +``` + +Loki runs in single-binary mode with a single replica (`loki-0`), which is appropriate for a home lab cluster. This means there's only one Loki pod running at any time. If the node hosting Loki fails, Kubernetes will automatically reschedule the pod to another worker node—but there will be a brief downtime (typically under a minute) while this happens. For my home lab use case, this is perfectly acceptable. + +For full high-availability, you'd deploy Loki in microservices mode with separate read, write, and backend components, backed by object storage like S3 or MinIO instead of local filesystem storage. That's a more complex setup that I might explore in a future blog post—but for now, the single-binary mode with NFS-backed persistence strikes the right balance between simplicity and durability. + +### Configuring Alloy + +Alloy is configured via `alloy-values.yaml` to discover all pods in the cluster and forward their logs to Loki: + +```sh +discovery.kubernetes "pods" { + role = "pod" +} + +discovery.relabel "pods" { + targets = discovery.kubernetes.pods.targets + + rule { + source_labels = ["__meta_kubernetes_namespace"] + target_label = "namespace" + } + + rule { + source_labels = ["__meta_kubernetes_pod_name"] + target_label = "pod" + } + + rule { + source_labels = ["__meta_kubernetes_pod_container_name"] + target_label = "container" + } + + rule { + source_labels = ["__meta_kubernetes_pod_label_app"] + target_label = "app" + } +} + +loki.source.kubernetes "pods" { + targets = discovery.relabel.pods.output + forward_to = [loki.write.default.receiver] +} + +loki.write "default" { + endpoint { + url = "http://loki.monitoring.svc.cluster.local:3100/loki/api/v1/push" + } +} +``` + +This configuration automatically labels each log line with the namespace, pod name, container name, and app label, making it easy to filter logs in Grafana. + +### Adding Loki as a Grafana data source + +Loki doesn't have its own web UI—you query it through Grafana. First, verify the Loki service is running: + +```sh +$ kubectl get svc -n monitoring loki +NAME TYPE CLUSTER-IP PORT(S) +loki ClusterIP 10.43.64.60 3100/TCP,9095/TCP +``` + +To add Loki as a data source in Grafana: + +* Navigate to Configuration → Data Sources +* Click "Add data source" +* Select "Loki" +* Set the URL to: `http://loki.monitoring.svc.cluster.local:3100` +* Click "Save & Test" + +Once configured, you can explore logs in Grafana's "Explore" view. I'll show some example queries in the "Using the observability stack" section below. + +[](./f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-8/loki-explore.png) + +## The complete monitoring stack + +After deploying everything, here's what's running in the monitoring namespace: + +```sh +$ kubectl get pods -n monitoring +NAME READY STATUS RESTARTS AGE +alertmanager-prometheus-kube-prometheus-alertmanager-0 2/2 Running 0 42d +alloy-g5fgj 2/2 Running 0 29m +alloy-nfw8w 2/2 Running 0 29m +alloy-tg9vj 2/2 Running 0 29m +loki-0 2/2 Running 0 25m +prometheus-grafana-868f9dc7cf-lg2vl 3/3 Running 0 42d +prometheus-kube-prometheus-operator-8d7bbc48c-p4sf4 1/1 Running 0 42d +prometheus-kube-state-metrics-7c5fb9d798-hh2fx 1/1 Running 0 42d +prometheus-prometheus-kube-prometheus-prometheus-0 2/2 Running 0 42d +prometheus-prometheus-node-exporter-2nsg9 1/1 Running 0 42d +prometheus-prometheus-node-exporter-mqr25 1/1 Running 0 42d +prometheus-prometheus-node-exporter-wp4ds 1/1 Running 0 42d +``` + +And the services: + +```sh +$ kubectl get svc -n monitoring +NAME TYPE CLUSTER-IP PORT(S) +alertmanager-operated ClusterIP None 9093/TCP,9094/TCP +alloy ClusterIP 10.43.74.14 12345/TCP +loki ClusterIP 10.43.64.60 3100/TCP,9095/TCP +loki-headless ClusterIP None 3100/TCP +prometheus-grafana ClusterIP 10.43.46.82 80/TCP +prometheus-kube-prometheus-alertmanager ClusterIP 10.43.208.43 9093/TCP,8080/TCP +prometheus-kube-prometheus-operator ClusterIP 10.43.246.121 443/TCP +prometheus-kube-prometheus-prometheus ClusterIP 10.43.152.163 9090/TCP,8080/TCP +prometheus-kube-state-metrics ClusterIP 10.43.64.26 8080/TCP +prometheus-prometheus-node-exporter ClusterIP 10.43.127.242 9100/TCP +``` + +Let me break down what each pod does: + +* `alertmanager-prometheus-kube-prometheus-alertmanager-0`: the Alertmanager instance that receives alerts from Prometheus, deduplicates them, groups related alerts together, and routes notifications to the appropriate receivers (email, Slack, PagerDuty, etc.). It runs as a StatefulSet with persistent storage for silences and notification state. + +* `alloy-g5fgj, alloy-nfw8w, alloy-tg9vj`: three Alloy pods running as a DaemonSet, one on each k3s node. Each pod tails the container logs from its local node via the Kubernetes API and forwards them to Loki. This ensures log collection continues even if a node becomes isolated from the others. + +* `loki-0`: the single Loki instance running in single-binary mode. It receives log streams from Alloy, stores them in chunks on the NFS-backed persistent volume, and serves queries from Grafana. The `-0` suffix indicates it's a StatefulSet pod. + +* `prometheus-grafana-...`: the Grafana web interface for visualising metrics and logs. It comes pre-configured with Prometheus as a data source and includes dozens of dashboards for Kubernetes monitoring. Dashboards, users, and settings are persisted to the NFS share. + +* `prometheus-kube-prometheus-operator-...`: the Prometheus Operator that watches for custom resources (ServiceMonitor, PodMonitor, PrometheusRule) and automatically configures Prometheus to scrape new targets. This allows applications to declare their own monitoring requirements. + +* `prometheus-kube-state-metrics-...`: generates metrics about the state of Kubernetes objects themselves: how many pods are running, pending, or failed; deployment replica counts; node conditions; PVC status; and more. Essential for cluster-level dashboards. + +* `prometheus-prometheus-kube-prometheus-prometheus-0`: the Prometheus server that scrapes metrics from all configured targets (pods, services, nodes), stores them in a time-series database, evaluates alerting rules, and serves queries to Grafana. + +* `prometheus-prometheus-node-exporter-...`: three Node Exporter pods running as a DaemonSet, one on each node. They expose hardware and OS-level metrics: CPU usage, memory, disk I/O, filesystem usage, network statistics, and more. These feed the "Node Exporter" dashboards in Grafana. + +## Using the observability stack + +### Viewing metrics in Grafana + +The kube-prometheus-stack comes with many pre-built dashboards. Some useful ones include: + +* Kubernetes / Compute Resources / Cluster: overview of CPU and memory usage across the cluster +* Kubernetes / Compute Resources / Namespace (Pods): resource usage by namespace +* Node Exporter / Nodes: detailed host metrics like disk I/O, network, and CPU + +### Querying logs with LogQL + +In Grafana's Explore view, select Loki as the data source and try queries like: + +``` +# All logs from the services namespace +{namespace="services"} + +# Logs from pods matching a pattern +{pod=~"miniflux.*"} + +# Filter by log content +{namespace="services"} |= "error" + +# Parse JSON logs and filter +{namespace="services"} | json | level="error" +``` + +### Creating alerts + +Prometheus supports alerting rules that can notify you when something goes wrong. The kube-prometheus-stack includes many default alerts for common issues like high CPU usage, pod crashes, and node problems. These can be customised via PrometheusRule CRDs. + +## Monitoring external FreeBSD hosts + +The observability stack can also monitor servers outside the Kubernetes cluster. The FreeBSD hosts (`f0`, `f1`, `f2`) that serve NFS storage can be added to Prometheus using the Node Exporter. + +### Installing Node Exporter on FreeBSD + +On each FreeBSD host, install the node_exporter package: + +```sh +paul@f0:~ % doas pkg install -y node_exporter +``` + +Enable the service to start at boot: + +```sh +paul@f0:~ % doas sysrc node_exporter_enable=YES +node_exporter_enable: -> YES +``` + +Configure node_exporter to listen on the WireGuard interface. This ensures metrics are only accessible through the secure tunnel, not the public network. Replace the IP with the host's WireGuard address: + +```sh +paul@f0:~ % doas sysrc node_exporter_args='--web.listen-address=192.168.2.130:9100' +node_exporter_args: -> --web.listen-address=192.168.2.130:9100 +``` + +Start the service: + +```sh +paul@f0:~ % doas service node_exporter start +Starting node_exporter. +``` + +Verify it's running: + +```sh +paul@f0:~ % curl -s http://192.168.2.130:9100/metrics | head -3 +# HELP go_gc_duration_seconds A summary of the wall-time pause... +# TYPE go_gc_duration_seconds summary +go_gc_duration_seconds{quantile="0"} 0 +``` + +Repeat for the other FreeBSD hosts (`f1`, `f2`) with their respective WireGuard IPs. + +### Adding FreeBSD hosts to Prometheus + +Create a file `additional-scrape-configs.yaml` in the prometheus configuration directory: + +```yaml +- job_name: 'node-exporter' + static_configs: + - targets: + - '192.168.2.130:9100' # f0 via WireGuard + - '192.168.2.131:9100' # f1 via WireGuard + - '192.168.2.132:9100' # f2 via WireGuard + labels: + os: freebsd +``` + +The `job_name` must be `node-exporter` to match the existing dashboards. The `os: freebsd` label allows filtering these hosts separately if needed. + +Create a Kubernetes secret from this file: + +```sh +$ kubectl create secret generic additional-scrape-configs \ + --from-file=additional-scrape-configs.yaml \ + -n monitoring +``` + +Update `persistence-values.yaml` to reference the secret: + +```yaml +prometheus: + prometheusSpec: + additionalScrapeConfigsSecret: + enabled: true + name: additional-scrape-configs + key: additional-scrape-configs.yaml +``` + +Upgrade the Prometheus deployment: + +```sh +$ just upgrade +``` + +After a minute or so, the FreeBSD hosts appear in the Prometheus targets and in the Node Exporter dashboards in Grafana. + +[](./f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-8/grafana-freebsd-nodes.png) + +### FreeBSD memory metrics compatibility + +The default Node Exporter dashboards are designed for Linux and expect metrics like `node_memory_MemAvailable_bytes`. FreeBSD uses different metric names (`node_memory_size_bytes`, `node_memory_free_bytes`, etc.), so memory panels will show "No data" out of the box. + +To fix this, I created a PrometheusRule that generates synthetic Linux-compatible metrics from the FreeBSD equivalents: + +```yaml +apiVersion: monitoring.coreos.com/v1 +kind: PrometheusRule +metadata: + name: freebsd-memory-rules + namespace: monitoring + labels: + release: prometheus +spec: + groups: + - name: freebsd-memory + rules: + - record: node_memory_MemTotal_bytes + expr: node_memory_size_bytes{os="freebsd"} + - record: node_memory_MemAvailable_bytes + expr: node_memory_free_bytes{os="freebsd"} + node_memory_inactive_bytes{os="freebsd"} + node_memory_cache_bytes{os="freebsd"} + - record: node_memory_MemFree_bytes + expr: node_memory_free_bytes{os="freebsd"} + - record: node_memory_Buffers_bytes + expr: node_memory_buffer_bytes{os="freebsd"} + - record: node_memory_Cached_bytes + expr: node_memory_cache_bytes{os="freebsd"} +``` + +This file is saved as `freebsd-recording-rules.yaml` and applied as part of the Prometheus installation. The `os="freebsd"` label (set in the scrape config) ensures these rules only apply to FreeBSD hosts. After applying, the memory panels in the Node Exporter dashboards populate correctly for FreeBSD. + +[freebsd-recording-rules.yaml on Codeberg](https://codeberg.org/snonux/conf/src/branch/master/f3s/prometheus/freebsd-recording-rules.yaml) + +### Disk I/O metrics limitation + +Unlike memory metrics, disk I/O metrics (`node_disk_read_bytes_total`, `node_disk_written_bytes_total`, etc.) are not available on FreeBSD. The Linux diskstats collector that provides these metrics doesn't have a FreeBSD equivalent in the node_exporter. + +The disk I/O panels in the Node Exporter dashboards will show "No data" for FreeBSD hosts. FreeBSD does expose ZFS-specific metrics (`node_zfs_arcstats_*`) for ARC cache performance, and per-dataset I/O stats are available via `sysctl kstat.zfs`, but mapping these to the Linux-style metrics the dashboards expect is non-trivial. Creating custom ZFS-specific dashboards is left as an exercise for another day. + +## Monitoring external OpenBSD hosts + +The same approach works for OpenBSD hosts. I have two OpenBSD edge relay servers (`blowfish`, `fishfinger`) that handle TLS termination and forward traffic through WireGuard to the cluster. These can also be monitored with Node Exporter. + +### Installing Node Exporter on OpenBSD + +On each OpenBSD host, install the node_exporter package: + +```sh +blowfish:~ $ doas pkg_add node_exporter +quirks-7.103 signed on 2025-10-13T22:55:16Z +The following new rcscripts were installed: /etc/rc.d/node_exporter +See rcctl(8) for details. +``` + +Enable the service to start at boot: + +```sh +blowfish:~ $ doas rcctl enable node_exporter +``` + +Configure node_exporter to listen on the WireGuard interface. This ensures metrics are only accessible through the secure tunnel, not the public network. Replace the IP with the host's WireGuard address: + +```sh +blowfish:~ $ doas rcctl set node_exporter flags '--web.listen-address=192.168.2.110:9100' +``` + +Start the service: + +```sh +blowfish:~ $ doas rcctl start node_exporter +node_exporter(ok) +``` + +Verify it's running: + +```sh +blowfish:~ $ curl -s http://192.168.2.110:9100/metrics | head -3 +# HELP go_gc_duration_seconds A summary of the wall-time pause... +# TYPE go_gc_duration_seconds summary +go_gc_duration_seconds{quantile="0"} 0 +``` + +Repeat for the other OpenBSD host (`fishfinger`) with its respective WireGuard IP (`192.168.2.111`). + +### Adding OpenBSD hosts to Prometheus + +Update `additional-scrape-configs.yaml` to include the OpenBSD targets: + +```yaml +- job_name: 'node-exporter' + static_configs: + - targets: + - '192.168.2.130:9100' # f0 via WireGuard + - '192.168.2.131:9100' # f1 via WireGuard + - '192.168.2.132:9100' # f2 via WireGuard + labels: + os: freebsd + - targets: + - '192.168.2.110:9100' # blowfish via WireGuard + - '192.168.2.111:9100' # fishfinger via WireGuard + labels: + os: openbsd +``` + +The `os: openbsd` label allows filtering these hosts separately from FreeBSD and Linux nodes. + +### OpenBSD memory metrics compatibility + +OpenBSD uses the same memory metric names as FreeBSD (`node_memory_size_bytes`, `node_memory_free_bytes`, etc.), so a similar PrometheusRule is needed to generate Linux-compatible metrics: + +```yaml +apiVersion: monitoring.coreos.com/v1 +kind: PrometheusRule +metadata: + name: openbsd-memory-rules + namespace: monitoring + labels: + release: prometheus +spec: + groups: + - name: openbsd-memory + rules: + - record: node_memory_MemTotal_bytes + expr: node_memory_size_bytes{os="openbsd"} + labels: + os: openbsd + - record: node_memory_MemAvailable_bytes + expr: node_memory_free_bytes{os="openbsd"} + node_memory_inactive_bytes{os="openbsd"} + node_memory_cache_bytes{os="openbsd"} + labels: + os: openbsd + - record: node_memory_MemFree_bytes + expr: node_memory_free_bytes{os="openbsd"} + labels: + os: openbsd + - record: node_memory_Cached_bytes + expr: node_memory_cache_bytes{os="openbsd"} + labels: + os: openbsd +``` + +This file is saved as `openbsd-recording-rules.yaml` and applied alongside the FreeBSD rules. Note that OpenBSD doesn't expose a buffer memory metric, so that rule is omitted. + +[openbsd-recording-rules.yaml on Codeberg](https://codeberg.org/snonux/conf/src/branch/master/f3s/prometheus/openbsd-recording-rules.yaml) + +After running `just upgrade`, the OpenBSD hosts appear in Prometheus targets and the Node Exporter dashboards. + +## Summary + +With Prometheus, Grafana, Loki, and Alloy deployed, I now have complete visibility into the k3s cluster, the FreeBSD storage servers, and the OpenBSD edge relays: + +* metrics: Prometheus collects and stores time-series data from all components +* Logs: Loki aggregates logs from all containers, searchable via Grafana +* Visualisation: Grafana provides dashboards and exploration tools +* Alerting: Alertmanager can notify on conditions defined in Prometheus rules + +This observability stack runs entirely on the home lab infrastructure, with data persisted to the NFS share. It's lightweight enough for a three-node cluster but provides the same capabilities as production-grade setups. + +Other *BSD-related posts: + +[2025-12-07 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 8: Observability (You are currently reading this)](./2025-12-07-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-8.md) +[2025-10-02 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 7: k3s and first pod deployments](./2025-10-02-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-7.md) +[2025-07-14 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 6: Storage](./2025-07-14-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-6.md) +[2025-05-11 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 5: WireGuard mesh network](./2025-05-11-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-5.md) +[2025-04-05 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 4: Rocky Linux Bhyve VMs](./2025-04-05-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-4.md) +[2025-02-01 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 3: Protecting from power cuts](./2025-02-01-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-3.md) +[2024-12-03 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 2: Hardware and base installation](./2024-12-03-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-2.md) +[2024-11-17 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 1: Setting the stage](./2024-11-17-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-1.md) +[2024-04-01 KISS high-availability with OpenBSD](./2024-04-01-KISS-high-availability-with-OpenBSD.md) +[2024-01-13 One reason why I love OpenBSD](./2024-01-13-one-reason-why-i-love-openbsd.md) +[2022-10-30 Installing DTail on OpenBSD](./2022-10-30-installing-dtail-on-openbsd.md) +[2022-07-30 Let's Encrypt with OpenBSD and Rex](./2022-07-30-lets-encrypt-with-openbsd-and-rex.md) +[2016-04-09 Jails and ZFS with Puppet on FreeBSD](./2016-04-09-jails-and-zfs-on-freebsd-with-puppet.md) + +E-Mail your comments to `paul@nospam.buetow.org` + +[Back to the main site](../) diff --git a/gemfeed/DRAFT-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-8.md b/gemfeed/DRAFT-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-8.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..3ebdc823 --- /dev/null +++ b/gemfeed/DRAFT-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-8.md @@ -0,0 +1,621 @@ +# f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 8: Observability + +This is the 8th blog post about the f3s series for my self-hosting demands in a home lab. f3s? The "f" stands for FreeBSD, and the "3s" stands for k3s, the Kubernetes distribution I use on FreeBSD-based physical machines. + +[2024-11-17 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 1: Setting the stage](./2024-11-17-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-1.md) +[2024-12-03 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 2: Hardware and base installation](./2024-12-03-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-2.md) +[2025-02-01 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 3: Protecting from power cuts](./2025-02-01-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-3.md) +[2025-04-05 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 4: Rocky Linux Bhyve VMs](./2025-04-05-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-4.md) +[2025-05-11 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 5: WireGuard mesh network](./2025-05-11-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-5.md) +[2025-07-14 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 6: Storage](./2025-07-14-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-6.md) +[2025-10-02 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 7: k3s and first pod deployments](./2025-10-02-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-7.md) + +[](./f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-1/f3slogo.png) + +## Table of Contents + +* [⇢ f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 8: Observability](#f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd---part-8-observability) +* [⇢ ⇢ Introduction](#introduction) +* [⇢ ⇢ Persistent storage recap](#persistent-storage-recap) +* [⇢ ⇢ The monitoring namespace](#the-monitoring-namespace) +* [⇢ ⇢ Installing Prometheus and Grafana](#installing-prometheus-and-grafana) +* [⇢ ⇢ ⇢ Prerequisites](#prerequisites) +* [⇢ ⇢ ⇢ Deploying with the Justfile](#deploying-with-the-justfile) +* [⇢ ⇢ ⇢ Exposing Grafana via ingress](#exposing-grafana-via-ingress) +* [⇢ ⇢ Installing Loki and Alloy](#installing-loki-and-alloy) +* [⇢ ⇢ ⇢ Prerequisites](#prerequisites) +* [⇢ ⇢ ⇢ Deploying Loki and Alloy](#deploying-loki-and-alloy) +* [⇢ ⇢ ⇢ Configuring Alloy](#configuring-alloy) +* [⇢ ⇢ ⇢ Adding Loki as a Grafana data source](#adding-loki-as-a-grafana-data-source) +* [⇢ ⇢ The complete monitoring stack](#the-complete-monitoring-stack) +* [⇢ ⇢ Using the observability stack](#using-the-observability-stack) +* [⇢ ⇢ ⇢ Viewing metrics in Grafana](#viewing-metrics-in-grafana) +* [⇢ ⇢ ⇢ Querying logs with LogQL](#querying-logs-with-logql) +* [⇢ ⇢ ⇢ Creating alerts](#creating-alerts) +* [⇢ ⇢ Monitoring external FreeBSD hosts](#monitoring-external-freebsd-hosts) +* [⇢ ⇢ ⇢ Installing Node Exporter on FreeBSD](#installing-node-exporter-on-freebsd) +* [⇢ ⇢ ⇢ Adding FreeBSD hosts to Prometheus](#adding-freebsd-hosts-to-prometheus) +* [⇢ ⇢ ⇢ FreeBSD memory metrics compatibility](#freebsd-memory-metrics-compatibility) +* [⇢ ⇢ ⇢ Disk I/O metrics limitation](#disk-io-metrics-limitation) +* [⇢ ⇢ Monitoring external OpenBSD hosts](#monitoring-external-openbsd-hosts) +* [⇢ ⇢ ⇢ Installing Node Exporter on OpenBSD](#installing-node-exporter-on-openbsd) +* [⇢ ⇢ ⇢ Adding OpenBSD hosts to Prometheus](#adding-openbsd-hosts-to-prometheus) +* [⇢ ⇢ ⇢ OpenBSD memory metrics compatibility](#openbsd-memory-metrics-compatibility) +* [⇢ ⇢ Summary](#summary) + +## Introduction + +In this blog post, I set up a complete observability stack for the k3s cluster. Observability is crucial for understanding what's happening inside the cluster—whether its tracking resource usage, debugging issues, or analysing application behaviour. The stack consists of four main components, all deployed into the `monitoring` namespace: + +* Prometheus: time-series database for metrics collection and alerting +* Grafana: visualisation and dashboarding frontend +* Loki: log aggregation system (like Prometheus, but for logs) +* Alloy: telemetry collector that ships logs from all pods to Loki + +Together, these form the "PLG" stack (Prometheus, Loki, Grafana), which is a popular open-source alternative to commercial observability platforms. + +All manifests for the f3s stack live in my configuration repository: + +[codeberg.org/snonux/conf/f3s codeberg.org/snonux/conf/f3s](https:/codeberg.org/snonux/conf/src/branch/master/f3s) + +## Persistent storage recap + +All observability components need persistent storage so that metrics and logs survive pod restarts. As covered in Part 6 of this series, the cluster uses NFS-backed persistent volumes: + +[f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 6: Storage](./2025-07-14-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-6.md) + +The FreeBSD hosts (`f0`, `f1`, `f2`) serve as NFS servers, exporting ZFS datasets that are replicated across hosts using `zrepl`. The Rocky Linux k3s nodes (`r0`, `r1`, `r2`) mount these exports at `/data/nfs/k3svolumes`. This directory contains subdirectories for each application that needs persistent storage—including Prometheus, Grafana, and Loki. + +For example, the observability stack uses these paths on the NFS share: + +* `/data/nfs/k3svolumes/prometheus/data` — Prometheus time-series database +* `/data/nfs/k3svolumes/grafana/data` — Grafana configuration, dashboards, and plugins +* `/data/nfs/k3svolumes/loki/data` — Loki log chunks and index + +Each path gets a corresponding `PersistentVolume` and `PersistentVolumeClaim` in Kubernetes, allowing pods to mount them as regular volumes. Because the underlying storage is ZFS with replication, we get snapshots and redundancy for free. + +## The monitoring namespace + +First, I created the monitoring namespace where all observability components will live: + +```sh +$ kubectl create namespace monitoring +namespace/monitoring created +``` + +## Installing Prometheus and Grafana + +Prometheus and Grafana are deployed together using the `kube-prometheus-stack` Helm chart from the Prometheus community. This chart bundles Prometheus, Grafana, Alertmanager, and various exporters (Node Exporter, Kube State Metrics) into a single deployment. Ill explain what each component does in detail later when we look at the running pods. + +### Prerequisites + +Add the Prometheus Helm chart repository: + +```sh +$ helm repo add prometheus-community https://prometheus-community.github.io/helm-charts +$ helm repo update +``` + +Create the directories on the NFS server for persistent storage: + +```sh +[root@r0 ~]# mkdir -p /data/nfs/k3svolumes/prometheus/data +[root@r0 ~]# mkdir -p /data/nfs/k3svolumes/grafana/data +``` + +### Deploying with the Justfile + +The configuration repository contains a `Justfile` that automates the deployment. `just` is a handy command runner—think of it as a simpler, more modern alternative to `make`. I use it throughout the f3s repository to wrap repetitive Helm and kubectl commands: + +[just - A handy way to save and run project-specific commands](https://github.com/casey/just) +[codeberg.org/snonux/conf/f3s/prometheus](https://codeberg.org/snonux/conf/src/branch/master/f3s/prometheus) + +To install everything: + +```sh +$ cd conf/f3s/prometheus +$ just install +kubectl apply -f persistent-volumes.yaml +persistentvolume/prometheus-data-pv created +persistentvolume/grafana-data-pv created +persistentvolumeclaim/grafana-data-pvc created +helm install prometheus prometheus-community/kube-prometheus-stack \ + --namespace monitoring -f persistence-values.yaml +NAME: prometheus +LAST DEPLOYED: ... +NAMESPACE: monitoring +STATUS: deployed +``` + +The `persistence-values.yaml` configures Prometheus and Grafana to use the NFS-backed persistent volumes I mentioned earlier, ensuring data survives pod restarts. The persistent volume definitions bind to specific paths on the NFS share using `hostPath` volumes—the same pattern used for other services in Part 7: + +[f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 7: k3s and first pod deployments](./2025-10-02-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-7.md) + +### Exposing Grafana via ingress + +The chart also deploys an ingress for Grafana, making it accessible at `grafana.f3s.foo.zone`. The ingress configuration follows the same pattern as other services in the cluster—Traefik handles the routing internally, while the OpenBSD edge relays terminate TLS and forward traffic through WireGuard. + +Once deployed, Grafana is accessible and comes pre-configured with Prometheus as a data source. You can verify the Prometheus service is running: + +```sh +$ kubectl get svc -n monitoring prometheus-kube-prometheus-prometheus +NAME TYPE CLUSTER-IP PORT(S) +prometheus-kube-prometheus-prometheus ClusterIP 10.43.152.163 9090/TCP,8080/TCP +``` + +Grafana connects to Prometheus using the internal service URL `http://prometheus-kube-prometheus-prometheus.monitoring.svc.cluster.local:9090`. The default Grafana credentials are `admin`/`prom-operator`, which should be changed immediately after first login. + +[](./f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-8/grafana-prometheus.png) + +[](./f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-8/grafana-dashboard.png) + +## Installing Loki and Alloy + +While Prometheus handles metrics, Loki handles logs. It's designed to be cost-effective and easy to operate—it doesn't index the contents of logs, only the metadata (labels), making it very efficient for storage. + +Alloy is Grafana's telemetry collector (the successor to Promtail). It runs as a DaemonSet on each node, tails container logs, and ships them to Loki. + +### Prerequisites + +Create the data directory on the NFS server: + +```sh +[root@r0 ~]# mkdir -p /data/nfs/k3svolumes/loki/data +``` + +### Deploying Loki and Alloy + +The Loki configuration also lives in the repository: + +[codeberg.org/snonux/conf/f3s/loki](https://codeberg.org/snonux/conf/src/branch/master/f3s/loki) + +To install: + +```sh +$ cd conf/f3s/loki +$ just install +helm repo add grafana https://grafana.github.io/helm-charts || true +helm repo update +kubectl apply -f persistent-volumes.yaml +persistentvolume/loki-data-pv created +persistentvolumeclaim/loki-data-pvc created +helm install loki grafana/loki --namespace monitoring -f values.yaml +NAME: loki +LAST DEPLOYED: ... +NAMESPACE: monitoring +STATUS: deployed +... +helm install alloy grafana/alloy --namespace monitoring -f alloy-values.yaml +NAME: alloy +LAST DEPLOYED: ... +NAMESPACE: monitoring +STATUS: deployed +``` + +Loki runs in single-binary mode with a single replica (`loki-0`), which is appropriate for a home lab cluster. This means there's only one Loki pod running at any time. If the node hosting Loki fails, Kubernetes will automatically reschedule the pod to another worker node—but there will be a brief downtime (typically under a minute) while this happens. For my home lab use case, this is perfectly acceptable. + +For full high-availability, you'd deploy Loki in microservices mode with separate read, write, and backend components, backed by object storage like S3 or MinIO instead of local filesystem storage. That's a more complex setup that I might explore in a future blog post—but for now, the single-binary mode with NFS-backed persistence strikes the right balance between simplicity and durability. + +### Configuring Alloy + +Alloy is configured via `alloy-values.yaml` to discover all pods in the cluster and forward their logs to Loki: + +```sh +discovery.kubernetes "pods" { + role = "pod" +} + +discovery.relabel "pods" { + targets = discovery.kubernetes.pods.targets + + rule { + source_labels = ["__meta_kubernetes_namespace"] + target_label = "namespace" + } + + rule { + source_labels = ["__meta_kubernetes_pod_name"] + target_label = "pod" + } + + rule { + source_labels = ["__meta_kubernetes_pod_container_name"] + target_label = "container" + } + + rule { + source_labels = ["__meta_kubernetes_pod_label_app"] + target_label = "app" + } +} + +loki.source.kubernetes "pods" { + targets = discovery.relabel.pods.output + forward_to = [loki.write.default.receiver] +} + +loki.write "default" { + endpoint { + url = "http://loki.monitoring.svc.cluster.local:3100/loki/api/v1/push" + } +} +``` + +This configuration automatically labels each log line with the namespace, pod name, container name, and app label, making it easy to filter logs in Grafana. + +### Adding Loki as a Grafana data source + +Loki doesn't have its own web UI—you query it through Grafana. First, verify the Loki service is running: + +```sh +$ kubectl get svc -n monitoring loki +NAME TYPE CLUSTER-IP PORT(S) +loki ClusterIP 10.43.64.60 3100/TCP,9095/TCP +``` + +To add Loki as a data source in Grafana: + +* Navigate to Configuration → Data Sources +* Click "Add data source" +* Select "Loki" +* Set the URL to: `http://loki.monitoring.svc.cluster.local:3100` +* Click "Save & Test" + +Once configured, you can explore logs in Grafana's "Explore" view. I'll show some example queries in the "Using the observability stack" section below. + +[](./f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-8/loki-explore.png) + +## The complete monitoring stack + +After deploying everything, here's what's running in the monitoring namespace: + +```sh +$ kubectl get pods -n monitoring +NAME READY STATUS RESTARTS AGE +alertmanager-prometheus-kube-prometheus-alertmanager-0 2/2 Running 0 42d +alloy-g5fgj 2/2 Running 0 29m +alloy-nfw8w 2/2 Running 0 29m +alloy-tg9vj 2/2 Running 0 29m +loki-0 2/2 Running 0 25m +prometheus-grafana-868f9dc7cf-lg2vl 3/3 Running 0 42d +prometheus-kube-prometheus-operator-8d7bbc48c-p4sf4 1/1 Running 0 42d +prometheus-kube-state-metrics-7c5fb9d798-hh2fx 1/1 Running 0 42d +prometheus-prometheus-kube-prometheus-prometheus-0 2/2 Running 0 42d +prometheus-prometheus-node-exporter-2nsg9 1/1 Running 0 42d +prometheus-prometheus-node-exporter-mqr25 1/1 Running 0 42d +prometheus-prometheus-node-exporter-wp4ds 1/1 Running 0 42d +``` + +And the services: + +```sh +$ kubectl get svc -n monitoring +NAME TYPE CLUSTER-IP PORT(S) +alertmanager-operated ClusterIP None 9093/TCP,9094/TCP +alloy ClusterIP 10.43.74.14 12345/TCP +loki ClusterIP 10.43.64.60 3100/TCP,9095/TCP +loki-headless ClusterIP None 3100/TCP +prometheus-grafana ClusterIP 10.43.46.82 80/TCP +prometheus-kube-prometheus-alertmanager ClusterIP 10.43.208.43 9093/TCP,8080/TCP +prometheus-kube-prometheus-operator ClusterIP 10.43.246.121 443/TCP +prometheus-kube-prometheus-prometheus ClusterIP 10.43.152.163 9090/TCP,8080/TCP +prometheus-kube-state-metrics ClusterIP 10.43.64.26 8080/TCP +prometheus-prometheus-node-exporter ClusterIP 10.43.127.242 9100/TCP +``` + +Let me break down what each pod does: + +* `alertmanager-prometheus-kube-prometheus-alertmanager-0`: the Alertmanager instance that receives alerts from Prometheus, deduplicates them, groups related alerts together, and routes notifications to the appropriate receivers (email, Slack, PagerDuty, etc.). It runs as a StatefulSet with persistent storage for silences and notification state. + +* `alloy-g5fgj, alloy-nfw8w, alloy-tg9vj`: three Alloy pods running as a DaemonSet, one on each k3s node. Each pod tails the container logs from its local node via the Kubernetes API and forwards them to Loki. This ensures log collection continues even if a node becomes isolated from the others. + +* `loki-0`: the single Loki instance running in single-binary mode. It receives log streams from Alloy, stores them in chunks on the NFS-backed persistent volume, and serves queries from Grafana. The `-0` suffix indicates it's a StatefulSet pod. + +* `prometheus-grafana-...`: the Grafana web interface for visualising metrics and logs. It comes pre-configured with Prometheus as a data source and includes dozens of dashboards for Kubernetes monitoring. Dashboards, users, and settings are persisted to the NFS share. + +* `prometheus-kube-prometheus-operator-...`: the Prometheus Operator that watches for custom resources (ServiceMonitor, PodMonitor, PrometheusRule) and automatically configures Prometheus to scrape new targets. This allows applications to declare their own monitoring requirements. + +* `prometheus-kube-state-metrics-...`: generates metrics about the state of Kubernetes objects themselves: how many pods are running, pending, or failed; deployment replica counts; node conditions; PVC status; and more. Essential for cluster-level dashboards. + +* `prometheus-prometheus-kube-prometheus-prometheus-0`: the Prometheus server that scrapes metrics from all configured targets (pods, services, nodes), stores them in a time-series database, evaluates alerting rules, and serves queries to Grafana. + +* `prometheus-prometheus-node-exporter-...`: three Node Exporter pods running as a DaemonSet, one on each node. They expose hardware and OS-level metrics: CPU usage, memory, disk I/O, filesystem usage, network statistics, and more. These feed the "Node Exporter" dashboards in Grafana. + +## Using the observability stack + +### Viewing metrics in Grafana + +The kube-prometheus-stack comes with many pre-built dashboards. Some useful ones include: + +* Kubernetes / Compute Resources / Cluster: overview of CPU and memory usage across the cluster +* Kubernetes / Compute Resources / Namespace (Pods): resource usage by namespace +* Node Exporter / Nodes: detailed host metrics like disk I/O, network, and CPU + +### Querying logs with LogQL + +In Grafana's Explore view, select Loki as the data source and try queries like: + +``` +# All logs from the services namespace +{namespace="services"} + +# Logs from pods matching a pattern +{pod=~"miniflux.*"} + +# Filter by log content +{namespace="services"} |= "error" + +# Parse JSON logs and filter +{namespace="services"} | json | level="error" +``` + +### Creating alerts + +Prometheus supports alerting rules that can notify you when something goes wrong. The kube-prometheus-stack includes many default alerts for common issues like high CPU usage, pod crashes, and node problems. These can be customised via PrometheusRule CRDs. + +## Monitoring external FreeBSD hosts + +The observability stack can also monitor servers outside the Kubernetes cluster. The FreeBSD hosts (`f0`, `f1`, `f2`) that serve NFS storage can be added to Prometheus using the Node Exporter. + +### Installing Node Exporter on FreeBSD + +On each FreeBSD host, install the node_exporter package: + +```sh +paul@f0:~ % doas pkg install -y node_exporter +``` + +Enable the service to start at boot: + +```sh +paul@f0:~ % doas sysrc node_exporter_enable=YES +node_exporter_enable: -> YES +``` + +Configure node_exporter to listen on the WireGuard interface. This ensures metrics are only accessible through the secure tunnel, not the public network. Replace the IP with the host's WireGuard address: + +```sh +paul@f0:~ % doas sysrc node_exporter_args='--web.listen-address=192.168.2.130:9100' +node_exporter_args: -> --web.listen-address=192.168.2.130:9100 +``` + +Start the service: + +```sh +paul@f0:~ % doas service node_exporter start +Starting node_exporter. +``` + +Verify it's running: + +```sh +paul@f0:~ % curl -s http://192.168.2.130:9100/metrics | head -3 +# HELP go_gc_duration_seconds A summary of the wall-time pause... +# TYPE go_gc_duration_seconds summary +go_gc_duration_seconds{quantile="0"} 0 +``` + +Repeat for the other FreeBSD hosts (`f1`, `f2`) with their respective WireGuard IPs. + +### Adding FreeBSD hosts to Prometheus + +Create a file `additional-scrape-configs.yaml` in the prometheus configuration directory: + +```yaml +- job_name: 'node-exporter' + static_configs: + - targets: + - '192.168.2.130:9100' # f0 via WireGuard + - '192.168.2.131:9100' # f1 via WireGuard + - '192.168.2.132:9100' # f2 via WireGuard + labels: + os: freebsd +``` + +The `job_name` must be `node-exporter` to match the existing dashboards. The `os: freebsd` label allows filtering these hosts separately if needed. + +Create a Kubernetes secret from this file: + +```sh +$ kubectl create secret generic additional-scrape-configs \ + --from-file=additional-scrape-configs.yaml \ + -n monitoring +``` + +Update `persistence-values.yaml` to reference the secret: + +```yaml +prometheus: + prometheusSpec: + additionalScrapeConfigsSecret: + enabled: true + name: additional-scrape-configs + key: additional-scrape-configs.yaml +``` + +Upgrade the Prometheus deployment: + +```sh +$ just upgrade +``` + +After a minute or so, the FreeBSD hosts appear in the Prometheus targets and in the Node Exporter dashboards in Grafana. + +[](./f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-8/grafana-freebsd-nodes.png) + +### FreeBSD memory metrics compatibility + +The default Node Exporter dashboards are designed for Linux and expect metrics like `node_memory_MemAvailable_bytes`. FreeBSD uses different metric names (`node_memory_size_bytes`, `node_memory_free_bytes`, etc.), so memory panels will show "No data" out of the box. + +To fix this, I created a PrometheusRule that generates synthetic Linux-compatible metrics from the FreeBSD equivalents: + +```yaml +apiVersion: monitoring.coreos.com/v1 +kind: PrometheusRule +metadata: + name: freebsd-memory-rules + namespace: monitoring + labels: + release: prometheus +spec: + groups: + - name: freebsd-memory + rules: + - record: node_memory_MemTotal_bytes + expr: node_memory_size_bytes{os="freebsd"} + - record: node_memory_MemAvailable_bytes + expr: node_memory_free_bytes{os="freebsd"} + node_memory_inactive_bytes{os="freebsd"} + node_memory_cache_bytes{os="freebsd"} + - record: node_memory_MemFree_bytes + expr: node_memory_free_bytes{os="freebsd"} + - record: node_memory_Buffers_bytes + expr: node_memory_buffer_bytes{os="freebsd"} + - record: node_memory_Cached_bytes + expr: node_memory_cache_bytes{os="freebsd"} +``` + +This file is saved as `freebsd-recording-rules.yaml` and applied as part of the Prometheus installation. The `os="freebsd"` label (set in the scrape config) ensures these rules only apply to FreeBSD hosts. After applying, the memory panels in the Node Exporter dashboards populate correctly for FreeBSD. + +[freebsd-recording-rules.yaml on Codeberg](https://codeberg.org/snonux/conf/src/branch/master/f3s/prometheus/freebsd-recording-rules.yaml) + +### Disk I/O metrics limitation + +Unlike memory metrics, disk I/O metrics (`node_disk_read_bytes_total`, `node_disk_written_bytes_total`, etc.) are not available on FreeBSD. The Linux diskstats collector that provides these metrics doesn't have a FreeBSD equivalent in the node_exporter. + +The disk I/O panels in the Node Exporter dashboards will show "No data" for FreeBSD hosts. FreeBSD does expose ZFS-specific metrics (`node_zfs_arcstats_*`) for ARC cache performance, and per-dataset I/O stats are available via `sysctl kstat.zfs`, but mapping these to the Linux-style metrics the dashboards expect is non-trivial. Creating custom ZFS-specific dashboards is left as an exercise for another day. + +## Monitoring external OpenBSD hosts + +The same approach works for OpenBSD hosts. I have two OpenBSD edge relay servers (`blowfish`, `fishfinger`) that handle TLS termination and forward traffic through WireGuard to the cluster. These can also be monitored with Node Exporter. + +### Installing Node Exporter on OpenBSD + +On each OpenBSD host, install the node_exporter package: + +```sh +blowfish:~ $ doas pkg_add node_exporter +quirks-7.103 signed on 2025-10-13T22:55:16Z +The following new rcscripts were installed: /etc/rc.d/node_exporter +See rcctl(8) for details. +``` + +Enable the service to start at boot: + +```sh +blowfish:~ $ doas rcctl enable node_exporter +``` + +Configure node_exporter to listen on the WireGuard interface. This ensures metrics are only accessible through the secure tunnel, not the public network. Replace the IP with the host's WireGuard address: + +```sh +blowfish:~ $ doas rcctl set node_exporter flags '--web.listen-address=192.168.2.110:9100' +``` + +Start the service: + +```sh +blowfish:~ $ doas rcctl start node_exporter +node_exporter(ok) +``` + +Verify it's running: + +```sh +blowfish:~ $ curl -s http://192.168.2.110:9100/metrics | head -3 +# HELP go_gc_duration_seconds A summary of the wall-time pause... +# TYPE go_gc_duration_seconds summary +go_gc_duration_seconds{quantile="0"} 0 +``` + +Repeat for the other OpenBSD host (`fishfinger`) with its respective WireGuard IP (`192.168.2.111`). + +### Adding OpenBSD hosts to Prometheus + +Update `additional-scrape-configs.yaml` to include the OpenBSD targets: + +```yaml +- job_name: 'node-exporter' + static_configs: + - targets: + - '192.168.2.130:9100' # f0 via WireGuard + - '192.168.2.131:9100' # f1 via WireGuard + - '192.168.2.132:9100' # f2 via WireGuard + labels: + os: freebsd + - targets: + - '192.168.2.110:9100' # blowfish via WireGuard + - '192.168.2.111:9100' # fishfinger via WireGuard + labels: + os: openbsd +``` + +The `os: openbsd` label allows filtering these hosts separately from FreeBSD and Linux nodes. + +### OpenBSD memory metrics compatibility + +OpenBSD uses the same memory metric names as FreeBSD (`node_memory_size_bytes`, `node_memory_free_bytes`, etc.), so a similar PrometheusRule is needed to generate Linux-compatible metrics: + +```yaml +apiVersion: monitoring.coreos.com/v1 +kind: PrometheusRule +metadata: + name: openbsd-memory-rules + namespace: monitoring + labels: + release: prometheus +spec: + groups: + - name: openbsd-memory + rules: + - record: node_memory_MemTotal_bytes + expr: node_memory_size_bytes{os="openbsd"} + labels: + os: openbsd + - record: node_memory_MemAvailable_bytes + expr: node_memory_free_bytes{os="openbsd"} + node_memory_inactive_bytes{os="openbsd"} + node_memory_cache_bytes{os="openbsd"} + labels: + os: openbsd + - record: node_memory_MemFree_bytes + expr: node_memory_free_bytes{os="openbsd"} + labels: + os: openbsd + - record: node_memory_Cached_bytes + expr: node_memory_cache_bytes{os="openbsd"} + labels: + os: openbsd +``` + +This file is saved as `openbsd-recording-rules.yaml` and applied alongside the FreeBSD rules. Note that OpenBSD doesn't expose a buffer memory metric, so that rule is omitted. + +[openbsd-recording-rules.yaml on Codeberg](https://codeberg.org/snonux/conf/src/branch/master/f3s/prometheus/openbsd-recording-rules.yaml) + +After running `just upgrade`, the OpenBSD hosts appear in Prometheus targets and the Node Exporter dashboards. + +## Summary + +With Prometheus, Grafana, Loki, and Alloy deployed, I now have complete visibility into the k3s cluster, the FreeBSD storage servers, and the OpenBSD edge relays: + +* metrics: Prometheus collects and stores time-series data from all components +* Logs: Loki aggregates logs from all containers, searchable via Grafana +* Visualisation: Grafana provides dashboards and exploration tools +* Alerting: Alertmanager can notify on conditions defined in Prometheus rules + +This observability stack runs entirely on the home lab infrastructure, with data persisted to the NFS share. It's lightweight enough for a three-node cluster but provides the same capabilities as production-grade setups. + +Other *BSD-related posts: + +[2025-10-02 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 7: k3s and first pod deployments](./2025-10-02-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-7.md) +[2025-07-14 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 6: Storage](./2025-07-14-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-6.md) +[2025-05-11 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 5: WireGuard mesh network](./2025-05-11-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-5.md) +[2025-04-05 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 4: Rocky Linux Bhyve VMs](./2025-04-05-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-4.md) +[2025-02-01 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 3: Protecting from power cuts](./2025-02-01-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-3.md) +[2024-12-03 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 2: Hardware and base installation](./2024-12-03-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-2.md) +[2024-11-17 f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 1: Setting the stage](./2024-11-17-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-1.md) +[2024-04-01 KISS high-availability with OpenBSD](./2024-04-01-KISS-high-availability-with-OpenBSD.md) +[2024-01-13 One reason why I love OpenBSD](./2024-01-13-one-reason-why-i-love-openbsd.md) +[2022-10-30 Installing DTail on OpenBSD](./2022-10-30-installing-dtail-on-openbsd.md) +[2022-07-30 Let's Encrypt with OpenBSD and Rex](./2022-07-30-lets-encrypt-with-openbsd-and-rex.md) +[2016-04-09 Jails and ZFS with Puppet on FreeBSD](./2016-04-09-jails-and-zfs-on-freebsd-with-puppet.md) + +E-Mail your comments to `paul@nospam.buetow.org` + +[Back to the main site](../) diff --git a/gemfeed/f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-8/grafana-dashboard.png b/gemfeed/f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-8/grafana-dashboard.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 00000000..19fa68a3 --- /dev/null +++ b/gemfeed/f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-8/grafana-dashboard.png diff --git a/gemfeed/f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-8/grafana-freebsd-nodes.png b/gemfeed/f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-8/grafana-freebsd-nodes.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 00000000..b2ad54df --- /dev/null +++ b/gemfeed/f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-8/grafana-freebsd-nodes.png diff --git a/gemfeed/f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-8/grafana-prometheus.png b/gemfeed/f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-8/grafana-prometheus.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 00000000..8ff427f2 --- /dev/null +++ b/gemfeed/f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-8/grafana-prometheus.png diff --git a/gemfeed/f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-8/loki-explore.png b/gemfeed/f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-8/loki-explore.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 00000000..e6ad851f --- /dev/null +++ b/gemfeed/f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-8/loki-explore.png diff --git a/gemfeed/index.md b/gemfeed/index.md index 3921d880..ee3e8b1d 100644 --- a/gemfeed/index.md +++ b/gemfeed/index.md @@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ ## To be in the .zone! +[2025-12-07 - f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 8: Observability](./2025-12-07-f3s-kubernetes-with-freebsd-part-8.md) [2025-11-02 - 'The Courage To Be Disliked' book notes](./2025-11-02-the-courage-to-be-disliked-book-notes.md) [2025-11-02 - Perl New Features and Foostats](./2025-11-02-perl-new-features-and-foostats.md) [2025-10-11 - Key Takeaways from The Well-Grounded Rubyist](./2025-10-11-key-takeaways-from-the-well-grounded-rubyist.md) |
