# Advanced Usage

# CLI Usage (not recommended)

The CLI was originally developed to test the features of Goldilocks. While the CLI is still present and somewhat functional, we do not generally recommend using it. The CLI is scoped to a single namespace per run (meaning you would have to run it multiple times), and it will not automatically clean up any VPA objects that are created. The controller is a much better option, as it will monitor for changes and keep the list of VPA objects up-to-date. In addition, the controller will allow keeping multiple namespaces up to date.

The CLI summary function should still be useful. It runs the same summary output that the dashboard uses, and can generate a JSON object that can be used elsewhere.

A tool for analysis of kubernetes workload resource usage.

Usage:
  goldilocks [flags]
  goldilocks [command]

Available Commands:
  completion  generate the autocompletion script for the specified shell
  controller  Run goldilocks as a controller inside a kubernetes cluster.
  create-vpas Create VPAs
  dashboard   Run the goldilocks dashboard that will show recommendations.
  delete-vpas Delete VPAs
  help        Help about any command
  summary     Generate a summary of vpa recommendations.
  version     Prints the current version of the tool.

Flags:
  -h, --help                help for goldilocks
      --kubeconfig string   Kubeconfig location. [KUBECONFIG] (default "$HOME/.kube/config")
  -v, --v Level             number for the log level verbosity

Use "goldilocks [command] --help" for more information about a command.

# Installation

Visit the releases page (opens new window) to find the release that's right for your environment. For example, on Linux:

curl -L "https://github.com/FairwindsOps/goldilocks/releases/download/v4.0.0/goldilocks_4.0.0_linux_amd64.tar.gz" > goldilocks.tar.gz
tar -xvf goldilocks.tar.gz
sudo mv goldilocks /usr/local/bin/

# controller

This starts the goldilocks controller. Used by the Docker container, it will create vpas for properly labelled namespaces.

# Flags

You can set the default behavior for VPA creation using some flags. When specified, labels will always take precedence over the command line flags.

--on-by-default - create VPAs in all namespaces
--include-namespaces - create VPAs in these namespaces, in addition to any that are labeled
--exclude-namespaces - when --on-by-default is set, exclude this comma-separated list of namespaces

# Enable Namespaces

Namespaces are considered enabled or managed by goldilocks when the Namespace has the enabled label set to "true", for example:

kubectl label ns goldilocks goldilocks.fairwinds.com/enabled=true

# VPA Update Mode

Note: This feature is for advanced usage only and is not recommended nor the default!

VPAs created for workloads in a Namespace have an update mode of "off" by default, meaning the VPAs only report recommendations and do not actually auto-scale the Pods.

The update mode can be changed for a namespace by labels as well, for example:

kubectl label ns goldilocks goldilocks.fairwinds.com/vpa-update-mode="auto"

# VPA Resource Policy

Note: This feature is for advanced usage only and is not recommended nor the default!

The resourcePolicy section of a VPA allows detailed specifications per container. This provides the ability to configure minAllowed and maxAllowed cpu and memory values, override the updateMode by specifying the mode and setting controlledValues with can be either RequestsAndLimits (default) or RequestsOnly which allows the VPA to only adjust Requests and/or Limits depending on the this setting.

Example of a resourcePolicy section

apiVersion: autoscaling.k8s.io/v1
kind: VerticalPodAutoscaler
metadata:
  name: nginx-vpa
spec:
  targetRef:
    apiVersion: "apps/v1"
    kind:       Deployment
    name:       nginx
  updatePolicy:
    updateMode: "On"
  resourcePolicy:
    containerPolicies:
    - containerName: "nginx"
      minAllowed:
        cpu: "250m"
        memory: "100Mi"
      maxAllowed:
        cpu: "2000m"
        memory: "2048Mi"
    - containerName: "istio-proxy"
      mode: "Off"

The resourcePolicy section can be defined by using the following annotation on a namespace goldilocks.fairwinds.com/vpa-resource-policy=<json formatted section>

Example of an annotation

  annotations:
    goldilocks.fairwinds.com/vpa-resource-policy: >
      { "containerPolicies": [ { "containerName": "nginx", "minAllowed": {
      "cpu": "250m", "memory": "100Mi" }, "maxAllowed": { "cpu": "2000m",
      "memory": "2048Mi" } }, { "containerName": "istio-proxy", "mode": "Off" }
      ] }

# Workload Specifications

If you want a specific workload to have a VPA in a specific update mode, then you can annotate the workload with goldilocks.fairwinds.com/vpa-update-mode=<mode> to control the update mode for a specific workload in a Namespace (regardless of labeling on the Namespace).

# create-vpas

goldilocks create-vpas -n some-namespace

This will search for any workloads in the given namespace and generate a VPA for each of them. Each vpa will be labelled for use by this tool.

# delete-vpas

This will delete all vpa objects in a namespace that are labelled for use by this tool.

# dashboard

goldilocks dashboard

Runs the goldilocks dashboard server that will display recommendations. Listens on port 8080 by default.

# summary

goldilocks summary

Queries all the VPA objects that are labelled for this tool across all namespaces and summarizes their suggestions into a JSON object.

# Container Exclusions

The dashboard and summary commands can exclude recommendations for a list of comma separated container names using the --exclude-containers argument. This option can be useful for hiding recommendations for sidecar containers for things like Linkerd and Istio.

Containers can be excluded for individual workloads by applying a label to any of the workload controller resources (Deployment, StatefulSet, DaemonSet, etc). The label value should be a list of comma separated container names. The label value will be combined with any values provided through the --exclude-containers argument.

Example label:

kubectl label deployment myapp goldilocks.fairwinds.com/exclude-containers=linkerd-proxy,istio-proxy

← FAQ Guide →