VerticaScrutinize custom resource definition

The VerticaScrutinize custom resource (CR) runs scrutinize on a VerticaDB CR, which collects diagnostic information about the VerticaDB cluster and packages it in a tar file. This diagnostic information is commonly requested when resolving a case with Vertica Support.

When you create a VerticaScrutinize CR in your cluster, the VerticaDB operator creates a short-lived pod and runs scrutinize in two stages:

1. An init container runs scrutinize on the VerticaDB CR. This produces a tar file named VerticaScrutinize.timestamp.tar that contains the diagnostic information. Optionally, you can define one or more init containers that perform additional processing after scrutinize completes.
2. A main container persists the tar file in its file system in the /tmp/scrutinize/ directory. This main container lives for 30 minutes.

When resolving a support case, Vertica Support might request that you upload the tar file to a secure location, such as Vertica Advisor Report.

Prerequisites

• Deploy a VerticaDB CR that uses VerticaDB API version v1 with vclusterops.
• Deploy a VerticaDB operator version 2.0 and higher.

Create a VerticaScrutinize CR

A VerticaScrutinize CR spec requires only the name of the VerticaDB CR for which you want to collect diagnostic information. The following example defines the CR as a YAML-formatted file named vscrutinize-example.yaml:

apiVersion: vertica.com/v1beta1
kind: VerticaScrutinize
metadata:
  name: vscrutinize-example
spec:
  verticaDBName: verticadb-name

For a complete list of parameters that you can set for a VerticaScrutinize CR, see Custom resource definition parameters.

Apply the manifest

After you create the VerticaScrutinize CR, apply the manifest in the same namespace as the CR specified by verticaDBName:

$ kubectl apply -f vscrutinize-example.yaml
verticascrutinize.vertica.com/vscrutinize-example created

The operator creates an init container that runs scrutinize:

$ kubectl get pods
NAME                                          READY   STATUS     RESTARTS   AGE
...
verticadb-operator-manager-68b7d45854-22c8p   1/1     Running    0          3d17h
vscrutinize-example                           0/1     Init:0/1   0          14s

After the init container completes, a new container is created, and the tar file is stored in its file system at /tmp/scrutinize. This container persists for 30 minutes:

$ kubectl get pods
NAME                                          READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
...
verticadb-operator-manager-68b7d45854-22c8p   1/1     Running   0          3d20h
vscrutinize-example                           1/1     Running   0          21s

Add init containers

When you apply a VerticaScrutinize CR, the VerticaDB operator creates an init container that prepares and runs the scrutinize command. You can add one or more init containers to perform additional steps after scrutinize creates a tar file and before the tar file is saved in the main container.

For example, you can define an init container that sends the tar file to another location, such as an S3 bucket. The following manifest defines an initContainer field that uploads the scrutinize tar file to an S3 bucket:

apiVersion: vertica.com/v1beta1
kind: VerticaScrutinize
metadata:
  name: vscrutinize-example-copy-to-s3
spec:
  verticaDBName: verticadb-name
  initContainers:
    - command:
        - bash
        - '-c'
        - 'aws s3 cp $(SCRUTINIZE_TARBALL) s3://k8test/scrutinize/'
      env:
        - name: AWS_REGION
          value: us-east-1
      image: 'amazon/aws-cli:2.2.24'
      name: copy-tarfile-to-s3
      securityContext:
        privileged: true

In the previous example, initContainers.command executes a command that accesses the SCRUTINIZE_TARBALL environment variable. The operator sets this environment variable in the scrutinize pod, and it defines the location of the tar file in the main container.