How to view logs and events in real time (preview)

Azure Monitor for containers includes a feature, which is currently in preview, that provides a live view into your Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) container logs (stdout/stderr) and events without having to run kubectl commands. When you select either option, a new pane appears below the performance data table on the Nodes, Controllers, and Containers view. It shows live logging and events generated by the container engine to further assist in troubleshooting issues in real time.

Live logs support three different methods to control access to the logs:

1. AKS without Kubernetes RBAC authorization enabled
2. AKS enabled with Kubernetes RBAC authorization
3. AKS enabled with Azure Active Directory (AD) SAML-based single-sign on

Kubernetes cluster without RBAC enabled

If you have a Kubernetes cluster that is not configured with Kubernetes RBAC authorization or integrated with Azure AD single-sign on, you do not need to follow these steps. Because Kubernetes authorization uses the kube-api, read-only permissions are required.

Kubernetes RBAC authorization

If you have enabled Kubernetes RBAC authorization, you will need to apply cluster role binding. The following example steps demonstrate how to configure cluster role binding from this yaml configuration template.

1. Copy and paste the yaml file and save it as LogReaderRBAC.yaml.

   apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1 
   kind: ClusterRole 
   metadata: 
      name: containerHealth-log-reader 
   rules: 
      - apiGroups: [""] 
        resources: ["pods/log", "events"] 
        verbs: ["get", "list"]  
   --- 
   apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1 
   kind: ClusterRoleBinding 
   metadata: 
      name: containerHealth-read-logs-global 
   roleRef: 
       kind: ClusterRole 
       name: containerHealth-log-reader 
       apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io 
   subjects: 
      - kind: User 
        name: clusterUser 
        apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
   

2. If you are configuring it for the first time, you apply the cluster rule binding by running the following command: kubectl create -f LogReaderRBAC.yaml. If you previously enabled support for live logs preview before we introduced live event logs, to update your configuration, run the following command: kubectl apply -f LogReaderRBAC.yaml.

Configure AKS with Azure Active Directory

AKS can be configured to use Azure Active Directory (AD) for user authentication. If you are configuring it for the first time, see Integrate Azure Active Directory with Azure Kubernetes Service. During the steps to create the client application, specify the following:

• Redirect URI: Two Web application types need to be created. The first base URL value should be https://afd.hosting.azureportal.chinacloudapi.cn/monitoring/Content/iframe/infrainsights.app/web/base-libs/auth/auth.html and the second base URL value should be https://monitoring.hosting.azureportal.chinacloudapi.cn/monitoring/Content/iframe/infrainsights.app/web/base-libs/auth/auth.html.
• After registering the application, from the Overview page select Authentication from the left-hand pane. On the Authentication page, under Advanced settings implicitly grant Access tokens and ID tokens and then save your changes.

View live logs and events

You can view real-time log events as they are generated by the container engine from the Nodes, Controllers, and Containers view. From the properties pane, you select View live data (preview) option and a pane is presented below the performance data table where you can view log and events in a continuous stream.

Log and event messages are limited based on what resource type is selected in the view.

If the AKS cluster is configured with SSO using AAD, you are prompted to authenticate on first use during that browser session. Select your account and complete authentication with Azure.

After successfully authenticating, the live log pane will appear in the bottom section of the middle pane. If the fetch status indicator shows a green check mark, which is on the far right of the pane, it means it can retrieve data.

In the search bar, you can filter by key word to highlight that text in the log or event, and in the search bar on the far right, it shows how many results match out the filter.

While viewing events, you can additionally limit the results using the Filter pill found to the right of the search bar. Depending on what resource you have selected, the pill lists a pod, namespace, or cluster to chose from.

To suspend autoscroll and control the behavior of the pane and allow you to manually scroll through the new data read, click on the Scroll option. To re-enable autoscroll, simply click the Scroll option again. You can also pause retrieval of log or event data by clicking on the Pause option and when you are ready to resume, simply click Play.

You can go to Azure Monitor Logs to see historical container logs by selecting View container logs from the drop-down list View in analytics.

Next steps

• To continue learning how to use Azure Monitor and monitor other aspects of your AKS cluster, see View Azure Kubernetes Service health.
• View log query examples to see pre-defined queries and examples to evaluate or customize for alerting, visualizing, or analyzing your clusters.