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Troubleshooting Openshift

Troubleshoot OpenShift Monitoring

Learn practical troubleshoot openshift monitoring with oc commands, OpenShift manifests, verification steps, common mistakes, and production-focused guidance.

Troubleshoot OpenShift Monitoring

Introduction

OpenShift monitoring runs platform Prometheus, Alertmanager, and related components. Start with pod health, then Alertmanager alerts, targets, and storage pressure.

Symptoms

Typical symptoms include failed pods, route errors, denied requests, unhealthy operators, or command errors that repeat after retries.

Common Causes

  • Deleting monitoring PVCs to clear space.
  • Ignoring persistent volume pressure.
  • Assuming user workload monitoring is enabled by default in every cluster.

Step 1: Check the Current Status

oc get pods -n openshift-monitoring
oc get routes -n openshift-monitoring
oc adm top pods -n openshift-monitoring
oc logs statefulset/prometheus-k8s -n openshift-monitoring --tail=50

Example output:

NAME                                  READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
prometheus-k8s-0                      6/6     Running   0          5d
alertmanager-main-0                   6/6     Running   0          5d

Step 2: Inspect Logs and Events

oc get pods -n openshift-monitoring
oc get pvc -n openshift-monitoring
oc get events -n openshift-monitoring

Step 3: Verify Configuration

Compare the object selectors, service account, image reference, route target, or operator status with the failing symptom. In OpenShift, events often show the exact admission, scheduling, pull, SCC, or route reason.

Step 4: Apply the Fix

Apply the smallest targeted fix: correct the selector, update the route or service port, link the pull secret, grant the specific RBAC or SCC permission, or repair the unhealthy operator dependency.

Step 5: Confirm the Problem Is Resolved

Run the verification commands again and confirm the status, events, and user-facing test all agree.

Common Mistakes

  • Deleting monitoring PVCs to clear space.
  • Ignoring persistent volume pressure.
  • Assuming user workload monitoring is enabled by default in every cluster.

Quick Checklist

  • Confirm the active project.
  • Inspect the exact object named in the error.
  • Read recent events.
  • Apply one focused fix.
  • Verify status after the change.

Summary

Troubleshoot OpenShift Monitoring requires matching the symptom to the OpenShift object that owns it. Use oc status commands, events, logs, and focused verification so the fix is tied to evidence.