- This open source diagnostic tool can help keep Kubernetes clusters stable, reliable, scalable and secure
- It provides an easy way to identify potential configuration issues early in the application lifecycle, resulting in faster time to production
US-based cloud-native infrastructure solutions provider Fairwinds on Thursday announced the availability of Polaris, open source software for helping to keep Kubernetes environments performing optimally.
Polaris automates configuration best practices based on Fairwinds’ experience building and managing hundreds of cloud-native production deployments. It is now available to the Kubernetes community as a free service known as Polaris Snapshot or as an open source download.
“Keeping cloud-native environments healthy is a challenge. Even the smallest errors in Kubernetes deployment configurations can lead to major issues ranging from poor container performance to production outages and security breaches,” said Bill Ledingham, CEO at Fairwinds.
“Polaris, built on a set of well-tested standards, provides an easy and fast way to identify configuration issues early, fix them and prevent future problems,” he claimed.
Key components
Fairwinds Polaris consists of two key components: a dashboard that provides ratings for clusters that are currently deployed; and a webhook that can help prevent future configuration errors based on defined standards.
Debashis Das, VP of Architecture at Veracode, shared that using Fairwinds Polaris to scan Kubernetes workloads allows their teams to spot potential issues early in the application lifecycle and stay aligned with best practices.
“Result categorization by Kubernetes namespace in Polaris helps application and infrastructure teams to address configuration issues in parallel, resulting in faster time to production,” he added.
Polaris is the most recent open source software development project released by Fairwinds.
Existing releases include: RBAC Manager – for simplifying the management of Role Bindings and Service Accounts; rok8s Scripts – for managing application deployment life cycles in Kubernetes with powerful scripts; and Reckoner – for streamlining the installation and management of multiple Helm chart releases.
