preview
We're still working on this feature, but we'd love for you to try it out!
This feature is currently provided as part of a preview program pursuant to our pre-release policies.
Fleets are composed of two key components:
- Agent configurations
- Managed entities (clusters)
Both of these must be set up in Fleet Control to have a functioning fleet. This section provides guidance on setting up and managing your fleets: first by setting up your configurations, then by creating a fleet and adding your clusters, and finally running a deployment.
Create agent configuration
Agent configurations determine what data is ingested into New Relic, and they include the specific versions of the agents. Previously, updating hundreds of agents required running a large script to change these configurations, even when using Helm charts to manage deployments.
Now, with Fleet Control, you can create a single configuration that can be applied to multiple agents simultaneously. This leverages the existing Helm chart infrastructure to streamline the process, allowing for efficient and consistent updates across all desired agents without the need for extensive scripting.
Follow these steps to create an agent configuration via Fleet Control:
- In New Relic, go to New Relic Control → Configurations and then click Create a new configuration. You can create the specific configuration needed for your chosen agent here.
- Select Kubernetes as the environment.
- Select the agent type (New Relic Infrastructure, New Relic OpenTelemetry Collector, Fluent Bit, or New Relic Prometheus Agent).
- Give the configuration a name.
- Then click Continue.
This navigates to where you can set your configuration. A template is displayed on the right half of the screen. This template is the default configuration that New Relic recommends you use for the agent type you selected. You can customize this template to suit your specific needs. - Save the configuration.
- Similarly, create a configuration for each agent type that's part of your cluster.
Create configuration versions
After a configuration is created, you can update it by creating a newer version of this configuration. You can select from these versions when assigning a configuration to a fleet.
To create a new version, select a configuration, then click Create config version. This creates a new version of the configuration, which you can update within a fleet.
Versioning plays a crucial role in protecting the state of fleets.
Importante
To update a fleet with the new configuration version, you must manually select it, as the fleet does not automatically update to the new version.
Create a fleet
With Agent Control installed and the configurations defined, you're now ready to create and deploy your fleet.
Follow these steps to create and deploy a fleet:
- In New Relic, go to New Relic Control → Fleets, and then click Create a fleet.
- Name the fleet, select the fleet type, and set the Access management of that fleet.
Importante
Only Kubernetes is supported as the fleet type for the public preview.
Start deployment
After you create a fleet, click Start a deployment to start editing your fleet.
In the panel that slides in from the right:
- Name your deployment and provide a description.
- Next add your configuration(s) by clicking Add a configuration.
- Then add your cluster(s) by clicking Add managed entities.
Only clusters that have Agent Control installed and are not already assigned to another fleet appear. - Click Save draft, and then click Start deployment.
Importante
You can add only one configuration per agent type to a fleet. Multiple configurations of the same agent type (for example, different configurations of the Kubernetes infrastructure agent) are not supported.
Either an infrastructure or NRDOT configuration must be present in each fleet, but both cannot be in that same fleet at once. Also note that a Fluent Bit configuration must be accompanied by either an infrastructure or an OTel configuration.Deployment draft
After you add the deployment name, add a configuration, or add a managed entity, you will be able to save your draft of your deployment. Be sure to save your draft in case you navigate away from your current screen. Note that you must save your draft before starting the deployment.
To get back to your draft, navigate to New Relic Control → Fleets, and click the Deployments tab.
Canary
After you've added your configurations and clusters, you can set up a canary as an extra safeguard before deploying.
To do this, click the three dots next to the cluster(s) you want to designate as canary clusters. These clusters will be deployed first, and deployment to non-canary clusters will only proceed once the initial deployments are successful. If any canary deployment fails, the process will halt.
This precaution allows you to test your fleet setup with a select few clusters before deploying to all of them.
Start a deployment
When you are ready, click Start deployment. You'll see an In progress screen for your deployment.
The In Progress screen shows all clusters receiving the configuration from the deployment, the number of clusters and agents included in the deployment, and any deployment failures.
Importante
Every configuration in a fleet applies to all clusters within it. Therefore, clusters in a fleet should be homogeneous, as they will all share the same configurations.
Additional deployment factors
- Continuation: After the initial deployments succeed, the deployment process continues to the remaining clusters in the fleet.
- Handling failures: If any subsequent cluster deployment fails, the process continues for the rest of the clusters. The clusters in the initial ring have already validated the configuration, allowing the deployment to proceed to subsequent rings.
After your deployment is complete, your fleet is officially set up!