Deploy a Soda Agent in a Kubernetes cluster

Soda-hosted agents are included in all Free, Team, and Enterprise plans at no additional cost. However, self-hosted agents require an Enterprise plan.

If you wish to use self-hosted agents, please contact us at https://www.soda.io/contact to discuss Enterprise plan options or via the support portal for existing customers.

Prerequisites

You have created, or have access to an existing Kubernetes cluster into which you can deploy a Soda Agent.
You have installed v1.22 or v1.23 of kubectl. This is the command-line tool you use to run commands against Kubernetes clusters. If you have installed Docker Desktop, kubectl is included out-of-the-box. With Docker running, use the command kubectl version --output=yaml to check the version of an existing install.
You have installed Helm. This is the package manager for Kubernetes which you will use to deploy the Soda Agent Helm chart. Run helm version to check the version of an existing install.
You have been granted access to the private Soda Agent repository and received the necessary credentials and repository information.

System requirements

Kubernetes cluster size and capacity: 2 CPU and 2GB of RAM. In general, this is sufficient to run up to six scans in parallel.

Scan performance may vary according to the workload, or the number of scans running in parallel. To improve performance for larger workloads, consider fine-tuning the cluster size using the resources parameter for the agent-orchestrator and soda.scanlauncher.resources for the scan-launcher. Adding more resources to the scan-launcher can improve scan times by as much as 30%. Be aware, however, that allocating too many resources may be costly relative to the small benefit of improved scan times.

To specify resources, add the following parameters to your values.yml file during deployment. Refer to Kubernetes documentation for Resource Management for Pods and Containers for information on values to supply for x.

soda:
  agent:
    resources:
      limits:
        cpu: x
        memory: x
      requests:
        cpu: x
        memory: x
  scanlauncher:
    resources:
      limits:
        cpu: x
        memory: x
      requests:
        cpu: x
        memory: x

For reference, a Soda-hosted agent specifies resources as follows:

soda:
  agent:
    resources:
      limits:
        cpu: 250m
        memory: 375Mi
      requests:
        cpu: 250m
        memory: 375Mi

Deploy an agent

The following table outlines the two ways you can install the Helm chart to deploy a Soda Agent in your cluster.

Method

Description

When to use

Deploy using CLI only

Install the Helm chart via CLI by providing values directly in the install command.

Use this as a straight-forward way of deploying an agent on a cluster in a secure or local environment.

Deploy using a values YAML file

Install the Helm chart via CLI by providing values in a values YAML file.

Use this as a way of deploying an agent on a cluster while keeping sensitive values secure. - provide sensitive API key values in this local file - store data source login credentials as environment variables in this local file or in an external secrets manager; Soda needs access to the credentials to be able to connect to your data source to run scans of your data. See Soda Agent Extra

Deploy using CLI only

Add the Soda Agent Helm chart repository.

helm repo add soda-agent [REPOSITORY_URL_PROVIDED]

Use the following comand to install the Helm chart to deploy a Soda Agent in your custer. Learn more about the helm install command.
- Replace the values of soda.apikey.id and soda-apikey.secret with the values you copy+pasted from the New Soda Agent dialog box in your Soda Cloud account. By default, Soda uses Kubernetes Secrets as part of the Soda Agent deployment. The agent automatically converts any sensitive values you add to a values YAML file, or directly via the CLI, into Kubernetes Secrets.
- Replace the value of soda.agent.name with a custom name for you agent, if you wish.
- Specify the value for soda.cloud.endpoint according to your local region: https://cloud.us.soda.io for the United States, or https://cloud.soda.io for all else.
- (Optional) Specify the format for log output: raw for plain text, or json for JSON format.
- (Optional) Specify the level of log information you wish to see when deploying the agent: ERROR, WARN, INFO, DEBUG, or TRACE.
  helm install soda-agent soda-agent/soda-agent \ --set soda.agent.name=myuniqueagent \ # Use https://cloud.us.soda.io for US region; use https://cloud.soda.io for EU region --set soda.cloud.endpoint=https://cloud.soda.io \ --set soda.apikey.id=*** \ --set soda.apikey.secret=**** \ --set soda.agent.logFormat=raw \ --set soda.agent.loglevel=ERROR \ --namespace soda-agent
  The command-line produces output like the following message:
  NAME: soda-agent LAST DEPLOYED: Thu Jun 16 15:03:10 2022 NAMESPACE: soda-agent STATUS: deployed REVISION: 1
(Optional) Validate the Soda Agent deployment by running the following command:
```
minikube kubectl -- describe pods
```

In your Soda Cloud account, navigate to your avatar > Agents. Refresh the page to verify that you see the agent you just created in the list of Agents. Be aware that this may take several minutes to appear in your list of Soda Agents. Use the describe pods command in step 3 to check the status of the deployment. When State: Running and Ready: True, then you can refresh and see the agent in Soda Cloud.

...
Containers:
  soda-agent-orchestrator:
     Container ID:   docker://081*33a7
     Image:          sodadata/agent-orchestrator:latest
     Image ID:       docker-pullable://sodadata/agent-orchestrator@sha256:394e7c1**b5f
     Port:           <none>
     Host Port:      <none>
     State:          Running
       Started:      Thu, 16 Jun 2022 15:50:28 -0700
     Ready:          True
     ...

If you do no see the agent listed in Soda Cloud, use the following command to review status and investigate the logs.

kubectl logs -l agent.soda.io/component=orchestrator -n soda-agent -f

Deploy using a values YAML file

Create or navigate to an existing Kubernetes cluster in your environment in which you can deploy the Soda Agent helm chart.
Add the Soda Agent Helm chart repository. helm repo add soda-agent [REPOSITORY_URL_PROVIDED]
Using a code editor, create a new YAML file called values.yml.
In that file, copy+paste the content below, replacing the following values:
- id and secret with the values you copy+pasted from the New Soda Agent dialog box in your Soda Cloud account. By default, Soda uses Kubernetes Secrets as part of the Soda Agent deployment. The agent automatically converts any sensitive values you add to a values YAML file, or directly via the CLI, into Kubernetes Secrets.
- Replace the value of name with a custom name for your agent, if you wish.
- Specify the value for endpoint according to your local region: https://cloud.us.soda.io for the United States, or https://cloud.soda.io for all else.
- (Optional) Specify the format for log output: raw for plain text, or json for JSON format.
- (Optional) Specify the level of log information you wish to see when deploying the agent: ERROR, WARN, INFO, DEBUG, or TRACE.
  soda: apikey: id: "***" secret: "***" agent: name: "myuniqueagent" logformat: "raw" loglevel: "ERROR" cloud: # Use https://cloud.us.soda.io for US region # Use https://cloud.soda.io for EU region endpoint: "https://cloud.soda.io"
Save the file. Then, in the same directory in which the values.yml file exists, use the following command to install the Soda Agent helm chart.
```
helm install soda-agent soda-agent/soda-agent \
  --values values.yml \
  --namespace soda-agent
```
(Optional) Validate the Soda Agent deployment by running the following command:
```
minikube kubectl -- describe pods
```
In your Soda Cloud account, navigate to your avatar > Agents. Refresh the page to verify that you see the agent you just created in the list of Agents. Be aware that this may take several minutes to appear in your list of Soda Agents. Use the describe pods command in step three to check the status of the deployment. When State: Running and Ready: True, then you can refresh and see the agent in Soda Cloud.
```
...
Containers:
  soda-agent-orchestrator:
 Container ID:   docker://081*33a7
 Image:          sodadata/agent-orchestrator:latest
 Image ID:       docker-pullable://sodadata/agent-orchestrator@sha256:394e7c1**b5f
 Port:           <none>
 Host Port:      <none>
 State:          Running
   Started:      Thu, 16 Jun 2022 15:50:28 -0700
 Ready:          True
...
```
agent-deployed

If you do no see the agent listed in Soda Cloud, use the following command to review status and investigate the logs.

kubectl logs -l agent.soda.io/component=orchestrator -n soda-agent -f

If you use private key authentication with a Soda Agent, refer to Soda Agent extras.

About the `helm install` command

helm install soda-agent soda-agent/soda-agent \
  --set soda.agent.name=myuniqueagent \
  --set soda.apikey.id=*** \
  --set soda.apikey.secret=**** \
  --namespace soda-agent

Command part

Description

helm install

the action helm is to take

soda-agent (the first one)

a release named soda-agent on your cluster

soda-agent (the second one)

the name of the helm repo you installed

soda-agent (the third one)

the name of the helm chart that is the Soda Agent

The --set options either override or set some of the values defined in and used by the Helm chart. You can override these values with the --set files as this command does, or you can specify the override values using a values.yml file.

Parameter key

Parameter value, description

--set soda.agent.name

A unique name for your Soda Agent. Choose any name you wish, as long as it is unique in your Soda Cloud account.

--set soda.apikey.id

With the apikey.secret, this connects the Soda Agent to your Soda Cloud account. Use the value you copied from the dialog box in Soda Cloud when adding a new agent. You can use a values.yml file to pass this value to the cluster instead of exposing it here.

--set soda.apikey.secret

With the apikey.id, this connects the Soda Agent to your Soda Cloud account. Use the value you copied from the dialog box in Soda Cloud when adding a new agent. You can use a values.yml file to pass this value to the cluster instead of exposing it here.

--set soda.agent.logFormat

(Optional) Specify the format for log output: raw for plain text, or json for JSON format.

--set soda.agent.loglevel

(Optional) Specify the level of log information you wish to see when deploying the agent: ERROR, WARN, INFO, DEBUG, or TRACE.

--namespace soda-agent

Use the namespace value to identify the namespace in which to deploy the agent.

Decomission the Soda Agent and cluster

Uninstall the Soda Agent in the cluster.
```
helm uninstall soda-agent -n soda-agent
```

Delete the cluster.

minikube delete

💀  Removed all traces of the "minikube" cluster.

Troubleshoot deployment

Problem: After setting up a cluster and deploying the agent, you are unable to see the agent running in Soda Cloud.

Solution: The value you specify for the soda-cloud-enpoint must correspond with the region you selected when you signed up for a Soda Cloud account:

Usehttps://cloud.us.soda.io for the United States
Use https://cloud.soda.io for all else

Problem: You need to define the outgoing port and IP address with which a self-hosted Soda Agent can communicate with Soda Cloud. Soda Agent does not require setting any inbound rules as it only polls Soda Cloud looking for instruction, which requires only outbound communication. When Soda Cloud must deliver instructions, the Soda Agent opens a bidirectional channel.

Solution: Use port 443 and passlist the fully-qualified domain names for Soda Cloud:

cloud.us.soda.io for Soda Cloud account created in the US region OR
cloud.soda.io for Soda Cloud account created in the EU region AND
collect.soda.io

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Prerequisites

System requirements

Deploy an agent

Deploy using CLI only

Deploy using a values YAML file

About the helm install command

Decomission the Soda Agent and cluster

Troubleshoot deployment

About the `helm install` command