2V0-71.23 VMware Tanzu for Kubernetes Operations Professional Questions and Answers

VMware Aria Operations for Applications (formerly known as Tanzu Observability) is a unified observability platform that provides full-stack visibility using metrics, traces, and logs across distributed applications, application services, container services, and multi-cloud environments. Some of the capabilities of VMware Aria Operations for Applications are:

• Create alerts: Users can monitor for certain behaviors and get smart notifications based on query conditions. Users can create alerts independently or directly from charts, and use advanced and accurate alerting powered by AI/analytics and query language1.
• Create charts and dashboards: Users can visualize their data based on query results in various chart types (such as line plot, point plot, table, pie chart, etc.) and organize them in dashboards. Users can also interact with charts and dashboards in real time, such as zoom in, zoom out, change the time window, change the focus, and so on1.
• Create queries: Users can use the Wavefront Query Language (WQL) to extract the information they need from their data. Users can use the Chart Builder for easy query creation or the Query Editor for advanced query editing. Users can also use functions, operators, variables, macros, and expressions to manipulate their data1.

References: VMware Aria Operations for Applications Documentation, Unified Observability Platform by VMware Aria Operations for Applications

Contour is an open-source Kubernetes ingress controller that provides dynamic configuration updates and makes use of the Envoy proxy as a data plane1. Envoy is an open-source edge and service proxy that can handle large volumes of network traffic between services in a cloud-native environment2. Contour leverages Envoy’s advanced features such as load balancing, health checking, dynamic service discovery, circuit breaking, rate limiting, and more3. Contour also integrates with Envoy’s external authorization filter to support external authentication and authorization providers4.

The other options are incorrect because:

• NSX Load Balancer is a VMware solution that provides L4 and L7 load balancing and ingress control for Kubernetes clusters5. It is not the data plane for Contour.
• Istio is an open-source service mesh that provides a uniform way to connect, secure, control, and observe services in a distributed system6. It is not the data plane for Contour.
• Prometheus is an open-source systems monitoring and alerting toolkit that can collect metrics from various sources, including Kubernetes clusters7. It is not the data plane for Contour.

References: Contour Overview, Envoy Overview, Contour Architecture, External Authorization Support, NSX Advanced Load Balancer, Istio Overview, Prometheus Overview

Kubernetes services and Contour HTTP Proxy are two resources that External DNS can create records for. External DNS is a Kubernetes controller that synchronizes exposed Kubernetes resources with DNS providers. It supports creating DNS records for Kubernetes services of type LoadBalancer or NodePort, as well as Ingress resources. Contour HTTP Proxy is a custom resource definition (CRD) that provides an alternative way to configure HTTP routes on Kubernetes clusters. External DNS can also create DNS records for Contour HTTP Proxy resources, as long as they have an associated service of type LoadBalancer or NodePort. References: kubernetes-sigs/external-dns - GitHub, Contour HTTPProxy User Guide

A Deployment is a Kubernetes object that allows you to perform a rolling update without disrupting services. A Deployment manages a ReplicaSet or a Pod and provides declarative updates for them. You can describe the desired state of your application using a Deployment, and it will change the actual state to the desired state at acontrolled rate. A Deployment also allows you to roll back to a previous version if something goes wrong during the update14.

The other options are incorrect because:

• A ReplicaSet is a Kubernetes object that ensures that a specified number of pod replicas are running at any given time. It does not provide any mechanism for updating or rolling back pods15.
• A Service is a Kubernetes object that defines a logical set of pods and a policy to access them. It does not provide any mechanism for updating or rolling back pods16.
• A Container is not a Kubernetes object, but rather a component of a Pod. A Pod is the smallest deployable unit of computing in Kubernetes. A Pod can contain one or more containers that share storage and network resources. A Pod does not provide any mechanism for updating or rolling back itself or its containers17.

References: Deployments, ReplicaSets, Services, Pods

Two components that are installed on the target cluster when VMware Tanzu Mission Control Data Protection is enabled are Velero and data protection extension. VMware Tanzu Mission Control Data Protection is a feature that allows users to backup and restore Kubernetes resources and persistent volumes across clusters using a centralized management platform6. To enable data protection for a cluster, users need to install Velero and data protection extension on the cluster7. Velero is an open source tool that performs backup and restore operations using custom resource definitions and controllers6. Data protection extension is a component that enhances Velero’s functionality by providing additional features such as backup scheduling, retention policy, backup hooks, restore hooks, and backup encryption8. References: Data Protection - VMware Docs, Protecting Data - VMware Docs, Enable Data Protection for a Cluster - VMware Docs

Node groups and service groups are two kinds of resource groups that can be created to collect and manage objects in VMware Tanzu Service Mesh. A resource group is a collection of cluster resources of a specific type that share specific characteristics. Resource groups help enforce policies and monitor the performance of resources in a single global namespace or across your entire organization7. A node group collects nodes that meet certain criteria, such as running in a specific region or having certain labels. A service group collects services that meet certain criteria, such as having a specific name prefix or belonging to a specific namespace.

The other options are incorrect because:

• Cluster groups are not a valid kind of resource group in VMware Tanzu Service Mesh. Clusters are not considered as resources in Tanzu Service Mesh.
• Security groups are not a valid kind of resource group in VMware Tanzu Service Mesh. Security groups are used to define network access rules for resources in some cloud platforms8, but they are not part of Tanzu Service Mesh.
• API groups are not a valid kind of resource group in VMware Tanzu Service Mesh. API groups are used to organize Kubernetes resources into categories based on their API versions9, but they are not part of Tanzu Service Mesh.

References: Resource Groups, Security Groups, API Groups

Multus is an open-source container network interface plugin for Kubernetes that enables attaching multiple network interfaces to pods. Contour is an open-source Kubernetes ingress controller that provides dynamic configuration updates and makes use of the Envoy proxy as a data plane. By installing these two packages in a VMware Tanzu Kubernetes Grid cluster, an administrator can create a pod with two interfaces and use Contour to route the application and management traffic to different networks.

The other options are incorrect because:

• external-dns is a package that synchronizes exposed Kubernetes services and ingresses with DNS providers. It does not provide multiple interfaces for pods.
• cert-manager is a package that automates the management and issuance of TLS certificates from various sources. It does not provide multiple interfaces for pods.
• qrafana is not a valid package name. The correct spelling is Grafana, which is a package that provides visualization and analytics for metrics collected by Prometheus. It does not provide multiple interfaces for pods.

References: Install Multus and Whereabouts for Container Networking, Install Contour for Ingress

VMware Tanzu Kubernetes Grid is an enterprise-ready Kubernetes runtime that streamlines operations across multi-cloud infrastructure1. Tanzu Kubernetes Grid natively integrates with the following VMware products:

• NSX Advanced Load Balancer: A solution that provides L4 and L7 load balancing and ingress control for Kubernetes clusters. NSX Advanced Load Balancer can be used as the default load balancer provider for both management and workload clusters on vSphere, AWS, Azure, and other platforms2.
• NSX-T Data Center: A network virtualization and security platform that provides consistent networking and security for applications running across private and public clouds. NSX-T Data Center can be used as the default network plugin for both management and workload clusters on vSphere, AWS, Azure, and other platforms3.
• vSphere with VMware Tanzu: A solution that enables you to run Kubernetes workloads natively on a vSphere cluster, and to provision and manage Kubernetes clusters using the vSphere Client. vSphere with VMware Tanzu can be used as the platform to deploy Tanzu Kubernetes Grid management clusters and workload clusters4.

The other options are incorrect because:

• BOSH is an open-source tool that provides release engineering, deployment, lifecycle management, and monitoring of distributed systems. BOSH is not a VMware product, nor does it natively integrate with Tanzu Kubernetes Grid5.
• vRealize Network Insight is a solution that delivers intelligent operations for software-defined networking and security. It helps optimize network performance and availability with visibility and analytics across virtual and physical networks. vRealize Network Insight is not natively integrated with Tanzu Kubernetes Grid6.
• Tanzu Mission Control is a centralized management platform for consistently operating and securing your Kubernetes infrastructure and modern applications across multiple teams and clouds. Tanzu Mission Control is not natively integrated with Tanzu Kubernetes Grid, but rather works with it as a separate product7.

References: VMware Tanzu Kubernetes Grid Overview, NSX Advanced Load Balancer, NSX-T Data Center, vSphere with VMware Tanzu, BOSH, vRealize Network Insight, Tanzu Mission Control Overview

The purpose of setting ENABLE_AUDIT_LOGGING=true during a cluster deployment is to log metadata about all requests made to the Kubernetes API server. This enables auditing of the cluster activities and helps with security and compliance. The audit logs are stored in /var/log/kubernetes/audit.log on the control plane node and can be accessed by the cluster administrator. The audit logs are generated based on an audit policy file that defines what events should be recorded and what data they should include12

References: 1: https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Tanzu-Kubernetes-Grid/1.6/vmware-tanzu-kubernetes-grid-16/GUID-troubleshooting-tkg-audit-logging.html  2: https://kubernetes.io/docs/tasks/debug/debug-cluster/audit/

VMware Aria Operations for Applications (formerly VMware Tanzu Observability) is a SaaS solution that collects and analyzes traces, metrics, and logs from various sources, including Tanzu Kubernetes Grid clusters, applications, and services. It provides a single source of truth for actionable insights into the performance, availability, and behavior of the entire application stack. It also enables users to create dashboards, alerts, and reports based on the collected data.

The other options are incorrect because:

• Watches defined infrastructure systems to keep track of health of resources is a description of VMware Tanzu Mission Control, which is another SaaS solution that provides centralized management and governance for Tanzu Kubernetes Grid clusters across multiple platforms.
• Automates the remediation of Kubernetes platform resources based on collected data is a description of VMware Tanzu Service Mesh, which is a service thatcreates an enterprise-class service mesh for consistent control and security for microservices, end users, and data.
• Tracks metrics, logs, and alerts based on specified thresholds is a partial description of VMware Aria Operations for Applications, but it does not mention the trace analysis and the single source of truth features.

References: VMware Tanzu for Kubernetes Operations Getting Started, VMware Aria Operations for Applications Documentation

A service mesh is a dedicated infrastructure layer that you can add to your applications to provide capabilities like observability, traffic management, and security, without adding them to your own code. A service mesh consists of network proxies paired with each service in an application and a set of management processes. The proxies are called the data plane and the management processes are called the control plane. The data plane intercepts calls between different services and processes them; the control plane is the brain of the mesh that configures and monitors the data plane1. A service mesh makes communication between applications possible, structured, and observable by providing features such as load balancing, service discovery, encryption, authentication, authorization, routing, retries, timeouts, fault injection, metrics, logs, and traces2.

The other options are incorrect because:

• Provides dynamic application load balancing and autoscaling across multiple clusters and multiple sites is a description of VMware Tanzu Service Mesh Global Namespaces feature3, which is built on top of a service mesh. It is not the purpose of a service mesh in general.
• Provides a centralized, global routing table to simplify and optimize traffic management is a description of VMware Tanzu Service Mesh Global Mesh Network feature4, which is also built on top of a service mesh. It is not the purpose of a service mesh in general.
• Provides service discovery across multiple clusters is a partial description of a service mesh, but it does not capture the full scope of its purpose. Service discovery is one of the features that a service mesh provides, but it is not the only one.

References: What’s a service mesh?, The Istio service mesh, Service mesh - Wikipedia

Three capabilities that are supported by VMware Aria Operations for Applications (formerly VMware Tanzu Observability) are:

• Unified log management: Users can browse logs to troubleshoot their issues, for example, if they notice anomalies on their metrics charts or see that a service on the application map has large latency value. Users can also drill into related logs directly from charts, alerts, and traces2.
• Event tracing: Users can work with a service map, examine traces and spans, and drill down into problem areas in their code. Users can also view traces and spans from a single source of truth across logs, metrics, and traces1.
• Out-of-the-box and user-configurable dashboards: Users can visualize their data based on query results in various chart types (such as line plot, point plot, table, pie chart, etc.) and organize them in dashboards. Users can also interact with charts and dashboards in real time, such as zoom in, zoom out, change the time window, change the focus, and so on1.

References: VMware Aria Operations for Applications Documentation, VMware Aria Operations for Applications

Two package management tools that can be used to configure and install applications on Kubernetes are:

• Carvel. Carvel is a set of tools that provides a simple, composable, and flexible way to manage Kubernetes configuration, packaging, and deployment. Carvel includes tools such as kapp, which applies and tracks Kubernetes resources in a cluster; ytt, which allows templating YAML files; kbld, which builds and pushes images to registries; kpack, which automates image builds from source code; and vendir, which syncs files from different sources into a single directory. Carvel is integrated with VMware Tanzu Kubernetes Grid and can be used to deploy and manage applications on Tanzu clusters.
• Helm. Helm is a tool that helps users define, install, and upgrade complex Kubernetes applications using charts. Charts are packages of pre-configured Kubernetes resources that can be customized with values. Helm uses a client-server architecture with a command line tool called helm and an in-cluster component called Tiller. Helm can be used to deploy applications from the official Helm charts repository or from custom charts created by users or vendors. Helm is also integrated with VMware Tanzu Kubernetes Grid and can be used to deploy and manage applications on Tanzu clusters.

References: : https://carvel.dev/ : https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Tanzu-Kubernetes-Grid/1.6/vmware-tanzu-kubernetes-grid-16/GUID-tkg-carvel.html : https://helm.sh/ : https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Tanzu-Kubernetes-Grid/1.6/vmware-tanzu-kubernetes-grid-16/GUID-tkg-helm.html