Optimize Live

Optimize Live release history

Agent version 2.17.0

Added

  • Improved support for Argo Rollouts
    Support for Argo Rollouts and built-in Kubernetes types is now equivalent.

Changed

  • Dependency updates:
    • controller-runtime to v0.19.3
    • kube-api libraries to v0.32.0
    • deckarep/golang-set to v2.7.0
    • prometheus/common to v0.61.0
    • crypto to v0.31.0
    • stormforge-go to v4.6.0
    • go-application to v0.0.90

Fixed

  • Boolean types are now parsed correctly during workload autodiscovery.

Agent version 2.16.1

Added

  • Support for applying recommendations by using a mutating admission webhook
    You can now configure Optimize Live to apply recommendations via a mutating admission webhook instead of the default patch method by setting the following annotation: live.stormforge.io/apply.method: DynamicAdmissionWebhook

    You can define the apply method at the cluster, namesapce, or workload level. For details, see Apply method in the Apply settings topic.

    Note: A cluster administrator must enable this feature via a Helm parameter when installing the Applier. Feature-specific namespace allow/deny lists can be configured to restrict webhook usage. For details, see Enabling the DynamicAdmissionWebhook in Applier configuration help topic.

  • Support for memory bump-up in response to OOM Events
    You can now configure Optimize Live to respond to OOM events with a temporary memory bump-up. You can define the min and max memory bump-up amount, as well as when to apply the bump-up.

    You can view OOM events on the OOM Events graph on the Reports page (example graph)

    Memory bump-ups can be configured at the resourcetype level, as shown below:

    live.stormforge.io/reliability.oom.memory-bump-up.apply-immediately: "Always,resource:daemonsets=Never"  
live.stormforge.io/reliability.oom.memory-bump-up.max: "300Mi"  
live.stormforge.io/reliability.oom.memory-bump-up.min: "50Mi,resource:deployments=40Mi,resource:daemonsets=0"  
live.stormforge.io/reliability.oom.memory-bump-up.percent: "15,resource:deployments=25,resource:daemonsets=0"  
live.stormforge.io/reliability.oom.memory-bump-up.period: "P2D,resource:deployments=P1D"

    For details and examples, see the Reliability response topic.

Changed

  • Dependency updates:
    • go to v1.23.3
    • go-application to v0.0.89
    • stormforge-go to v4.5.2
    • prometheus library to v0.55.1
    • oauth2 to v0.24.0
    • keda to v2.16.0

Fixed

  • We fixed the issue of unmanaged workloads not deleting HPA from the workload object when HPA was deleted.
  • We fixed the issue of sidecar containers using the same resource settings as the main containers.

Applier version 2.6.0

Added

  • Support for optional mutating admission webhook

Fixed

  • Better handling of JSON type patches

Changed

Upgraded dependencies to the following versions:

  • kubernetes dependencies to v0.31.1
  • go-application to v0.0.89
  • stormforge-go to v4.5.1
  • stormforge-agent to v2.16.1

Security

Upgraded packages include:

  • go to v1.23.3
  • prometheus to v0.60.1
  • prometheus go client to v1.20.5
  • golang.org/x/oauth2 to v0.24.0

Agent version 2.15.3

Changed

  • Updated prometheus/common to v0.60.1
  • Updated controller-runtime to 0.19.1
  • Reduced the wait timeout for RBAC (to minimize pod blocking operation) from 20s to 5s

Fixed

  • We fixed a problem that was causing the sf_workload_pod_container_resource_requests metric to drop intermittently, resulting in No containers metrics observed for this workload in the last 10 minutes errors and incomplete graph lines.

Agent version 2.15.2

Changed

  • Upgraded Prometheus container to v2.55.0

Fixed

UI enhancements

Added

  • New graph: OOM Events
    On the Reports page, a new OOM Events graph shows the count of OOMKills over time across the estate. Use the filters at the top of the page to filter by cluster and time period.

    oom-graph

Agent version 2.15.1

Changed

Dependency updates:

  • kubernetes libraries to 0.31.1
  • stormforge-go to 4.3.3
  • go-application to 0.0.86
  • prometheus/client_golang to 1.20.4
  • prometheus/common to 0.60.0
  • terratest to 0.47.2

Fixed

  • Fixed the issue of the Agent not cleaning up stale metrics for deleted containers.

UI enhancements

Added

  • Learning period shown on Schedule page
    You can now view a workload’s learning period on the Settings > Schedule section of workload’s details page. The learning period defines how long Optimize Live observes a new workload before providing recommendations that can be auto-deployed.

    To adjust the learning period, you can set a cluster, namespace, or workload default by setting the live.stormforge.io/learning-period annotation.

    ol-ui-learning-period

Agent version 2.15.0

Added

  • Configurable learning period
    You can now configure the duration of the learning period during which Optimize Live observes a new workload before providing recommendations that can be auto-deployed (default value is P7D, 7 days). For example, a shorter learning period is helpful for branch-based deploys.

    To adjust the learning period, you can set a cluster, namespace, or workload default by setting the live.stormforge.io/learning-period annotation. You can view this setting on the Settings > Schedule section of workload’s details page.

    The value for this setting must be ISO-8601 compliant. Examples:

    • P1D: 1 day (minimum valid value)
    • PT12H: 12 Hours

Changed

Updated the following images and libraries:

  • Prometheus container image to v2.54.1
  • prometheus library to v0.54.1
  • prometheus/common to v0.59.1
  • prometheus/client_golang to v1.20.3
  • oauth2 to v0.23.0
  • go-application to v0.0.83
  • stormforge-go to v4.3.0
  • Golang to 1.23.1

Fixed

  • Improved error message when a Network Connection or Proxy error occurs
  • Noisy error log messages are now debug messages

UI enhancements

Added

  • Deployment breakdown graph
    A new graph on the Workloads Summary page shows the following workload and deployment information:

    • The proportion of workloads that have auto-deploy enabled vs. disabled

    • Deployment outcome counts

      ol-ui-viewsum-deployment-brkdwn

Agent version 2.14.0

Added

  • CronJob controller now reconciles inactive Cronjob workload types
  • Support for CronJob, ScheduledSparkApplication, and GitHubARC types.
    To enable discovery and recommendations for these types, set the corresponding featureGate to true either via Helm or a values.yaml file as shown in this excerpt: 
    featureGates:
    optimizeCronJobs: true
    optimizeSparkOperator: true
    optimizeGithubARC: true

Changed

  • Zerolog is the standard logging mechanism. Logging arguments are now --log-level=debug and --log-level=trace, replacing --v=<level>.
  • Added a name to the workload-agent metrics port
  • Updated go-application to v0.0.82
  • Updated keda to v2.15.1
  • Updated structured-logging to v0.0.5
  • Updated stormforge-go to v4.2.0
  • Updated controller-runtime to v0.19.0

Removed

  • Log arguments --v=<level>. See Changed above for the new arguments.
  • The workload.workloadResources Helm parameter used for enabling the workloadResource types has been replaced as described in the Added section above.

Fixed

  • CronJobs: Completed pods are now garbage collected on Optimize Live metrics

Security

  • Updated grpc to v1.64.1
  • Updated golang.org/x/oauth2 to v0.22.0
  • Upgraded the Prometheus agent to v2.54.0 to address low- and medium-severity CVEs

Applier version 2.5.0

Changed

  • Validation rollout of patches and persisting the state of the recommendation is now more reliable:
    • After patches are applied, the recommendation status is either ApplierSuccess or ApplierFailed
    • When validating the rollout and checking workload health, the validation status is either RolloutValidationSuccess, RolloutValidationTimeout or RolloutValidationFailure
  • Changed the rollout validation timeout to 5m (5 minutes) from 30m

Security

Agent version 2.13.0

Added

  • Adds 10 minute “Learning Period” to the Agent sidecar in the Metrics-forwarder pod for faster metrics scraping after init.
  • Adds a workload metric sf_workload_terminated_total that tracks the count of workload termination events. Initially will only track OOMKilled events.

Changed

  • Added a default value to authorization.issuer to the Helm chart.

Removed

  • Cadvisor metric container_oom_events_total no longer collected.

Fixed

  • Workload container order was not being preserved.
  • Potential contention between DeletionPredicate and Reconcile.

UI enhancements

Added

  • Graphs showing overview data over time
    On the new Reports page, you can now view graphs that show recommendation impact data for your entire estate over a time range of 2 weeks, 1 month, or 3 months:

    • Current and recommended requests totals for both CPU and memory

    • Optimization progress showing the number of overprovisioned/underprovisioned workloads

    • Estimated monthly resource costs

    • Workload count

      Example:
      ol-reports-over-under

Changed

  • Improved recommendation details view
    On the Recommendation tab on the workload details page, recommended container values are now stacked along the left side of the pane, making it easier to view recommended values. Clicking a container name still reveals the Average CPU/Memory Usage, Requests, and Limits graphs.

    ol-ui-rectab-stack

Agent version 2.12.2

Security

  • Go upgraded from 1.22.4 to 1.22.5 to address CVE GO-2024-2963
  • Addressed several CVEs related to the Prometheus container image (upgraded from 2.52.0 to 2.53.1)

Agent version 2.12.1

Added

  • The strings "enabled" and "disabled" are now accepted for the live.stormforge.io/auto-deploy annotation, in addition to the existing values ("true" and "false").

Changed

  • HPAs owned by Flagger are now supported (patchTarget is a KEDA ScaledObject).
  • If the HPA patchTarget is not detected, patchTarget is set to the HPA itself.

Fixed

  • HPA settings are no longer silently ignored when an HPA is owned by a ScaledObject other than KEDA.
  • HPA objects with .spec changes now update HPA values.
  • ReplicaSets that have 0 pods are now reported correctly.

UI enhancements

Changed

  • Get Started improvements
    You no longer have to save the generated Yaml values file when you install.
    Simply provide a cluster name, run the generated helm install command, and click Check Connection.

  • Optimization settings improved layout
    On a workload’s Config tab, settings are now read-only and grouped as shown in the image below. To change these settings, use annotations as shown in the examples provided.

    ol-ui-opt-settings

Agent version 2.11.0

Added

  • New default container optimization policy
    We added a RequestsRaiseLimitsIfNeeded container optimization policy: Requests are always optimized; limits are optimized only if they already exist. If an existing limit is lower than what Optimize Live recommends, the limit is raised to Optimize Live’s recommended limit value.

    With this policy, limits are not lowered if they already exist, nor are they added if they don’t exist.

    Note: The default optimization policy is still RequestsOnly.

    Use the following annotation values (for details, see the product docs):

    live.stormforge.io/containers.cpu.optimization-policy: "RequestsRaiseLimitsIfNeeded"
live.stormforge.io/containers.memory.optimization-policy: "RequestsRaiseLimitsIfNeeded"

  • PatchPath annotations
    You can now use the following annotations to map a container resource value from a recommendation to where it belongs in the patchTarget:

    live.stormforge.io/containers.memory.limits.patch-path
live.stormforge.io/containers.memory.requests.patch-path
live.stormforge.io/containers.cpu.limits.patch-path
live.stormforge.io/containers.cpu.requests.patch-path

Fixed

  • We fixed a condition that caused an Agent panic with ownerless pods on clusters running older versions of spark-operator.

Security

  • Upgraded the Prometheus agent to version 2.52.0

Known conditions

  • When setting requests and limits patch-path annotations along with the DoNotOptimize policy, you will see values on patchpath fields (previously the fields were set with a -). Regardless of the patchpath, the recommendations will respect the policy. The same is true for limits patch-path annotations when using the RequestsOnly policy.

Agent version 2.10.8

Fixed

  • The StormForge Agent no longer crashes when it cannot find deleted custom resources from an installed package.

Agent version 2.10.7

Fixed

  • We fixed the regex validation of hashed cron expressions (such as "H H(0-5) * * *"), which are used to set recommendation schedules. For more schedule examples, see the Recommendation schedule topic in the product docs.

Agent version 2.10.6

Changed

  • Updated prometheus dependency to 0.53.0

Fixed

  • patchPath and patchFormat on the WorkloadOptimizer CRD are now processed accordingly.
  • Updated example command lines on Helm README.

Applier version 2.4.0

Added

  • Continuous reconciliation
    You can now configure the StormForge Applier to continuously reconcile drift, ensuring that the latest recommended settings are always maintained on a workload. See the new Helm configuration options below.

    • reconciliation.mode: EventBased (default value) maintains the existing Applier behavior of patching workloads only when new recommendations are ready. Continuous enables continuous reconciliation.

    • reconciliation.conflictingManagers: [value1,value2]: Used in conjunction with mode: Continuous. The Applier cannot reconcile the desired state for fields owned by conflicting managers.

      Use the following Helm values in a YAML file when you install or update the Applier:

      reconciliation:
 mode: Continuous # default is `EventBased`

 # List the field managers that conflict with the Applier;
 # Fields managed by a conflicting field manager cannot be reconciled.
 conflictingManagers: []

Changed

  • Updated stormforge-go to 3.9.2
  • Updated go-application to 0.0.70
  • Updated stormforge-agent to 2.10.5
  • Updated controller-runtime to 0.17.3
  • Updated oauth2 to 0.19.0
  • Updated kubernetes api to 0.29.3

Agent version 2.10.5

Added

  • Added network policies to ensure StormForge pods can communicate with each other now that the workload-agent and prometheus containers have been separated into their own pods.

Changed

  • Updated controller-runtime to 0.17.3
  • Updated kubernetes dependencies to 0.17.3
  • Updated stormforge-go to 3.9.2
  • Updated prometheus dependency to 0.51.3
  • Updated uber/zap to 1.27.0
  • Updated stretchr/testify to 1.9.0
  • Updated kubernetes group to 0.29.4
  • Updated jackc/pgx/v5 to 5.5.4
  • Removed kedacore 2.13.0

Fixed

  • We added code to ensure that the cluster_name label in the ENV secrets file is the source of truth for the cluster name.
  • We fixed the problem of ReplicaSets being incorrectly created as workloads when owned by Argo rollouts.
  • We fixed the bug that caused the Failed to watch *v1.Secret error, which occurred when the Agent requested access to secrets in order to parse certain KEDA ScaledObjects, depending on the configuration.

Security

  • Updated Prometheus container image to v2.51.0
  • Updated go-jose/v3 to 3.0.3

UI enhancements

Changed

  • Improved recommendation impact charts

    • Shading for Usage now includes the 95th and 75th percentile total usage in addition to average total usage.

    • Shading for Net impact more clearly explains the “gap” between current and recommended requests settings.

    • Chart tooltips on the Impact tab now include Waste (overprovisioning) or Performance risk (underprovisioning) details, as shown below.

      tooltip

UI enhancements

Added

  • Easier to understand recommendation impact information
    Redesigned page headers on the Overview, Cluster, and Namespace pages make it easier to understand projected savings at each level.

    The new Optimization Score measures how well the current request settings align with Optimize Live’s recommendations (100 indicates perfect alignment). This score replaces the Overall Efficiency score.

    In the page header, click More Information to reveal the recommended CPU and memory adjustments and their estimated cost impact.
    header

  • RBAC: View-only role now available
    Administrators and managers can now assign users to a Viewer role. Viewers can export patches and have view-only access for recommendations, workload configurations, cost estimates, and cluster management information. By default, new users are assigned the Administrator role.

    In the left navigation, click Settings > Users. In the Actions column, click Set Role, and choose Viewer.

  • View and download workload and HPA patches
    On the workload details page, click the View Patches tab. You can also copy the generated kubectl patch command to apply the patch.

  • Other UI improvements

    • New or improved error messages for some scenarios.
    • On the workload details page:
      • The page header shows Kubernetes workload type (Deployment, Daemonset, and so on).
      • Graphs on the Impact and Recommendation Details tabs now use a consistent date format (MMM DD).
      • Autodeployment thresholds configured by the Agent are now shown on the Config tab.

Removed

  • Cost Estimates page: Show/hide costs toggle
    As part of the new page header design, dollar amounts are now always shown.

Applier version 2.3.0

Added

  • Continuously enforce the latest recommendation after workload updates
    You can now configure Optimize Live to detect changes to workload requests or limits and then automatically reapply the latest recommendation. This ensures the workload remains optimized.

    By default, Optimize Live does not reapply recommendations after such changes.

    To continuously enforce the latest recommendation, do one of the following when you install the Applier:

    • In your Helm values.yaml file, set enforce: true.
    • In the helm install command, include --set enforce=true.

  • Define which CD tools’ changes do not trigger reapplying a recommendation
    If you set enforce to true as described above, you can also define which continuous delivery tools’ changes (for example, changes by Argo CD, Flux) do not trigger reapplying a recommendation. If an exempt manager changes a workload’s requests or limits, Optimize Live will not reapply the latest recommendation.

    To define the list of exempt managers, do one of the following when you install the Applier:

    • In your Helm values.yaml file, set the exemptManagers key.
      Example: exemptManagers: [value1,value2]
    • In the helm install command, include --set exemptManagers={value1,value2}.

Changed

  • We increased the default health timeout from 5 minutes to 30 minutes. If pods don’t restart within 30 minutes after applying a recommendation, the recommendation is rolled back.
  • Updated kubernetes to 1.29.x
  • Updated controller-runtime to 0.17.2
  • Updated gramLabs/go-application to 0.0.68
  • Updated argo-rollouts to 1.6.5
  • Updated zerolog to 1.32.0
  • Updated oauth2 to 0.17.0
  • Updated stormforge-go to 3.8.7

Security

  • Updated go-jose to 4.0.1 to address DoS vulnerability

Agent version 2.10.4

Changed

  • To improve performance, the workload-agent and prometheus containers now run in their own pods.

Fixed

  • We fixed a bug in how we reconcile workload annotations. You’ll now see your updated configurations in the UI.
  • We removed cluster_name actual values from the prometheus ConfigMap and now set the cluster name from the secret to prevent a cluster name mismatch.
  • We fixed the validation of CPU and memory optimization goals to allow capitalized values (Savings, Balanced, Reliability).

Dependencies

  • Prometheus agent upgraded to version 2.49.1
  • prometheus/common upgraded to 0.47.0
  • controller-runtime upgraded to 0.17.1
  • stormforge-go upgraded to 3.8.6
  • Kubernetes API dependencies upgraded to 0.29.2

Security

  • The workload-agent container now addresses CVE-2020-8911 and CVE-2020-8912 with the upgrade of prometheus Go module to version 0.49.1.

Agent version 2.10.3

Added

  • Support for workloads with names that exceed 47 characters
    Optimize Live can now optimize workloads that have names that exceed 47 characters. Previously for such workloads, Optimize Live showed this error: "No container metrics observed for this workload in the last 10 minutes."

Fixed

  • Schedule annotations are now created consistently
    We fixed a regression in which workloads with annotations were created without the schedule value.

Agent version 2.10.2

This release consists of internal improvements that build on version 2.10.1 of the Agent.

Agent version 2.10.1

Added

  • Added HPA Helm parameters
    To set cluster-level HPA target utilization defaults, you can now use the following Helm chart values: 
    hpaCpuTargetUtilizationMin
hpaCpuTargetUtilizationMax
hpaMemoryTargetUtilizationMin
hpaMemoryTargetUtilizationMax

Fixed

  • HPA annotations released in version 2.10.0
    The new HPA annotations added in 2.10.0 did not work as documented, and have been been fixed.

Security

  • Upgraded cloudflare/circl from version 1.3.3 to version 1.3.7 to address high-severity security issue CIRCL's Kyber: timing side-channel (kyberslash2)
  • Upgraded golang.org/x/crypto to v0.17.0

Agent version 2.10.0

Added

  • Annotations for HPA CPU and memory target utilization
    You can now configure HPA target utilization ranges (min and max values) for both CPU and memory by using the following annotations: 
    live.stormforge.io/hpa.cpu.target-utilization.min
live.stormforge.io/hpa.cpu.target-utilization.max
live.stormforge.io/hpa.memory.target-utilization.min
live.stormforge.io/hpa.memory.target-utilization.max

Deprecated

  • Pod template (PodTemplateSpec) annotations on workloads
    We no longer support PodTemplateSpec (.metadata.spec.template.metadata.annotations) annotations for annotating workloads.

    Instead, workload-level annotations must now be added to the workload object directly in the .metadata.annotations section, as shown in this example:

    apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
    name: example
    namespace: default
    annotations:
    live.stormforge.io/auto-deploy: "false"
    live.stormforge.io/containers.cpu.limits.limit-request-ratio: "1.3"
    ...

Security

  • Upgraded go-application to version 0.0.64
  • Upgraded Prometheus dependency to version 2.48.1 for security fixes

Applier version 2.2.0

Security

  • Updated golang net/http packages to address CVE-2023-44487.
  • Updated golang.org/x/crypto from version 0.14.0 to version 0.17.0.
  • Updated go-application to version 0.0.64.

UI enhancements

  • New: Workloads Summary page
    You can now view workload totals categorized by workload status, errors, and warnings.

    In the left navigation menu, click Workloads.

Agent version 2.9.1

Added

  • Additional metrics scraping
    Optimize Live now scrapes the following cAdvisor metrics:
    container_cpu_cfs_throttled_seconds_total, container_memory_max_usage_bytes and container_oom_events_total.

Agent version 2.9.0

Added

  • Support for setting deployment thresholds (via UI, CLU, annotations)
    To help reduce pod churn, you can now define minimum change thresholds to prevent Optimize Live from automatically applying new recommendations.

    You can define a percent change, unit amount change, or both, by using the following methods:

    • UI: On the Config tab of workload details page, as part of the Automatic Deployment setting.
    • Annotations: live.stormforge.io/auto-deploy.thresholds.* annotations. See the examples in the Auto-deploy topic.
    • CLI: --auto-deploy-thresholds-min* arguments as part of the stormforge edit workloads handler command.

    For details, see Auto-deploy thresholds in the Auto-deploy settings topic.

  • Changes to the default optimization policy and limit-to-request ratio
    The default optimization policy is now RequestsOnly. Previously, it was RequestsAndLimits.

    When the optimization policy is set to RequestsAndLimits, the new default limit-to-request ratio is 2.0 (increased from 1.2). Optimize Live will not update containers using a 1.2 ratio to the new default 2.0 ratio. In the UI, a 1.2 limit-to-request ratio is now shown as Custom.

Security

UI enhancements

UI enhancements when working with workloads:

  • Impact Overview graphs: Choose a time range
    On the Impact tab of a workload details page, you can now zoom in or out to view different data points and the potential recommendation impact across different time intervals: 1 day, 1 week, 2 weeks, or 1 month.
    zoom

  • Configure page: Enhanced validation of requests values
    We now do more checks on the requests values that you enter. Most notably, we let you know if a CPU or memory value seems unexpectedly high or low.

Agent version 2.8.0

Added

  • Easy troubleshooting
    You can now do a health check and get troubleshooting info (for example, if the Agent doesn’t install as expected) more easily by running:

    helm test stormforge-agent -n stormforge-system --logs

  • UI: Add Cluster button now available on the Clusters page; improved cluster management workflow
    You can now add clusters via the Optimize Live UI: In the left navigation, click Clusters, and on the Clusters page, click Add Cluster.

    Note: If you’re using the Optimize Live free trial license and want to add another cluster, click Add Cluster and on the next page that’s shown, click Add a cluster to my trial.

  • Annotations: Support for additional case types (optimization goals and policies only)
    UpperCamelCase values align with Kubernetes conventions, but you also can use lowercase values.

    • Valid values for the live.stormforge.io/cpu.optimization-goal and live.stormforge.io/memory.optimization-goal annotations:

      "Balanced" (default), "balanced", "Reliability", "reliability", "Savings", "savings"

    • Valid values for the live.stormforge.io/containers.cpu.optimization-policy and live.stormforge.io/containers.memory.optimization-policy annotations:

      "RequestsAndLimits" (default), "requestsandlimits", "RequestsOnly", "requestsonly", "DoNotOptimize", "donotoptimize"

Changed

  • Helm parameter: Use debug instead of workload.debug
    To enable or disable debug mode, use the --set debug=<VALUE> (true or false) Helm argument. We have deprecated workload.debug.

  • Helm lookup function removed from workload initialization
    We changed the workload initialization routine to ensure compliance with AWS EKS scans.

Fixed

  • The namespace-level auto-deploy=true annotation now has precedence
    This release fixes a bug that prevented the namespace-level live.stormforge.io/auto-deploy=false annotation from overriding the cluster-defaults ConfigMap live.stormforge.io/auto-deploy=true annotation.

Deprecated

  • We deprecated the Helm workload.debug parameter. Use --set debug=true or --set debug=false instead.

Security

  • To address CVE-2023-44487, we updated the Golang net/http package versions.

Agent version 2.7.1

Added

  • Recommendations for workloads that scale down to 0 replicas
    Optimize Live now provides recommendations for workloads that scale down to zero replicas for short periods of time within a 7-day period.

    • If a workload is scaled down to 0 replicas for 25% of the time over 7 days, a recommendation is still provided, and you’ll see a warning in UI about the amount of time scaled down.

    • If a workload is at 0 replicas for more than 75% of the time over 7 days, no recommendation is provided, and you’ll see an error in the UI.

Fixed

  • Helm value clusterDefaultConfig.schedule permits day specifiers and commas
    This release fixes a Helm validation error that prevented users from installing a cluster default schedule that included multiple weekdays or used day names (MON,TUE,WED and so on).

    Examples:

    • As an argument in a helm install command:
      --set clusterDefaultConfig.schedule="H 20 * * WED,THU,FRI"

Agent version 2.7.0

Added

  • OpenShift support
    You can now optimize workloads on clusters managed by OpenShift. When you install the StormForge Agent on a cluster, include the --set openshift=true argument. For details, see Install on Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform in the product docs.

  • Support for automatic rightsizing of workloads scaled by a KEDA-owned HPA
    Optimize Live can now provide recommendations and patch workloads that have an HPA that is managed by KEDA. Previously, Optimize Live could only make recommendations for these workloads.

    Note: In order to apply KEDA patches, you must grant the StormForge Applier additional RBAC permissions. You can get the corresponding YAML file and instructions in the Rightsize workloads scaled by a KEDA-owned HPA guide in the product docs.

Applier version 2.1.0

Added

  • Improved patch rollback and workload health checks
    The Applier now performs additional health checks to ensure that a workload is always in a healthy state before applying patches. If a patch fails, the Applier can now roll back all patches to reach the previous healthy state.

    We also improved the Applier logging, making it easier to understand what a patch is doing, patch application progress, and the health of a workload after applying patches.

  • Support for automatic rightsizing of workloads scaled by a KEDA-owned HPA
    Although this is a new Agent (version 2.7.0) feature, you must grant the StormForge Applier additional RBAC permissions. You can get the corresponding YAML file and instructions in the Rightsize workloads scaled by a KEDA-owned HPA guide in the product docs.

Agent version 2.6.0

Added

  • Optimize Live 30-day free trial
    If you’re not already using Optimize Live, sign up at app.stormforge.io/signup and within minutes, you’ll have Optimize Live running on the Kubernetes cluster you specify.

    Need to see it to believe it? This 3-min Getting Started video walks you through setup (which takes less than 2 minutes) and gives you a quick overview of the insights you’ll get in just 1 hour after installation.

  • New StormForge Agent installation wizard
    If you’re just starting out with Optimize Live, you can now install the StormForge Agent by using the Get Started wizard. Log in to app.stormforge.io with your StormForge login, and in the left navigation, click Overview.

  • Recommendation schedules now support for Cron format
    When you configure workloads using Kubernetes annotations, you can now set a schedule using Cron format. Previously, only macros and ISO 8601 Duration strings were supported.

    Examples:

    • Once daily (default value and best practice):
      live.stormforge.io/schedule: "H H * * *"

    • Every morning at approximately 0800h (exact time is not guaranteed): live.stormforge.io/schedule: "00 08 * * *"

    For details, see the Recommendation schedule topic.

Applier version 2.0.6

Changed

  • Applier Helm chart updates
    We updated the Applier’s Helm chart to use new Agent secret names and values. No action is required unless you have changed Agent secret values.

Agent version 2.5.1

Fixed

  • We fixed an encoding problem with the manageAuthSecret feature released in version 2.5.0.

Agent version 2.5.0

Changed

  • Helm installation: --set stormforge.clusterName=CLUSTER_NAME must be changed to --set clusterName=CLUSTER_NAME.
  • We now consume the prometheus image from quay.io instead from Docker Hub. To fallback to Docker Hub, pass the following parameter as part of the Helm installation: --set prom.image.repository=prom/prometheus.
  • To manage or rotate authorization credentials outside of Helm, set the Helm value manageAuthSecret to false. If you set this value to false, make sure that the stormforge-agent-auth secret exists before installing or upgrading.

Known Issues

  • In certain environments, changing namespace-level StormForge annotations might not trigger reconciliation. For these scenarios, the annotations will be granted only on the following Agent restart.

Agent version 2.4.1

Fixed

  • The controller no longer crashes when reconciling WorkloadOptimizer custom resources.

Agent version 2.4.0

Added

  • Support for setting default workload values at the cluster level
    You can now use a configuration file or command line arguments as part of the helm install command to set default values for all workloads in a cluster. See the examples below.

    Configuration file: Create a .yaml file and set the workload- and container-level values.

    clusterDefaultConfig:
    schedule: P1D
    containersCpuRequestsMin: 100m,istio-proxy=50m

    Command line arguments:

    --set clusterDefaultConfig.schedule=P1D \
--set clusterDefaultConfig.containersCpuRequestsMin=100m,istio-proxy=50m

  • Support for setting default workload values at the namespace level

    You can now use annotations to set default workload values at the namespace level. Namespace-level values override cluster-level values.

    Add the annotations to the metadata.annotations section of the namespace values file.

     apiVersion: v1
 kind: Namespace
 metadata:
 annotations: 
     live.stormforge.io/schedule: "P1D"
     live.stormforge.io/containers.cpu.requests.min: "100m,istio-proxy=50m"
 creationTimestamp: "2023-07-20T17:28:42Z"
 labels:
     kubernetes.io/metadata.name: kube-public
 name: kube-public
 resourceVersion: "9"
 uid: <UID>
 spec:
 ...

Changed

  • Updated the Helm installation to simplify proxy configuration

    • You can now add --set proxyUrl=http://proxy.example.com to the helm install command to specify a proxy server.

    • The corresponding no_proxy variable is now seeded as follows with several RFC 1918 addresses: no_proxy:127.0.0.0/8,10.0.0.0/8,172.16.0.0/12,192.168.0.0/16

      If these seeded values meet your organizaton’s needs, you no longer have to create a separate proxy.yaml file as described in this advanced installation scenario in the product docs.

  • Updated the Helm installation to expose Prometheus scrape interval
    In typical installations, you don’t need to change this interval — by default, the Prometheus scrapes for metrics every 15s.

    If StormForge Support requests that you change this interval, you can change it by adding --set prom.scrapeInterval=INTERVAL to the helm install command, replacing INTERVAL with the suggested frequency.

Fixed

  • We now handle workload updates more gracefully, correcting an issue that caused controller panic.

Applier version 2.0.5

This release contained internal enhancements only. No action is required.

Agent version 2.3.0

Added

  • Support for ingesting workload labels
    By default, Optimize Live now ingests labels on Kubernetes workload objects, ensuring that StormForge workload labels match your workload labels, making it easier for you to search for workloads.

    To change this default behavior, setting collectLabels to false in a helm install or helm upgrade command: --set collectLabels=false

  • Support for setting container default values by using annotations
    You can now set default values for all containers in a workload by using annotations in pod objects.

    In the Pod template metadata (spec.template.metadata.annotations) of a Deployment object, use the following syntax: live.stormforge.io/containers.CONTAINER_PARAMETER: "DEFAULT_VALUE"

    Example: To set cpu.requests.min to 20m for all containers in a workload:
    live.stormforge.io/containers.cpu.requests.min: “20m”

    To learn more about setting default values by using annotations, see the topics under Configure optimization settings.

Changed

  • Prometheus agent version bumped to version 2.45 (Prometheus Long-Term Support release)

Applier version 2.0.4

  • Additional custom Prometheus metrics
    You can now get more Applier performance details with the following Prometheus metrics:

    • The following new metrics are vectored and have workload_namespace and workload_resource labels:

      • sf_patches_processed_total
      • sf_patches_failed_total
      • sf_patches_rolled_back_total
      • sf_patches_rollback_failures_total

    • The following new metric does not have the workload_namespace and workload_resource labels - it applies only to the Applier, not a specific workload:

      • sf_applier_api_disconnections_total

Agent version 2.2.0

  • Workload garbage collection
    We now do garbage collection (by default, every hour) to ensure that when workloads are removed from the cluster, they’re also removed from Optimize Live. To change this reconciliation interval, edit the workload.workloadSyncInterval in the workload’s values.yaml file.

  • Regex support
    We added regex support for the optional allowNamespaces and denyNamespaces parameters that you can provide when you install the StormForge agent.

Applier version 2.0.3

  • Patch rollback support
    We added rollback logic: If an error occurs when applying a patch for a recommendation, successful patches are rolled back.

Version 2.0

Be sure to check out our press release!

Added

  • New install method: Helm chart for stormforge-agent
    You no longer need to download the StormForge CLI to install. Get up and running within minutes, and download the CLI later to run StormForge commands to manage your cluster.

  • Optional Applier installation using a single Helm command
    We separated the Agent and the Applier to simplify the permissions required at install.
    If you plan to apply configurations on demand (outside of a regular schedule) or automatically outside of a CI/CD workflow, be sure to install the Applier component.

  • Control workload metrics collection with allow and deny lists
    By default, Optimize Live collects metrics on all the workloads in the cluster.
    To restrict metrics collection to specific namespaces, you can provide a namespace allow list or deny list to when you install the agent.

  • New UI workflows
    Workload List View: See all workloads and the recommendations for those workloads, view cost estimates, and search against workload name, namespace, or cluster.
    Workload Detail View: View the impact of the recommendations on the workload, drill into the recommendation details, and get container-specific details. Export or download the patch from the UI.

Removed
  • In-cluster components
    We no longer install the recommender or time-series database (TSDB).

Version 0.7.8

Fixed

  • Permissions issue during upgrade

    This release fixes a permissions issue that sometimes caused the TSDB to crash when upgrading an existing Optimize Live installation.

Version 0.7.7

Added

  • All components now run as non-root

    Individual components (TSDB, Applier, Recommender, Grafana) now run with runAsNonRoot: true set in their PodSecurityContext. The Controller continues to run as non-root by default. This feature is helpful if you deploy Optimize Live in clusters that have security policies that require all containers to run as non-root.

  • Improved handling of Datadog rate limit errors

    The TSDB now gracefully handles HTTP 429 responses from the Datadog API. If Datadog is your metrics provider, you’ll see better performance when the Datadog rate limit is reached.

Version 0.7.6

Controller

Added

  • Support for DaemonSet optimization

    Optimize Live can now optimize DaemonSets in workloads, resulting in even more resource savings.

Fixed

  • You can now specify any Grafana image or version

    The Controller can now install Grafana using the image repository and tag that you specify in the Helm chart values.yaml file. Previously, the Controller installed the latest version of Grafana from the official registry only.

    In the values.yaml file, use this format:

    grafana:
    image:
        repository: docker.io/grafana/grafana
        pullPolicy: IfNotPresent
        tag: 8.2.0

Version 0.7.5

Recommender

Added

  • Support for workloads that scale based on custom metrics in the HorizontalPodAutoscaler

    Optimize Live now produces a recommendation to size the workload to best align with the currently configured HorizontalPodAutoscaler custom metric. Previously, CPU utilization metrics were the only supported HorizontalPodAutoscaler metric.

Version 0.7.4

Recommender and Controller

Updated

  • Show recommendations even if some workloads in an application fail

    Optimize Live now, by default, shows recommendations even if it couldn’t generate recommendations for all discovered workloads (for example, when workloads crash or fail, or when new workloads don’t yet have enough metrics data).

    Previously, recommendations were shown only if they were computed for all discovered workloads. To preserve this behavior, set FF_ONLY_COMPLETE_RECOMMENDATIONS=true in the extraEnvVars section of the Helm chart.

UI enhancements

  • Launch from the left navigation

    Launch or switch between Optimize Live and Optimize Pro from the left navigation rather than from the tabs within an application. This update takes you to your applications and recommendations faster.

Version 0.7.3

Controller

Added

  • Deleting a Live object now deletes the corresponding application

    When you delete a Live object from your cluster, Optimize Live now also deletes the application from the UI and the API. To restore the original behavior (in which the application isn’t deleted from the UI and API), label the Live object by running this command:

    kubectl label -n stormforge-system live/my-applive.optimize.stormforge.io/skipSync=skip

  • Grafana cleanup when uninstalling Optimize Live

    When you uninstall Optimize Live, we now ensure all Grafana processes are also deleted.

TSDB

Fixed

  • Backfill duration of 0s now kicks off metrics collection

    We now start collecting metrics when you configure the TSDB to skip backfilling (TSDB_BACKFILL_DURATION=0s). In previous releases, this setting didn’t kick off metrics collection.

Version 0.7.2

TSDB

Added

  • Expose recommendation count, recommendation tx/timestamp metrics

    The following optimize live metrics are available via /metrics endpoint:

    • optimize_live_recommendation_count, which displays a count of the most recent number of recommendations received
    • optimize_live_recommendation_timestamp, which displays a timestamp of when the last set of recommendations were made
    • optimize_live_tsdb_series_timestamp, which displays a timestamp for each top level metric we ingest (limits, requests, usage, etc.)
Fixed

  • Limit Datadog query length when querying HPA metrics

    We now ensure that queries sent via the Datadog API don’t exceed Datadog’s maximum query length of 8000 characters. Previously, this check was not in place when we added support for HPA recommendations.

Controller

Added

  • Support for pvc-less TSDB

    You can now configure the TSDB to run without a PV/PVC by setting TSDB_NO_PVC="true". Because this makes the TSDB data ephemeral, you should do it only in specific situations. The TSDB_PVC_SIZE setting can still be used to set a size limit when there is no PVC.

  • Support for limitRequestRatio configuration parameter

    You can now configure how much headroom to add to the request recommendation for the limit. As the name suggests, this is a ratio between the limit and request. By default, this ratio is set to 1.2, which means that the limit recommendation is set to the requests recommendation plus 20%.

  • Reducing the number of reconciliations via a feature flag

    In large environments, you might choose to reduce the number of watches on the API server. To configure the controller to no longer watch components that it owns, set the FF_NO_OWNS environment variable. When this is set, the controller no longer watches for events from the TSDB, recommender, or applier resources.

  • Add diff on tsdb and recommender ConfigMaps when debug mode is enabled

    When DEBUG is enabled, you’ll see a diff of the tsdb and recommender ConfigMaps in the logs, making it easier to discover what was changed during a reconcile.

Fixed

  • Sort discovered HPAs

    When multiple HPAs are configured for a target, we now sort this list to prevent unnecessary configuration churn.

  • One lookup for CPU and Memory targets

    We now do one lookup for both CPU and memory targets. Previously we did separate lookups for CPU and Memory targets, which created situations where we would have unequal targets matched for CPU and Memory recommendations.

Misc

  • Change the log level to error when no targets found

    For easier troubleshooting, we now set the log level to error when no targets are found. Previously, because we would query again, we would log this at the info level.

  • Use Interval instead of deprecated UpdateInterval

    We now use Interval only.

Version 0.7.1

Controller and Applier

Added

  • Support for reducing the resources used by a cluster

    If you have many applications (for example, upwards of a couple hundred) and apply recommendations conservatively (for example, every few days), you can set FF_PATCHER="true" in the extraEnvVar section of your Helm chart. This consolidates and simplifies the cluster component stack and does not negatively affect cluster performance.

  • Support for persisting patches to ConfigMaps

    When you set FF_PATCHER="true", you can now have the Controller write a patch to a ConfigMap by setting FF_PERSIST_PATCH="true". Writing a patch to a ConfigMap is useful for troubleshooting cluster resource use.

  • Improved HPA logging

    If no HPA targets are discovered, this information is now logged at the info level. Previously, it was logged at the error level.

Workaround

  • No recommendations in an HPA setup

    In some HPA setups, the Recommender might not discover HPA targets and therefore cannot generate recommendations. Sometimes this scenario occurs because the Kubernetes version and kube-state-metrics version are not compatible.

    Workaround: Try downgrading your kube-state-metrics version.

Version 0.7.0

  • Updated Helm chart value: DEBUG=false, and set DEBUG to Boolean in the values schema
  • Grafana updates simplify the information you see on dashboards

UI enhancements

On the Configure Recommendations page:

  • In the Optional Settings section, you can now specify the CPU target utilization of the HPA recommendation.
  • In the Advanced Settings section, you can choose either of the following:
    • Enable Guaranteed Quality of Service.
    • Exclude Memory Limits, CPU limits, or both from recommendations.

To access the Advanced Settings, contact your StormForge sales rep.

Version 0.6.0

  • Added support for HPA constraints for min and max target CPU utilization
  • Added support for collecting min and max replica metrics to provide better recommendations

Version 0.5.0 (HPA support)

Applier

Added
  • Support for jsonpath custom patches
  • Support for generating HPA patches

Controller

Added
  • Support for bidimensional autoscaling
  • Support for providing target utilization recommendations alongside CPU and memory
  • Enabled HPA lookup by default
  • Added recommendation labels to the dashboard to better filter results
Fixed
  • We now correctly look up existing Live resources when syncing from the API

UI enhancements

  • Added a progress bar that shows the progress of the TSDB backfill
  • Added support for maximum CPU and memory limits
  • Added a clusters list page

Version 0.4.0

Applier

Added
  • Support for custom patches:
    • You can now create a Live custom resource definition (CRD) to provision and configure a new Optimize Live instance
    • You can now apply recommendations via a Live object
  • Support for pods with multiple containers
  • Support for arm64 architecture
  • Updated Grafana dashboards:
    • You can choose low, medium, or high risk tolerance for both CPU and memory when viewing recommendation summaries
    • You can now see HPA-related data
  • The Recommender now provides recommendations that honor the maximum limits that you specify
  • You can now specify the following values in a Live object:
    • Maximum bound for CPU and memory requests
    • Minimum and maximum CPU and memory limits

TSDB

Added
  • Significantly reduced TSDB ConfigMap size, allowing now up to 700+ targets per Live object (from previously only 100+ targets). For testing and troubleshooting, you can still add raw queries to the Controller’s configuration file, but you must add them manually.

Version 0.3.0

UI enhancements
  • You can now set CPU and memory minimum limits when you configure recommendations
  • Deleting an application in the UI now also deletes the application from the cluster
  • A progress bar now displays data backfilling progress
  • New search capability helps you to find your applications faster

Version 0.2.2

  • Qualify Datadog metrics with cluster name
  • Suppress log messages during backfill of data
  • Fixed bug that could cause the recommender to stall

Version 0.2.1

  • Added support for non-standard replicaset owners (e.g., rollouts)
  • The Grafana dashboard has been updated to highlight the containers’ maximum usage
  • The recommender now supports varying number of replicas
  • The TSDB allows for customization of the persistent volume
  • Added DEBUG log level for all the components
  • The Controller supports proxies
  • Beta support for Datadog as a metrics provider

Version 0.1.6

Optimize Live Launch

  • Controller deploys the TSDB, the recommender, the applier and Grafana deployment
  • Support for metrics stores in Prometheus