Kubewatch: A Lightweight Kubernetes Event Monitoring Tool – Features, Installation, and Configuration

Kubewatch is an open‑source Kubernetes resource event monitoring tool that listens to cluster events (e.g., pod creation, deletion, updates) and forwards them to configured notification channels such as Slack, HipChat, Mattermost, Webhook, MS Teams, and SMTP.

Originally launched by Bitnami and now maintained by Robusta.dev, Kubewatch provides a lightweight way for operators and developers to stay informed about real‑time changes in their clusters.

Simple to use: Installation and configuration require minimal steps.

Multiple notification channels: Supports Slack, HipChat, Mattermost, Flock, Webhook, MS Teams, SMTP, etc.

Flexible event filtering: Users can select which resource types and event kinds to watch, reducing noise.

Installation is performed via a Helm chart. First, add the Robusta repository and update it:

$ helm repo add robusta https://robusta-charts.storage.googleapis.com
$ helm repo update

Then install Kubewatch with the desired settings (e.g., enabling RBAC and configuring Slack):

$ helm install kubewatch robusta/kubewatch \
  --set='rbac.create=true,slack.channel=#YOUR_CHANNEL,slack.token=xoxb-YOUR_TOKEN,resourcesToWatch.pod=true,resourcesToWatch.daemonset=true'

After installation you can verify the pod is running:

$ kubectl get pod
NAME               READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
kubewatch-8cf99b4dc-pmb6k   1/1     Running   0          2m26s

Configuration is done through a ConfigMap. Below is a sample .kubewatch.yaml that sets Slack as the handler and enables monitoring for pods and services:

apiVersion: v1
kind: ConfigMap
metadata:
name: kubewatch-config
data:
.kubewatch.yaml: |
namespace: ""
handler:
slack:
token: <token>
channel: <channel>
resource:
deployment: false
pod: true
service: true
daemonset: true
event: true

For custom webhook notifications, add a webhook section to the handler configuration, e.g.:

handler:
webhook:
url: "<YOUR_WEBHOOK_URL>"

These steps provide a complete guide to deploying, installing, and configuring Kubewatch for real‑time Kubernetes cluster monitoring.