Fleet metrics architectures
Use Fleet Observability for new fleet-wide metrics deployments. It's the Platform-managed observability feature. The other pages in this section are operator-maintained reference architectures that predate Fleet Observability.
The architectures don't share a label contract. Dashboards, alerts, and recording rules built for one architecture don't automatically work with another.
Compare the architectures​
| Fleet Observability | Fleet monitoring with OpenTelemetry | Aggregating Metrics | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Status | Recommended Platform feature | Reference architecture | Reference architecture |
| Identity labels | vcluster_platform_*, authenticated | vcluster_*/cluster, self-reported | loft_*, self-reported |
| Read access control | Scoped per tenant or cluster, Platform-authorized | None, any reader sees all data | None, any reader sees all data |
| GPU observability | DCGM, NVSentinel | Not covered | Not covered |
| Requires Argo CD for the bundled deploy path | Yes (manual config available for Standalone) | No | No |
| Runs on embedded Kubernetes platform deployments | No | Yes | Yes |
| Included examples | Query examples | PromQL library and two Grafana dashboards | Prometheus and Grafana example |
| Operational ownership | Platform gateway and access policy, plus your metrics backend | You maintain and validate the collector Apps and backend | You maintain and validate the collector and backend |
When a reference architecture is necessary​
Fleet Observability's bundled Argo CD deployment doesn't cover vCluster Standalone. You can still configure a collector manually. Embedded Kubernetes deployments can't run the observability gateway.
If either constraint applies, the older guides can help you design a direct collector path:
- Use Fleet monitoring with OpenTelemetry as a detailed example for Shared Nodes and Private Nodes deployments.
- Use Aggregating Metrics as a smaller example built around the OpenTelemetry Collector App.
These guides aren't maintained as turnkey production configurations. Validate chart versions, security settings, resource sizing, and backend compatibility for your environment.
Next steps​
- Start a supported deployment with the Fleet Observability quickstart.
- See the labels reference before migrating dashboards or alerts from an older architecture.