Synchronize labels between vCluster and the host cluster

In vCluster version 0.20 or earlier, labels are not automatically synchronized to the host cluster. This affects:

• Monitoring systems that rely on labels.
• Logging solutions that filter based on labels.
• Service discovery mechanisms that use label selectors.
• Other label-dependent workflows.

Solution

For vCluster 0.21.x and later

All labels are synchronized by default between the virtual cluster and host cluster. No additional configuration is required.

For vCluster versions earlier than 0.21.x

You must explicitly configure which labels to synchronize using the experimental.syncSettings.syncLabels feature:

experimental:
  syncSettings:
    syncLabels:
      - 'namespace'           # Sync labels related to namespaces
      - 'example.com/*'       # Sync all labels with the 'example.com/' prefix
      - 'example.com/'        # Sync a specific label starting with 'example.com/'

Apply label synchronization configuration

1. Add the configuration to your vCluster values file.

   Create or edit your values.yaml file to include the label synchronization settings:

   experimental:
     syncSettings:
       syncLabels:
         - 'namespace'           # Sync labels related to namespaces
         - 'example.com/*'       # Sync all labels with the 'example.com/' prefix
         - 'example.com/'        # Sync a specific label starting with 'example.com/'

2. Apply the configuration to your vCluster.

   • For a new vCluster:

     vcluster create my-vcluster -n my-namespace -f values.yaml

   • For an existing vCluster:

     vcluster update my-vcluster -n my-namespace -f values.yaml

3. Check that the configuration was applied.

   View the vCluster configuration:

   kubectl get configmap -n my-namespace vcluster-my-vcluster -o yaml

Verify that the label synchronization settings appear in the configuration.

Confirm label synchronization is working

To verify that label synchronization is working:

# Get a pod from the vCluster
kubectl get pod my-pod -o jsonpath='{.metadata.labels}'

# Connect to the host cluster
kubectl config use-context host-context

# Check the corresponding pod in the host cluster
kubectl get pod vcluster-my-pod-my-vcluster -n my-namespace -o jsonpath='{.metadata.labels}'

Compare the labels between the two outputs to confirm synchronization.