# Sonobuoy — Kubernetes Cluster Diagnostics & Conformance Testing

> A diagnostic tool that runs Kubernetes conformance tests and custom plugins to validate cluster health. Sonobuoy provides a non-destructive way to certify that clusters meet the Kubernetes specification and organizational standards.

## Install

Save in your project root:

# Sonobuoy — Kubernetes Cluster Diagnostics & Conformance Testing

## Quick Use
```bash
# Install
brew install sonobuoy
# Run quick conformance check (subset)
sonobuoy run --mode quick
# Check status
sonobuoy status
# Retrieve and inspect results
results=$(sonobuoy retrieve)
sonobuoy results $results
```

## Introduction
Sonobuoy is a CNCF project that makes it easy to run Kubernetes conformance tests and custom diagnostics in a controlled, non-destructive manner. Platform teams use it to validate clusters after upgrades, certify distributions for conformance, and run custom health checks as part of their operational workflows.

## What Sonobuoy Does
- Runs the official Kubernetes conformance test suite to certify cluster compatibility
- Executes custom diagnostic plugins for organization-specific health checks
- Collects cluster state information including pod logs, node status, and resource inventories
- Generates structured results with pass/fail summaries and detailed test output
- Operates non-destructively in its own namespace without modifying existing workloads

## Architecture Overview
Sonobuoy deploys an aggregator pod in the sonobuoy namespace that orchestrates test execution. It launches plugins as pods — the e2e plugin runs the Kubernetes end-to-end test suite, while the systemd-logs plugin collects node diagnostics. Results stream back to the aggregator which packages them into a tarball. The CLI retrieves and analyzes results locally.

## Self-Hosting & Configuration
- Install the CLI via Homebrew, Chocolatey, or download binaries from GitHub releases
- Run conformance tests with sonobuoy run selecting quick mode (5 min) or certified-conformance (2+ hours)
- Create custom plugins as container images that write results to a standard output directory
- Configure test focus and skip patterns to run specific subsets of the e2e suite
- Use --kubeconfig or cluster context to target specific clusters for testing

## Key Features
- Official tool for Kubernetes conformance certification accepted by the CNCF
- Quick mode runs essential tests in under 5 minutes for rapid cluster validation
- Plugin architecture supports custom diagnostics beyond the standard test suite
- Non-destructive execution uses its own namespace and cleans up after completion
- Structured output with machine-readable results for CI/CD integration

## Comparison with Similar Tools
- **kube-bench** — CIS security benchmark scanning; Sonobuoy focuses on conformance and diagnostics
- **Popeye** — resource linting and best practices; Sonobuoy runs actual functional tests
- **kube-hunter** — penetration testing for Kubernetes; Sonobuoy validates functionality not security
- **Polaris** — configuration validation against best practices; Sonobuoy tests runtime behavior
- **kubetest2** — low-level e2e test runner; Sonobuoy adds orchestration, result collection, and plugins

## FAQ
**Q: How long does a full conformance run take?**
A: The certified-conformance mode takes 1.5-3 hours depending on cluster size. Quick mode finishes in under 5 minutes.

**Q: Does Sonobuoy modify my cluster?**
A: It creates a temporary sonobuoy namespace with test pods. Run sonobuoy delete afterward to clean up completely.

**Q: Can I use it in CI/CD?**
A: Yes. Sonobuoy exits with non-zero status on failures and produces JUnit XML output for CI integration.

**Q: What Kubernetes versions are supported?**
A: Sonobuoy supports the current and two previous Kubernetes minor versions, matching the community support policy.

## Sources
- https://github.com/vmware-tanzu/sonobuoy
- https://sonobuoy.io

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Source: https://tokrepo.com/en/workflows/fc123f30-39d2-11f1-9bc6-00163e2b0d79
Author: AI Open Source