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This article demonstrates how to use Glasskube to install two observability packages for Kubernetes: Kubetail (real-time log streaming) and the kube-prometheus-stack (Prometheus + Alertmanager + Grafana). We install Kubetail first to get immediate access to pod logs, then deploy the kube-prometheus-stack for metrics, dashboards, and alerting.

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What you’ll get

  • Real-time, web-based log streaming across pods and containers with Kubetail
  • A full metrics & alerting stack with Prometheus, Alertmanager, Grafana, and exporters via kube-prometheus-stack
  • Pre-configured dashboards and alerting rules that work out of the box
Learn more:

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Kubetail: real-time log viewer

Kubetail (as packaged by Glasskube) provides a web UI for streaming and filtering logs across your cluster in real time. It’s particularly helpful for troubleshooting multi-pod, multi-container applications.
The image shows a dashboard interface of "Kubetail" displaying log entries with timestamps, sources, regions, and HTTP request details. It features filtering options on the left and log data on the right.
Package characteristics (Kubetail) Kubetail in the Glasskube UI:
The image shows a webpage for installing "kubetail," a web-based log viewer for Kubernetes clusters. It includes version details and an option to enable auto updates.
Quickly list available packages and installation state with the Glasskube CLI:
Install Kubetail via the Glasskube CLI:
Example interactive prompts you may see:
Open the Kubetail UI from Glasskube:
Once opened, Kubetail exposes Kubernetes objects (Deployments, DaemonSets, CronJobs, Pods, etc.) and allows you to stream and filter logs across containers and nodes in real time.
The image shows a web interface displaying Kubernetes resources, including deployments, jobs, pods, and replica sets, with their namespaces and creation times.
The image is a screenshot of a Kubernetes log viewer, displaying system logs with time stamps, info messages, and network data related to pods. The interface allows filtering based on sources like pods, containers, OS, architecture, and node.

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kube-prometheus-stack: metrics, dashboards, and alerting

The kube-prometheus-stack bundles Prometheus, Alertmanager, Grafana, and several exporters into a pre-configured monitoring solution. It provides:
  • Prometheus for metric collection and alerting rules
  • Alertmanager for routing/notification
  • Grafana with pre-built dashboards
  • Exporters such as node-exporter to collect node metrics
This stack is especially useful for Kubernetes cluster-level monitoring and quick setup of observability capabilities. Package characteristics (kube-prometheus-stack) You’ll get many dashboards out of the box:
The image displays a dashboard interface featuring a list of various folders and items related to Kubernetes and other technologies on the left sidebar, and a central panel listing dashboard names with their associated tags.
Alerting rules are pre-configured and can be managed from the Rules UI:
The image displays an Alert Rules dashboard from a monitoring system, showing various Prometheus rule files with their states such as firing, normal, and recording. The interface includes a navigation sidebar, a search option, and a summary of alert statuses.
When installing kube-prometheus-stack from Glasskube you can toggle components and fine-tune values. Common toggles include:
  • Enable/disable Alertmanager
  • Enable/disable Grafana
  • Enable node-exporter host network for richer node metrics
  • Configure Prometheus retention and storage size
Glasskube exposes these options in the package configuration UI:
The image shows a user interface for configuring the "kube-prometheus-stack" package on Glasskube, detailing options for enabling features like Alertmanager and Grafana for Kubernetes monitoring.
After installation Glasskube will create the kube-prometheus-stack namespace and the stack’s pods will begin to initialize. Verify namespace and pod status:
Check pods in the monitoring namespace while resources start up:
Give pods a minute or two to reach Running. A fully started example:
Glasskube will display the Grafana entrypoint once the service or ingress is ready. When you open Grafana you will be prompted for credentials. The kube-prometheus-stack Helm chart typically stores the Grafana admin username and password in a Kubernetes secret inside the kube-prometheus-stack namespace. To find and decode the Grafana admin credentials:
Default Grafana credentials for many kube-prometheus-stack installs are:
  • Username: admin
  • Password: prom-operator Always confirm by decoding the actual Kubernetes secret in your cluster (see command above) — some releases or charts may override defaults.
After logging into Grafana, dashboards will populate as Prometheus begins scraping metrics. It may take a few minutes for metrics to appear and for panels to show data.
The image displays a dashboard interface with multiple panels showing metrics for a Kubernetes API server, though many sections indicate "No data."
The Rules UI shows alerting rules and their current state (firing, pending, or normal):
The image shows the alert rules dashboard in a monitoring application, displaying a list of alert rules and their statuses, such as "firing" and "normal." The interface includes options to create new alert or recording rules.
Glasskube provides a central packages view for installing and managing both Kubetail and kube-prometheus-stack, plus many other packages:
The image shows a web interface for Glasskube, listing various Kubernetes-related packages available for installation, such as "akri," "argo-cd," and "gpu-operator." The interface provides options to install these packages and has a user-friendly design with a dark theme.
The image displays a software interface for configuring the "kube-prometheus-stack" in Glasskube. Options like enabling Alertmanager, Grafana, and setting Prometheus retention and storage size are visible.
The image shows a web interface for "Glasskube" with a list of software packages related to Kubernetes, each accompanied by an "Install" button. There's also a notification about Glasskube Cloud launching, encouraging users to join the waitlist for early access.

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Summary

With Kubetail and kube-prometheus-stack deployed via Glasskube you gain both:
  • Real-time log streaming and filtering across pods and containers (Kubetail)
  • A full metrics collection, visualization, and alerting platform (Prometheus + Alertmanager + Grafana)
These tools together provide comprehensive observability for Kubernetes clusters, enabling faster troubleshooting and proactive alerting. Further reading and references: This concludes the monitoring section.

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