Monitor Che server

The Che server exposes JVM metrics such as memory usage and class loading on port 8087 on the /metrics endpoint. Monitoring these metrics helps administrators identify performance bottlenecks and plan server capacity.

Enable Che server metrics

Che exposes the JVM metrics on port 8087 of the che-host Service. Configure this behavior to support performance monitoring and capacity planning.

Prerequisites

An active kubectl session with administrative permissions to the destination Kubernetes cluster. See Overview of kubectl.

Procedure

Configure the CheCluster Custom Resource. See Using the CLI to configure the CheCluster Custom Resource.
```
spec:
  components:
    metrics:
      enable: <boolean> (1)
```
1 true to enable, false to disable.

Verification

Verify the metrics endpoint is accessible:

$ kubectl get service che-host -n eclipse-che -o jsonpath='{.spec.ports[?(@.port==8087)]}'

Verify Che server metrics with Prometheus

Verify that Che Server JVM metrics are available in Prometheus. The che-operator automatically creates and reconciles the required Prometheus resources (ServiceMonitor, Role, and RoleBinding) and configures namespace labeling.

Verification

In the Administrator view of the OpenShift web console, go to Observe → Metrics.
Run a PromQL query to confirm that the metrics are available. For example, enter process_uptime_seconds{job="che-host"} and click Run queries.

To troubleshoot missing metrics, view the Prometheus container logs for possible RBAC-related errors:

Get the name of the Prometheus pod:

$ oc get pods -l app.kubernetes.io/name=prometheus -n openshift-monitoring -o=jsonpath='{.items[*].metadata.name}'

Print the last 20 lines of the Prometheus container logs from the Prometheus pod from the previous step:
```
$ oc logs --tail=20 <prometheus_pod_name> -c prometheus -n openshift-monitoring
```

Additional resources

View Che Server from an Kubernetes web console dashboard

View Che Server JVM metrics on a custom dashboard in the Administrator perspective of the Kubernetes web console. This dashboard helps you identify performance bottlenecks and monitor server health.

Prerequisites

Che is installed and running on a Red Hat OpenShift cluster.
An active oc session with administrative permissions to the destination OpenShift cluster. See Getting started with the CLI.
The in-cluster Prometheus instance is collecting metrics. See Verify Che server metrics with Prometheus.

Procedure

Create a ConfigMap for the dashboard definition in the openshift-config-managed namespace and apply the necessary label.

$ oc create configmap grafana-dashboard-devspaces-server \
  --from-literal=devspaces-server-dashboard.json="$(curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/eclipse-che/che-server/main/docs/grafana/openshift-console-dashboard.json)" \
  -n openshift-config-managed

```
$ oc label configmap grafana-dashboard-devspaces-server console.openshift.io/dashboard=true -n openshift-config-managed
```
The dashboard definition is based on Grafana 6.x dashboards. Not all Grafana 6.x dashboard features are supported in the OpenShift web console.

Verification steps

In the Administrator view of the OpenShift web console, go to Observe → Dashboards.
Go to Dashboard → Che Server JVM and verify that the dashboard panels contain data.

Figure 1. Quick Facts

Figure 2. JVM Memory

Figure 3. JVM Misc

Figure 4. JVM Memory Pools (heap)

Figure 5. JVM Memory Pools (Non-Heap)

Figure 6. Garbage Collection

Figure 7. Class loading

Figure 8. Buffer Pools