Set up Kubernetes cost allocation

How Kubernetes cost allocation works

Your cloud provider bills you for the nodes, disks, and network traffic behind a cluster, without specifying which namespace or workload used that capacity. CloudBolt combines two sources of data to close that gap:

• Cloud billing data: A FOCUS cost and usage export from each cloud provider, which tells CloudBolt what your cluster infrastructure costs.
• Cluster usage metrics: CPU, memory, and network metrics collected in-cluster by the StormForge Agent, showing CloudBolt how capacity was consumed by each namespace, workload, pod, and container.

CloudBolt joins the two and attributes infrastructure cost down to the workload level, including idle and overhead capacity. The result is shown in the Kubernetes Report and the Kubernetes cost allocation dataset in Cost Explorer.

The StormForge Agent is part of CloudBolt’s Kubernetes optimization capability. Without it on a cluster, that cluster’s node spend cannot be broken down by namespace or workload.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure the following:

• Your clusters run on a cloud provider that CloudBolt can collect billing data from: AWS, Azure, or GCP.
• The StormForge Agent is installed on each cluster you want cost data for, and the cluster appears on the Clusters page in StormForge. See Basic installation in the StormForge documentation.
• The Agent is at version 2.25 or later. Cost metrics are supported on both the v2 and v3 charts, so at 2.25 or later you do not need to change versions.
• You have permission to run helm upgrade against the StormForge release in each cluster.
• The Agent watches the whole cluster. Cost allocation cannot calculate unallocated cost from a partial view, so enableCostMetrics cannot be combined with clusterAgent.allowNamespaces or clusterAgent.denyNamespaces (named workload.allowNamespaces and workload.denyNamespaces in the v2 Agent).

Step 1: Connect your cloud providers

Set up a FOCUS cost and usage export for each cloud provider running your clusters. Connect the account or subscription billed for your cluster nodes, usually the management or payer account in a multi-account setup.

1. Log in to the CloudBolt Platform. The address depends on where your organization’s tenant is hosted; see Sign in.

2. Go to Settings > Connections.

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3. Next to the target provider, select Add connection, then follow the instructions.

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Each provider has its own preparation and connection process:

• Connect AWS
• Connect Azure
• Connect GCP

Step 2: Enable cost metrics on your clusters

Cost metric collection is disabled by default. Enable it with the enableCostMetrics Helm value on each cluster. Helm applies configuration changes by upgrading the release, so helm upgrade is the command you use even when the version stays the same.

Review the current release

Confirm the release name and Agent version, then store a copy of the current values before making any changes:

helm list -n stormforge-system
helm get values stormforge -n stormforge-system

Enable cost metrics

Add the following to your values file:

enableCostMetrics: true

Then upgrade the release, reusing your existing values and passing the updated file:

helm upgrade stormforge oci://registry.stormforge.io/library/stormforge \
  -n stormforge-system \
  --version YOUR_CURRENT_VERSION \
  --reset-then-reuse-values \
  -f values.yaml

If you do not manage a values file, set the value inline:

helm upgrade stormforge oci://registry.stormforge.io/library/stormforge \
  -n stormforge-system \
  --version YOUR_CURRENT_VERSION \
  --reset-then-reuse-values \
  --set enableCostMetrics=true

Verify the Agent configuration

1. Confirm the value is applied:

   helm get values stormforge -n stormforge-system
   

2. Confirm the pods restarted cleanly:

   kubectl get pods -n stormforge-system
   

3. In StormForge, check that the cluster still reports as connected on the Clusters page.

Repeat this step for every cluster you want cost data for.

Step 3: Verify data in CloudBolt

Kubernetes cost allocation needs both cloud billing data and cluster metrics before it can report anything, so allow time for the first export and the first metrics to arrive.

1. Log in to the CloudBolt Platform.
2. In the sidebar, select Kubernetes Report.
3. Confirm your clusters appear in the Cost Breakdown card, then drill into a cluster to check that namespaces and workloads are listed.

See Kubernetes Report for how to filter, group, and drill into the data, and for how idle and overhead capacity is allocated.

Troubleshooting