Configuring Apache Exporter with Prometheus in Kubernetes (Minikube)

Source: Dev.to

Lab Objectives

By completing this lab, you will:

• Deploy Apache in Kubernetes
• Deploy Apache Exporter
• Deploy Prometheus
• Configure Prometheus to scrape Apache metrics
• Generate load and observe real‑time metrics
• Clean up the environment

Lab Prerequisites

Ensure the following are installed:

• Docker
• kubectl
• Minikube
• Git
• curl

Verify installation:

kubectl version --client
minikube version
docker --version

Lab 1 – Start Kubernetes Environment

1. Start Minikube

minikube start --driver=docker

Verify the cluster:

kubectl get nodes

2. Create Namespace

kubectl create namespace monitoring

Set the default namespace:

kubectl config set-context --current --namespace=monitoring

Verify:

kubectl get ns

Lab 2 – Deploy Apache Web Server

1. Create Apache Deployment

Create file apache-deployment.yaml:

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: apache
spec:
  replicas: 1
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: apache
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: apache
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: apache
        image: httpd:2.4
        ports:
        - containerPort: 80

Apply the manifest:

kubectl apply -f apache-deployment.yaml

2. Expose Apache Service

Create file apache-service.yaml:

apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
  name: apache-service
spec:
  selector:
    app: apache
  ports:
    - port: 80
      targetPort: 80

Apply the manifest:

kubectl apply -f apache-service.yaml

Verify:

kubectl get pods
kubectl get svc

Lab 3 – Deploy Apache Exporter

We will use the official Apache Exporter image: quay.io/prometheuscommunity/apache-exporter

1. Create Exporter Deployment

Create file apache-exporter.yaml:

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: apache-exporter
spec:
  replicas: 1
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: apache-exporter
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: apache-exporter
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: apache-exporter
        image: quay.io/prometheuscommunity/apache-exporter
        args:
          - --scrape_uri=http://apache-service/server-status?auto
        ports:
        - containerPort: 9117

Apply the manifest:

kubectl apply -f apache-exporter.yaml

2. Create Exporter Service

Create file apache-exporter-service.yaml:

apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
  name: apache-exporter-service
spec:
  selector:
    app: apache-exporter
  ports:
    - port: 9117
      targetPort: 9117

Apply the manifest:

kubectl apply -f apache-exporter-service.yaml

Verify:

kubectl get pods
kubectl get svc

Lab 4 – Deploy Prometheus

1. Create Prometheus ConfigMap

Create file prometheus-config.yaml:

apiVersion: v1
kind: ConfigMap
metadata:
  name: prometheus-config
data:
  prometheus.yml: |
    global:
      scrape_interval: 5s

    scrape_configs:
      - job_name: 'apache-exporter'
        static_configs:
          - targets: ['apache-exporter-service:9117']

Apply the manifest:

kubectl apply -f prometheus-config.yaml

2. Create Prometheus Deployment

Create file prometheus-deployment.yaml:

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: prometheus
spec:
  replicas: 1
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: prometheus
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: prometheus
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: prometheus
        image: prom/prometheus
        ports:
        - containerPort: 9090
        volumeMounts:
        - name: config-volume
          mountPath: /etc/prometheus/
      volumes:
      - name: config-volume
        configMap:
          name: prometheus-config

Apply the manifest:

kubectl apply -f prometheus-deployment.yaml

3. Expose Prometheus

kubectl expose deployment prometheus --type=NodePort --port=9090

Check the service:

kubectl get svc

Lab 5 – Verify Exporter Metrics

1. Port‑Forward Exporter

kubectl port-forward svc/apache-exporter-service 9117:9117

2. Test Metrics

In another terminal:

curl http://localhost:9117/metrics

You should see metrics such as:

apache_up
apache_workers
apache_scoreboard

Lab 6 – Access Prometheus UI

1. Get Prometheus URL

minikube service prometheus

Open the displayed URL in a browser and explore the metrics scraped from the Apache Exporter.

2. Port‑Forward Prometheus

kubectl port-forward svc/prometheus 9090:9090

Open the browser:

http://localhost:9090

3. Verify Target

In the Prometheus UI go to Status → Targets and ensure:

apache-exporter = UP

4. Query Metrics

Try the following queries:

apache_up

or

apache_workers

Lab 7 – Generate Load (Apache Benchmark)

Use Apache Benchmark (ab) to simulate traffic.

If ab is installed locally

ab -n 1000 -c 50 http://$(minikube service apache-service --url)/

Or port‑forward Apache

kubectl port-forward svc/apache-service 8080:80

Then run:

ab -n 1000 -c 50 http://localhost:8080/

Observe Metrics in Prometheus

Watch the following metrics while the load test runs:

apache_workers
apache_scoreboard
apache_cpu_load

You should see real‑time metric changes.

Lab 8 – Troubleshooting

Check pod logs

kubectl logs deployment/apache-exporter
kubectl logs deployment/prometheus

Verify endpoints

kubectl get endpoints

Check Prometheus configuration

kubectl describe configmap prometheus-config

Lab 9 – Cleanup Environment

Delete the monitoring namespace

kubectl delete namespace monitoring

Stop Minikube

minikube stop

(Optional) Full cleanup

minikube delete

Lab Summary

You have successfully:

• Deployed Apache in Kubernetes
• Deployed Apache Exporter
• Configured Prometheus
• Verified metric scraping
• Generated load and observed real‑time metrics
• Cleaned up the environment