Health Checks in Kubernetes Part 1: Managing Traffic Flow with Liveness

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In this first article of our health checks series, we will explore how to implement Liveness Probes in Kubernetes. A Liveness Probe ensures that your application is alive and functioning. If your app becomes unresponsive or crashes, Kubernetes will automatically restart the container to recover it.

By the end of this tutorial, you will:

• Learn how to add Liveness Probes to a C# API.
• Understand why Liveness Probes are critical for ensuring your application stays healthy.
• Be able to monitor and test how Kubernetes responds when a container becomes unhealthy.

Why Use Health Checks in Kubernetes?

Liveness Probes help ensure that applications running in Kubernetes remain alive and responsive. If a container crashes, becomes stuck, or stops responding, the Liveness Probe will detect this and trigger Kubernetes to restart the container. This automatic recovery keeps your application running smoothly without manual intervention.

Article Value: Liveness Probes are essential for keeping applications alive by detecting failures and restarting containers when necessary.

Setting Up the C# API with Health Checks