---
sourceDocument: Australia IT Operations Management
sourceDocumentLink: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/australia/it-operations-management
Release :
- australia
ft:locale :
- en-US
ft:publication_title :
- Australia IT Operations Management
ft:clusterId :
- itom
bundleId :
- itom
workflow :
- Technology
---
# Explore
# Exploring Kubernetes Visibility Agent {#ariaid-title1}
Release version: Australia
Updated March 12, 2026
 3 minutes to read
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## Summary of Exploring Kubernetes Visibility Agent
The Kubernetes Visibility Agent (KVA) enables ServiceNow customers to gain comprehensive visibility into both on-premises Kubernetes clusters and various cloud deployments.
It continuously discovers and detects changes in Kubernetes cluster resources, reporting updates back to the ServiceNow instance to keep the Configuration Management Database (CMDB) current.
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## How It Works
* Upon deployment, KVA creates a Deployment resource in the Kubernetes cluster with secret credentials to securely connect to your ServiceNow instance.
* The Deployment contains an Informer pod that connects to the Kubernetes API server, receiving real-time events about cluster resources.
* The Informer transmits collected data via the External Communication Channel (ECC) Queue table using the ServiceNow Table API, allowing backend KVA processes to update the CMDB accordingly.
* Both the Informer and daemonset images are FIPS-140 compliant, ensuring suitability for regulated environments.
* If network issues prevent immediate reporting, the system reconciles additions and deletions in subsequent discovery cycles to maintain CMDB accuracy.
## Initial and Continuous Discovery
* The Informer performs an initial discovery to identify all Kubernetes resources, reporting them to the ServiceNow instance.
* Data is sent every 30 seconds, with typical reporting times scaling by cluster size (e.g., about 2 minutes for 1,000 pods).
* The Informer automatically restarts if it exits unexpectedly, ensuring continuous monitoring.
* Deleted resources are marked as "Absent" and removed from the CMDB after regular cleanup cycles.
* An optional auto-retirement feature marks clusters as inactive and retires them if their Informer is down and no updates occur for a configurable period (default 60 days), helping maintain CMDB hygiene.
## Performance and Impact
* The Informer minimizes load on the Kubernetes API server by fetching the full resource list only once and then synchronizing incrementally.
* During full discovery cycles, the saved resource list is resent to the ServiceNow instance without re-querying the API server fully.
* A single Informer pod can efficiently manage clusters with tens of thousands of pods, supporting scalability.
* Benchmark results for KVA performance are available to help customers understand its efficiency and resource use.
Kubernetes Visibility Agent enables you to gain visibility into on-premises Kubernetes clusters as well as the various Cloud deployments.
Kubernetes Visibility Agent detects changes on resources in a Kubernetes cluster. It performs continuous discovery, reports any changes back to your instance, and updates the Configuration Management Database (CMDB) with the latest data. For the latest information on supported cloud deployments, see the [Kubernetes Visibility Agent (formerly CNO for Visibility) Support Matrix \[KB1700730\]](https://support.servicenow.com/kb?id=kb_article_view&sysparm_article=KB1700730) article in the Now Support Knowledge Base.
## How it works {#cnov-exploring__section_qlp_hrd_syb}
When you deploy Kubernetes Visibility Agent, Kubernetes creates a Deployment resource in the cluster with the latest data. This resource uses a secret stored in Kubernetes to connect to your ServiceNow instance.
The Kubernetes Visibility Agent Deployment resource contains a pod called Informer, which connects to the Kubernetes API server and receives events on the resources in the cluster from it. The Informer sends the collected data to the instance through the External Communication Channel (ECC) Queue table, using
the ServiceNow Table API to read from and write to the queue. The backend part of Kubernetes Visibility Agent (KVA) then updates the appropriate tables in the CMDB.
The main informer image and the daemonset image used for traffic discovery are FIPS-140 compliant for use in regulated markets. For more information, see [Kubernetes Visibility Agent support matrix](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/tY9l2nl2I5TLG5269eQyxw "The Kubernetes Visibility Agent component is supported on several versions of Kubernetes and OpenShift and in various Kubernetes environments.").
Note:
If the Informer is unable to report the changes, for example due to a network problem, the resources that were added to the cluster during the event are added to the CMDB after the next full discovery cycle. The resources that were removed from the cluster during the event are marked as Absent and deleted after two full discovery cycles.
For more information about the Kubernetes resources on which the Informer collects data and the CMDB tables it populates, see [Data collected by Kubernetes Visibility Agent](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/RlvvObFBxw0Bn0lbBCZf2A "The Kubernetes Visibility Agent Informer collects data on Kubernetes resources and populates various CMDB tables.").
## Initial and periodic discovery {#cnov-exploring__section_jfb_q5d_syb}
In its initial discovery, the Informer finds all the resources in the Kubernetes cluster and reports them to your instance. Every 30 seconds, the Informer sends up to 1 MB of data to the instance. It typically takes up to two minutes to report data on a cluster containing
1,000 pods and another minute for every additional 1,000 pods. A single Informer pod can handle a cluster with tens of thousands of pods. If the Informer exits for any reason, Kubernetes restarts it automatically.
After the initial discovery, the Informer continuously monitors the addition, updating, and deletion of resources in the cluster. Resources that were deleted from the cluster are marked with install_status=Absent and deleted
from the CMDB within hours in a regular cleanup.
During each full discovery cycle, the system can optionally check for inactive clusters and automatically update their status. When the auto-retirement feature is enabled, clusters that meet
specific conditions are retired. A cluster is considered inactive when its associated Informer is in the Down state and the cluster CI has not been touched for a configured period (default: 60 days). The system determines
this based on the sys_updated_on field, which indicates when the cluster was last observed by ServiceNow tools, regardless of whether any field values changed. When these conditions are met, the system updates the install_status field on the Kubernetes cluster CI and all associated CIs (pods, namespaces, deployments, containers, and other resources). For information about configuring auto-retirement, see [Enable automatic retirement for inactive Kubernetes cluster CIs](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/S3sL6rDto~bRwId4ar~gjw "Enable automatic retirement to update the status of inactive Kubernetes cluster configuration items (CIs) and all associated resources during full discovery cycles, so your CMDB reflects only active infrastructure."). For details about the configuration properties, see [Kubernetes cluster auto-retirement properties](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/cZJfdP9e8X_upojc~Wu6CA "Configure system properties to control the automatic retirement of inactive Kubernetes cluster configuration items (CIs) and their associated resources, so your CMDB reflects only active infrastructure.").
## Impact of the Informer on the Kubernetes API server {#cnov-exploring__section_dq2_pvd_syb}
The Informer has minimal impact on the Kubernetes API server. It fetches the complete list of relevant resources only once and saves it to memory. From then on, it synchronizes with the Kubernetes API server and never pulls the complete list again. During the periodic and on-demand full discovery cycles, the Informer resends the saved list of resources to the instance.
## Kubernetes Visibility Agent performance and scalability benchmark {#cnov-exploring__section_ohw_zmx_dzb}
For Kubernetes Visibility Agent benchmarks, see the [Performance results for Kubernetes Visibility Agent \[KB1555851\]](https://support.servicenow.com/kb?id=kb_article_view&sysparm_article=KB1555851) article in the Now Support Knowledge Base.