Kubernetes Explorer

Release version: Zurich

Updated July 31, 2025

7 minutes to read

Use the ServiceNow® Kubernetes Explorer to drill-down and view the Kubernetes environments and resources of your organization.

Cloud Resources Explorer. — Figure 1. Kubernetes Explorer

The Kubernetes Explorer supports the following cloud providers:

Amazon Web Services (AWS): Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS)
Microsoft Azure Cloud: Azure Kubernetes Service
Google Cloud Platform (GCP): Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE)
OpenShift

Important:

In the Kubernetes Explorer, any Kubernetes resource hosted on OpenShift is considered on-prem. Whereas, any Kubernetes resource hosted on Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP) is considered cloud hosted.

Required ServiceNow AI Platform roles

The sn_cloud_ops_ws.cloud_ops_admin role is required to view the Kubernetes Explorer.

Access the Kubernetes Explorer

To open the dashboard, navigate to All > Cloud Discovery Workspace > Kubernetes Explorer.

Important:

Starting with the Zurich release, Cloud Discovery Workspace is being prepared for future deprecation. It will be hidden and no longer activated on new instances, but will continue to be supported. Discovery Admin Workspace provides the latest experience for this functionality. For details, see the Application/Plugin Deprecation Process [KB0867184] article in the Now Support knowledge base.

Use cases

For examples of how different people in your organization would use this dashboard, see these use cases.


User	Dashboard use
Application owner	Review the statistics of the applications and workloads running on the Kubernetes clusters.
IT Admin, cloud Admin	Review the statistics of the Kubernetes infrastructure: Clusters, Nodes, Namespaces, Services, Pods, and Workloads. Review the distribution of the pods across dimensions such as region/datacenter, geo location, or country. Review the distribution of the pods across namespaces. Review the list of Kubernetes docker images used in your organization.

Indicators

Clusters

A Kubernetes cluster is a set of nodes that run containerized applications. The Clusters indicator displays the daily total count and discovery trend of the Kubernetes clusters discovered across the Kubernetes deployments of your organization.

The Kubernetes Explorer reads the Kubernetes Cluster Analytics [sn_cow_k8s_cluster_analytics] table to compute the Clusters indicator.

Nodes

A node is a worker machine in Kubernetes and may be either a virtual or a physical machine, depending on the cluster. The Nodes indicator displays the daily total count and discovery trend of the Kubernetes nodes discovered across the Kubernetes deployments of your organization.

The Kubernetes Explorer reads the Kubernetes Node Analytics [sn_cow_k8s_node_analytics] table to compute the Nodes indicator.

Namespaces

Kubernetes namespaces provides a mechanism for isolating groups of resources within the cluster. The Namespaces indicator displays the daily total count and discovery trend of the Kubernetes namespaces discovered across the Kubernetes deployments of your organization.

The Kubernetes Explorer reads the Kubernetes Namespace Analytics [sn_cow_k8s_namespace_analytics] table to compute the Namespaces indicator.

Services

Kubernetes service is an abstraction which defines a logical set of pods and a policy by which to access them (sometimes this pattern is called a micro-service). The Services indicator displays the daily total count and discovery trend of the Kubernetes services discovered across the Kubernetes deployments of your organization.

The Kubernetes Explorer reads the Kubernetes Service Analytics [sn_cow_k8s_service_analytics] table to compute the Services indicator.

The Services indicator is also available on the Services tab of the Kubernetes Explorer.

Breakdowns

Pod distribution: This breakdown displays the distribution of Kubernetes pods hosted on the on-prem infrastructure and the cloud infrastructure.
You can filter the breakdown across the following dimensions:
- Region/Datacenter
- Geo Location
- Country
The Pod distribution breakdown is available on the Overview tab of the Kubernetes Explorer.
Kubernetes services by platform or Kubernetes services by type: This breakdown displays the distribution of Kubernetes services across dimensions such as platform and type.
Nodes by region: This breakdown displays the distribution of the Kubernetes nodes across hosting regions.

Filter

You can filter the list by interacting with the data visualizations such as donut and single score card.

Data visualizations


Title	Type	Source table	Description
Kubernetes pods by namespace	Donut	Kubernetes Pod Analytics [sn_cow_k8s_pod_analytics]	This report displays the distribution of Kubernetes pods across the discovered namespaces. This report is available on the Overview tab.
Total clusters	List	Kubernetes Cluster Analytics [sn_cow_k8s_cluster_analytics]	This report lists the Kubernetes clusters discovered across the Kubernetes deployments of your organization. This report is available on the Clusters tab. When you click the cluster name, the Dependency Views map appears for Cluster Configuration Item.
Total services	Single score	Kubernetes Workload Analytics [sn_cow_k8s_service_analytics]	This report displays the total count of the Kubernetes services. This report is available on the Services tab.
Kubernetes services by platform / type	Donut	Kubernetes Node Analytics [sn_cow_k8s_service_analytics]	This report displays the distribution of the Kubernetes services across the providers. This report is available on the Services tab.
Kubernetes services	List	Kubernetes Namespace Analytics [sn_cow_k8s_service_analytics]	This report lists the Kubernetes services discovered. This report is available on the Services tab. When you click the service name, the Dependency Views map appears for Cluster Configuration Item.
Nodes by cluster	Donut	Kubernetes Node Analytics [sn_cow_k8s_node_analytics]	This report displays the distribution of the Kubernetes nodes across the discovered clusters. This report is available on the Nodes tab.
Nodes by region	Donut	Kubernetes Node Analytics [sn_cow_k8s_node_analytics]	This report displays the distribution of the Kubernetes nodes across the discovered clusters. This report is available on the Nodes tab.
Total nodes	List	Kubernetes Node Analytics [sn_cow_k8s_node_analytics]	This report lists the Kubernetes nodes discovered across the Kubernetes deployments of your organization. This report is available on the Nodes tab. When you click the node name, the Dependency Views map appears for Cluster Configuration Item.
Total workloads	Single score	Kubernetes Workload Analytics [sn_cow_k8s_workload_analytics]	This report displays the total count of the Kubernetes workloads discovered across the Kubernetes deployments of your organization. This report is available on the Workloads tab.
Desired/available replicas mismatch	Single score	Kubernetes Workload Analytics [sn_cow_k8s_workload_analytics]	This report displays the count of mismatch between the desired and available replicas. If there's a mismatch, take suitable action to remediate the issue.
Workloads by class	Donut	Kubernetes Workload Analytics [sn_cow_k8s_workload_analytics]	This report displays the workloads by the workload class. This report is available on the Workloads tab.
Total workloads	List	Kubernetes Workload Analytics [sn_cow_k8s_workload_analytics]	This report lists the Kubernetes workloads discovered across the Kubernetes deployments of your organization. This report is available on the Workloads tab. When you click the workload name, the Dependency Views map appears for Cluster Configuration Item.
Total pods	Single score	Kubernetes Pod Analytics [sn_cow_k8s_pod_analytics]	This report displays the total count of Kubernetes pods discovered across the Kubernetes deployments of your organization. This report is available on the Pods tab.
Running pods	Single score	Kubernetes Pod Analytics [sn_cow_k8s_pod_analytics]	This report displays the total count of the Kubernetes pods that are in running state. This report is available on the Pods tab.
Pending pods	Single score	Kubernetes Pod Analytics [sn_cow_k8s_pod_analytics]	This report displays the total count of the Kubernetes pods that are in pending state. This report is available on the Pods tab.
Creating pods	Single score	Kubernetes Pod Analytics [sn_cow_k8s_pod_analytics]	This report displays the total count of the Kubernetes pods that are in the creating state. This report is available on the Pods tab.
Crashloop backoff pods	Single score	Kubernetes Pod Analytics [sn_cow_k8s_pod_analytics]	This report displays the total count of the Kubernetes pods that are in the crashloop backoff state. This report is available on the Pods tab.
Total pods	List	Kubernetes Pod Analytics [sn_cow_k8s_pod_analytics]	This report lists the Kubernetes pods discovered across the Kubernetes deployments of your organization. This report is available on the Pods tab. When you click the pod name, the Dependency Views map appears for Cluster Configuration Item.
Docker images	List	Kubernetes Image Analytics [sn_cow_k8s_img_analytics]	This report lists the Docker images discovered across the Kubernetes deployments of your organization. This report is available on the Docker images tab. When you click the doker image name, the Dependency Views map appears for Cluster Configuration Item. You can download the SBOM. To generate the SBOM, see Download a software bill of materials (SBOM).