Install Speedscale on Kubernetes
Choose an installation based on the permissions your platform team can grant. Both paths use the public speedscale-operator Helm chart. The installation mode determines which components run and how traffic is captured.
Choose an installation
| Standard operator | Namespace-scoped installation | |
|---|---|---|
| Use when | Your platform team permits cluster-scoped resources | Your installer can write only in one existing application namespace |
| Permissions | Cluster RBAC, a Speedscale CRD, and admission webhooks | Namespace-scoped Roles and RoleBindings; no Speedscale CRD or admission webhook |
| Capture | eBPF when the cluster and workload meet its requirements; sidecar fallback when needed | Sidecar capture applied by proxymock with your kubeconfig; no eBPF DaemonSet |
| Replay | Operator-managed replay environments | Replay components share the application namespace and its resource quotas |
Use the standard operator when cluster policy permits it. It provides eBPF capture and needs less manual coordination. If cluster-scoped grants are unavailable, follow the namespace-scoped guide and review its limitations and compatibility before installing.
Check your platform requirements
Review these guides before running the installation commands for your chosen mode:
- OpenShift: security context settings and SecurityContextConstraints.
- GKE Autopilot: privileged-workload allowlisting for eBPF and the sidecar fallback.
- EKS Auto Mode: Bottlerocket SELinux settings for eBPF capture.
- Istio: networking and sidecar interaction requirements.
Standard EKS and GKE clusters and local minikube clusters can start with the standard operator guide. Review the eBPF system requirements for your nodes and application runtime.
Platform requirements and permission scope are separate choices. For example, a namespace-scoped OpenShift installation still needs a platform administrator to grant the workload's SCC permissions out of band. Follow the prerequisites for your selected installation mode as well as your platform.
Storage and configuration
Choose the storage destination independently of Kubernetes permission scope. See BYOC Kubernetes configuration for customer-owned storage, the Helm values reference for chart settings, and bring your own TLS certificates for certificate configuration.
For installation failures, use Troubleshooting. For namespace-scoped cleanup, use Uninstall and recovery.