---
title: "Defining SLOs and SLAs for Kubernetes Deployments"
source: Panaversity Learn Agentic AI
source_url: https://github.com/panaversity/learn-agentic-ai
licence: Apache-2.0
domain: agentic-ai
subdomain: panaversity-agentic
date_added: 2026-04-25
---

# Defining SLOs and SLAs for Kubernetes Deployments

## Overview
This guide provides a framework for defining Service Level Objectives (SLOs) and Service Level Agreements (SLAs) for Kubernetes-based applications, ensuring reliable and measurable service quality.

## Key Concepts

### Service Level Indicators (SLIs)
- Quantitative measures of service aspects
- Examples: latency, error rate, throughput
- Should be measurable and actionable

### Service Level Objectives (SLOs)
- Target values for SLIs
- Define acceptable service levels
- Should be achievable and meaningful

### Service Level Agreements (SLAs)
- Formal commitments to SLOs
- Include consequences of missing targets
- Define compensation or remedies

## Defining SLIs

### 1. Availability SLIs
```yaml
# availability-sli.yaml
apiVersion: monitoring.coreos.com/v1
kind: ServiceMonitor
metadata:
  name: availability-sli
  namespace: monitoring
spec:
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: my-app
  endpoints:
  - port: metrics
    interval: 30s
    path: /metrics
  metrics:
    - name: uptime
      type: gauge
      help: Service uptime percentage
    - name: downtime
      type: counter
      help: Total downtime in seconds
```

### 2. Latency SLIs
```yaml
# latency-sli.yaml
apiVersion: monitoring.coreos.com/v1
kind: ServiceMonitor
metadata:
  name: latency-sli
  namespace: monitoring
spec:
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: my-app
  endpoints:
  - port: metrics
    interval: 30s
    path: /metrics
  metrics:
    - name: request_latency
      type: histogram
      help: Request latency in milliseconds
    - name: p95_latency
      type: gauge
      help: 95th percentile latency
```

### 3. Error Rate SLIs
```yaml
# error-rate-sli.yaml
apiVersion: monitoring.coreos.com/v1
kind: ServiceMonitor
metadata:
  name: error-rate-sli
  namespace: monitoring
spec:
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: my-app
  endpoints:
  - port: metrics
    interval: 30s
    path: /metrics
  metrics:
    - name: error_count
      type: counter
      help: Total number of errors
    - name: error_rate
      type: gauge
      help: Error rate percentage
```

## Setting SLOs

### 1. Availability SLOs
```yaml
# availability-slo.yaml
apiVersion: monitoring.coreos.com/v1
kind: PrometheusRule
metadata:
  name: availability-slo
  namespace: monitoring
spec:
  groups:
  - name: availability
    rules:
    - alert: AvailabilityBelowSLO
      expr: uptime < 99.9
      for: 5m
      labels:
        severity: critical
      annotations:
        summary: Service availability below SLO
        description: Service availability is below 99.9% for 5 minutes
```

### 2. Latency SLOs
```yaml
# latency-slo.yaml
apiVersion: monitoring.coreos.com/v1
kind: PrometheusRule
metadata:
  name: latency-slo
  namespace: monitoring
spec:
  groups:
  - name: latency
    rules:
    - alert: LatencyAboveSLO
      expr: p95_latency > 200
      for: 5m
      labels:
        severity: warning
      annotations:
        summary: Service latency above SLO
        description: 95th percentile latency is above 200ms for 5 minutes
```

### 3. Error Rate SLOs
```yaml
# error-rate-slo.yaml
apiVersion: monitoring.coreos.com/v1
kind: PrometheusRule
metadata:
  name: error-rate-slo
  namespace: monitoring
spec:
  groups:
  - name: error-rate
    rules:
    - alert: ErrorRateAboveSLO
      expr: error_rate > 0.1
      for: 5m
      labels:
        severity: critical
      annotations:
        summary: Error rate above SLO
        description: Error rate is above 0.1% for 5 minutes
```

## Creating SLAs

### 1. Availability SLA
```yaml
# availability-sla.yaml
apiVersion: v1
kind: ConfigMap
metadata:
  name: availability-sla
  namespace: monitoring
data:
  target: "99.9%"
  measurement_window: "30 days"
  consequences: |
    - Service credits for downtime
    - Priority support during incidents
    - Root cause analysis report
  exceptions: |
    - Scheduled maintenance
    - Force majeure events
    - Customer-caused issues
```

### 2. Performance SLA
```yaml
# performance-sla.yaml
apiVersion: v1
kind: ConfigMap
metadata:
  name: performance-sla
  namespace: monitoring
data:
  latency_target: "200ms"
  error_rate_target: "0.1%"
  measurement_window: "24 hours"
  consequences: |
    - Performance optimization
    - Service credits for extended issues
    - Technical review meeting
  exceptions: |
    - Network issues
    - Third-party service outages
    - Unusual traffic patterns
```

## Monitoring and Reporting

### 1. Dashboard Configuration
```yaml
# slo-dashboard.yaml
apiVersion: integreatly.org/v1alpha1
kind: GrafanaDashboard
metadata:
  name: slo-dashboard
  namespace: monitoring
spec:
  json: |
    {
      "dashboard": {
        "title": "SLO Dashboard",
        "panels": [
          {
            "title": "Availability",
            "type": "graph",
            "datasource": "Prometheus",
            "targets": [
              {
                "expr": "uptime",
                "legendFormat": "Uptime"
              }
            ]
          },
          {
            "title": "Latency",
            "type": "graph",
            "datasource": "Prometheus",
            "targets": [
              {
                "expr": "p95_latency",
                "legendFormat": "P95 Latency"
              }
            ]
          },
          {
            "title": "Error Rate",
            "type": "graph",
            "datasource": "Prometheus",
            "targets": [
              {
                "expr": "error_rate",
                "legendFormat": "Error Rate"
              }
            ]
          }
        ]
      }
    }
```

### 2. Reporting Configuration
```yaml
# slo-report.yaml
apiVersion: monitoring.coreos.com/v1
kind: PrometheusRule
metadata:
  name: slo-report
  namespace: monitoring
spec:
  groups:
  - name: slo-reporting
    rules:
    - record: slo_compliance
      expr: |
        (
          (uptime >= 99.9) * 1 +
          (p95_latency <= 200) * 1 +
          (error_rate <= 0.1) * 1
        ) / 3 * 100
      labels:
        type: overall_compliance
```

## Best Practices

### 1. SLO Definition
- Start with user-centric metrics
- Set achievable targets
- Consider error budgets
- Regular review and adjustment
- Document assumptions

### 2. SLA Management
- Clear communication
- Realistic commitments
- Defined consequences
- Regular reviews
- Update procedures

### 3. Monitoring
- Comprehensive coverage
- Real-time alerts
- Historical analysis
- Trend identification
- Actionable insights

## Next Steps
1. Implement monitoring
2. Set up alerts
3. Create dashboards
4. Establish reporting
5. Regular reviews
