Inspektor Gadget is an eBPF observability toolset and program framework designed for tracing Linux systems and debugging Kubernetes nodes. It provides a suite of tools to collect kernel-level telemetry and export system metrics via the OpenTelemetry standard.
The project distinguishes itself by packaging inspection tools as OCI-compliant container images, allowing for standardized distribution and deployment across clusters and hosts. It employs a modular data processing pipeline that utilizes WebAssembly modules to transform and filter telemetry, and leverages Compile Once Run Everywhere for kernel portability.
The framework covers a broad range of capabilities, including network protocol inspection, system call tracing, and real-time resource monitoring. It provides mechanisms for data enrichment to map kernel primitives to high-level identities like Kubernetes pods, alongside security features such as image signing and execution whitelisting.
Users can execute these gadgets on local Linux hosts or deploy them across Kubernetes worker nodes using a daemonized operation model.