VMware Octant 0.16: A Developer Flight Deck for Kubernetes

Introduction

On November 18, 2020, VMware shipped Octant 0.16, a major upgrade to the open-source desktop UI that streamlines investigation, collaboration, and extension for Kubernetes operators.

Role-Aware Access Controls

Tie Octant sessions to kubeconfig contexts and leverage Kubernetes RBAC to scope views automatically.
Shared dashboards show only the namespaces and resources permitted to the user, reducing cognitive load.
SSO integrations via OIDC providers (Dex, Okta) simplify access for large teams.

Navigation Plug Points: Plugins can insert custom menu items, breadcrumbs, or tabs per resource, helping platform teams highlight golden paths.
Resource Explorer: Filter by labels, API groups, or owner references with live search.
Topology View: Updated graph renders Deployments, Services, and ingresses with status overlays and plugin-defined icons.

Terminal & Diagnostics Upgrades

Embedded terminal now supports multiple simultaneous sessions, context switching, and copy-safe output.
Live log streaming gains regex filtering and pause/resume for precise debugging.
Crash-loop triage bundles events, pod specs, and recommended actions into a single panel.

Getting Started

git clone https://github.com/vmware-archive/octant
make build
./build/octant --disable-open-browser

Install a navigation plugin:

go run ./plugins/sample-navigation

Summary

Aspect	Details
Release Date	November 18, 2020
Headline Features	Role-aware access, plugin navigation, diagnostic terminal
Why it Matters	Gives developers a cockpit for observing and debugging clusters without memorizing kubectl commands

Octant 0.16 closes the gap between platform operations and developer autonomy, placing live diagnostics and custom workflows at everyone’s fingertips.