Kubewatch

Automatically apply Kubernetes manifest changes with a file watcher

kubewatch is a lightweight Linux daemon that monitors a directory for changes to Kubernetes manifests (*.yaml/*.yml) and automatically applies them to your cluster using kubectl apply. Perfect for development, GitOps workflows, or syncing local changes to a cluster without manual intervention.

---

Features

• 🕵️ Real-time file watching – Detects changes in specified directories.
• ⚡ Auto-apply – Runs kubectl apply -f on modified manifests.
• 🔧 Configurable paths – Set your watched directory via config file.
• 🖥️ Systemd service – Runs as a background daemon (systemctl support).
• 🔒 Kubernetes RBAC-aware – Uses local kubeconfig for authentication.

---

Installation

Debian/Ubuntu (via APT)

You can install Kubewatch directly from the APT repository:

# Add our GPG key
sudo mkdir -p /etc/apt/keyrings
curl -fsSL https://boniface.github.io/kubewatch/public.gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/kubewatch-archive-keyring.gpg

# Add repository to sources
echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/kubewatch-archive-keyring.gpg] https://boniface.github.io/kubewatch stable main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/kubewatch.list

# Update package lists
sudo apt-get update

# Install kubewatch
sudo apt-get install kubewatch

Debian/Ubuntu (via .deb package)

# Download and install the package
wget https://example.com/kubewatch.deb
sudo apt install ./kubewatch.deb

Start and Enable the Service

After installation, you can start and enable the systemd service:

sudo systemctl start kubewatch
sudo systemctl enable kubewatch

Manual Install (Any Linux)

# Clone the repo
git clone https://github.com/boniface/kubewatch.git
cd kubewatch

# Build and install
cargo build --release
sudo cp target/release/kubewatch /usr/local/bin/

---

Configuration

Edit /etc/kubewatch/config.yaml:

watchDir: "/path/to/manifests"  # Directory to monitor
kubeconfig: "/home/user/.kube/config"  # Optional: Custom kubeconfig
logLevel: "info"                 # debug, info, warn, error

Restart to apply changes:

sudo systemctl restart kubewatch

---

Usage

1. Place Kubernetes manifests in the configured watchDir.
2. On file save, kubewatch detects changes and runs:

   kubectl apply -f /path/to/changed/file.yaml

3. Check logs:

   journalctl -u kubewatch -f

---

Contributing

PRs welcome! See CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.

---

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.