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# Descheduler for Kubernetes

Scheduling in Kubernetes is the process of binding pending pods to nodes, and is performed by
a component of Kubernetes called kube-scheduler. The scheduler's decisions, whether or where a
pod can or can not be scheduled, are guided by its configurable policy which comprises of set of
rules, called predicates and priorities. The scheduler's decisions are influenced by its view of
a Kubernetes cluster at that point of time when a new pod appears for scheduling.
As Kubernetes clusters are very dynamic and their state changes over time, there may be desire
to move already running pods to some other nodes for various reasons:

* Some nodes are under or over utilized.
* The original scheduling decision does not hold true any more, as taints or labels are added to
or removed from nodes, pod/node affinity requirements are not satisfied any more.
* Some nodes failed and their pods moved to other nodes.
* New nodes are added to clusters.

Consequently, there might be several pods scheduled on less desired nodes in a cluster.
Descheduler, based on its policy, finds pods that can be moved and evicts them. Please
note, in current implementation, descheduler does not schedule replacement of evicted pods
but relies on the default scheduler for that.

## ⚠️  Documentation Versions by Release

If you are using a published release of Descheduler (such as
`registry.k8s.io/descheduler/descheduler:v0.31.0`), follow the documentation in
that version's release branch, as listed below:

|Descheduler Version|Docs link|
|---|---|
|v0.32.x|[`release-1.32`](https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/descheduler/blob/release-1.32/README.md)|
|v0.31.x|[`release-1.31`](https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/descheduler/blob/release-1.31/README.md)|
|v0.30.x|[`release-1.30`](https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/descheduler/blob/release-1.30/README.md)|
|v0.29.x|[`release-1.29`](https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/descheduler/blob/release-1.29/README.md)|

The
[`master`](https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/descheduler/blob/master/README.md)
branch is considered in-development and the information presented in it may not
work for previous versions.

## Quick Start

The descheduler can be run as a `Job`, `CronJob`, or `Deployment` inside of a k8s cluster. It has the
advantage of being able to be run multiple times without needing user intervention.
The descheduler pod is run as a critical pod in the `kube-system` namespace to avoid
being evicted by itself or by the kubelet.

### Run As A Job

```
kubectl create -f kubernetes/base/rbac.yaml
kubectl create -f kubernetes/base/configmap.yaml
kubectl create -f kubernetes/job/job.yaml
```

### Run As A CronJob

```
kubectl create -f kubernetes/base/rbac.yaml
kubectl create -f kubernetes/base/configmap.yaml
kubectl create -f kubernetes/cronjob/cronjob.yaml
```

### Run As A Deployment

```
kubectl create -f kubernetes/base/rbac.yaml
kubectl create -f kubernetes/base/configmap.yaml
kubectl create -f kubernetes/deployment/deployment.yaml
```

### Install Using Helm

Starting with release v0.18.0 there is an official helm chart that can be used to install the
descheduler. See the [helm chart README](https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/descheduler/blob/master/charts/descheduler/README.md) for detailed instructions.

The descheduler helm chart is also listed on the [artifact hub](https://artifacthub.io/packages/helm/descheduler/descheduler).

### Install Using Kustomize

You can use kustomize to install descheduler.
See the [resources | Kustomize](https://kubectl.docs.kubernetes.io/references/kustomize/cmd/build/) for detailed instructions.

Run As A Job
```
kustomize build 'github.com/kubernetes-sigs/descheduler/kubernetes/job?ref=release-1.32' | kubectl apply -f -
```

Run As A CronJob
```
kustomize build 'github.com/kubernetes-sigs/descheduler/kubernetes/cronjob?ref=release-1.32' | kubectl apply -f -
```

Run As A Deployment
```
kustomize build 'github.com/kubernetes-sigs/descheduler/kubernetes/deployment?ref=release-1.32' | kubectl apply -f -
```

## User Guide

See the [user guide](docs/user-guide.md) in the `/docs` directory.

## Policy, Default Evictor and Strategy plugins

The Descheduler Policy is configurable and includes default strategy plugins that can be enabled or disabled. It includes a common eviction configuration at the top level, as well as configuration from the Evictor plugin (Default Evictor, if not specified otherwise). Top-level configuration and Evictor plugin configuration are applied to all evictions.

### Top Level configuration

These are top level keys in the Descheduler Policy that you can use to configure all evictions.

| Name |type| Default Value | Description |
|------|----|---------------|-------------|
| `nodeSelector` |`string`| `nil` | limiting the nodes which are processed. Only used when `nodeFit`=`true` and only by the PreEvictionFilter Extension Point |
| `maxNoOfPodsToEvictPerNode` |`int`| `nil` | maximum number of pods evicted from each node (summed through all strategies) |
| `maxNoOfPodsToEvictPerNamespace` |`int`| `nil` | maximum number of pods evicted from each namespace (summed through all strategies) |
| `maxNoOfPodsToEvictTotal` |`int`| `nil` | maximum number of pods evicted per rescheduling cycle (summed through all strategies) |
| `metricsCollector` |`object`| `nil` | configures collection of metrics for actual resource utilization |
| `metricsCollector.enabled` |`bool`| `false` | enables kubernetes [metrics server](https://kubernetes-sigs.github.io/metrics-server/) collection |

### Evictor Plugin configuration (Default Evictor)

The Default Evictor Plugin is used by default for filtering pods before processing them in an strategy plugin, or for applying a PreEvictionFilter of pods before eviction. You can also create your own Evictor Plugin or use the Default one provided by Descheduler.  Other uses for the Evictor plugin can be to sort, filter, validate or group pods by different criteria, and that's why this is handled by a plugin and not configured in the top level config.

| Name                      |type| Default Value | Description                                                                                                                 |
|---------------------------|----|---------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| `nodeSelector`            |`string`| `nil` | limiting the nodes which are processed                                                                                      |
| `evictLocalStoragePods`   |`bool`| `false` | allows eviction of pods with local storage                                                                                  |
| `evictSystemCriticalPods` |`bool`| `false` | [Warning: Will evict Kubernetes system pods] allows eviction of pods with any priority, including system pods like kube-dns |
| `ignorePvcPods`           |`bool`| `false` | set whether PVC pods should be evicted or ignored                                                                           |
| `evictFailedBarePods`     |`bool`| `false` | allow eviction of pods without owner references and in failed phase                                                         |
| `labelSelector`           |`metav1.LabelSelector`|| (see [label filtering](#label-filtering))                                                                                   |
| `priorityThreshold`       |`priorityThreshold`|| (see [priority filtering](#priority-filtering))                                                                             |
| `nodeFit`                 |`bool`|`false`| (see [node fit filtering](#node-fit-filtering))                                                                             |
| `minReplicas`             |`uint`|`0`| ignore eviction of pods where owner (e.g. `ReplicaSet`) replicas is below this threshold                                    |
| `minPodAge`               |`metav1.Duration`|`0`| ignore eviction of pods with a creation time within this threshold                                                          |
| `ignorePodsWithoutPDB`    |`bool`|`false`| set whether pods without PodDisruptionBudget should be evicted or ignored                                                   |

### Example policy

As part of the policy, you will start deciding which top level configuration to use, then which Evictor plugin to use (if you have your own, the Default Evictor if not), followed by deciding the configuration passed to the Evictor Plugin. By default, the Default Evictor is enabled for both `filter` and `preEvictionFilter` extension points.  After that you will enable/disable eviction strategies plugins and configure them properly.

See each strategy plugin section for details on available parameters.

**Policy:**

```yaml
apiVersion: "descheduler/v1alpha2"
kind: "DeschedulerPolicy"
nodeSelector: "node=node1" # you don't need to set this, if not set all will be processed
maxNoOfPodsToEvictPerNode: 5000 # you don't need to set this, unlimited if not set
maxNoOfPodsToEvictPerNamespace: 5000 # you don't need to set this, unlimited if not set
maxNoOfPodsToEvictTotal: 5000 # you don't need to set this, unlimited if not set
metricsCollector:
  enabled: true # you don't need to set this, metrics are not collected if not set
profiles:
  - name: ProfileName
    pluginConfig:
    - name: "DefaultEvictor"
      args:
        evictSystemCriticalPods: true
        evictFailedBarePods: true
        evictLocalStoragePods: true
        nodeFit: true
        minReplicas: 2
    plugins:
      # DefaultEvictor is enabled for both `filter` and `preEvictionFilter`
      # filter:
      #   enabled:
      #     - "DefaultEvictor"
      # preEvictionFilter:
      #   enabled:
      #     - "DefaultEvictor"
      deschedule:
        enabled:
          - ...
      balance:
        enabled:
          - ...
      [...]
```

The following diagram provides a visualization of most of the strategies to help
categorize how strategies fit together.

![Strategies diagram](strategies_diagram.png)

The following sections provide an overview of the different strategy plugins available. These plugins are grouped based on their implementation of extension points: Deschedule or Balance.

Deschedule Plugins: These plugins process pods one by one, and evict them in a sequential manner.

Balance Plugins: These plugins process all pods, or groups of pods, and determine which pods to evict based on how the group was intended to be spread.

|Name|Extension Point Implemented|Description|
|----|-----------|-----------|
| [RemoveDuplicates](#removeduplicates) |Balance|Spreads replicas|
| [LowNodeUtilization](#lownodeutilization) |Balance|Spreads pods according to pods resource requests and node resources available|
| [HighNodeUtilization](#highnodeutilization) |Balance|Spreads pods according to pods resource requests and node resources available|
| [RemovePodsViolatingInterPodAntiAffinity](#removepodsviolatinginterpodantiaffinity) |Deschedule|Evicts pods violating pod anti affinity|
| [RemovePodsViolatingNodeAffinity](#removepodsviolatingnodeaffinity) |Deschedule|Evicts pods violating node affinity|
| [RemovePodsViolatingNodeTaints](#removepodsviolatingnodetaints) |Deschedule|Evicts pods violating node taints|
| [RemovePodsViolatingTopologySpreadConstraint](#removepodsviolatingtopologyspreadconstraint) |Balance|Evicts pods violating TopologySpreadConstraints|
| [RemovePodsHavingTooManyRestarts](#removepodshavingtoomanyrestarts) |Deschedule|Evicts pods having too many restarts|
| [PodLifeTime](#podlifetime) |Deschedule|Evicts pods that have exceeded a specified age limit|
| [RemoveFailedPods](#removefailedpods) |Deschedule|Evicts pods with certain failed reasons and exit codes|


### RemoveDuplicates

This strategy plugin makes sure that there is only one pod associated with a ReplicaSet (RS),
ReplicationController (RC), StatefulSet, or Job running on the same node. If there are more,
those duplicate pods are evicted for better spreading of pods in a cluster. This issue could happen
if some nodes went down due to whatever reasons, and pods on them were moved to other nodes leading to
more than one pod associated with a RS or RC, for example, running on the same node. Once the failed nodes
are ready again, this strategy could be enabled to evict those duplicate pods.

It provides one optional parameter, `excludeOwnerKinds`, which is a list of OwnerRef `Kind`s. If a pod
has any of these `Kind`s listed as an `OwnerRef`, that pod will not be considered for eviction. Note that
pods created by Deployments are considered for eviction by this strategy. The `excludeOwnerKinds` parameter
should include `ReplicaSet` to have pods created by Deployments excluded.

**Parameters:**

|Name|Type|
|---|---|
|`excludeOwnerKinds`|list(string)|
|`namespaces`|(see [namespace filtering](#namespace-filtering))|

**Example:**
```yaml
apiVersion: "descheduler/v1alpha2"
kind: "DeschedulerPolicy"
profiles:
  - name: ProfileName
    pluginConfig:
    - name: "RemoveDuplicates"
      args:
        excludeOwnerKinds:
          - "ReplicaSet"
    plugins:
      balance:
        enabled:
          - "RemoveDuplicates"
```

### LowNodeUtilization

This strategy finds nodes that are under utilized and evicts pods, if possible, from other nodes
in the hope that recreation of evicted pods will be scheduled on these underutilized nodes. The
parameters of this strategy are configured under `nodeResourceUtilizationThresholds`.

The under utilization of nodes is determined by a configurable threshold `thresholds`. The threshold
`thresholds` can be configured for cpu, memory, number of pods, and extended resources in terms of percentage (the percentage is
calculated as the current resources requested on the node vs [total allocatable](https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/architecture/nodes/#capacity).
For pods, this means the number of pods on the node as a fraction of the pod capacity set for that node).

If a node's usage is below threshold for all (cpu, memory, number of pods and extended resources), the node is considered underutilized.
Currently, pods request resource requirements are considered for computing node resource utilization.

There is another configurable threshold, `targetThresholds`, that is used to compute those potential nodes
from where pods could be evicted. If a node's usage is above targetThreshold for any (cpu, memory, number of pods, or extended resources),
the node is considered over utilized. Any node between the thresholds, `thresholds` and `targetThresholds` is
considered appropriately utilized and is not considered for eviction. The threshold, `targetThresholds`,
can be configured for cpu, memory, and number of pods too in terms of percentage.

These thresholds, `thresholds` and `targetThresholds`, could be tuned as per your cluster requirements. Note that this
strategy evicts pods from `overutilized nodes` (those with usage above `targetThresholds`) to `underutilized nodes`
(those with usage below `thresholds`), it will abort if any number of `underutilized nodes` or `overutilized nodes` is zero.

Additionally, the strategy accepts a `useDeviationThresholds` parameter.
If that parameter is set to `true`, the thresholds are considered as percentage deviations from mean resource usage.
`thresholds` will be deducted from the mean among all nodes and `targetThresholds` will be added to the mean.
A resource consumption above (resp. below) this window is considered as overutilization (resp. underutilization).

**NOTE:** By default node resource consumption is determined by the requests and limits of pods, not actual usage.
This approach is chosen in order to maintain consistency with the kube-scheduler, which follows the same
design for scheduling pods onto nodes. This means that resource usage as reported by Kubelet (or commands
like `kubectl top`) may differ from the calculated consumption, due to these components reporting
actual usage metrics. Metrics-based descheduling can be enabled by setting `metricsUtilization.metricsServer` field.
In order to have the plugin consume the metrics the metric collector needs to be configured as well.
See `metricsCollector` field at [Top Level configuration](#top-level-configuration) for available options.

**Parameters:**

|Name|Type|
|---|---|
|`useDeviationThresholds`|bool|
|`thresholds`|map(string:int)|
|`targetThresholds`|map(string:int)|
|`numberOfNodes`|int|
|`evictableNamespaces`|(see [namespace filtering](#namespace-filtering))|
|`metricsUtilization`|object|
|`metricsUtilization.metricsServer`|bool|


**Example:**

```yaml
apiVersion: "descheduler/v1alpha2"
kind: "DeschedulerPolicy"
profiles:
  - name: ProfileName
    pluginConfig:
    - name: "LowNodeUtilization"
      args:
        thresholds:
          "cpu" : 20
          "memory": 20
          "pods": 20
        targetThresholds:
          "cpu" : 50
          "memory": 50
          "pods": 50
        metricsUtilization:
          metricsServer: true
    plugins:
      balance:
        enabled:
          - "LowNodeUtilization"
```

Policy should pass the following validation checks:
* Three basic native types of resources are supported: `cpu`, `memory` and `pods`.
If any of these resource types is not specified, all its thresholds default to 100% to avoid nodes going from underutilized to overutilized.
* Extended resources are supported. For example, resource type `nvidia.com/gpu` is specified for GPU node utilization. Extended resources are optional,
and will not be used to compute node's usage if it's not specified in `thresholds` and `targetThresholds` explicitly.
* `thresholds` or `targetThresholds` can not be nil and they must configure exactly the same types of resources.
* The valid range of the resource's percentage value is \[0, 100\]
* Percentage value of `thresholds` can not be greater than `targetThresholds` for the same resource.

There is another parameter associated with the `LowNodeUtilization` strategy, called `numberOfNodes`.
This parameter can be configured to activate the strategy only when the number of under utilized nodes
are above the configured value. This could be helpful in large clusters where a few nodes could go
under utilized frequently or for a short period of time. By default, `numberOfNodes` is set to zero.

### HighNodeUtilization

This strategy finds nodes that are under utilized and evicts pods from the nodes in the hope that these pods will be
scheduled compactly into fewer nodes.  Used in conjunction with node auto-scaling, this strategy is intended to help
trigger down scaling of under utilized nodes.
This strategy **must** be used with the scheduler scoring strategy `MostAllocated`. The parameters of this strategy are
configured under `nodeResourceUtilizationThresholds`.

> Note: On GKE, it is not possible to customize the default scheduler config. Instead, you can use the [`optimze-utilization` autoscaling strategy](https://cloud.google.com/kubernetes-engine/docs/concepts/cluster-autoscaler#:~:text=The%20optimize%2Dutilization%20autoscaling%20profile,custom%20scheduler%20are%20not%20affected), which has the same effect as enabling the `MostAllocated` scheduler plugin. Alternatively, you can deploy a second custom scheduler and edit that scheduler's config yourself.

The under utilization of nodes is determined by a configurable threshold `thresholds`. The threshold
`thresholds` can be configured for cpu, memory, number of pods, and extended resources in terms of percentage. The percentage is
calculated as the current resources requested on the node vs [total allocatable](https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/architecture/nodes/#capacity).
For pods, this means the number of pods on the node as a fraction of the pod capacity set for that node.

If a node's usage is below threshold for all (cpu, memory, number of pods and extended resources), the node is considered underutilized.
Currently, pods request resource requirements are considered for computing node resource utilization.
Any node above `thresholds` is considered appropriately utilized and is not considered for eviction.

The `thresholds` param could be tuned as per your cluster requirements. Note that this
strategy evicts pods from `underutilized nodes` (those with usage below `thresholds`)
so that they can be recreated in appropriately utilized nodes.
The strategy will abort if any number of `underutilized nodes` or `appropriately utilized nodes` is zero.

**NOTE:** Node resource consumption is determined by the requests and limits of pods, not actual usage.
This approach is chosen in order to maintain consistency with the kube-scheduler, which follows the same
design for scheduling pods onto nodes. This means that resource usage as reported by Kubelet (or commands
like `kubectl top`) may differ from the calculated consumption, due to these components reporting
actual usage metrics. Implementing metrics-based descheduling is currently TODO for the project.

**Parameters:**

|Name|Type|
|---|---|
|`thresholds`|map(string:int)|
|`numberOfNodes`|int|
|`evictableNamespaces`|(see [namespace filtering](#namespace-filtering))|

**Example:**

```yaml
apiVersion: "descheduler/v1alpha2"
kind: "DeschedulerPolicy"
profiles:
  - name: ProfileName
    pluginConfig:
    - name: "HighNodeUtilization"
      args:
        thresholds:
          "cpu" : 20
          "memory": 20
          "pods": 20
        evictableNamespaces:
          exclude:
          - "kube-system"
          - "namespace1"
    plugins:
      balance:
        enabled:
          - "HighNodeUtilization"
```

Policy should pass the following validation checks:
* Three basic native types of resources are supported: `cpu`, `memory` and `pods`. If any of these resource types is not specified, all its thresholds default to 100%.
* Extended resources are supported. For example, resource type `nvidia.com/gpu` is specified for GPU node utilization. Extended resources are optional, and will not be used to compute node's usage if it's not specified in `thresholds` explicitly.
* `thresholds` can not be nil.
* The valid range of the resource's percentage value is \[0, 100\]

There is another parameter associated with the `HighNodeUtilization` strategy, called `numberOfNodes`.
This parameter can be configured to activate the strategy only when the number of under utilized nodes
is above the configured value. This could be helpful in large clusters where a few nodes could go
under utilized frequently or for a short period of time. By default, `numberOfNodes` is set to zero.

### RemovePodsViolatingInterPodAntiAffinity

This strategy makes sure that pods violating interpod anti-affinity are removed from nodes. For example,
if there is podA on a node and podB and podC (running on the same node) have anti-affinity rules which prohibit
them to run on the same node, then podA will be evicted from the node so that podB and podC could run. This
issue could happen, when the anti-affinity rules for podB and podC are created when they are already running on
node.

**Parameters:**

|Name|Type|
|---|---|
|`namespaces`|(see [namespace filtering](#namespace-filtering))|
|`labelSelector`|(see [label filtering](#label-filtering))|

**Example:**

```yaml
apiVersion: "descheduler/v1alpha2"
kind: "DeschedulerPolicy"
profiles:
  - name: ProfileName
    pluginConfig:
    - name: "RemovePodsViolatingInterPodAntiAffinity"
    plugins:
      deschedule:
        enabled:
          - "RemovePodsViolatingInterPodAntiAffinity"
```

### RemovePodsViolatingNodeAffinity

This strategy makes sure all pods violating
[node affinity](https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/configuration/assign-pod-node/#node-affinity)
are eventually removed from nodes. Node affinity rules allow a pod to specify
`requiredDuringSchedulingIgnoredDuringExecution` and/or
`preferredDuringSchedulingIgnoredDuringExecution`.

The `requiredDuringSchedulingIgnoredDuringExecution` type tells the scheduler
to respect node affinity when scheduling the pod but kubelet to ignore
in case node changes over time and no longer respects the affinity.
When enabled, the strategy serves as a temporary implementation
of `requiredDuringSchedulingRequiredDuringExecution` and evicts pod for kubelet
that no longer respects node affinity.

For example, there is podA scheduled on nodeA which satisfies the node
affinity rule `requiredDuringSchedulingIgnoredDuringExecution` at the time
of scheduling. Over time nodeA stops to satisfy the rule. When the strategy gets
executed and there is another node available that satisfies the node affinity rule,
podA gets evicted from nodeA.

The `preferredDuringSchedulingIgnoredDuringExecution` type tells the scheduler
to respect node affinity when scheduling if that's possible. If not, the pod
gets scheduled anyway. It may happen that, over time, the state of the cluster
changes and now the pod can be scheduled on a node that actually fits its
preferred node affinity. When enabled, the strategy serves as a temporary
implementation of `preferredDuringSchedulingPreferredDuringExecution`, so the
pod will be evicted if it can be scheduled on a "better" node.

**Parameters:**

|Name|Type|
|---|---|
|`nodeAffinityType`|list(string)|
|`namespaces`|(see [namespace filtering](#namespace-filtering))|
|`labelSelector`|(see [label filtering](#label-filtering))|

**Example:**

```yaml
apiVersion: "descheduler/v1alpha2"
kind: "DeschedulerPolicy"
profiles:
  - name: ProfileName
    pluginConfig:
    - name: "RemovePodsViolatingNodeAffinity"
      args:
        nodeAffinityType:
        - "requiredDuringSchedulingIgnoredDuringExecution"
    plugins:
      deschedule:
        enabled:
          - "RemovePodsViolatingNodeAffinity"
```

### RemovePodsViolatingNodeTaints

This strategy makes sure that pods violating NoSchedule taints on nodes are removed. For example there is a
pod "podA" with a toleration to tolerate a taint ``key=value:NoSchedule`` scheduled and running on the tainted
node. If the node's taint is subsequently updated/removed, taint is no longer satisfied by its pods' tolerations
and will be evicted.

Node taints can be excluded from consideration by specifying a list of excludedTaints. If a node taint key **or**
key=value matches an excludedTaints entry, the taint will be ignored.

For example, excludedTaints entry "dedicated" would match all taints with key "dedicated", regardless of value.
excludedTaints entry "dedicated=special-user" would match taints with key "dedicated" and value "special-user".

If a list of includedTaints is provided, a taint will be considered if and only if it matches an included key **or** key=value from the list. Otherwise it will be ignored. Leaving includedTaints unset will include any taint by default.

**Parameters:**

|Name|Type|
|---|---|
|`excludedTaints`|list(string)|
|`includedTaints`|list(string)|
|`includePreferNoSchedule`|bool|
|`namespaces`|(see [namespace filtering](#namespace-filtering))|
|`labelSelector`|(see [label filtering](#label-filtering))|

**Example:**

Setting `excludedTaints`
```yaml
apiVersion: "descheduler/v1alpha2"
kind: "DeschedulerPolicy"
profiles:
  - name: ProfileName
    pluginConfig:
    - name: "RemovePodsViolatingNodeTaints"
      args:
        excludedTaints:
        - dedicated=special-user # exclude taints with key "dedicated" and value "special-user"
        - reserved # exclude all taints with key "reserved"
    plugins:
      deschedule:
        enabled:
          - "RemovePodsViolatingNodeTaints"
```

Setting `includedTaints`
```yaml
apiVersion: "descheduler/v1alpha2"
kind: "DeschedulerPolicy"
profiles:
  - name: ProfileName
    pluginConfig:
    - name: "RemovePodsViolatingNodeTaints"
      args:
        includedTaints:
        - decommissioned=end-of-life # include only taints with key "decommissioned" and value "end-of-life"
        - reserved # include all taints with key "reserved"
    plugins:
      deschedule:
        enabled:
          - "RemovePodsViolatingNodeTaints"
```

### RemovePodsViolatingTopologySpreadConstraint

This strategy makes sure that pods violating [topology spread constraints](https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/workloads/pods/pod-topology-spread-constraints/)
are evicted from nodes. Specifically, it tries to evict the minimum number of pods required to balance topology domains to within each constraint's `maxSkew`.
This strategy requires k8s version 1.18 at a minimum.

By default, this strategy only includes hard constraints, you can explicitly set `constraints` as shown below to include both:
```yaml
constraints:
- DoNotSchedule
- ScheduleAnyway
```

The `topologyBalanceNodeFit` arg is used when balancing topology domains while the Default Evictor's `nodeFit` is used in pre-eviction to determine if a pod can be evicted.
```yaml
topologyBalanceNodeFit: false
```

Strategy parameter `labelSelector` is not utilized when balancing topology domains and is only applied during eviction to determine if the pod can be evicted.

[Supported Constraints](https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/scheduling-eviction/topology-spread-constraints/#spread-constraint-definition) fields:

|Name|Supported?|
|----|----------|
|`maxSkew`|Yes|
|`minDomains`|No|
|`topologyKey`|Yes|
|`whenUnsatisfiable`|Yes|
|`labelSelector`|Yes|
|`matchLabelKeys`|Yes|
|`nodeAffinityPolicy`|Yes|
|`nodeTaintsPolicy`|Yes|

**Parameters:**

|Name|Type|
|---|---|
|`namespaces`|(see [namespace filtering](#namespace-filtering))|
|`labelSelector`|(see [label filtering](#label-filtering))|
|`constraints`|(see [whenUnsatisfiable](https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/generated/kubernetes-api/v1.27/#topologyspreadconstraint-v1-core))||
|`topologyBalanceNodeFit`|bool|default `true`. [node fit filtering](#node-fit-filtering) when balancing topology domains|

**Example:**

```yaml
apiVersion: "descheduler/v1alpha2"
kind: "DeschedulerPolicy"
profiles:
  - name: ProfileName
    pluginConfig:
    - name: "RemovePodsViolatingTopologySpreadConstraint"
      args:
        constraints:
          - DoNotSchedule
    plugins:
      balance:
        enabled:
          - "RemovePodsViolatingTopologySpreadConstraint"
```


### RemovePodsHavingTooManyRestarts

This strategy makes sure that pods having too many restarts are removed from nodes. For example a pod with EBS/PD that
can't get the volume/disk attached to the instance, then the pod should be re-scheduled to other nodes. Its parameters
include `podRestartThreshold`, which is the number of restarts (summed over all eligible containers) at which a pod
should be evicted, and `includingInitContainers`, which determines whether init container restarts should be factored
into that calculation.

You can also specify `states` parameter to **only** evict pods matching the following conditions:
- [Pod Phase](https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/workloads/pods/pod-lifecycle/#pod-phase) status of: `Running`
- [Container State Waiting](https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/workloads/pods/pod-lifecycle/#container-state-waiting) of: `CrashLoopBackOff`

If a value for `states` or `podStatusPhases` is not specified,
Pods in any state (even `Running`) are considered for eviction.

**Parameters:**

|Name|Type|
|---|---|
|`podRestartThreshold`|int|
|`includingInitContainers`|bool|
|`namespaces`|(see [namespace filtering](#namespace-filtering))|
|`labelSelector`|(see [label filtering](#label-filtering))|
|`states`|list(string)|Only supported in v0.28+|

**Example:**

```yaml
apiVersion: "descheduler/v1alpha2"
kind: "DeschedulerPolicy"
profiles:
  - name: ProfileName
    pluginConfig:
    - name: "RemovePodsHavingTooManyRestarts"
      args:
        podRestartThreshold: 100
        includingInitContainers: true
    plugins:
      deschedule:
        enabled:
          - "RemovePodsHavingTooManyRestarts"
```

### PodLifeTime

This strategy evicts pods that are older than `maxPodLifeTimeSeconds`.

You can also specify `states` parameter to **only** evict pods matching the following conditions:
  - [Pod Phase](https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/workloads/pods/pod-lifecycle/#pod-phase) status of: `Running`, `Pending`, `Unknown`
  - [Pod Reason](https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/workloads/pods/pod-lifecycle/#pod-conditions) reasons of: `NodeAffinity`, `NodeLost`, `Shutdown`, `UnexpectedAdmissionError`
  - [Container State Waiting](https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/workloads/pods/pod-lifecycle/#container-state-waiting) condition of: `PodInitializing`, `ContainerCreating`, `ImagePullBackOff`, `CrashLoopBackOff`, `CreateContainerConfigError`, `ErrImagePull`, `ImagePullBackOff`, `CreateContainerError`, `InvalidImageName`

If a value for `states` or `podStatusPhases` is not specified,
Pods in any state (even `Running`) are considered for eviction.

**Parameters:**

| Name                           | Type                                              | Notes                    |
|--------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------|--------------------------|
| `maxPodLifeTimeSeconds`        | int                                               |                          |
| `states`                       | list(string)                                      | Only supported in v0.25+ |
| `includingInitContainers`      | bool                                              | Only supported in v0.31+ |
| `includingEphemeralContainers` | bool                                              | Only supported in v0.31+ |
| `namespaces`                   | (see [namespace filtering](#namespace-filtering)) |                          |
| `labelSelector`                | (see [label filtering](#label-filtering))         |                          |

**Example:**

```yaml
apiVersion: "descheduler/v1alpha2"
kind: "DeschedulerPolicy"
profiles:
  - name: ProfileName
    pluginConfig:
    - name: "PodLifeTime"
      args:
        maxPodLifeTimeSeconds: 86400
        states:
        - "Pending"
        - "PodInitializing"
    plugins:
      deschedule:
        enabled:
          - "PodLifeTime"
```

### RemoveFailedPods
This strategy evicts pods that are in failed status phase.
You can provide optional parameters to filter by failed pods' and containters' `reasons`. and `exitCodes`. `exitCodes` apply to failed pods' containers with `terminated` state only. `reasons` and `exitCodes` can be expanded to include those of InitContainers as well by setting the optional parameter `includingInitContainers` to `true`.
You can specify an optional parameter `minPodLifetimeSeconds` to evict pods that are older than specified seconds.
Lastly, you can specify the optional parameter `excludeOwnerKinds` and if a pod
has any of these `Kind`s listed as an `OwnerRef`, that pod will not be considered for eviction.

**Parameters:**

|Name|Type|
|---|---|
|`minPodLifetimeSeconds`|uint|
|`excludeOwnerKinds`|list(string)|
|`reasons`|list(string)|
|`exitCodes`|list(int32)|
|`includingInitContainers`|bool|
|`namespaces`|(see [namespace filtering](#namespace-filtering))|
|`labelSelector`|(see [label filtering](#label-filtering))|

**Example:**

```yaml
apiVersion: "descheduler/v1alpha2"
kind: "DeschedulerPolicy"
profiles:
  - name: ProfileName
    pluginConfig:
    - name: "RemoveFailedPods"
      args:
        reasons:
        - "NodeAffinity"
        exitCodes:
        - 1
        includingInitContainers: true
        excludeOwnerKinds:
        - "Job"
        minPodLifetimeSeconds: 3600
    plugins:
      deschedule:
        enabled:
          - "RemoveFailedPods"
```

## Filter Pods

### Namespace filtering

The following strategies accept a `namespaces` parameter which allows to specify a list of including and excluding namespaces respectively:
* `PodLifeTime`
* `RemovePodsHavingTooManyRestarts`
* `RemovePodsViolatingNodeTaints`
* `RemovePodsViolatingNodeAffinity`
* `RemovePodsViolatingInterPodAntiAffinity`
* `RemoveDuplicates`
* `RemovePodsViolatingTopologySpreadConstraint`
* `RemoveFailedPods`

The following strategies accept an `evictableNamespaces` parameter which allows to specify a list of excluding namespaces:
* `LowNodeUtilization` and `HighNodeUtilization` (Only filtered right before eviction)

In the following example with `PodLifeTime`, `PodLifeTime` gets executed only over `namespace1` and `namespace2`.

```yaml
apiVersion: "descheduler/v1alpha2"
kind: "DeschedulerPolicy"
profiles:
  - name: ProfileName
    pluginConfig:
    - name: "PodLifeTime"
      args:
        maxPodLifeTimeSeconds: 86400
        namespaces:
          include:
          - "namespace1"
          - "namespace2"
    plugins:
      deschedule:
        enabled:
          - "PodLifeTime"
```

The similar holds for `exclude` field. The strategy gets executed over all namespaces but `namespace1` and `namespace2` in the following example.

```yaml
apiVersion: "descheduler/v1alpha2"
kind: "DeschedulerPolicy"
profiles:
  - name: ProfileName
    pluginConfig:
    - name: "PodLifeTime"
      args:
        maxPodLifeTimeSeconds: 86400
        namespaces:
          exclude:
          - "namespace1"
          - "namespace2"
    plugins:
      deschedule:
        enabled:
          - "PodLifeTime"
```

It's not allowed to combine `include` with `exclude` field.

### Priority filtering

Priority threshold can be configured via the Default Evictor Filter, and, only pods under the threshold can be evicted. You can
specify this threshold by setting `priorityThreshold.name`(setting the threshold to the value of the given
priority class) or `priorityThreshold.value`(directly setting the threshold) parameters. By default, this threshold
is set to the value of `system-cluster-critical` priority class.

Note: Setting `evictSystemCriticalPods` to true disables priority filtering entirely.

E.g.

Setting `priorityThreshold value`
```yaml
apiVersion: "descheduler/v1alpha2"
kind: "DeschedulerPolicy"
profiles:
  - name: ProfileName
    pluginConfig:
    - name: "DefaultEvictor"
      args:
        priorityThreshold:
          value: 10000
    - name: "PodLifeTime"
      args:
        maxPodLifeTimeSeconds: 86400
    plugins:
      deschedule:
        enabled:
          - "PodLifeTime"
```

Setting `Priority Threshold Class Name (priorityThreshold.name)`
```yaml
apiVersion: "descheduler/v1alpha2"
kind: "DeschedulerPolicy"
profiles:
  - name: ProfileName
    pluginConfig:
    - name: "DefaultEvictor"
      args:
        priorityThreshold:
          name: "priorityClassName1"
    - name: "PodLifeTime"
      args:
        maxPodLifeTimeSeconds: 86400
    plugins:
      deschedule:
        enabled:
          - "PodLifeTime"
```

Note that you can't configure both `priorityThreshold.name` and `priorityThreshold.value`, if the given priority class
does not exist, descheduler won't create it and will throw an error.

### Label filtering

The following strategies can configure a [standard kubernetes labelSelector](https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/generated/kubernetes-api/v1.32/#labelselector-v1-meta)
to filter pods by their labels:

* `PodLifeTime`
* `RemovePodsHavingTooManyRestarts`
* `RemovePodsViolatingNodeTaints`
* `RemovePodsViolatingNodeAffinity`
* `RemovePodsViolatingInterPodAntiAffinity`
* `RemovePodsViolatingTopologySpreadConstraint`
* `RemoveFailedPods`

This allows running strategies among pods the descheduler is interested in.

For example:

```yaml
apiVersion: "descheduler/v1alpha2"
kind: "DeschedulerPolicy"
profiles:
  - name: ProfileName
    pluginConfig:
    - name: "PodLifeTime"
      args:
        maxPodLifeTimeSeconds: 86400
        labelSelector:
          matchLabels:
            component: redis
          matchExpressions:
            - {key: tier, operator: In, values: [cache]}
            - {key: environment, operator: NotIn, values: [dev]}
    plugins:
      deschedule:
        enabled:
          - "PodLifeTime"
```


### Node Fit filtering

 NodeFit can be configured via the Default Evictor Filter. If set to `true` the descheduler will consider whether or not the pods that meet eviction criteria will fit on other nodes before evicting them. If a pod cannot be rescheduled to another node, it will not be evicted. Currently the following criteria are considered when setting `nodeFit` to `true`:
- A `nodeSelector` on the pod
- Any `tolerations` on the pod and any `taints` on the other nodes
- `nodeAffinity` on the pod
- Resource `requests` made by the pod and the resources available on other nodes
- Whether any of the other nodes are marked as `unschedulable`
- Any `podAntiAffinity` between the pod and the pods on the other nodes

E.g.

```yaml
apiVersion: "descheduler/v1alpha2"
kind: "DeschedulerPolicy"
profiles:
  - name: ProfileName
    pluginConfig:
    - name: "DefaultEvictor"
      args:
        nodeFit: true
    - name: "PodLifeTime"
      args:
        maxPodLifeTimeSeconds: 86400
    plugins:
      deschedule:
        enabled:
          - "PodLifeTime"
```

Note that node fit filtering references the current pod spec, and not that of its owner.
Thus, if the pod is owned by a ReplicationController (and that ReplicationController was modified recently),
the pod may be running with an outdated spec, which the descheduler will reference when determining node fit.
This is expected behavior as the descheduler is a "best-effort" mechanism.

Using Deployments instead of ReplicationControllers provides an automated rollout of pod spec changes, therefore ensuring that the descheduler has an up-to-date view of the cluster state.

## Pod Evictions

When the descheduler decides to evict pods from a node, it employs the following general mechanism:

* [Critical pods](https://kubernetes.io/docs/tasks/administer-cluster/guaranteed-scheduling-critical-addon-pods/) (with priorityClassName set to system-cluster-critical or system-node-critical) are never evicted (unless `evictSystemCriticalPods: true` is set).
* Pods (static or mirrored pods or standalone pods) not part of an ReplicationController, ReplicaSet(Deployment), StatefulSet, or Job are
never evicted because these pods won't be recreated. (Standalone pods in failed status phase can be evicted by setting `evictFailedBarePods: true`)
* Pods associated with DaemonSets are never evicted (unless `evictDaemonSetPods: true` is set).
* Pods with local storage are never evicted (unless `evictLocalStoragePods: true` is set).
* Pods with PVCs are evicted (unless `ignorePvcPods: true` is set).
* In `LowNodeUtilization` and `RemovePodsViolatingInterPodAntiAffinity`, pods are evicted by their priority from low to high, and if they have same priority,
best effort pods are evicted before burstable and guaranteed pods.
* All types of pods with the annotation `descheduler.alpha.kubernetes.io/evict` are eligible for eviction. This
  annotation is used to override checks which prevent eviction and users can select which pod is evicted.
  Users should know how and if the pod will be recreated.
  The annotation only affects internal descheduler checks.
  The anti-disruption protection provided by the [/eviction](https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/scheduling-eviction/api-eviction/)
  subresource is still respected.
* Pods with a non-nil DeletionTimestamp are not evicted by default.

Setting `--v=4` or greater on the Descheduler will log all reasons why any pod is not evictable.

### Pod Disruption Budget (PDB)

Pods subject to a Pod Disruption Budget(PDB) are not evicted if descheduling violates its PDB. The pods
are evicted by using the eviction subresource to handle PDB.

## High Availability

In High Availability mode, Descheduler starts [leader election](https://github.com/kubernetes/client-go/tree/master/tools/leaderelection) process in Kubernetes. You can activate HA mode
if you choose to deploy your application as Deployment.

Deployment starts with 1 replica by default. If you want to use more than 1 replica, you must consider
enable High Availability mode since we don't want to run descheduler pods simultaneously.

### Configure HA Mode

The leader election process can be enabled by setting `--leader-elect` in the CLI. You can also set
`--set=leaderElection.enabled=true` flag if you are using Helm.

To get best results from HA mode some additional configurations might require:
* Configure a [podAntiAffinity](https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/scheduling-eviction/assign-pod-node) rule if you want to schedule onto a node only if that node is in the same zone as at least one already-running descheduler
* Set the replica count greater than 1

## Metrics

| name	| type	| description |
|-------|-------|----------------|
| build_info |	gauge |	constant 1 |
| pods_evicted | CounterVec | total number of pods evicted |

The metrics are served through https://localhost:10258/metrics by default.
The address and port can be changed by setting `--binding-address` and `--secure-port` flags.

## Compatibility Matrix
The below compatibility matrix shows the k8s client package(client-go, apimachinery, etc) versions that descheduler
is compiled with. At this time descheduler does not have a hard dependency to a specific k8s release. However a
particular descheduler release is only tested against the three latest k8s minor versions. For example descheduler
v0.18 should work with k8s v1.18, v1.17, and v1.16.

Starting with descheduler release v0.18 the minor version of descheduler matches the minor version of the k8s client
packages that it is compiled with.

| Descheduler | Supported Kubernetes Version |
|-------------|------------------------------|
| v0.27       | v1.27                        |
| v0.26       | v1.26                        |
| v0.25       | v1.25                        |
| v0.24       | v1.24                        |
| v0.23       | v1.23                        |
| v0.22       | v1.22                        |
| v0.21       | v1.21                        |
| v0.20       | v1.20                        |
| v0.19       | v1.19                        |
| v0.18       | v1.18                        |
| v0.10       | v1.17                        |
| v0.4-v0.9   | v1.9+                        |
| v0.1-v0.3   | v1.7-v1.8                    |

## Getting Involved and Contributing

Are you interested in contributing to descheduler? We, the
maintainers and community, would love your suggestions, contributions, and help!
Also, the maintainers can be contacted at any time to learn more about how to get
involved.

To get started writing code see the [contributor guide](docs/contributor-guide.md) in the `/docs` directory.

In the interest of getting more new people involved we tag issues with
[`good first issue`][good_first_issue].
These are typically issues that have smaller scope but are good ways to start
to get acquainted with the codebase.

We also encourage ALL active community participants to act as if they are
maintainers, even if you don't have "official" write permissions. This is a
community effort, we are here to serve the Kubernetes community. If you have an
active interest and you want to get involved, you have real power! Don't assume
that the only people who can get things done around here are the "maintainers".

We also would love to add more "official" maintainers, so show us what you can
do!

This repository uses the Kubernetes bots. See a full list of the commands [here][prow].

### Communicating With Contributors

You can reach the contributors of this project at:

- [Slack channel](https://kubernetes.slack.com/messages/sig-scheduling)
- [Mailing list](https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/kubernetes-sig-scheduling)

Learn how to engage with the Kubernetes community on the [community page](http://kubernetes.io/community/).

## Roadmap

This roadmap is not in any particular order.

* Consideration of pod affinity
* Strategy to consider number of pending pods
* Integration with cluster autoscaler
* Integration with metrics providers for obtaining real load metrics
* Consideration of Kubernetes's scheduler's predicates


### Code of conduct

Participation in the Kubernetes community is governed by the [Kubernetes Code of Conduct](code-of-conduct.md).
