run-chaos-experiment
About
This skill enables developers to design and execute chaos engineering experiments using Litmus or Chaos Mesh to test system resilience through controlled fault injection. It helps validate hypothesis-driven tests and improve failure recovery processes. Use it before major launches, after architectural changes, or during disaster recovery drills to validate resilience assumptions.
Quick Install
Claude Code
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Documentation
行混沌之試
注控之故障,以試而進系統之韌。
用時
- 大發布之前(負載之試)乃用
- 架構之變後(驗韌)乃用
- GameDay 或災備之演乃用
- 驗故障模之假乃用
- SRE 成熟之程乃用
入
- 必要:Kubernetes 之集(為 Litmus 或 Chaos Mesh)
- 必要:穩態之定(「常」之貌)
- 必要:欲試之假(如「一 pod 崩,API 仍可用」)
- 可選:可察之棧(Prometheus、Grafana)以量影
- 可選:回退之計
法
第一步:定穩態與假
書系統常為:
## Steady State Definition
### Service: API Gateway
- **Availability**: 99.9% (< 0.1% error rate)
- **Latency**: p95 < 200ms
- **Throughput**: 1000 req/s
- **Dependencies**: Database (Postgres), Cache (Redis), Auth Service
### Metrics
- `rate(http_requests_total{job="api"}[5m])`
- `histogram_quantile(0.95, rate(http_request_duration_seconds_bucket[5m]))`
- `rate(http_requests_total{status=~"5.."}[5m])`
## Hypothesis
**"If one API pod is killed, the remaining pods will handle the load with <5s
disruption and no increase in error rate."**
### Validation Criteria
- Error rate remains <1%
- p95 latency stays <300ms (50ms grace)
- Service recovers within 5 seconds
- No cascading failures to downstream services
得:常之定明且可量,成之準明。
敗則:不能定穩態,可察之力不足。先增指標。
第二步:限爆之徑
縮試之範以減險:
# chaos-config.yaml
apiVersion: v1
kind: Namespace
metadata:
name: chaos-testing
---
# Label pods participating in chaos experiments
apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
metadata:
labels:
chaos-enabled: "true"
environment: staging # NEVER production for first run
設防護:
## Blast Radius Controls
### Environment
- **Scope**: Staging only (first 5 runs)
- **Production**: Only after 5 successful staging runs
- **Timing**: Business hours (09:00-17:00 local), never weekends/holidays
### Target Selection
- **Limit**: Max 1 pod per service
- **Percentage**: Max 25% of replicas
- **Exclusions**: Database, payment service, auth service (critical path)
### Auto-Abort Conditions
- Error rate >10% for >30 seconds
- Customer-facing alerts fire
- Manual abort signal from on-call engineer
### Rollback Plan
- Kubernetes will auto-restart killed pods
- Manual rollback: `kubectl rollout undo deployment/api`
- Incident declared if recovery takes >5 minutes
得:試有明界,不傾全系。
敗則:爆徑過大,縮其範。先以一非關鍵之服。
第三步:裝 Chaos Mesh
展 Chaos Mesh(Kubernetes 原生):
# Add Chaos Mesh Helm repo
helm repo add chaos-mesh https://charts.chaos-mesh.org
helm repo update
# Install Chaos Mesh in isolated namespace
helm install chaos-mesh chaos-mesh/chaos-mesh \
--namespace chaos-mesh \
--create-namespace \
--set dashboard.create=true \
--set controllerManager.replicaCount=1
# Verify installation
kubectl get pods -n chaos-mesh
# Access dashboard
kubectl port-forward -n chaos-mesh svc/chaos-dashboard 2333:2333
# Open http://localhost:2333
或用 Litmus(中立於供者):
# Install Litmus
kubectl apply -f https://litmuschaos.github.io/litmus/litmus-operator-v2.14.0.yaml
# Wait for Litmus pods
kubectl get pods -n litmus
# Install Litmus CRDs
kubectl apply -f https://hub.litmuschaos.io/api/chaos/master?file=charts/generic/experiments.yaml
得:Chaos Mesh 或 Litmus 行,儀表可達。
敗則:察 RBAC 之權。混沌之器需集級之訪。
第四步:建並行試
例:殺 Pod 之試(Chaos Mesh):
# pod-kill-experiment.yaml
apiVersion: chaos-mesh.org/v1alpha1
kind: PodChaos
metadata:
name: api-pod-kill-test
namespace: chaos-testing
spec:
action: pod-kill
mode: one # Kill one pod only
selector:
namespaces:
- production
labelSelectors:
app: api-gateway
chaos-enabled: "true"
duration: "30s"
scheduler:
cron: "@every 5m" # Repeat every 5 minutes (for sustained testing)
施其試:
# Apply experiment
kubectl apply -f pod-kill-experiment.yaml
# Watch experiment status
kubectl get podchaos -n chaos-testing -w
# View detailed status
kubectl describe podchaos api-pod-kill-test -n chaos-testing
# Check which pods were affected
kubectl get events -n production --sort-by=.metadata.creationTimestamp | grep api-gateway
於 Grafana 監其影:
# Error rate during experiment
rate(http_requests_total{status=~"5..", job="api"}[1m])
# Latency spike
histogram_quantile(0.95, rate(http_request_duration_seconds_bucket{job="api"}[1m]))
# Pod restarts
rate(kube_pod_container_status_restarts_total{pod=~"api-.*"}[5m])
得:pod 被殺,Kubernetes 復起之,服務僅微頓而續。
敗則:誤率突升或服顯降,止試而查。
第五步:析果而續
立試報:
# Chaos Experiment Report: API Pod Kill
**Date**: 2025-02-09
**Hypothesis**: API stays available if one pod crashes
**Tool**: Chaos Mesh
**Environment**: Staging
**Duration**: 30 seconds (pod kill + recovery)
## Results
### Metrics During Experiment
- **Error Rate**: Increased from 0.1% to 2.3% (spike lasted 8 seconds)
- **p95 Latency**: Increased from 180ms to 450ms (spike lasted 12 seconds)
- **Recovery Time**: 8 seconds (pod restart + load balancer update)
### Hypothesis Outcome
**FAILED**: Error rate exceeded 1% threshold, latency spike >300ms
## Root Cause Analysis
- Load balancer continued routing to killed pod for 8 seconds (stale endpoint)
- Readiness probe set to 10s interval (too slow)
- No pre-stop hook to drain connections gracefully
## Improvements Made
1. **Reduced readiness probe interval**: 10s → 2s
2. **Added pre-stop hook**: 5-second sleep for connection draining
3. **Tuned load balancer**: Enabled faster endpoint updates
## Follow-Up Experiment
- Re-run with same parameters in 1 week
- Expected: Error rate <1%, recovery <5s
於日誌錄諸試:
# chaos-experiment-log.csv
date,experiment,environment,status,error_rate_peak,recovery_time_s,outcome
2025-02-09,pod-kill-api,staging,complete,2.3%,8,failed
2025-02-16,pod-kill-api,staging,complete,0.8%,4,passed
2025-02-23,network-delay-db,staging,aborted,15%,N/A,failed
得:所學已捕,修已施,後續已排。
敗則:試後無行,混沌成戲也。先修所得。
第六步:升至生產(慎之)
試於 staging 屢過,乃可升:
# Production pod-kill experiment (more conservative)
apiVersion: chaos-mesh.org/v1alpha1
kind: PodChaos
metadata:
name: api-pod-kill-prod
namespace: chaos-testing
spec:
action: pod-kill
mode: one
selector:
namespaces:
- production
labelSelectors:
app: api-gateway
chaos-enabled: "true"
duration: "10s" # Shorter than staging
scheduler:
cron: "0 10 * * 2" # Tuesdays at 10 AM only (predictable, low-risk time)
生產之防:
# Create a kill switch for production chaos
kubectl create configmap chaos-killswitch \
-n chaos-testing \
--from-literal=enabled=true
# Update experiments to check kill switch
# (implementation depends on chaos tool)
得:生產之試於低險之時行,斷閘已備。
敗則:生產之試致事故,立廢之而事後審。
驗
- 穩態與假皆明定
- 爆徑限(境、範、時)
- 混沌之器(Chaos Mesh 或 Litmus)已裝且試
- 試於 staging 行而成
- 果有書記,附指與析
- 依得行修
- 後續試驗其修
- 生產之試唯五次以上 staging 之成後乃行
陷
- 無假:「視何發」之混沌費時也。必有假
- 範過廣:一時殺諸 pod 試災備,非試韌也。始於小
- 生產為先:勿於生產為首試。staging 在先,常然
- 忽果:無行之混沌,戲也。修所學
- 警之疲:混沌試觸警。註於 Grafana 或靜其預期之警
- 無斷之計:試誤需斷閘。備之
參
setup-prometheus-monitoring— 量試影之指configure-alerting-rules— 混沌時觸之警(預期)define-slo-sli-sla— 穩態繫於 SLO
GitHub Repository
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