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Scenario #401
Scaling & Load
Kubernetes v1.22, Minikube

HPA Didn't Scale Due to Missing Metrics Server

Horizontal Pod Autoscaler (HPA) didn’t scale pods as expected.

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What Happened

HPA showed unknown metrics and pod count remained constant despite CPU stress.

Diagnosis Steps
  • 1kubectl get hpa showed Metrics not available.
  • 2Confirmed metrics-server not installed.
Root Cause

Metrics server was missing, which is required by HPA for decision making.

Fix/Workaround
• Installed metrics-server using official manifests.
Lessons Learned

HPA silently fails without metrics-server.

How to Avoid
  • 1Include metrics-server in base cluster setup.
  • 2Monitor HPA status regularly.
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