Verify [NEW]

Skaffold v2.0.0+ supports running post-deployment verification tests. You define these tests as a list of test containers that are either standalone or built by Skaffold. Skaffold runs these containers after the deploy stage and monitors them for success or failure.

You can configure and execute post-deployment verification tests using the verify command and associated skaffold.yaml schema configuration.

Execution modes

You can run post-deployment verification tests in the following execution environments:

  • A local Docker environment
  • A Kubernetes cluster environment

Local

When Skaffold runs a post-deployment verifications test in the local execution mode, it uses the docker CLI to run the test container on the host machine. This is the default execution mode.

Kubernetes cluster

When Skaffold runs a post-deployment verification test in the Kubernetes cluster execution mode, it uses the kubectl CLI to run the test container as a Kubernetes Job.

There are two ways to optionally customize the Skaffold-generated Kubernetes Job:

  • To selectively overwrite the configuration of the Skaffold-generated Kubernetes Job with inline JSON, use the overrides configuration option. This is similar to the --overrides option provided by kubectl run.
  • To use your own Kubernetes Job manifest and have Skaffold replace the containers with those specified in the containers stanza of your verify configuration, use the jobManifestPath configuration option.

Examples

Below is an example of a skaffold.yaml file with a verify configuration that runs three successful verification tests against deployments:

  • A user-built integration-test-container, run in the Kubernetes cluster execution mode with optional overrides specified.
  • A user-built metrics-test-container, run in the Kubernetes cluster execution mode with optional jobManifestPath specified.
  • A simple health check done via “off the shelf” alpine using its installed wget, run in the local execution mode.

skaffold.yaml

apiVersion: skaffold/v4beta4
kind: Config
build:
  artifacts:
    - image: integration-test-container
      context: integration-test-container
    - image: metrics-test-container
      context: metrics-test-container
verify:
- name: integration-test-container
  container:
    name: integration-test-container
    image: integration-test-container
  executionMode:
    kubernetesCluster: {}
      # [optional]
      # overrides: '{ "apiVersion": "batch/v1", "spec": { ... } }'
- name: metrics-test-container
  container:
    name: metrics-test-container
    image: metrics-test-container
  executionMode:
    kubernetesCluster: {}
      # [optional]
      # jobManifestPath: path/to/my/job
- name: alpine-wget
  container:
    name: alpine-wget
    image: alpine:3.15.4
    command: ["/bin/sh"]
    args: ["-c", "wget http://www.google.com"]

Running skaffold verify against this skaffold.yaml (and associated Dockerfiles where relevant) yields:

$ skaffold verify -a build.artifacts 
Tags used in verification:
 - integration-test-container -> gcr.io/aprindle-test-cluster/integration-test-container:latest@sha256:6d6da2378765cd9dda71cbd20f3cf5818c92d49ab98a2554de12d034613dfa6a
 - metrics-test-container -> gcr.io/aprindle-test-cluster/metrics-test-container:latest@sha256:3fbce881177ead1c2ae00d58974fd6959c648d7691593f6448892c04139355f7
3.15.4: Pulling from library/alpine
Digest: sha256:4edbd2beb5f78b1014028f4fbb99f3237d9561100b6881aabbf5acce2c4f9454
Status: Downloaded newer image for alpine:3.15.4
[integration-test-container] Integration Test 1/4 Running ...
[metrics-test-container] Metrics test in progress...
[metrics-test-container] Metrics test passed!
[alpine-wget] Connecting to www.google.com (142.251.46.196:80)
[alpine-wget] saving to 'index.html'
[alpine-wget] index.html           100% |********************************| 13990  0:00:00 ETA
[alpine-wget] 'index.html' saved
[integration-test-container] Integration Test 1/4 Passed!
[integration-test-container] Integration Test 2/4 Running...!
[integration-test-container] Integration Test 2/4 Passed!
[integration-test-container] Integration Test 3/4 Running...!
[integration-test-container] Integration Test 3/4 Passed!
[integration-test-container] Integration Test 4/4 Running...!
[integration-test-container] Integration Test 4/4 Passed!
$ echo $?
0

and skaffold verify will exit with error code 0

If a test fails, for example changing the alpine-wget test to point to a URL that doesn’t exist:

- name: alpine-wget
  container:
    name: alpine-wget
    image: alpine:3.15.4
    command: ["/bin/sh"]
    args: ["-c", "wget http://incorrect-url"]

The following will occur (simulating a single test failure on one of the three tests):

$ skaffold verify -a build.artifacts 
Tags used in verification:
 - integration-test-container -> gcr.io/aprindle-test-cluster/integration-test-container:latest@sha256:6d6da2378765cd9dda71cbd20f3cf5818c92d49ab98a2554de12d034613dfa6a
 - metrics-test-container -> gcr.io/aprindle-test-cluster/metrics-test-container:latest@sha256:3fbce881177ead1c2ae00d58974fd6959c648d7691593f6448892c04139355f7
3.15.4: Pulling from library/alpine
Digest: sha256:4edbd2beb5f78b1014028f4fbb99f3237d9561100b6881aabbf5acce2c4f9454
Status: Image is up to date for alpine:3.15.4
[integration-test-container] Integration Test 1/4 Running ...
[metrics-test-container] Metrics test in progress...
[metrics-test-container] Metrics test passed!
[integration-test-container] Integration Test 1/4 Passed!
[alpine-wget] wget: bad address 'incorrect-url'
[integration-test-container] Integration Test 2/4 Running...!
[integration-test-container] Integration Test 2/4 Passed!
[integration-test-container] Integration Test 3/4 Running...!
[integration-test-container] Integration Test 3/4 Passed!
[integration-test-container] Integration Test 4/4 Running...!
[integration-test-container] Integration Test 4/4 Passed!
1 error(s) occurred:
* verify test failed: "alpine-wget" running container image "alpine:3.15.4" errored during run with status code: 1
$ echo $?
1

and skaffold verify will exit with error code 1

Last modified May 2, 2025: chore: 2.16 release (#9807) (7912f7ef)