Merging scaled-down container clusters using vitality metrics

A method comprising:

• monitoring, by at least one container, a vitality metric of an application of a plurality of applications in a cluster, wherein the vitality metric indicates that the application is in one of a live state and a dead state;
• disabling horizontal scaling for the application;
• scaling-down, by a controller, the application until the vitality metric indicates that the application is in the dead state;
• responsive to the vitality metric indicating that the application is in the dead state, scaling-up, by the controller, the application until the vitality metric indicates that the application is in the live state;
• and
• responsive to the vitality metric indication transitioning from the dead state to the live state, migrating the application to a different cluster, wherein the migration occurs while the horizontal scaling of the application is disabled.

A non-transitory machine readable medium storing code, which when executed by at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to:

• monitor a vitality metric of an application of a plurality of applications in a cluster, wherein the vitality metric indicates that the application is in one of a live state and a dead state;
• disable horizontal scaling for the application;
• scale-down the application until the vitality metric indicates that the application is in the dead state;
• responsive to the vitality metric indicating that the application is in the dead state, scale-up the application until the vitality metric indicates that the application is in the live state;
• and
• responsive to the vitality metric indication transitioning from the dead state to the live state, migrate the application to a different cluster, wherein the migration occurs while the horizontal scaling of the application is disabled.