Kubernetes liveness probes are a crucial component of Kubernetes monitoring and observability, allowing you to determine whether a container is "alive" or running normally. By providing visibility into what's happening inside a pod, probes play an important role in detecting issues before they become major problems. Liveness checks can be categorized into four types: command execution, TCP socket, HTTP GET, and gRPC. Probes offer several benefits, including improved application availability, efficient health checks, automated restarts, and customizability. However, liveness probes also have limitations, such as providing little insight into why a container is not working normally and not assessing performance. To configure Kubernetes liveness probes, you can use YAML code that defines the type of probe to run, parameters like initial delay and period seconds, and failure threshold. It's essential to test probes manually before deploying them automatically and to update probes as applications change. By combining liveness probes with observability tools, such as groundcover, you can gain deeper insights into container performance issues and fix problems permanently.