we log json content to STDOUT from our pods and GKE nicely sends them to stackdriver logging and it gets parsed into a jsonPayload within stackdriver logging.
when we check the Try the new Beta Monitoring and Logging experience checkbox in the GKE cluster definition, the json parsing ability is lost and the log content is just taken as a textPayload with all json parsing gone.
Is this a bug - any ETA for a fix?
As explained in the release note fixed issue section,
If you use Stackdriver Kubernetes Monitoring Beta with structured JSON logging, an issue with the parsing of structured JSON log entries was introduced in GKE v1.11.4-gke.12.
This is fixed by upgrading your cluster:
GKE v1.11.6-gke.2
You may also see the following issue thread or the release guide for Stackdriver Kubernetes Monitoring for more details.