Deploy Applications on Kubernetes using Argo CD and GitOps

Deploy Applications on Kubernetes using Argo CD and GitOps

Argo CD is a popular continuous delivery tool for Kubernetes, enabling deployments via GitOps; it continuously monitors a Git repository and automatically synchronizes changes to the cluster. This approach ensures that the state of the Kubernetes cluster precisely matches the desired state defined in Git.

GitOps addresses the gap between ideal, declarative infrastructure and the reality of manual interventions and configuration drift, which can lead to inconsistencies and outages. Manual changes to Kubernetes resources outside of Git can create significant synchronization issues and potentially cause application failures, costing engineering time and resources to resolve.

Key Insights

• Minikube status check, 2026: Verifying Minikube’s running state is the first step in a local deployment.
• Declarative vs. Imperative: GitOps promotes a declarative model (desired state in Git) over imperative commands (direct manipulation of Kubernetes resources).
• Argo CD Components: Argo CD includes an API server, controller, repo server, and Redis for managing deployments.

Working Example

kubectl create namespace argocd
kubectl apply -n argocd \
-f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/argoproj/argo-cd/stable/manifests/install.yaml

kubectl get pods -n argocd

kubectl edit svc argocd-server -n argocd

minikube service argocd-server -n argocd

Practical Applications

• Automated Rollouts: Netflix leverages GitOps principles with tools like Spinnaker to automate deployments and manage complex release pipelines.
• Pitfall: Directly modifying Kubernetes resources with kubectl bypasses GitOps, creating drift and potential deployment failures.

References:

• https://dev.to/abhishek_korde_31/deploy-application-using-gitops-tool-argocd-48f0
• https://raw.githubusercontent.com/argoproj/argo-cd/stable/manifests/install.yaml