Better Continuous Delivery Workflows with ArgoCD

Published:6 June 2022 - 10 min. read

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Have you been searching for a deployment mechanism based on GitOps principles designed for Kubernetes? Well, your search is over! ArgoCD makes up for a better and more automated continuous delivery workflow.

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to spin up an application deployment process with ArgoCD.

Keep your deployments updated without messing things up!

Prerequisites

This tutorial will be a hands-on demonstration. If you’d like to follow along, be sure you have the following:

Creating a Kubernetes Cluster in Linode

Before diving into continuous delivery with ArgoCD, you need a Kubernetes cluster to run your application. You’ll create a cluster in Linode and connect to that cluster from your local machine.

1. Open your favorite web browser and log in to your Linode dashboard.

2. On your Linode dashboard, select the Kubernetes option in the left panel, as shown below, and click on Create Cluster to initialize creating a cluster.

Your browser redirects to a page where you can set the configuration settings for your cluster.

Initializing Creating a Kubernetes Cluster in Linode
Initializing Creating a Kubernetes Cluster in Linode

3. Next, edit your Cluster Label to myApp, which will be Dallas, Tx, with a version of 1.22, as shown below. You can set different values for the cluster depending on your need.

Setting Cluster Configuration Settings
Setting Cluster Configuration Settings

4. Configure the resources you’d like to use for your cluster. These resources include the number of servers, RAM, CPU, and Storage.

Choose any server from the Shared CPU list shown below, and click the negative (-) or positive (+) sign to set the server quantity to two. Once set, click on the Add button to add the configuration settings to your cluster.

Adding Cluster Resources Configuration
Adding Cluster Resources Configuration

5. Lastly, click on the Create Cluster button (bottom-right) after adding the configuration settings to create the cluster. Your browser redirects to a page where you can view your cluster.

Finalizing Creating a Cluster
Finalizing Creating a Cluster

Your cluster should be in a Provisioning state at this stage, as shown below.

Overviewing Cluster in Provisioning State
Overviewing Cluster in Provisioning State

Your cluster’s provisioning state only takes some time to in a Running state similar to the one below. This state confirms that your Kubernetes cluster in Linode is running correctly.

Verifying the Cluster is in Running State
Verifying the Cluster is in Running State

Connecting to the Kubernetes Cluster

After creating your Kubernetes cluster, you’ll need to connect to your cluster from your local machine so you can interact with that cluster.

To connect to your Kubernetes cluster, export the cluster’s configuration settings:

1. On your cluster’s overview page, click on View under Kubeconfig to see the configuration settings your cluster is built on. A pop-up window appears at the right part of the page, where you’ll get your cluster’s configuration settings (step two).

Viewing the Cluster’s Configuration Settings (Kubeconfig)
Viewing the Cluster’s Configuration Settings (Kubeconfig)

2. Next, click on the copy icon below to copy the configuration settings and close the pop-up window.

Copying Kubeconfig
Copying Kubeconfig

3. Open a terminal on your local machine and open the kubeconfig.yaml file in your preferred text editor. Paste the configuration settings you copied in step two to the kubeconfig.yaml file, then save the file and close the editor.

4. Now, run the export command below to export the kubeconfig.yaml file. This command makes the kubeconfig.yaml file able to run kubectl commands on your cluster.

export KUBECONFIG=kubeconfig.yaml

5. Finally, run the following kubectl get command to confirm the number of servers or nodes for your cluster in Linode.

kubectl get nodes

Since you have two nodes on your cluster on Linode, you’ll see two nodes in the output below. This output confirms you’ve successfully connected to your cluster on Linode from your local machine.

Viewing Number of Nodes in Linode
Viewing Number of Nodes in Linode

Deploying ArgoCD to Kubernetes

You’ve successfully created and connected to your Kubernetes cluster from your local machine, and you’re now ready to deploy ArgoCD in your cluster. ArgoCD is an open-source content delivery tool based on GitOps principles, where Kubernetes cluster configurations have been pulled from a GitHub repository.

To deploy ArgoCD to Kubernetes:

1. Run the kubectl create command below to create a new namespace for ArgoCD in your cluster. You can name the namespace as you like, but this tutorial sets the namespace argocd.

This namespace is where you’ll deploy some resource definitions that ArgoCD is dependent on

kubectl create namespace argocd
Creating a Namespace (ArgoCD)
Creating a Namespace (ArgoCD)

2. Next, run the following command to list all available namespaces and confirm if the namespace you created (argocd) in step one exists.

kubectl get namespaces                 

Below, you can see the newly-created namespace (argocd) exists and is currently Active.

Getting All Namespaces
Getting All Namespaces

3. Execute the kubectl apply command below to deploy ArgoCD to the argocd namespace in your Kubernetes cluster.

kubectl apply -n argocd -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/argoproj/argo-cd/v2.0.0-rc3/manifests/install.yaml
Installing ArgoCD
Installing ArgoCD

4. Now, run the kubectl get command below to check the resources available for ArgoCD.

kubectl get all -n argocd 

The resource takes some time to set up, but your output should look similar to the one below once complete.

Getting All Resources that ArgoCD is Built On
Getting All Resources that ArgoCD is Built On

5. After verifying resources, run the kubectl port-forward command below to open the argocd-server on port 8080 in the argocd namespace (443).

You need to access the ArgoCD server to access the ArgoCD UI, where you can log in to view your deployed applications.

kubectl port-forward svc/argocd-server -n argocd 8080:443
Accessing the ArgoCD Server on Port 8080
Accessing the ArgoCD Server on Port 8080

6. Open a new tab on your browser, and visit your localhost on port 8080 (i.e., localhost:8080) to access the ArgoCD Server.

If you get a page like the one below, click on the Advanced button.

Ignoring Lack of Certificate
Ignoring Lack of Certificate

7. Next, click on Proceed to localhost (unsafe) when prompted with other options, as shown below, to proceed to access the ArgoCD Server.

Proceed Accessing the localhost
Proceed Accessing the localhost

If all goes well, your browser redirects to ArgoCD’s login page below.

Accessing ArgoCD UI
Accessing ArgoCD UI

8. Open another terminal and run the below commands to export the kubeconfig.yaml file, and check your password.

The ArgoCD tool comes with a username and an auto-generated password to access the ArgoCD server successfully.

export KUBECONFIG=kubeconfig.yaml
kubectl -n argocd get secret argocd-initial-admin-secret -o jsonpath="{.data.password}" | base64 -d

Your output should contain the password, as shown below. Note down the password as you’ll need it to log in to ArgoCD in the following step.

Getting ArgoCD UI password
Getting ArgoCD UI password

9. Lastly, log in to your ArgoCD account with the username as admin, the password as the one you noted in step eight, and click on SIGN IN.

Logging into ArgoCD UI
Logging into ArgoCD UI

On successful login, you’ll see your ArgoCD UI as shown below. You’re now logged in and can now view your deployed applications.

Viewing ArgoCD UI
Viewing ArgoCD UI

Creating Manifests to Deploy

If you don’t deploy an application, logging into ArgoCD would be for nothing. So in this tutorial, you’ll test ArgoCD by deploying a simple Vue frontend application already hosted on Docker Hub.

To create a manifest to deploy:

1. Run the below command to create a project directory (mkdir) on your computer and change it to your working directory (cd). You can name the directory as you like, but the directory in this tutorial is called argocd-application-deployment.

mkdir argocd-application-deployment
cd argocd-application-deployment
Creating a Project Directory
Creating a Project Directory

2. Next, run the commands below to create (mkdir) a directory called dev and switch to that directory (cd).

mkdir dev
cd dev
Creating a dev Directory
Creating a dev Directory

3. Create a YAML file called deployment.yaml with your preferred editor. Populate the following configuration to the deployment.yaml file, save the file, and close the editor.

The configuration below contains a deployment named myvueapp and two replicas, including a vue image from DockerHub listening on port 8000.

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: myvueapp # Set the name of the deployment
spec: 
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: myvueapp
  replicas: 2 # Set the number of pods
  template: 
    metadata:
      labels: 
        app: myvueapp
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: myvueapp # Sets the container name
        image: mercybassey/myvueapp # Sets the container image
        ports:
        - containerPort: 8000 # Exposes container port                              

4. Now, create another YAML file called service.yaml in the same dev directory, add the following configuration, save the file, and close the editor.

These configuration settings contain a service with the name myvueapp-service that maps the port 8000 to a target port 80.

apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
  name: myvueapp-service # Set the name of the service
spec:
  selector:
    app: myvueapp
  ports:
  - port: 8000 # Set the service port
    protocol: TCP
    targetPort: 80 # Set the service target port

5. Run the following commands to initialize (init) your Git repository and add your first commit.

# Initializ Git Repository
git init
# Track files
git add .
# Add first commit
git commit -m "first commit"
Pushing the First Commit to GitHub
Pushing the First Commit to GitHub

6. Next, run the below command to add your remote repository to the argocd-application-deployment directory. Be sure to replace the GitHub SSH URL (mercybassey/deployment-sample-repo.git) with your own.

This command does not produce an output if the remote (git) repository is added successfully.

git remote add origin [email protected]:mercybassey/argocd-deployments.git

7. After adding the remote repository, run the following command to push the argocd-application-deployment directory to that remote repository.

git push origin master

And if the argocd-application-deployment directory is pushed successfully to the master branch, you should have the following output:

Pushing to Master Branch on (GitHub)
Pushing to Master Branch on (GitHub)

8. Run the below command to exit from the ~/argocd-application-deployment project directory and go into your root directory.

cd ..

9. Create a file called ~/application.yaml with your text editor and add the following configuration settings to the ~/application.yaml file. ArgoCD uses this file to deploy your application.

The configuration below creates an application named myvueapp-argo-application with a source of a specified repoUrl. The application is set with a destination that points to the Kubernetes default server.

Be sure to replace repoUrl value with your GitHub repository URL containing the argocd-application-deployment project directory.

apiVersion: argoproj.io/v1alpha1
kind: Application 
metadata:
  name: myapp-argo-application # Name of the application.
  namespace: argocd # The namespace where the application should be created.
spec:
  project: default

  source:
    repoURL: https://github.com/mercybassey/argocd-deployments # Remote Github repository where ArgoCD should pull configurations from.
    targetRevision: HEAD # The last commit in the remote repository.
    path: dev # Track and sync the dev path in the repository.
  destination: 
    server: https://kubernetes.default.svc # Address of the Kubernetes cluster.
    namespace: myapp # Indicates that ArgoCD should apply the configurations from the git repository to the myapp namespace.

  syncPolicy:
    syncOptions:
    - CreateNamespace=true # Create the myapp namespace if it doesnt exits.

    automated:
      selfHeal: true # Automatically sync changes from the Git repository.
      prune: true # ArgoCD will delete this application if the configuration settings are deleted from Git.

10. Now, run the kubectl apply command below to apply the new configuration settings (application.yaml) to your cluster.

kubectl apply -f application.yaml
Applying New Configurations to Create an Application in ArgoCD
Applying New Configurations to Create an Application in ArgoCD

11. Finally, visit the ArgoCD UI in your browser to view your application, as shown below.

Click anywhere inside the application block to access your application status.

Verifying Deployed Application in ArgoCD UI
Verifying Deployed Application in ArgoCD UI

You can see below that you’ve successfully deployed a Vue application (myapp-argo-application) that is now synced with your Git repository and is healthy. You can also see the deployment and service of the Vue application with two pods running.

Verifying Detailed Components of the Application in ArgoCD
Verifying Detailed Components of the Application in ArgoCD

Alternatively, run the below command to get the number of pods running in your namespace (myapp).

kubectl get pods -n myapp

Below, you can confirm two pods are listed, and both are running.

Verifying Pods in the Cluster via Terminal
Verifying Pods in the Cluster via Terminal

Deploying Application States to Kubernetes

By now, you’ve successfully deployed your application to ArgoCD. But as you make changes or updates, you wouldn’t want to rebuild the application from the ground up.

As a solution, make sure ArgoCD watches out for changes in your application and has those changes deployed to your cluster using application states.

Right now, the service configuration of the Vue application is of service type ClusterIP. You’ll make changes by giving the service a type of LoadBalancer and see how this change reflects in your cluster.

You can check the service type of your cluster by running the below command, which lists all services available in your cluster. kubectl get services

Verifying the Cluster’s Service Type
Verifying the Cluster’s Service Type

To deploy application states to Kubernetes:

1. Run the below command to change your working directory (cd) to ~/argocd-application-deployment/dev.

cd ~/argocd-application-deployment/dev

2. Next, open the service.yaml file in your text editor and change the value of the service type under spec to LoadBalancer, as shown below.

After changing the value, save the changes and close the editor.

Changing Cluster Service Type to LoadBalancer
Changing Cluster Service Type to LoadBalancer

3. Run the following commands to add and commit the changes to your remote repository.

# Stage the changes
git add .
# Commit the changes to the remote repository
git commit -m "Edited the service type of ClusterIP to service type LoadBalancer"
Committing New Changes to the Remote Git Repository
Committing New Changes to the Remote Git Repository

4. Now, run the git push command below to push the changes to your Git repository.

git push origin master
Pushing New Changes to the Master Branch in the Remote Git Repository
Pushing New Changes to the Master Branch in the Remote Git Repository

Once the change has been pushed successfully, you’ll see the ArgoCD UI reflect this change, as shown below.

Verifying ArgoCD is Watching Out for Changes from Git
Verifying ArgoCD is Watching Out for Changes from Git

5. Run the below kubectl get command to get the services and pods available in your namespace (myapp).

kubectl get services -n myapp
kubectl get pods -n myapp
Verifying Services in the Namespace (myapp)
Verifying Services in the Namespace (myapp)

Note one of the pods’ names to access your application.

Verifying Pods in the Cluster
Verifying Pods in the Cluster

6. Next, run the command below to map port 8000 to port 80, where your namespace (myapp) listens to. Be sure to replace pod1 with the pod name you noted in step five.

kubectl port-forward pod1 -n myapp 8000:80
Mapping Port 8000 to Port 80
Mapping Port 8000 to Port 80

7. Navigate to localhost:8000 on your browser to view your deployed Vue application.

If all goes well, you’ll get access to your application and see a page like the one below.

Viewing the Vue Application
Viewing the Vue Application

8. Finally, press Ctrl+C on your terminal to stop the current pod listening on port 8000, and run the same command in step six. But this time, change pod1 to pod2 and repeat step seven to see if you can access your application in your browser.

kubectl port-forward pod2 -n myapp 8000:80
Mapping Port 8000 to Port 80 from (pod2)
Mapping Port 8000 to Port 80 from (pod2)

You should also see the Vue application in your browser:

Viewing the Vue Application from the Second Pod (pod2).
Viewing the Vue Application from the Second Pod (pod2).

Conclusion

In this tutorial, you’ve deployed an application to Kubernetes using GitOps principles and Linode as a cloud provider. You’ve touched on deploying ArgoCD into a Kubernetes cluster and performed port-forwarding so that your application becomes accessible via a web browser.

At this point, you already have the basic knowledge of making better continuous delivery workflows with ArgoCD. Now what kind of application would you be deploying next? Perhaps an application with an ingress resource?

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