GitOps Platform

ArgoCD

Deploy declarative GitOps continuous delivery on RamNode VPS. Automate Kubernetes deployments using Git as the single source of truth.

Ubuntu 22.04 / Debian 12

K3s Kubernetes

Auto-Sync

What is ArgoCD?

ArgoCD is a declarative, GitOps continuous delivery tool for Kubernetes that automates application deployment and lifecycle management. It uses Git repositories as the source of truth for defining the desired application state, continuously monitoring and syncing your cluster to match what's defined in Git.

GitOps Native

Git as single source of truth for deployments

Auto-Sync

Automatic deployment when Git changes detected

Self-Healing

Automatically reverts manual cluster changes

Prerequisites

A RamNode VPS with at least 2 CPU cores and 4GB RAM (8GB recommended)
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS or Debian 12
Root or sudo access
A domain name pointed to your VPS (optional for production)
Basic knowledge of Kubernetes, Docker, and Git
GitHub/GitLab account for storing application manifests

Initial Server Setup

Update system packages

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt install -y curl wget git vim apt-transport-https ca-certificates

Configure firewall:

Configure UFW firewall

sudo ufw allow 22/tcp    # SSH
sudo ufw allow 6443/tcp  # Kubernetes API
sudo ufw allow 80/tcp    # HTTP
sudo ufw allow 443/tcp   # HTTPS
sudo ufw enable

Disable swap (required for Kubernetes):

Disable swap

sudo swapoff -a
sudo sed -i '/ swap / s/^\(.*\)$/#\1/g' /etc/fstab

Install Kubernetes with K3s

K3s is a lightweight Kubernetes distribution perfect for VPS environments.

Install K3s

curl -sfL https://get.k3s.io | sh -s - --write-kubeconfig-mode 644

Verify installation:

Verify K3s

# Check K3s service status
sudo systemctl status k3s

# Verify kubectl access
kubectl get nodes

Configure kubectl access:

Setup kubectl

mkdir -p ~/.kube
sudo cp /etc/rancher/k3s/k3s.yaml ~/.kube/config
sudo chown $USER:$USER ~/.kube/config
export KUBECONFIG=~/.kube/config
echo 'export KUBECONFIG=~/.kube/config' >> ~/.bashrc

# Verify access
kubectl cluster-info
kubectl get namespaces

Install ArgoCD

Create namespace and install ArgoCD

# Create ArgoCD namespace
kubectl create namespace argocd

# Install ArgoCD using official manifest
kubectl apply -n argocd -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/argoproj/argo-cd/stable/manifests/install.yaml

Wait for pods to be ready:

Monitor deployment

# Monitor pod status
kubectl get pods -n argocd -w

# Wait for all pods to be ready (2-5 minutes)
kubectl wait --for=condition=Ready pods --all -n argocd --timeout=300s

# Verify all components
kubectl get all -n argocd

Access ArgoCD UI

Get initial admin password:

Retrieve admin password

kubectl -n argocd get secret argocd-initial-admin-secret -o jsonpath="{.data.password}" | base64 -d && echo

Save this password securely - you'll need it to log in.

Option A: Port Forwarding (Quick Access)

Port forward for testing

kubectl port-forward svc/argocd-server -n argocd 8080:443

Access at: https://localhost:8080

Option B: NodePort Service (Persistent Access)

Expose via NodePort

# Patch service to NodePort
kubectl patch svc argocd-server -n argocd -p '{"spec": {"type": "NodePort"}}'

# Get assigned NodePort
kubectl get svc argocd-server -n argocd -o jsonpath='{.spec.ports[0].nodePort}'

Access at: https://YOUR_VPS_IP:NODEPORT

Option C: Ingress with SSL (Production)

argocd-ingress.yaml

apiVersion: networking.k8s.io/v1
kind: Ingress
metadata:
  name: argocd-server-ingress
  namespace: argocd
  annotations:
    kubernetes.io/ingress.class: traefik
    traefik.ingress.kubernetes.io/router.tls: "true"
    traefik.ingress.kubernetes.io/router.entrypoints: websecure
    cert-manager.io/cluster-issuer: letsencrypt-prod
spec:
  rules:
  - host: argocd.yourdomain.com
    http:
      paths:
      - path: /
        pathType: Prefix
        backend:
          service:
            name: argocd-server
            port:
              name: https
  tls:
  - hosts:
    - argocd.yourdomain.com
    secretName: argocd-server-tls

Apply ingress

kubectl apply -f argocd-ingress.yaml

Install ArgoCD CLI

Install CLI

curl -sSL -o /usr/local/bin/argocd https://github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/releases/latest/download/argocd-linux-amd64
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/argocd

# Verify installation
argocd version

# Login using admin password
argocd login localhost:8080 --username admin --password YOUR_ADMIN_PASSWORD --insecure

# Change admin password (recommended)
argocd account update-password

# Delete initial secret after password change
kubectl -n argocd delete secret argocd-initial-admin-secret

SSL with Let's Encrypt

Install cert-manager

# Install cert-manager
kubectl apply -f https://github.com/cert-manager/cert-manager/releases/download/v1.13.3/cert-manager.yaml

# Wait for cert-manager pods
kubectl wait --for=condition=Ready pods --all -n cert-manager --timeout=300s

Create ClusterIssuer:

letsencrypt-prod-issuer.yaml

apiVersion: cert-manager.io/v1
kind: ClusterIssuer
metadata:
  name: letsencrypt-prod
spec:
  acme:
    server: https://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/directory
    email: your-email@example.com
    privateKeySecretRef:
      name: letsencrypt-prod
    solvers:
    - http01:
        ingress:
          class: traefik

Apply ClusterIssuer

kubectl apply -f letsencrypt-prod-issuer.yaml

Deploy Your First Application

Add repository and create app

# Add sample repository
argocd repo add https://github.com/argoproj/argocd-example-apps.git

# Create application
argocd app create guestbook \
  --repo https://github.com/argoproj/argocd-example-apps.git \
  --path guestbook \
  --dest-server https://kubernetes.default.svc \
  --dest-namespace default

# Sync the application
argocd app sync guestbook

Monitor deployment:

Monitor and access

# Check application status
argocd app get guestbook
kubectl get pods -n default -w

# Expose the guestbook
kubectl port-forward svc/guestbook-ui -n default 8081:80
# Access at: http://localhost:8081

GitOps Best Practices

Recommended repository structure:

Repository structure

myapp/
├── base/
│   ├── deployment.yaml
│   ├── service.yaml
│   └── kustomization.yaml
├── overlays/
│   ├── dev/
│   │   └── kustomization.yaml
│   ├── staging/
│   │   └── kustomization.yaml
│   └── prod/
│       └── kustomization.yaml
└── README.md

Enable auto-sync and self-healing:

Configure auto-sync

# Enable automatic sync
argocd app set guestbook --sync-policy automated

# Enable auto-pruning
argocd app set guestbook --auto-prune

# Enable self-healing
argocd app set guestbook --self-heal

Configure webhooks:

Set up webhooks in your Git provider to trigger instant syncs:

Webhook URL

https://argocd.yourdomain.com/api/webhook

Settings:
- Content type: application/json
- Events: Push events
- SSL verification: Enable

Performance Optimization

Optimize ArgoCD for VPS environments:

Reduce resource consumption

# Edit deployments to adjust resource limits
kubectl edit deployment argocd-server -n argocd
kubectl edit deployment argocd-repo-server -n argocd
kubectl edit deployment argocd-application-controller -n argocd

# Recommended resource limits:
resources:
  limits:
    cpu: 500m
    memory: 512Mi
  requests:
    cpu: 250m
    memory: 256Mi

Expected performance on RamNode VPS:

VPS Tier	Applications	Sync Time	Resource Usage
2GB RAM	1-5	Fast	60-70%
4GB RAM	5-15	Fast	40-50%
8GB RAM	15-50	Very Fast	25-35%

Backup and Disaster Recovery

Backup ArgoCD configuration

# Export all ArgoCD applications
kubectl get applications -n argocd -o yaml > argocd-apps-backup.yaml

# Backup all resources in argocd namespace
kubectl get all,secret,configmap -n argocd -o yaml > argocd-full-backup.yaml

Automated backups via cron:

Setup automated backups

crontab -e

# Add daily backup at 2 AM
0 2 * * * kubectl get applications -n argocd -o yaml > /backup/argocd-apps-$(date +\%Y\%m\%d).yaml

Restore from backup:

Restore applications

kubectl apply -f argocd-apps-backup.yaml

Security Hardening

Configure RBAC:

argocd-rbac-cm.yaml

apiVersion: v1
kind: ConfigMap
metadata:
  name: argocd-rbac-cm
  namespace: argocd
data:
  policy.default: role:readonly
  policy.csv: |
    p, role:developers, applications, get, */*, allow
    p, role:developers, applications, sync, */*, allow
    g, developer-team, role:developers

Apply RBAC

kubectl apply -f argocd-rbac-cm.yaml

Enable SSO with GitHub:

Configure SSO

# Edit argocd-cm configmap
kubectl edit configmap argocd-cm -n argocd

# Add for GitHub:
data:
  url: https://argocd.yourdomain.com
  dex.config: |
    connectors:
    - type: github
      id: github
      name: GitHub
      config:
        clientID: YOUR_GITHUB_OAUTH_CLIENT_ID
        clientSecret: YOUR_GITHUB_OAUTH_CLIENT_SECRET
        orgs:
        - name: your-github-org

Monitoring and Observability

Access Prometheus metrics

# Check metrics service
kubectl get svc -n argocd | grep metrics

# Port forward to access metrics
kubectl port-forward svc/argocd-metrics -n argocd 8082:8082

# View at: http://localhost:8082/metrics

Configure Slack notifications:

Install notifications

kubectl apply -n argocd -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/argoproj-labs/argocd-notifications/stable/manifests/install.yaml

kubectl edit configmap argocd-notifications-cm -n argocd

Notification configuration

data:
  service.slack: |
    token: YOUR_SLACK_BOT_TOKEN
  template.app-deployed: |
    message: Application {{.app.metadata.name}} is now running.
  trigger.on-deployed: |
    - when: app.status.operationState.phase in ['Succeeded']
      send: [app-deployed]

Troubleshooting

Pods Stuck in Pending State

Diagnose resource issues

# Check node resources
kubectl describe nodes

# View pod events
kubectl describe pod POD_NAME -n argocd

Application Sync Fails

Debug sync issues

# Check application status
argocd app get APP_NAME

# View detailed logs
kubectl logs -n argocd deployment/argocd-application-controller

Out of Memory Errors

Check memory usage

free -h
kubectl top nodes
kubectl top pods -n argocd

Useful Commands

ArgoCD command reference

# Application Management
argocd app list
argocd app get APP_NAME
argocd app sync APP_NAME
argocd app delete APP_NAME

# Repository Management
argocd repo list
argocd repo add REPO_URL

# Cluster Management
argocd cluster list
argocd cluster add CONTEXT_NAME

# Check Health & Rollback
argocd app wait APP_NAME --health
argocd app rollback APP_NAME REVISION

Next Steps

Multi-Cluster Management - Manage multiple Kubernetes clusters
ApplicationSets - Deploy across multiple clusters automatically
Progressive Delivery - Implement canary and blue-green deployments
Image Updater - Automatically update container images in Git

Official Documentation GitHub Repository