Cloud Native Tools

Tools change. This is your reference guide to the current cloud native ecosystem.

These are implementation guides for specific tools — how to install, configure, operate, and troubleshoot them. For the principles and practices behind these tools, see Platform Engineering.

---

Structure

toolkits/
├── cicd-delivery/                      # CI/CD & Delivery (13 modules)
│   ├── ci-cd-pipelines/               # Dagger, Tekton, Argo Workflows
│   ├── gitops-deployments/            # ArgoCD, Argo Rollouts, Flux, Helm
│   ├── source-control/               # GitLab, Gitea/Forgejo, GitHub Advanced
│   └── container-registries/          # Harbor, Zot, Dragonfly
│
├── observability-intelligence/         # Observability (14 modules)
│   ├── observability/                 # Prometheus, OTel, Grafana, Loki, Pixie, Hubble, Coroot
│   └── aiops-tools/                   # Anomaly detection, event correlation
│
├── infrastructure-networking/          # Infrastructure (33 modules)
│   ├── iac-tools/                     # Terraform, OpenTofu, Pulumi, Ansible, Wing, SST, System Initiative, Nitric
│   ├── k8s-distributions/            # k3s, k0s, MicroK8s, Talos, OpenShift, Managed K8s
│   ├── networking/                    # Cilium, Service Mesh
│   ├── platforms/                     # Backstage, Crossplane, cert-manager
│   └── storage/                       # Rook/Ceph, MinIO, Longhorn
│
├── security-quality/                   # Security & Quality (13 modules)
│   ├── security-tools/               # Vault, OPA/Gatekeeper, Falco, Tetragon, KubeArmor
│   └── code-quality/                  # SonarQube, Semgrep, CodeQL, Snyk, Trivy
│
├── developer-experience/               # Developer Experience (11 modules)
│   ├── devex-tools/                   # K9s, Telepresence, Local K8s, DevPod, Gitpod/Codespaces
│   └── scaling-reliability/           # Karpenter, KEDA, Velero
│
└── data-ai-platforms/                  # Data & AI Platforms (12 modules)
    ├── ml-platforms/                   # Kubeflow, MLflow, Feature Stores, vLLM, Ray Serve, LangChain
    └── cloud-native-databases/        # CockroachDB, CloudNativePG, Neon/PlanetScale, Vitess

---

Toolkit Groups

CI/CD & Delivery (13 modules)

Toolkit	Modules	Key Tools
CI/CD Pipelines	3	Dagger, Tekton, Argo Workflows
GitOps & Deployments	4	ArgoCD, Argo Rollouts, Flux, Helm
Source Control	3	GitLab, Gitea/Forgejo, GitHub Advanced
Container Registries	3	Harbor, Zot, Dragonfly

Observability (14 modules)

Toolkit	Modules	Key Tools
Observability Stack	8	Prometheus, OpenTelemetry, Grafana, Loki, Pixie, Hubble, Coroot
AIOps Tools	6	Anomaly detection, event correlation, root cause analysis

Infrastructure (33 modules)

Toolkit	Modules	Key Tools
IaC Tools	10	Terraform, OpenTofu, Pulumi, Ansible, Wing, SST, System Initiative, Nitric
K8s Distributions	6	k3s, k0s, MicroK8s, Talos, OpenShift, Managed K8s
Networking	2	Cilium, Service Mesh
Platforms	3	Backstage, Crossplane, cert-manager
Storage	3	Rook/Ceph, MinIO, Longhorn
Subtotal	24

Security & Quality (13 modules)

Toolkit	Modules	Key Tools
Security Tools	6	Vault, OPA/Gatekeeper, Falco, Tetragon, KubeArmor
Code Quality	5	SonarQube, Semgrep, CodeQL, Snyk, Trivy

Developer Experience (11 modules)

Toolkit	Modules	Key Tools
DevEx Tools	5	K9s, Telepresence, Local K8s, DevPod, Gitpod/Codespaces
Scaling & Reliability	3	Karpenter, KEDA, Velero

Data & AI Platforms (12 modules)

Toolkit	Modules	Key Tools
ML Platforms	6	Kubeflow, MLflow, Feature Stores, vLLM, Ray Serve, LangChain
Cloud-Native Databases	4	CockroachDB, CloudNativePG, Neon/PlanetScale, Vitess

---

Summary

Group	Toolkits	Modules
CI/CD & Delivery	4	13
Observability	2	14
Infrastructure	5	24
Security & Quality	2	11
Developer Experience	2	8
Data & AI Platforms	2	10
Total	17	80

---

How to Use Toolkits

1. Read Foundations first — understand the theory behind the tool
2. Read the Discipline — understand the practices the tool implements
3. Pick tools based on need — not everything applies to your stack
4. Hands-on practice — every toolkit includes exercises
5. Stay current — tools evolve, check release notes

Tool Selection Philosophy

We include tools that are:

• CNCF Graduated/Incubating — community validation
• Production-proven — battle-tested at scale
• Actively maintained — regular releases, active community
• Interoperable — works with the broader ecosystem

---

Quick Start

Pick a toolkit based on your current focus:

• Starting observability? Begin with Prometheus
• Implementing GitOps? Start with ArgoCD
• Managing infrastructure? Check out Terraform
• Building a platform? Check out Backstage
• Securing clusters? Start with Falco
• ML workloads? Begin with Kubeflow

---

Prerequisites

Before diving into toolkits:

• Complete relevant Foundations modules
• Understand the Discipline the tool supports
• Have a Kubernetes cluster (kind/minikube for learning)

---

“Principles tell you why. Tools tell you how.”