GitOps & Deployments Toolkit
Toolkit Track | 5 Modules | ~4 hours total
Overview
Section titled “Overview”The GitOps & Deployments Toolkit covers the essential tools for declarative, Git-driven Kubernetes deployments. These tools implement the GitOps methodology—using Git as the single source of truth for infrastructure and application configuration.
This toolkit builds on the concepts from GitOps Discipline and shows you how to implement those principles with production-grade tools.
Prerequisites
Section titled “Prerequisites”Before starting this toolkit:
- GitOps Discipline — GitOps principles and practices
- Basic Kubernetes knowledge (Deployments, Services)
- Git fundamentals
- kubectl experience
Modules
Section titled “Modules”| # | Module | Complexity | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2.1 | ArgoCD | [COMPLEX] | 45-50 min |
| 2.2 | Argo Rollouts | [COMPLEX] | 45-50 min |
| 2.3 | Flux | [COMPLEX] | 40-45 min |
| 2.4 | Helm & Kustomize | [MEDIUM] | 35-40 min |
| 2.5 | Dapr and Buildpacks — Application Definition Beyond Helm | [COMPLEX] | 60-70 min |
Learning Outcomes
Section titled “Learning Outcomes”After completing this toolkit, you will be able to:
- Deploy with ArgoCD — Applications, sync strategies, App of Apps, RBAC
- Implement progressive delivery — Canary, blue-green, automated analysis
- Use Flux GitOps Toolkit — Sources, Kustomizations, image automation
- Package with Helm — Charts, templates, dependencies, releases
- Customize with Kustomize — Bases, overlays, patches, components
- Define beyond Helm — Dapr Components plus Buildpacks-built images, with reproducible builds and runtime building blocks decoupled from Helm templates
Tool Selection Guide
Section titled “Tool Selection Guide”WHICH GITOPS TOOL?─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Need a UI?├── Yes → ArgoCD│ • Great visualization│ • Developer-friendly│ • Easy onboarding│└── No → Flux • CLI/automation-first • Image automation built-in • Lower resource usage
Need progressive delivery?├── Yes → Argo Rollouts│ • Canary deployments│ • Blue-green switches│ • Automated analysis│└── No → Standard Deployment • Rolling updates • Simpler setup
Package management?├── Third-party apps → Helm│ • Chart repositories│ • Version management│ • Release tracking│└── Own apps → Kustomize • No templates • Pure YAML • Environment overlays
Application definition beyond Helm?├── Standard app image build → Buildpacks│ • No Dockerfile│ • Curated builders│ • Rebase and SBOM discipline│└── Runtime building blocks → Dapr Components • State, pub-sub, secrets • Sidecar API contract • Plain manifest review path
BEST PRACTICE: Combine tools!• Helm for packaging• Kustomize for environment variants• Buildpacks for repeatable image builds• Dapr for shared runtime building blocks• ArgoCD/Flux for deployment• Argo Rollouts for progressive deliveryThe GitOps Stack
Section titled “The GitOps Stack”┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐│ GITOPS DEPLOYMENT STACK │├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤│ ││ GIT REPOSITORY (Source of Truth) ││ ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ ││ │ • Helm charts │ ││ │ • Kustomize overlays │ ││ │ • Plain YAML manifests │ ││ │ • Application configurations │ ││ └────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────┘ ││ │ ││ ▼ ││ ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ ││ │ GITOPS CONTROLLER │ ││ │ │ ││ │ ┌─────────────────┐ ┌─────────────────┐ │ ││ │ │ ArgoCD │ OR │ Flux │ │ ││ │ │ │ │ │ │ ││ │ │ • Sync to Git │ │ • Reconcile │ │ ││ │ │ • Detect drift │ │ • Image update │ │ ││ │ │ • Visualize │ │ • Notifications │ │ ││ │ └─────────────────┘ └─────────────────┘ │ ││ └────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────┘ ││ │ ││ ▼ ││ ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ ││ │ PROGRESSIVE DELIVERY │ ││ │ │ ││ │ ┌─────────────────┐ │ ││ │ │ Argo Rollouts │ │ ││ │ │ │ │ ││ │ │ • Canary │ │ ││ │ │ • Blue-Green │ │ ││ │ │ • Analysis │ │ ││ │ └─────────────────┘ │ ││ └────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────┘ ││ │ ││ ▼ ││ ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ ││ │ KUBERNETES CLUSTER │ ││ │ │ ││ │ Desired state from Git = Actual state in cluster │ ││ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ││ │└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘Study Path
Section titled “Study Path”Module 2.1: ArgoCD │ │ GitOps with UI, sync strategies ▼Module 2.2: Argo Rollouts │ │ Progressive delivery, canary, analysis ▼Module 2.3: Flux │ │ GitOps toolkit, image automation ▼Module 2.4: Helm & Kustomize │ │ Package management, overlays ▼Module 2.5: Dapr and Buildpacks │ │ Application definition beyond Helm ▼[Toolkit Complete] → CI/CD Pipelines ToolkitKey Concepts
Section titled “Key Concepts”GitOps Principles in Practice
Section titled “GitOps Principles in Practice”| Principle | ArgoCD Implementation | Flux Implementation |
|---|---|---|
| Declarative | Application CRD | Kustomization/HelmRelease |
| Versioned | Git repo as source | GitRepository source |
| Automated | Auto-sync policy | Reconciliation loop |
| Auditable | Git history + UI | Git history + events |
When to Use What
Section titled “When to Use What”DEPLOYMENT SCENARIO TOOL RECOMMENDATION─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Installing Prometheus → Helm chart├── Available from chart repo├── Many configuration options└── Upstream maintains it
Your microservice to 3 envs → Kustomize overlays├── Same base, different configs├── You control the manifests└── Simple differences
Microservices share runtime needs → Dapr + Buildpacks├── No Dockerfile per repo├── State/pub-sub/secrets as Components└── Plain manifests instead of template sprawl
Breaking change in API → Argo Rollouts canary├── Need gradual rollout├── Want automated rollback└── Have metrics to analyze
100 apps across 10 clusters → ArgoCD ApplicationSets├── Template-based generation OR Flux multi-cluster├── Consistent patterns└── Central visibilityRelated Tracks
Section titled “Related Tracks”- Before: GitOps Discipline — Why GitOps works
- Related: Observability Toolkit — Monitor deployments
- Related: IaC Tools — Infrastructure delivery with GitOps
- After: CI/CD Pipelines Toolkit — Build before deploy
“GitOps is not about tools—it’s about the practice of using Git as source of truth. These tools make that practice operational.”