Hands-on exercises and projects

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Table of Contents

1. Exercise 1: Complete installation
2. Exercise 2: GitOps deployment
3. Exercise 3: Multi-environment
4. Exercise 4: ApplicationSet
5. Final project: Complete pipeline
6. Additional resources

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1 - Exercise 1: Complete installation

Objective

Install Argo CD and configure it for access.

Steps

# 1. Créer un cluster (si pas existant)
minikube start --memory=4096
# ou
kind create cluster --name argocd-demo

# 2. Installer Argo CD
kubectl create namespace argocd
kubectl apply -n argocd -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/argoproj/argo-cd/stable/manifests/install.yaml

# 3. Attendre les pods
kubectl wait --for=condition=Ready pods --all -n argocd --timeout=300s

# 4. Récupérer le mot de passe
kubectl -n argocd get secret argocd-initial-admin-secret \
  -o jsonpath="{.data.password}" | base64 -d && echo

# 5. Port-forward
kubectl port-forward svc/argocd-server -n argocd 8080:443 &

# 6. Se connecter
argocd login localhost:8080 --username admin --password <password> --insecure

# 7. Changer le mot de passe
argocd account update-password

Validation

• The UI is accessible at https://localhost:8080
• Successful login with admin
• Password changed

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2 - Exercise 2: GitOps deployment

Objective

Deploy an application in GitOps mode.

Create the GitOps repository

# Créer un repo sur GitHub
# Structure :
gitops-demo/
└── apps/
    └── nginx/
        ├── deployment.yaml
        └── service.yaml

# apps/nginx/deployment.yaml
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: nginx
  labels:
    app: nginx
spec:
  replicas: 2
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: nginx
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: nginx
    spec:
      containers:
        - name: nginx
          image: nginx:1.25
          ports:
            - containerPort: 80

# apps/nginx/service.yaml
apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
  name: nginx
spec:
  selector:
    app: nginx
  ports:
    - port: 80
      targetPort: 80

Create the Argo CD application

# nginx-app.yaml
apiVersion: argoproj.io/v1alpha1
kind: Application
metadata:
  name: nginx
  namespace: argocd
spec:
  project: default
  source:
    repoURL: https://github.com/YOUR-USER/gitops-demo.git
    path: apps/nginx
    targetRevision: HEAD
  destination:
    server: https://kubernetes.default.svc
    namespace: demo
  syncPolicy:
    automated:
      prune: true
      selfHeal: true
    syncOptions:
      - CreateNamespace=true

kubectl apply -f nginx-app.yaml

Test GitOps

# Modifier replicas dans Git (2 → 3)
# Pousser le changement

# Observer dans Argo CD
argocd app get nginx

# L'application se synchronise automatiquement

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3 - Exercise 3: Multi-environment

Objective

Deploy to dev and prod with Kustomize.

Structure

gitops-demo/
└── apps/
    └── myapp/
        ├── base/
        │   ├── kustomization.yaml
        │   ├── deployment.yaml
        │   └── service.yaml
        └── overlays/
            ├── dev/
            │   └── kustomization.yaml
            └── prod/
                ├── kustomization.yaml
                └── replicas-patch.yaml

Base

# base/kustomization.yaml
apiVersion: kustomize.config.k8s.io/v1beta1
kind: Kustomization
resources:
  - deployment.yaml
  - service.yaml

Dev Overlay

# overlays/dev/kustomization.yaml
apiVersion: kustomize.config.k8s.io/v1beta1
kind: Kustomization
namespace: dev
resources:
  - ../../base

Prod Overlay

# overlays/prod/kustomization.yaml
apiVersion: kustomize.config.k8s.io/v1beta1
kind: Kustomization
namespace: prod
resources:
  - ../../base
patches:
  - path: replicas-patch.yaml

# overlays/prod/replicas-patch.yaml
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: myapp
spec:
  replicas: 5

Argo CD Applications

# myapp-dev.yaml
apiVersion: argoproj.io/v1alpha1
kind: Application
metadata:
  name: myapp-dev
  namespace: argocd
spec:
  project: default
  source:
    repoURL: https://github.com/YOUR-USER/gitops-demo.git
    path: apps/myapp/overlays/dev
  destination:
    server: https://kubernetes.default.svc
    namespace: dev
  syncPolicy:
    automated:
      prune: true
    syncOptions:
      - CreateNamespace=true
---
# myapp-prod.yaml
apiVersion: argoproj.io/v1alpha1
kind: Application
metadata:
  name: myapp-prod
  namespace: argocd
spec:
  project: default
  source:
    repoURL: https://github.com/YOUR-USER/gitops-demo.git
    path: apps/myapp/overlays/prod
  destination:
    server: https://kubernetes.default.svc
    namespace: prod
  syncPolicy:
    automated:
      prune: true
      selfHeal: true
    syncOptions:
      - CreateNamespace=true

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4 - Exercise 4: ApplicationSet

Objective

Automate with ApplicationSet.

Multi-environment ApplicationSet

apiVersion: argoproj.io/v1alpha1
kind: ApplicationSet
metadata:
  name: myapp-envs
  namespace: argocd
spec:
  generators:
    - list:
        elements:
          - env: dev
            autosync: "true"
          - env: staging
            autosync: "true"
          - env: prod
            autosync: "false"
  template:
    metadata:
      name: 'myapp-{{env}}'
    spec:
      project: default
      source:
        repoURL: https://github.com/YOUR-USER/gitops-demo.git
        path: 'apps/myapp/overlays/{{env}}'
      destination:
        server: https://kubernetes.default.svc
        namespace: '{{env}}'
      syncPolicy:
        syncOptions:
          - CreateNamespace=true

Verification

argocd app list
# NAME          CLUSTER                         NAMESPACE  STATUS
# myapp-dev     https://kubernetes.default.svc  dev        Synced
# myapp-staging https://kubernetes.default.svc  staging    Synced
# myapp-prod    https://kubernetes.default.svc  prod       OutOfSync

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5 - Final project: Complete pipeline

Objective

Create a complete GitOps pipeline with:

• Multi-environment application
• Secrets management
• RBAC
• Notifications

Architecture

Project structure

gitops-final/
├── apps/
│   └── webapp/
│       ├── base/
│       │   ├── kustomization.yaml
│       │   ├── deployment.yaml
│       │   ├── service.yaml
│       │   └── sealed-secret.yaml
│       └── overlays/
│           ├── dev/
│           ├── staging/
│           └── prod/
├── infrastructure/
│   ├── argocd/
│   │   ├── projects.yaml
│   │   └── rbac.yaml
│   └── applicationsets/
│       └── webapp.yaml
└── README.md

Expected deliverables

• Structured GitOps repository
• AppProject with restrictions
• RBAC configured
• ApplicationSet for 3 environments
• Sealed Secret for credentials
• Documentation

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6 - Additional resources

Official documentation

Resource	URL
Argo CD Docs	https://argo-cd.readthedocs.io
GitHub	https://github.com/argoproj/argo-cd
Argo Project	https://argoproj.github.io

Complementary tools

Tool	Description
Argo Rollouts	Progressive deployments (canary, blue-green)
Argo Events	Event-driven workflows
Argo Workflows	Orchestration of K8s workflows

Certifications

• Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA)
• Certified GitOps Associate (CGOA)

Recommended books

• "GitOps and Kubernetes" - Billy Yuen et al.
• "Kubernetes Patterns" - Bilgin Ibryam

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Congratulations!

You have completed the Argo CD course! You now master:

• Installation and configuration of Argo CD
• Creating Applications (UI, CLI, YAML)
• Synchronization strategies
• ApplicationSets for automation
• Multi-cluster management
• Security and RBAC

Next steps

1. Practice on personal projects
2. Explore Argo Rollouts for advanced deployments
3. Contribute to the Argo community
4. Certify your skills (CGOA, CKA)

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