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Sources (GitRepository, HelmRepository)

Table of Contents​

  1. Source concept
  2. GitRepository
  3. HelmRepository
  4. OCIRepository
  5. Bucket (S3)
  6. Hands-on exercises

1 - Source concept​

What is a Source?​

A Source defines where Flux fetches the configurations to deploy.

Source types​

TypeDescriptionUse case
GitRepositoryGit repoYAML manifests, Kustomize
HelmRepositoryHelm HTTP repoHelm charts
OCIRepositoryOCI registryOCI charts, artifacts
BucketS3, GCS, MinioStored artifacts

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2 - GitRepository​

Public repository​

apiVersion: source.toolkit.fluxcd.io/v1
kind: GitRepository
metadata:
  name: podinfo
  namespace: flux-system
spec:
  interval: 1m
  url: https://github.com/stefanprodan/podinfo
  ref:
    branch: master

Private repository (HTTPS)​

apiVersion: source.toolkit.fluxcd.io/v1
kind: GitRepository
metadata:
  name: my-private-repo
  namespace: flux-system
spec:
  interval: 1m
  url: https://github.com/my-org/private-repo
  ref:
    branch: main
  secretRef:
    name: git-credentials
---
apiVersion: v1
kind: Secret
metadata:
  name: git-credentials
  namespace: flux-system
type: Opaque
stringData:
  username: git
  password: <github-token>

Private repository (SSH)​

apiVersion: source.toolkit.fluxcd.io/v1
kind: GitRepository
metadata:
  name: my-private-repo
  namespace: flux-system
spec:
  interval: 1m
  url: ssh://[email protected]/my-org/private-repo.git
  ref:
    branch: main
  secretRef:
    name: ssh-credentials
---
apiVersion: v1
kind: Secret
metadata:
  name: ssh-credentials
  namespace: flux-system
type: Opaque
stringData:
  identity: |
    -----BEGIN OPENSSH PRIVATE KEY-----
    ...
    -----END OPENSSH PRIVATE KEY-----
  known_hosts: |
    github.com ssh-rsa AAAA...

Reference a tag or commit​

spec:
  ref:
    # Par branche
    branch: main
    
    # Par tag
    tag: v1.2.3
    
    # Par semver
    semver: ">=1.0.0 <2.0.0"
    
    # Par commit
    commit: abc123def456

Via CLI​

# Créer un GitRepository
flux create source git podinfo \
  --url=https://github.com/stefanprodan/podinfo \
  --branch=master \
  --interval=1m

# Avec authentication
flux create source git private-repo \
  --url=ssh://[email protected]/my-org/repo.git \
  --branch=main \
  --secret-ref=ssh-credentials

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3 - HelmRepository​

Public repository​

apiVersion: source.toolkit.fluxcd.io/v1
kind: HelmRepository
metadata:
  name: bitnami
  namespace: flux-system
spec:
  interval: 1h
  url: https://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami

Private repository​

apiVersion: source.toolkit.fluxcd.io/v1
kind: HelmRepository
metadata:
  name: private-charts
  namespace: flux-system
spec:
  interval: 1h
  url: https://charts.example.com
  secretRef:
    name: helm-credentials
---
apiVersion: v1
kind: Secret
metadata:
  name: helm-credentials
  namespace: flux-system
type: Opaque
stringData:
  username: admin
  password: <password>

Via CLI​

flux create source helm bitnami \
  --url=https://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami \
  --interval=1h

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4 - OCIRepository​

OCI charts​

apiVersion: source.toolkit.fluxcd.io/v1beta2
kind: OCIRepository
metadata:
  name: podinfo
  namespace: flux-system
spec:
  interval: 5m
  url: oci://ghcr.io/stefanprodan/charts/podinfo
  ref:
    tag: 6.5.0

With authentication​

apiVersion: source.toolkit.fluxcd.io/v1beta2
kind: OCIRepository
metadata:
  name: private-chart
  namespace: flux-system
spec:
  interval: 5m
  url: oci://registry.example.com/charts/myapp
  ref:
    semver: ">=1.0.0"
  secretRef:
    name: oci-credentials
---
apiVersion: v1
kind: Secret
metadata:
  name: oci-credentials
  namespace: flux-system
type: kubernetes.io/dockerconfigjson
data:
  .dockerconfigjson: <base64-encoded-docker-config>

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5 - Bucket (S3)​

AWS S3​

apiVersion: source.toolkit.fluxcd.io/v1beta2
kind: Bucket
metadata:
  name: artifacts
  namespace: flux-system
spec:
  interval: 5m
  provider: aws
  bucketName: my-artifacts-bucket
  region: us-east-1
  secretRef:
    name: aws-credentials

Minio​

apiVersion: source.toolkit.fluxcd.io/v1beta2
kind: Bucket
metadata:
  name: minio-artifacts
  namespace: flux-system
spec:
  interval: 5m
  provider: generic
  endpoint: minio.example.com
  bucketName: flux-artifacts
  secretRef:
    name: minio-credentials

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6 - Hands-on exercises​

Exercise 1: Create a GitRepository​

# Via CLI
flux create source git demo-app \
  --url=https://github.com/stefanprodan/podinfo \
  --branch=master \
  --interval=1m

# Vérifier
flux get sources git

Exercise 2: GitRepository YAML​

# demo-source.yaml
apiVersion: source.toolkit.fluxcd.io/v1
kind: GitRepository
metadata:
  name: demo-app
  namespace: flux-system
spec:
  interval: 1m
  url: https://github.com/stefanprodan/podinfo
  ref:
    branch: master
kubectl apply -f demo-source.yaml
flux get sources git

Quiz​

Q1. What is the difference between GitRepository and HelmRepository?

Answer
  • GitRepository: Fetches files from a Git repo (YAML, Kustomize, local charts)
  • HelmRepository: Fetches charts from a Helm HTTP repo (index.yaml)

GitRepository is more flexible, HelmRepository is specific to Helm charts.

Q2. How do you reference a specific tag in a GitRepository?

Answer
spec:
  ref:
    tag: v1.2.3

Or with semver for the latest compatible tag:

spec:
  ref:
    semver: ">=1.0.0 <2.0.0"

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Key takeaways​

  • Source = definition of the origin of configs
  • GitRepository: Git repos (YAML, Kustomize)
  • HelmRepository: Helm HTTP repos
  • OCIRepository: OCI registries
  • Secrets for authentication
  • interval: polling frequency

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