Introduction

New users to GitOps and Argo CD are not often sure how they should structure their repos, add applications, promote apps across environments, and manage the Argo CD installation itself using GitOps.

Argo CD Autopilot saves operators time by:

• Installing and managing the Argo CD application using GitOps.
• Providing a clear structure for how applications are to be added and updated, all from git.
• Creating a simple pattern for making updates to applications and promoting those changes across environments.
• Enabling better disaster recovery by being able to bootstrap new clusters with all the applications previously installed.
• Handling secrets for Argo CD to prevent them from spilling into plaintext git. (Soon to come)

The Argo-CD Autopilot is a tool which offers an opinionated way of installing Argo-CD and managing GitOps repositories.

Installation

Using brew:

# install
brew install argocd-autopilot

# check the installation
argocd-autopilot version

Using scoop:

# update
scoop update

# install
scoop install argocd-autopilot

# check the installation
argocd-autopilot version

Using chocolatey:

# install
choco install argocd-autopilot

# check the installation
argocd-autopilot version

Linux AUR:

# install
yay -S argocd-autopilot-bin
# or
sudo pacman -S argocd-autopilot-bin

# check the installation
argocd-autopilot version

Linux and WSL (using curl):

# get the latest version or change to a specific version
VERSION=$(curl --silent "https://api.github.com/repos/argoproj-labs/argocd-autopilot/releases/latest" | grep '"tag_name"' | sed -E 's/.*"([^"]+)".*/\1/')

# download and extract the binary
curl -L --output - https://github.com/argoproj-labs/argocd-autopilot/releases/download/$VERSION/argocd-autopilot-linux-amd64.tar.gz | tar zx

# move the binary to your $PATH
mv ./argocd-autopilot-* /usr/local/bin/argocd-autopilot

# check the installation
argocd-autopilot version

Mac (using curl):

# get the latest version or change to a specific version
VERSION=$(curl --silent "https://api.github.com/repos/argoproj-labs/argocd-autopilot/releases/latest" | grep '"tag_name"' | sed -E 's/.*"([^"]+)".*/\1/')

# download and extract the binary
curl -L --output - https://github.com/argoproj-labs/argocd-autopilot/releases/download/$VERSION/argocd-autopilot-darwin-amd64.tar.gz | tar zx

# move the binary to your $PATH
mv ./argocd-autopilot-* /usr/local/bin/argocd-autopilot

# check the installation
argocd-autopilot version

Docker

When using the Docker image, you have to provide the .kube and .gitconfig directories as mounts to the running container:

docker run \
  -v ~/.kube:/home/autopilot/.kube \
  -v ~/.gitconfig:/home/autopilot/.gitconfig \
  -it quay.io/argoprojlabs/argocd-autopilot <cmd> <flags>

Getting Started

# All of the commands need your git token with the --git-token flag,
# or the GIT_TOKEN env variable:

    export GIT_TOKEN=<YOUR_TOKEN>

# The commands will also need your repo clone URL with the --repo flag,
# or the GIT_REPO env variable:

    export GIT_REPO=<REPO_URL>

# 1. Run the bootstrap installation on your current kubernetes context.
# This will install argo-cd as well as the application-set controller.

    argocd-autopilot repo bootstrap

# Please note that this will automatically attempt to create a private repository,
# if the clone URL references a non-existing one. If the repository already exists,
# the command will just clone it.

# 2. Create your first project

    argocd-autopilot project create my-project

# 3. Install your first application on your project

    argocd-autopilot app create demoapp --app github.com/argoproj-labs/argocd-autopilot/examples/demo-app/ -p my-project

Now, if you go to your Argo-CD UI, you should see something similar to this:

Head over to our Getting Started guide for further details.

How it works

The autopilot bootstrap command will deploy an Argo-CD manifest to a target k8s cluster, and will commit an Argo-CD Application manifest under a specific directory in your GitOps repository. This Application will manage the Argo-CD installation itself - so after running this command, you will have an Argo-CD deployment that manages itself through GitOps.

From that point on, the user can create Projects and Applications that belong to them. Autopilot will commit the required manifests to the repository. Once committed, Argo-CD will do its magic and apply the Applications to the cluster.

An application can be added to a project from a public git repo + path, or from a directory in the local filesystem.

Architecture

Autopilot communicates with the cluster directly only during the bootstrap phase, when it deploys Argo-CD. After that, most commands will only require access to the GitOps repository. When adding a Project or Application to a remote k8s cluster, autopilot will require access to the Argo-CD server.

You can read more about it in the official proposal doc.

Features

• Opinionated way to build a multi-project multi-application system, using GitOps principles.
• Create a new GitOps repository, or use an existing one.
• Supports creating the entire directory structure under any path the user requires.
• When adding applications from a public repo, allow committing as either a kustomization that references the public repo, or as a "flat" manifest file containing all the required resources.
• Use a different cluster from the one Argo-CD is running on, as a default cluster for a Project, or a target cluster for a specific Application.

Slack Channel

Join us in channel #argo-autopilot in CNCF slack workspace.

Click here to join: https://slack.cncf.io/