What is GitOps?
I wanted to share with you the knowledge and concepts I gained while researching a concept that I have heard about in my business life recently.
GitOps is a modern approach to managing and automating infrastructure and application deployments using Git as the Single Source of Truth.[1] It combines the principles of Devops and Infrastructure as Code (IaC) to provide a declarative and version-controlled infrastructure management process.
KEY CONCEPTS
Declarative Configuration
Infrastructure and application configurations are declaratively defined using YAML or JSON files. These definitions are made to identify the desired state of the system.
Single Source of Truth
Git repos act as a single source of truth for both infrastructure and application code. All configurations and codes are stored in Git, providing a consistent and auditable version history.
Automative Deployment
Changes made to Git repos trigger automated deployment pipelines. These pipelines can be managed with CI/CD tools, ensuring that updates are automatically applied and routed to the target environment.
Continuous Reconciliation
A GitOps tool constantly monitors Git repos and the live environment to ensure consistent operation. If any changes are detected, the live environment is automatically updated with the desired status in the Git environment. And consistency is ensured across environments. (Since checks were made during the process before the automatic process started, no sudden error situation is observed.)
ADVANTAGES
Version Control and Audit
Using Git for all configurations facilitates complete version history and change tracking.
Improved Collaboration
Teams can collaborate in Git workflows using pull requests and code reviews. It enables more harmonious collaboration between operations and development teams during code review.
Consistency and Reliability
GitOps ensures consistent and repeatable deployments because it declaratively defines the desired state and makes changes automatically. This prevents problems that may arise from human error. It increases reliability.
Security and Compliance
GitOps necessarily increases security because it implements infrastructure with only reviewed and approved changes. It helps meet compliance requirements as it provides a clear audit trail and enables the infrastructure to be managed through code.
Scalability
It can be easily scaled according to increasing infrastructure and application needs. Automation and continuous reconciliation features enable scaling operations to be managed efficiently.
HOW GITOPS WORKS
Configuration/Infrastructure Repositories
Infrastructure and application configurations are stored in Git repos.
Deployment Pipelines
CI/CD processes are designed to track changes to the Git repository. If changes are detected, new configuration operations in this pipeline are applied and moved to the target environment.
GitOps Operator
A GitOps operator (Example tools: Flux, Argo CD) runs in the target environment. By constantly monitoring the Git repo and the live environment, it ensures that they remain in sync and prevents inconsistencies.
*Flux: An open and extended continuous and phased deployment solution for Kubernates.[3]
*ArgoCD: A declarative GitOps continuous deployment tool for Kubernetes. [4]
USE CASES
Kubernetes Deployments
It is especially popular in Kubernetes environments because managing complex, containerized applications and infrastructures can greatly benefit from automation and declarative configurations.
Multi-Cloud and Hybrid Cloud Management
GitOps can be used to manage infrastructure and applications across multiple cloud providers or hybrid environments, providing a consistent and unified approach to deployment and management.
To sum up, GitOps provides a powerful structure for managing infrastructure and application deployments by leveraging the strengths of Git’s automation and declarative configurations. By adopting GitOps, companies can achieve greater consistency — minimizing human error, security, and scalability — in their deployment processes. This makes it an important approach for Devops applications.
I hope you liked my article, do not forget to clap and give feedback for the improvement. Enjoy reading :)
Also you can read in Turkish version :) [5]
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