Enable GitOps Deployments with FluxCD

Prerequisite

Please make sure to install

1. Build and Deploy (CI/CD) integration. To install it, click here.

2. GitOps (ArgoCD) integration. To install it, click here.

Devtron supports FluxCD to enable GitOps-based deployments. With FluxCD, you can:

• Deploy applications via GitOps (via FluxCD).

• Deploy Helm charts via FluxCD.

• Migrate existing FluxCD applications into Devtron.

Your Git repository becomes the single source of truth for your Kubernetes workloads. Any changes you make in Git are automatically applied to your Kubernetes cluster by FluxCD. Refer to the FluxCD documentation to learn more.

Installation

Who Can Perform This Action?

The user must have permissions to:

• Edit the ConfigMaps of 'default-cluster'

• Restart the pods

To enable deployments through GitOps via FluxCD, you need to enable a specific feature flag for the default_cluster in Devtron.

Feature	Flag	Description
Deployments via FluxCD	FEATURE_FLUX_DEPLOYMENTS_ENABLE: " true"	This Flag will enable deployments through GitOps via FluxCD. After enabling this flag, you also need to install FluxCD controller in order to deploy applications successfully. Refer Installing FluxCD Controller to know more.
Migrating existing FluxCD applications	FEATURE_LINK_EXTERNAL_FLUX_ENABLE: "true"	This Flag will enable migrations for external FluxCD apps into Devtron.

Deployment Strategies for FluxCD Deployments

Application deployments through GitOps (via FluxCD) are supported only when using the Deployment or Rollout deployment strategies with the latest chart versions. Other deployment strategies are currently not supported.

Enabling Feature Flags

1. Navigate to Devtron Resource Browser.

   

   Figure 1: Navigating to Resource Browser
2. Select the default_cluster to enable the feature flags.

   

   Figure 2: Selecting 'default_cluster'
3. Go to Config & Storage → ConfigMap, and select dashboard-cm ConfigMap

   

   Figure 3: Selecting 'dashboard-cm'
4. Edit the dashboard-cm ConfigMap by clicking Edit live manifest.

   1. To enable deployments via FluxCD, check if the below entries are present in the ConfigMap (create one if it doesn't exist) and select Apply changes.

      FEATURE_FLUX_DEPLOYMENTS_ENABLE: " true"

   2. To enable migration for external FluxCD applications, check if the below entries are present in the ConfigMap (create one if it doesn't exist) and select Apply changes.

      FEATURE_LINK_EXTERNAL_FLUX_ENABLE: "true"

   

   Figure 4: Editing Live Manifest

   

   Figure 5: Adding Feature Flags
5. Restart the deployment:

   1. For OSS Users:

      1. Navigate to Devtron Resource Browser.

      2. Select the cluster for which you have enabled the feature flags.

      3. Click the Terminal tab.

      4. Restart the deployment using the following command:

         kubectl rollout restart deployment dashboard -n devtroncd 

         

         Figure 6: Restarting Deployment
   2. For Enterprise Users:

      1. Go to Resource Browser → (Select Cluster in which you have enabled the feature flags) → Workloads → Deployment

      2. Click the checkbox next to the dashboard Deployment workloads and restart them using the ⟳ button.

         

         Figure 7: Restart 'dashboard' deployment workloads
6. Perform a hard refresh of the browser to clear the cache:

   • Mac: Hold down Cmd and Shift and then press R.

   • Windows/Linux: Hold down Ctrl and then press F5.

Installing FluxCD Controller (Only for Deployments)

After enabling the feature flag for deployments, the next step is to install FluxCD Controller in every cluster (including the default cluster) in which you want to deploy the FluxCD applications.

You can install FluxCD Controller via two ways:

1. Install FluxCD controller via Cluster Terminal.

2. Install FluxCD controller via Chart Store.

Install FluxCD controller via Cluster Terminal.

1. Navigate to Devtron Resource Browser.

2. Select the cluster for which you have enabled the feature flags.

3. Click the Terminal tab.

4. Run the following command to install the FluxCD Controller:

kubectl apply -f https://github.com/fluxcd/flux2/releases/download/v0.35.0/install.yaml

Figure 8: Installing FluxCD Controller

1. After the command is executed successfully, you can deploy or migrate your applications in that cluster through GitOps (via FluxCD).

Install FluxCD controller via Chart Store.

To install FluxCD controller via Chart Store, follow the below steps.

1. Add FluxCD controller repository, https://fluxcd-community.github.io/helm-charts in the chart repositories (if not already added) in Global Configurations. Refer Chart Repositories to learn more.

   

   Figure 9: Adding FluxCD Chart Repository
2. Add a new environment in the cluster in which you want to deploy the application via FluxCD linked to namespace as flux-system. Refer Clusters and Environments to lean more.

   

   Figure 10: Adding Environment linked to 'flux-system' namespace
3. Navigate to Chart Store and select the flux2 chart.

   

   Figure 11: Selecting 'flux2' Chart
4. Click Configure and Deploy.

   

   Figure 12: Deploying 'flux2' Chart
5. Configure the following configurations:

   Field Name	Description
   App Name	Define a name for the chart.
   Project	Select a project from the dropdown
   Deploy to Environment	Select the environment which you have created in your preferred cluster linked to flux-system namespace.

   

   Figure 13: Configuring 'flux2' Chart
6. Click Deploy and the chart will be deployed.

After the chart is successfully deployed, you can deploy applications though GitOps (via FluxCD).