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Advanced ArgoCD Patterns and Best Practices

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kubernetes , argocd , gitops , devops , cloud-native , patterns , series:argocd:4

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Advanced ArgoCD Patterns and Best Practices

In this fourth part of our ArgoCD series, we’ll explore advanced patterns, custom resources, and automation strategies.

Custom Resource Definitions

Creating Custom Health Checks

apiVersion: apiextensions.k8s.io/v1
kind: CustomResourceDefinition
metadata:
  name: healthchecks.argoproj.io
spec:
  group: argoproj.io
  names:
    kind: HealthCheck
    plural: healthchecks
  scope: Namespaced
  versions:
    - name: v1alpha1
      served: true
      storage: true

Custom Sync Waves

apiVersion: batch/v1
kind: Job
metadata:
  annotations:
    argocd.argoproj.io/sync-wave: "5"
    argocd.argoproj.io/hook: Sync

Webhook Integrations

GitHub Integration

apiVersion: v1
kind: Secret
metadata:
  name: github-webhook
  namespace: argocd
stringData:
  github.secret: <webhook-secret>

Custom Webhook

apiVersion: networking.k8s.io/v1
kind: Ingress
metadata:
  annotations:
    nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/ssl-redirect: "false"
  name: argocd-server-ingress
spec:
  rules:
  - http:
      paths:
      - path: /api/webhook
        pathType: Prefix
        backend:
          service:
            name: argocd-server
            port:
              number: 80

Automation Patterns

ApplicationSet Controllers

apiVersion: argoproj.io/v1alpha1
kind: ApplicationSet
metadata:
  name: guestbook
spec:
  generators:
  - list:
      elements:
      - cluster: development
        url: https://dev.example.com
      - cluster: staging
        url: https://staging.example.com
  template:
    metadata:
      name: '{{cluster}}-guestbook'
    spec:
      source:
        repoURL: https://github.com/argoproj/argocd-example-apps
        targetRevision: HEAD
        path: guestbook
      destination:
        server: '{{url}}'
        namespace: guestbook

Auto-Pruning

apiVersion: argoproj.io/v1alpha1
kind: Application
metadata:
  name: myapp
spec:
  syncPolicy:
    automated:
      prune: true
      allowEmpty: true

Disaster Recovery

Backup Strategy

apiVersion: velero.io/v1
kind: Backup
metadata:
  name: argocd-backup
spec:
  includedNamespaces:
  - argocd
  storageLocation: default
  volumeSnapshotLocations:
  - default

Recovery Process

Terminal window
# Restore ArgoCD namespace
velero restore create --from-backup argocd-backup


# Verify restoration
kubectl get applications -n argocd

Advanced Security Patterns

RBAC with SSO

apiVersion: v1
kind: ConfigMap
metadata:
  name: argocd-rbac-cm
data:
  policy.csv: |
    p, role:org-admin, applications, *, */*, allow
    p, role:org-admin, clusters, get, *, allow
    g, "org:team-alpha", role:org-admin

Network Policies

apiVersion: networking.k8s.io/v1
kind: NetworkPolicy
metadata:
  name: argocd-server-network-policy
spec:
  podSelector:
    matchLabels:
      app.kubernetes.io/name: argocd-server
  ingress:
  - from:
    - namespaceSelector:
        matchLabels:
          name: ingress-nginx

Performance Optimization

Resource Management

apiVersion: argoproj.io/v1alpha1
kind: Application
metadata:
  name: myapp
spec:
  source:
    plugin:
      env:
      - name: ENABLE_CACHE
        value: "true"

Scaling Strategies

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: argocd-repo-server
spec:
  replicas: 3
  template:
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: argocd-repo-server
        resources:
          requests:
            memory: "512Mi"
            cpu: "250m"
          limits:
            memory: "1Gi"
            cpu: "500m"

Monitoring and Alerting

Prometheus Rules

apiVersion: monitoring.coreos.com/v1
kind: PrometheusRule
metadata:
  name: argocd-alerts
spec:
  groups:
  - name: argocd
    rules:
    - alert: ApplicationSyncFailed
      expr: argocd_app_sync_status{status="Failed"} > 0

Notification Templates

apiVersion: notifications.argoproj.io/v1alpha1
kind: Template
metadata:
  name: sync-failed
spec:
  notification:
    message: |
      Application {{.app.metadata.name}} sync failed

Best Practices Summary

  1. Version Control

    • Use semantic versioning
    • Maintain changelog
    • Document breaking changes

  2. Configuration Management

    • Use environment variables
    • Implement secrets rotation
    • Version configuration files

  3. Deployment Strategy

    • Implement blue-green deployments
    • Use canary releases
    • Enable automatic rollbacks

  4. Monitoring

    • Set up comprehensive metrics
    • Configure meaningful alerts
    • Maintain audit logs

Conclusion

Advanced ArgoCD patterns require:

  • Custom resource management
  • Robust automation
  • Comprehensive security
  • Effective disaster recovery

In the final part of our series, we’ll cover:

  • Real-world case studies
  • Migration strategies
  • Integration patterns
  • Future roadmap