Argo CD: Experience seamless deployment with ReleaseIQ integration
Argo CD is considered to be the declarative, GitOps continuous delivery tool for Kubernetes. Unlike any other external CD tools that only enable push-based deployments, Argo CD can pull updated code from Git Repos and deploy it directly into Kubernetes resources. After all, Argo CD helps developers to manage both infrastructure configuration as well as application updates in the same system.
Argo CD enables the sync state between Kubernetes resource files like Kubernetes, Kustomize, Helm Charts, etc., and the target environments. Just by relying on the source code files as the main source, Argo CD provides you with an automated, traceable, declarative, and version-controlled Kubernetes deployment.
Why Argo CD?
Argo CD standalone manages both complete CI/CD processes installed within Kubernetes.
As it is built specifically to make the continuous deployment process to a Kubernetes cluster more simple and efficient, Argo CD acts as a Kubernetes controller that is responsible for continuous monitoring of active applications and comparing their live state to that of the desired state in the Git repo. It also identifies deployed applications that are OutOfSync ( applications that deviate from the desired state).
Argo CD Workflows
Argo Workflows are an open-source container-native workflow engine. They are used for orchestrating parallel jobs on Kubernetes and are implemented as a Kubernetes Custom Definition (CRD). Here are some of the benefits of defining the workflows.
- Each step in a defined workflow is a container.
- The sequence of tasks is modeled as a Multi-step workflow
- The dependencies between tasks are done using a Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG).
- You can easily run compute-intensive jobs for data processing or machine learning in no fraction of time using Argo Workflows on Kubernetes.
- It is easy to run CI/CD pipelines natively on Kubernetes without even configuring complex software development products.
Container Orchestration with ReleaseIQ
ReleaseIQ allows you to seamlessly integrate with other DevOps tools for a unified release experience. Our comprehensive container orchestration integrations enable you to automate and manage containerized application tasks. The platform allows you to seamlessly integrate with the applications - with no need to rip and replace - enabling teams to deploy applications immediately.
Value for the Argo CD Users
SaaS and On-prem support:
Argo CD being an open-source solution offers only an on-prem version. ReleaseIQ provides both on-prem and SaaS versions of the product, which adds value to those who really do not want to manage or maintain backend servers.
Role-Based Access Control:
Argo CD offers only cluster-level RBAC permissions - that is only read-only permission or admin permission. RBAC, in ReleaseIQ, is much more flexible offering you to create multiple permission levels and add more user permissions appropriately.
Easy integration - ReleaseIQ offers a vast amount of integrations with simple, scalable, self-service extensibility because of through which you can experience seamless integration with multiple tools at different software development lifecycles for speedy software delivery.
Intuitive dashboards:
With intuitive dashboards in ReleaseIQ, you can get update-to-date summary status for all your projects delivered to role-focused dashboards like DevOps metrics, Test Insights, and complete with actionable insights.
How to Configure Argo CD in ReleaseIQ
Tool Settings
In ReleaseIQ under Configuration Tools Settings, you can configure the Argo CD tool.
- Click Deployment on the left pane. The Deployment Tool Configuration page opens.
- Enter the following details on the page:
- Tool Name*: Enter your CD Tool name like Argo CD.
- Tool Type*: Select the Tool Type from the drop-down.
- Tool URL*: Enter the URL for the tool.
- Namespace: Namespace of the Argo CD
- Username: API Token*: Enter the API Token to access the tool in the specified format.
- Click SAVE to save the Deployment Tool configuration. You can view the Deployment Tool configurations added and appended in the right pane.
Pipeline Composer
Argo CD Pipeline can be composed using the pipeline composer tool.
- In the Deploy step, you will be able to configure the Argo CD on the right side panel of the screen.
- Environment Name*: Select the desired environment name.
- Deployment tool name*: Choose the Argo CD name which was configured in the Settings Page and choose the required workflow name.
- Workflow Name*: Choose the Workflows from the Argo CD
Add the other steps if needed for the pipeline for Build, Tests, and approval from ReleaseIQ to provide the extended functionality.
Running a Pipeline with an Argo CD
In the ReleaseIQ, you can see the last execution of the pipeline. In the component filter choose the component and you will see the pipeline displayed graphically. All the stages and job information of the pipeline containing the Argo CD step will be displayed along with the status of execution. If the pipeline has failed the Argo CD workflow will be highlighted in red.
Argo CD Integration scenarios with ReleaseIQ
There are several scenarios where Argo CD can leverage deployment operations. A few examples are mentioned below.
E2E Release Pipelines only with Argo CD
For a given application, the complete CD operations can be supported on the Argo CD pipeline alone. The ReleaseIQ platform is available for Argo CD users to drive quality and smooth delivery with reduced efforts and errors while allowing you to use the features of Argo CD to the fullest.
E2E Release Pipelines with Argo CD and other CI/CD tools(e.g: Jenkins)
If you already have working automation, you can always integrate those existing tools that your team is familiar with, using ReleaseIQ. This may give you the flexibility of retaining some of their older architecture and choosing to use a different mix of tools for your benefit. ReleaseIQ will still allow you to compose and manage the composite pipeline.
Users may want to retain certain tools for specific functionality for the following reasons:
They still can integrate Argo CD workflows during the deployment of their pipelines to take advantage of its features. For example, Argo CD can be used only as CD functions, and CI is supported with other retained tools. ReleaseIQ being open to all these tools can still facilitate this integration and help the user manage and orchestrate without any issue.
In the following scenario, you may build the CI pipeline with Jenkins and CD pipeline with Argo CD. You can also add an Approval step between these two pipelines to have better control.
Experience a seamless integration with ReleaseIQ and make your deployment process easier. With ReleaseQ let your team get more visibility across various dashboards and different toolchains without changing the way you work.
Contact our expert team today to increase your software delivery!