GitOps: changing DevOps with Declarative Infrastructure and Automated Deployments

GitOps is a modern DevOps methodology that improves automation and infrastructure management, using Git as the single source of truth. It leverages declarative manifests to define infrastructure and application states, ensuring reliability and security.

What is GitOps?

It is based on the following principles:

• Declarative infrastructure: everything is defined as code.
• Git as the source of truth: changes are made via commits and pull requests.
• Automation and synchronization: tools like ArgoCD monitor repositories and apply changes automatically.
• Auditing and security: every change is logged in Git for full traceability.

GitOps vs. Traditional DevOps

GitOps differs from traditional DevOps by enforcing Git-based change management, automated synchronization, and improved rollback mechanisms.

Popular GitOps Tools

Some commonly used tools include:

• ArgoCD – synchronizes Git repositories with Kubernetes clusters.
• Flux – lightweight GitOps solution for automated deployments.
• Jenkins X – CI/CD automation with GitOps principles.
• Terraform + GitOps – manages cloud infrastructure using GitOps.

Implementing GitOps with GitHub Actions and ArgoCD

A typical GitOps workflow is as follows:

1. Developer commits/pushes a change to the Git repository.
2. GitHub Actions validates the update and runs tests.
3. Merge is approved? GitHub Actions updates the infrastructure repository.
4. ArgoCD detects changes and automatically synchronizes the environment.

This eliminates manual scripts and enhances reliability.

GitOps Beyond Kubernetes

GitOps can also be applied to cloud infrastructure using Terraform or Pulumi, ensuring that all infrastructure configurations are stored and managed via Git.

Best Practices

• Separate repositories for application code and infrastructure configuration.
• Automate validation before applying changes.
• Implement strict access control policies.
• Monitor and alert when discrepancies occur.

Challenges

• Increased learning curve for teams new to GitOps.
• Secret management requires tools like Sealed Secrets or Vault.
• Multi-cloud complexity demands standardization and a careful tool selection.

Conclusion

GitOps enhances DevOps by providing better control, security, and automation for infrastructure and application deployments. With the rise of Kubernetes and Infrastructure-as-Code, adopting GitOps became a key strategy for modern organizations, leveraging tools like ArgoCD, Flux, and GitHub Actions to create reliable and scalable CI/CD pipelines.