Tutorial: Deploy applications using GitOps with Flux v2

For Azure Arc-enabled Kubernetes clusters

• An Azure Arc-enabled Kubernetes connected cluster that's up and running. ARM64-based clusters are supported starting with microsoft.flux version 1.7.0.

  Learn how to connect a Kubernetes cluster to Azure Arc. If you need to connect through an outbound proxy, then assure you install the Arc agents with proxy settings.

• Read and write permissions on the Microsoft.Kubernetes/connectedClusters resource type.

For Azure Kubernetes Service clusters

• An MSI-based AKS cluster that's up and running.

  Important

  Ensure that the AKS cluster is created with MSI (not SPN), because the microsoft.flux extension won't work with SPN-based AKS clusters. For new AKS clusters created with az aks create, the cluster is MSI-based by default. For already created SPN-based clusters that need to be converted to MSI, run az aks update -g $RESOURCE_GROUP -n $CLUSTER_NAME --enable-managed-identity. For more information, see Use a managed identity in AKS.

• Read and write permissions on the Microsoft.ContainerService/managedClusters resource type.

Common to both cluster types

• Read and write permissions on these resource types:

  • Microsoft.KubernetesConfiguration/extensions
  • Microsoft.KubernetesConfiguration/fluxConfigurations

• Azure CLI version 2.15 or later. Install the Azure CLI or use the following commands to update to the latest version:

  az version
  az upgrade
  

• The Kubernetes command-line client, kubectl.

  Install kubectl locally using the az aks install-cli command:

  az aks install-cli
  

• Registration of the following Azure resource providers:

  az provider register --namespace Microsoft.Kubernetes
  az provider register --namespace Microsoft.ContainerService
  az provider register --namespace Microsoft.KubernetesConfiguration
  

  Registration is an asynchronous process and should finish within 10 minutes. To monitor the registration process, use the following command:

  az provider show -n Microsoft.KubernetesConfiguration -o table
  
  Namespace                          RegistrationPolicy    RegistrationState
  --------------------------------- --------------------  -------------------
  Microsoft.KubernetesConfiguration  RegistrationRequired  Registered
  

Version and region support

GitOps is currently supported in all regions that Azure Arc-enabled Kubernetes supports. GitOps is currently supported in a subset of the regions that AKS supports. The GitOps service is adding new supported regions on a regular cadence.

The most recent version of the Flux v2 extension and the two previous versions (N-2) are supported. We generally recommend that you use the most recent version of the extension.

Network requirements

The GitOps agents require outbound (egress) TCP to the repo source on either port 22 (SSH) or port 443 (HTTPS) to function. The agents also require access to the following outbound URLs:

Enable CLI extensions

Install the latest k8s-configuration and k8s-extension CLI extension packages:

az extension add -n k8s-configuration
az extension add -n k8s-extension

To update these packages to the latest versions:

az extension update -n k8s-configuration
az extension update -n k8s-extension

To see a list of all installed Azure CLI extensions and their versions, use the following command:

az extension list -o table

Experimental   ExtensionType   Name                   Path                                                       Preview   Version
-------------  --------------  -----------------      -----------------------------------------------------      --------  --------
False          whl             connectedk8s           C:\Users\somename\.azure\cliextensions\connectedk8s         False     1.2.7
False          whl             k8s-configuration      C:\Users\somename\.azure\cliextensions\k8s-configuration    False     1.5.0
False          whl             k8s-extension          C:\Users\somename\.azure\cliextensions\k8s-extension        False     1.1.0

For Azure Arc-enabled Kubernetes clusters

• An Azure Arc-enabled Kubernetes connected cluster that's up and running. ARM64-based clusters are supported starting with microsoft.flux version 1.7.0.

  Learn how to connect a Kubernetes cluster to Azure Arc. If you need to connect through an outbound proxy, then assure you install the Arc agents with proxy settings.

• Read and write permissions on the Microsoft.Kubernetes/connectedClusters resource type.

For Azure Kubernetes Service clusters

• An MSI-based AKS cluster that's up and running.

  Important

  Ensure that the AKS cluster is created with MSI (not SPN), because the microsoft.flux extension won't work with SPN-based AKS clusters. For new AKS clusters created with az aks create, the cluster is MSI-based by default. For already created SPN-based clusters that need to be converted to MSI, run az aks update -g $RESOURCE_GROUP -n $CLUSTER_NAME --enable-managed-identity. For more information, see Use a managed identity in AKS.

• Read and write permissions on the Microsoft.ContainerService/managedClusters resource type.

Common to both cluster types

• Read and write permissions on these resource types:

  • Microsoft.KubernetesConfiguration/extensions
  • Microsoft.KubernetesConfiguration/fluxConfigurations

• Registration of the following Azure resource providers:

  • Microsoft.ContainerService
  • Microsoft.Kubernetes
  • Microsoft.KubernetesConfiguration

Version and region support

GitOps is currently supported in all regions that Azure Arc-enabled Kubernetes supports. GitOps is currently supported in a subset of the regions that AKS supports. The GitOps service is adding new supported regions on a regular cadence.

The most recent version of the Flux v2 extension and the two previous versions (N-2) are supported. We generally recommend that you use the most recent version of the extension.

Network requirements

The GitOps agents require outbound (egress) TCP to the repo source on either port 22 (SSH) or port 443 (HTTPS) to function. The agents also require access to the following outbound URLs:

The following example uses the az k8s-configuration create command to apply a Flux configuration to a cluster, using the following values and settings:

• The resource group that contains the cluster is flux-demo-rg.
• The name of the Azure Arc cluster is flux-demo-arc.
• The cluster type is Azure Arc (-t connectedClusters), but this example also works with AKS (-t managedClusters).
• The name of the Flux configuration is cluster-config.
• The namespace for configuration installation is cluster-config.
• The URL for the public Git repository is https://github.com/Azure/gitops-flux2-kustomize-helm-mt.
• The Git repository branch is main.
• The scope of the configuration is cluster. This scope gives the operators permissions to make changes throughout cluster. To use namespace scope with this tutorial, see the changes needed.
• Two kustomizations are specified with names infra and apps. Each is associated with a path in the repository.
• The apps kustomization depends on the infra kustomization. (The infra kustomization must finish before the apps kustomization runs.)
• Set prune=true on both kustomizations. This setting ensures that the objects that Flux deployed to the cluster are cleaned up if they're removed from the repository, or if the Flux configuration or kustomizations are deleted.

az k8s-configuration flux create -g flux-demo-rg \
-c flux-demo-arc \
-n cluster-config \
--namespace cluster-config \
-t connectedClusters \
--scope cluster \
-u https://github.com/Azure/gitops-flux2-kustomize-helm-mt \
--branch main  \
--kustomization name=infra path=./infrastructure prune=true \
--kustomization name=apps path=./apps/staging prune=true dependsOn=\["infra"\]

The microsoft.flux extension is installed on the cluster (if it wasn't already installed in a previous GitOps deployment).

When the flux configuration is first installed, the initial compliance state may be Pending or Non-compliant because reconciliation is still ongoing. After a minute or so, query the configuration again to see the final compliance state.

az k8s-configuration flux show -g flux-demo-rg -c flux-demo-arc -n cluster-config -t connectedClusters

To confirm that the deployment was successful, run the following command:

az k8s-configuration flux show -g flux-demo-rg -c flux-demo-arc -n cluster-config -t connectedClusters

With a successful deployment the following namespaces are created:

• flux-system: Holds the Flux extension controllers.
• cluster-config: Holds the Flux configuration objects.
• nginx, podinfo, redis: Namespaces for workloads described in manifests in the Git repository.

To confirm the namespaces, run the following command:

kubectl get namespaces

The flux-system namespace contains the Flux extension objects:

• Azure Flux controllers: fluxconfig-agent, fluxconfig-controller
• OSS Flux controllers: source-controller, kustomize-controller, helm-controller, notification-controller

The Flux agent and controller pods should be in a running state. Confirm this using the following command:

kubectl get pods -n flux-system

NAME                                      READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
fluxconfig-agent-9554ffb65-jqm8g          2/2     Running   0          21m
fluxconfig-controller-9d99c54c8-nztg8     2/2     Running   0          21m
helm-controller-59cc74dbc5-77772          1/1     Running   0          21m
kustomize-controller-5fb7d7b9d5-cjdhx     1/1     Running   0          21m
notification-controller-7d45678bc-fvlvr   1/1     Running   0          21m
source-controller-df7dc97cd-4drh2         1/1     Running   0          21m

The namespace cluster-config has the Flux configuration objects.

kubectl get crds

NAME                                                   CREATED AT
alerts.notification.toolkit.fluxcd.io                  2022-04-06T17:15:48Z
arccertificates.clusterconfig.azure.com                2022-03-28T21:45:19Z
azureclusteridentityrequests.clusterconfig.azure.com   2022-03-28T21:45:19Z
azureextensionidentities.clusterconfig.azure.com       2022-03-28T21:45:19Z
buckets.source.toolkit.fluxcd.io                       2022-04-06T17:15:48Z
connectedclusters.arc.azure.com                        2022-03-28T21:45:19Z
customlocationsettings.clusterconfig.azure.com         2022-03-28T21:45:19Z
extensionconfigs.clusterconfig.azure.com               2022-03-28T21:45:19Z
fluxconfigs.clusterconfig.azure.com                    2022-04-06T17:15:48Z
gitconfigs.clusterconfig.azure.com                     2022-03-28T21:45:19Z
gitrepositories.source.toolkit.fluxcd.io               2022-04-06T17:15:48Z
helmcharts.source.toolkit.fluxcd.io                    2022-04-06T17:15:48Z
helmreleases.helm.toolkit.fluxcd.io                    2022-04-06T17:15:48Z
helmrepositories.source.toolkit.fluxcd.io              2022-04-06T17:15:48Z
imagepolicies.image.toolkit.fluxcd.io                  2022-04-06T17:15:48Z
imagerepositories.image.toolkit.fluxcd.io              2022-04-06T17:15:48Z
imageupdateautomations.image.toolkit.fluxcd.io         2022-04-06T17:15:48Z
kustomizations.kustomize.toolkit.fluxcd.io             2022-04-06T17:15:48Z
providers.notification.toolkit.fluxcd.io               2022-04-06T17:15:48Z
receivers.notification.toolkit.fluxcd.io               2022-04-06T17:15:48Z
volumesnapshotclasses.snapshot.storage.k8s.io          2022-03-28T21:06:12Z
volumesnapshotcontents.snapshot.storage.k8s.io         2022-03-28T21:06:12Z
volumesnapshots.snapshot.storage.k8s.io                2022-03-28T21:06:12Z
websites.extensions.example.com                        2022-03-30T23:42:32Z

Confirm other details of the configuration by using the following commands.

kubectl get fluxconfigs -A

NAMESPACE        NAME             SCOPE     URL                                                       PROVISION   AGE
cluster-config   cluster-config   cluster   https://github.com/Azure/gitops-flux2-kustomize-helm-mt   Succeeded   44m

kubectl get gitrepositories -A

NAMESPACE        NAME             URL                                                       READY   STATUS                                                            AGE
cluster-config   cluster-config   https://github.com/Azure/gitops-flux2-kustomize-helm-mt   True    Fetched revision: main/4f1bdad4d0a54b939a5e3d52c51464f67e474fcf   45m

kubectl get helmreleases -A

NAMESPACE        NAME      READY   STATUS                             AGE
cluster-config   nginx     True    Release reconciliation succeeded   66m
cluster-config   podinfo   True    Release reconciliation succeeded   66m
cluster-config   redis     True    Release reconciliation succeeded   66m

kubectl get kustomizations -A

NAMESPACE        NAME                   READY   STATUS                                                            AGE
cluster-config   cluster-config-apps    True    Applied revision: main/4f1bdad4d0a54b939a5e3d52c51464f67e474fcf   65m
cluster-config   cluster-config-infra   True    Applied revision: main/4f1bdad4d0a54b939a5e3d52c51464f67e474fcf   65m

Workloads are deployed from manifests in the Git repository.

kubectl get deploy -n nginx

NAME                                       READY   UP-TO-DATE   AVAILABLE   AGE
nginx-ingress-controller                   1/1     1            1           67m
nginx-ingress-controller-default-backend   1/1     1            1           67m

kubectl get deploy -n podinfo

NAME      READY   UP-TO-DATE   AVAILABLE   AGE
podinfo   1/1     1            1           68m

kubectl get all -n redis

NAME                 READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
pod/redis-master-0   1/1     Running   0          68m

NAME                     TYPE        CLUSTER-IP    EXTERNAL-IP   PORT(S)    AGE
service/redis-headless   ClusterIP   None          <none>        6379/TCP   68m
service/redis-master     ClusterIP   10.0.13.182   <none>        6379/TCP   68m

NAME                            READY   AGE
statefulset.apps/redis-master   1/1     68m

Control which controllers are deployed with the Flux cluster extension

For some scenarios, you may wish to change which Flux controllers are installed with the Flux cluster extension.

The source, helm, kustomize, and notification Flux controllers are installed by default. The image-automation and image-reflector controllers, used to update a Git repository when new container images are available, must be enabled explicitly.

You can use the k8s-extension command to change the default options:

• --config source-controller.enabled=<true/false> (default true)
• --config helm-controller.enabled=<true/false> (default true)
• --config kustomize-controller.enabled=<true/false> (default true)
• --config notification-controller.enabled=<true/false> (default true)
• --config image-automation-controller.enabled=<true/false> (default false)
• --config image-reflector-controller.enabled=<true/false> (default false)

For instance, to disable notifications, you can set notification-controller.enabled to false.

This example command installs the image-reflector and image-automation controllers. If the Flux extension was created automatically when a Flux configuration was first created, the extension name is flux.

az k8s-extension create -g <cluster_resource_group> -c <cluster_name> -t <connectedClusters or managedClusters or provisionedClusters> --name flux --extension-type microsoft.flux --config image-automation-controller.enabled=true image-reflector-controller.enabled=true

Using Kubelet identity as authentication method for AKS clusters

For AKS clusters, one of the authentication options to use is kubelet identity. By default, AKS creates its own kubelet identity in the managed resource group. If you prefer, you can use a precreated kubelet managed identity. To do so, add the parameter --config useKubeletIdentity=true at the time of Flux extension installation.

az k8s-extension create --resource-group <resource-group> --cluster-name <cluster-name> --cluster-type managedClusters --name flux --extension-type microsoft.flux --config useKubeletIdentity=true

Red Hat OpenShift onboarding guidance

Flux controllers require a nonroot Security Context Constraint to properly provision pods on the cluster. These constraints must be added to the cluster prior to onboarding of the microsoft.flux extension.

NS="flux-system"
oc adm policy add-scc-to-user nonroot system:serviceaccount:$NS:kustomize-controller
oc adm policy add-scc-to-user nonroot system:serviceaccount:$NS:helm-controller
oc adm policy add-scc-to-user nonroot system:serviceaccount:$NS:source-controller
oc adm policy add-scc-to-user nonroot system:serviceaccount:$NS:notification-controller
oc adm policy add-scc-to-user nonroot system:serviceaccount:$NS:image-automation-controller
oc adm policy add-scc-to-user nonroot system:serviceaccount:$NS:image-reflector-controller

For more information on OpenShift guidance for onboarding Flux, see the Flux documentation.

The Azure portal is useful for managing GitOps configurations and the Flux extension in Azure Arc-enabled Kubernetes or AKS clusters. In the Azure portal, you can see all of the Flux configurations associated with each cluster and get detailed information, including the overall compliance state of each cluster.

Follow these steps to apply a sample Flux configuration to a cluster. As part of this process, Azure installs the microsoft.flux extension on the cluster, if it wasn't already installed in a previous deployment.

1. Navigate to your cluster in the Azure portal.

2. From the service menu, under Settings, select GitOps > Create.

3. In the Basics section:

   1. Enter a name for the configuration.
   2. Enter the namespace within which the Flux custom resources will be installed. This can be an existing namespace or a new one that will be created when the configuration is deployed.
   3. Under Scope, select Cluster so that the Flux operator has access to apply the configuration to all namespaces in the cluster. To use namespace scope with this tutorial, see the changes needed.
   4. Select Next to continue to the Source section.

   

4. In the Source section:

   1. In Source type, select Git Repository.
   2. Enter the URL for the repository where the Kubernetes manifests are located: https://github.com/Azure/gitops-flux2-kustomize-helm-mt.
   3. For reference type, select Branch. Leave Branch set to main.
   4. For Repository type, select Public.
   5. Leave the other options set to the default, then select Next.

   

5. In the Kustomizations section, create two kustomizations: infrastructure and staging. These kustomizations are Flux resources, each associated with a path in the repository, that represent the set of manifests that Flux should reconcile to the cluster.

   1. Select Create.

   2. In the Create a Kustomization screen:

      1. For Instance name, enter infrastructure.

      2. For Path, enter ./infrastructure.

      3. Check the box for Prune. This setting ensures that the objects that Flux deployed to the cluster are cleaned up if they're removed from the repository, or if the Flux configuration or kustomizations are deleted.

      4. Leave the other options as is, then select Save to create the infrastructure kustomization.

         

   3. You'll see the infrastructure kustomization in the Kustomizations section. To create the next kustomization, select Create.

   4. In the Create a Kustomization screen:

      1. For Instance name, enter staging.

      2. For Path, enter ./apps/staging.

      3. Check the box for Prune.

      4. In the Depends on box, select infrastructure.

      5. Leave the other options as is, then select Save to create the staging kustomization.

         

   5. You now should see both kustomizations shown in the Kustomizations section. Select Next to continue.

6. Review the options you selected in the previous steps. Then select Create to finish creating your GitOps configuration.

View configurations and objects

To view all of the configurations for a cluster, navigate to the cluster and select GitOps from the service menu.

Select the name of a configuration to view more details such as the configuration's status, properties, and source. You can then select Configuration objects to view all of the objects that were created to enable the GitOps configuration. This lets you quickly see the compliance state and other details about each object.

To see other Kubernetes resources deployed on the cluster, return to the cluster overview page and select Kubernetes resources from the service menu.

To view detailed conditions for a configuration object, select its name.

For more information, see Monitor GitOps (Flux v2) status and activity.

Delete the Flux configurations

The following command deletes both the fluxConfigurations resource in Azure and the Flux configuration objects in the cluster. Because the Flux configuration was originally created with the prune=true parameter for the kustomization, all of the objects created in the cluster based on manifests in the Git repository are removed when the Flux configuration is removed. However, this command doesn't remove the Flux extension itself.

az k8s-configuration flux delete -g flux-demo-rg -c flux-demo-arc -n cluster-config -t connectedClusters --yes

Delete the Flux cluster extension

When you delete the Flux extension, both the microsoft.flux extension resource in Azure and the Flux extension objects in the cluster are removed.

If the Flux extension was created automatically when the Flux configuration was first created, the extension name is flux.

az k8s-extension delete -g flux-demo-rg -c flux-demo-arc -n flux -t connectedClusters --yes

Delete the Flux configuration

To delete a Flux configuration, navigate to the cluster where the configuration was created and select GitOps from the service menu. Select the configuration you want to delete. From the top of the page, select Delete, then select Delete again when prompted to confirm.

When you delete a Flux configuration, all of the Flux configuration objects in the cluster are deleted. However, this action doesn't delete the microsoft.flux extension itself.

Delete the Flux cluster extension

When you delete the Flux extension, both the microsoft.flux extension resource in Azure and the Flux extension objects in the cluster are removed.

For an Azure Arc-enabled Kubernetes cluster, navigate to the cluster and select Extensions. Select the flux extension and select Uninstall, then confirm the deletion.

For AKS clusters, you can't use the Azure portal to delete the extension. Instead, use the following Azure CLI command:

az k8s-extension delete -g <resource-group> -c <cluster-name> -n flux -t managedClusters --yes