Pipeline Automation

Ship Code to Production in Minutes

CI/CD Pipeline Implementation

Resources from Video Description

Key Takeaways

Commit → Image → Deploy (End-to-End): Changes to the app repo trigger a GitHub Actions workflow that builds a Docker image and pushes to a container registry. The workflow then updates the GitOps repo to reference the new image tag/sha. Argo CD detects the change and reconciles the cluster automatically.

Separation of Concerns (CI vs. CD):

  • CI (Application repo): Build & push image, then programmatically update the GitOps manifest.
  • CD (GitOps repo): Argo CD watches the repo and applies drift correction to the cluster.

GitHub Actions Essentials: Use built-in actions to check out code, authenticate to GHCR, build & push, then a script step to edit the Deployment’s image: field to the new digest. Store credentials as repository secrets (e.g., a registry PAT and a GitOps-repo PAT).

Self-Hosted Runner & Docker: The example uses a self-hosted runner (Docker required) to execute the workflow locally. Ensure Docker is running so the buildx and push steps succeed.

Argo CD Setup & Sync: Install Argo CD via Helm/manifests, port-forward the argocd-server, and create an Application pointing at the GitOps repo/path. Enable options like auto-sync/prune/self-heal as desired for hands-off deployments.

Observe the Full Flow: Make a tiny code change → workflow builds & pushes → GitOps repo gets updated → Argo CD syncs → new Pods run the latest image. You’ve got a professional GitOps-style CI/CD from commit to cluster.