post: gitops for devs part-2

src/content/blog/gitops-for-devs-the-code.md

@@ -0,0 +1,195 @@
+---
+title: "GitOps for Devs - Part 02: Navigating the Code"
+description: "In the part 02 of the GitOps for Devs article series, we will dive deeper into the code."
+pubDate: "Dec 31 2023"
+heroImage: 'https://bizkt.imgix.net/posts/gitopsfordevs/GitOps-for-devs-code.jpeg'
+badge: "New"
+---
+We're continuing our exploration of GitOps with ArgoCD. In the first part, we got a grasp of GitOps basics and set up an example app called Album-App. Now, let's explore the repositories that drive this application:
+
+## The Two Repositories
+
+1. **Application Code** - This contains the actual code for both the Frontend and Backend applications.
+    - **Backend**: A simple REST API written in Go, accessible on port 8080.
+    - **Frontend**: A React application that communicates with the backend.
+2. **Config Repo** - Hosts Helm charts defining the application's infrastructure.
+
+## Application Repository
+
+The application repository contains the code for both Frontend and Backend applications.
+
+### Backend
+
+The backend application itself is a simple REST API written in Go.
+
+The application exposes port `8080`.
+
+You can test the application on your docker environment by,
+
+```bash
+docker run -p 8080:8080 ghcr.io/krishanthisera/album-app-backend
+```
+
+Once the container is up click [here](http://localhost:8080/docs/index.html) to see API documentation.
+
+### Frontend
+
+The Frontend is a React application that talks to the backend.
+
+To test the application locally,
+
+```bash
+docker run -p 3000:3000 ghcr.io/krishanthisera/album-app-frontend
+```
+
+_Please note that the backend app should be running on port 8080._
+
+## Configuration Repository
+
+The [Config Repo](https://github.com/krishanthisera/album-app-config) contains Helm charts that define the application infrastructure.
+
+![Helm Charts](https://bizkt.imgix.net/posts/gitopsfordevs/ARGO_HELM_CHARTS.png)
+
+Here we have four helm charts ⎈,
+
+1. `root-app`: Acts as ArgoCD's entry point, managing and deploying the whole application stack.
+2. `apps`: Contains ArgoCD applications.
+3. `frontend and backend`: Helm charts for respective Kubernetes deployments.
+
+### Understanding Root App
+
+As the name suggests, the `root app` is the entry point for ArgoCD to manage and deploy the entire application stack.
+
+```yaml
+apiVersion: argoproj.io/v1alpha1
+kind: Application
+metadata:
+  name: root-app
+  namespace: argocd
+  finalizers:
+  - resources-finalizer.argocd.argoproj.io
+spec:
+  destination:
+    namespace: album-app
+    name: in-cluster
+  project: default
+  source:
+    path: apps
+    repoURL: https://github.com/krishanthisera/album-app-config
+    targetRevision: HEAD
+```
+
+![Root App](https://bizkt.imgix.net/posts/gitopsfordevs/ARGO_ROOT-APP.png)
+
+Here's a snippet:
+
+- **Destination:** Specifies where the application will be deployed (namespace and cluster).
+- **Project:** Defines the ArgoCD project the application belongs to. Projects offer a way to group and organize applications based on shared policies, permissions, and settings.
+
+    ```yaml
+    # Default ArgoCD Project
+    apiVersion: argoproj.io/v1alpha1
+    kind: AppProject
+    metadata:
+      name: default  # Name of the project
+      namespace: argocd  # Namespace where the project resides
+    spec:
+      clusterResourceWhitelist:  # Whitelisted cluster resources
+      - group: '*'  # All resource groups allowed
+        kind: '*'   # All resource kinds allowed
+      destinations:  # Deployment destinations
+      - namespace: '*'  # Deploy to all namespaces
+        server: '*'  # Deploy to all servers
+      sourceRepos:  # Allowed source repositories
+      - '*'  # Allow all repositories
+    ```
+
+- **Source:** Indicates the source of the application's configuration (Git repository URL, path, and target revision).
+
+Here the `root-app` points to the `/apps` directory in the config repo.
+
+## Apps Helm Chart
+
+As mentioned in the previous article, here we follow the ArgoCD App-of-Apps pattern.
+
+![Apps of Apps](https://bizkt.imgix.net/posts/gitopsdevs/ARGO_APPS_OF_APPS.png)
+
+Above are ArgoCD application resources residing in the argocd namespace. They define their respective apps' deployment targets, projects, and source repositories.
+
+```yaml
+# Backend Application
+apiVersion: argoproj.io/v1alpha1
+kind: Application
+metadata:
+  name: album-app-backend  # Name of the ArgoCD application
+  namespace: argocd  # Namespace where the ArgoCD application resides
+  finalizers:
+    - resources-finalizer.argocd.argoproj.io  # Action to be taken when deleting the resource
+spec:
+  destination:
+    namespace: album-app  # Deployment target namespace for the backend application
+    server: https://kubernetes.default.svc  # Kubernetes server for deployment
+  project: album-app  # Project to which the backend application belongs
+  source:
+    path: backend  # Directory containing backend code/configuration
+    repoURL: https://github.com/krishanthisera/album-app-config  # Git repository URL
+    targetRevision: HEAD  # Target revision of the repository
+
+---
+# Frontend Application
+apiVersion: argoproj.io/v1alpha1
+kind: Application
+metadata:
+  name: album-app-frontend  # Name of the ArgoCD application
+  namespace: argocd  # Namespace where the ArgoCD application resides
+  finalizers:
+    - resources-finalizer.argocd.argoproj.io  # Action to be taken when deleting the resource
+spec:
+  destination:
+    namespace: album-app  # Deployment target namespace for the frontend application
+    server: https://kubernetes.default.svc  # Kubernetes server for deployment
+  project: album-app  # Project to which the frontend application belongs
+  source:
+    path: frontend  # Directory containing frontend code/configuration
+    repoURL: https://github.com/krishanthisera/album-app-config  # Git repository URL
+    targetRevision: HEAD  # Target revision of the repository
+```
+
+![Apps of Apps](https://bizkt.imgix.net/posts/gitopsfordevs/ARGO_ALBUM-APPS.png)
+
+_If you follow the repo, the helm template creates the namespace and the ArgoCD project._
+
+**Note:** If you want to ensure that child apps and all of their resources are deleted when the parent app is deleted, it's essential to add the appropriate finalizer to your Application definition. This finalizer action ensures proper cleanup and deletion of all related resources when the parent application is removed. See [here](https://argo-cd.readthedocs.io/en/stable/user-guide/app_deletion/)
+
+I have included all the ArgoCD applications this repo intended to deploy.
+
+The frontend and backend ArgoCD Application resources point to their respective directory in the repository.
+
+## Frontend and Backend Helm Charts
+
+These Helm charts define how the frontend and backend applications will be deployed on Kubernetes. They contain configuration details encapsulated within `values.yaml` files.
+
+```yaml
+replicaCount: 1
+namespace: album-app
+image:
+  repository: ghcr.io/krishanthisera/album-app-backend
+  pullPolicy: IfNotPresent
+  tag: "v1.3.2" # Important: This tag signifies the version of the backend application.
+  containerPort: 8080
+
+
+service: 
+  name: album-app-backend
+  port: 8080
+```
+
+![Backend Resources](https://bizkt.imgix.net/posts/gitopsfordevs/ARGO_ALBUM-APP_BE.png)
+
+The value files are pretty straightforward. The only thing to note is the `tag` value. It is the image tag of the backend application.
+
+During the release process of the application, the `tag` value will be replaced with the respective image tag.
+
+Part 3 of the article series will cover the release process including CI/CD pipelines.
+
+Stay tuned!