GitOps Infrastructure Skeleton

Overview

gitops-skeleton is a comprehensive reference repository demonstrating best practices for implementing GitOps workflows in Kubernetes environments. This project serves as a blueprint for organizations looking to adopt GitOps practices and infrastructure-as-code principles.

Problem Statement

Many organizations struggle with implementing consistent, scalable infrastructure management practices. Traditional imperative infrastructure approaches are error-prone and difficult to audit. This project provides a modern, declarative approach using GitOps principles.

Solution

A well-structured skeleton repository that provides:

Core Components

Declarative Infrastructure: All infrastructure defined as code in Git
Version Control: Complete audit trail of all infrastructure changes
Automated Deployments: GitOps operators handle synchronization
Environment Consistency: Identical configurations across environments

Technical Architecture

GitOps Principles Implemented

Git as Single Source of Truth: All infrastructure state tracked in Git
Declarative Configuration: Infrastructure defined declaratively, not imperatively
Automated Reconciliation: Continuous operators ensure actual state matches desired state
Pull-based Deployments: Operators pull changes from Git instead of push

Technology Stack

Kubernetes: Container orchestration platform
ArgoCD: GitOps continuous deployment tool
Kustomize: Template-free customization of Kubernetes manifests
Helm: Kubernetes package management (optional)

Implementation Highlights

Directory Structure

The skeleton provides a clear, scalable structure:

├── apps/              # Application deployments
├── infrastructure/    # Cluster infrastructure
├── base/             # Base configurations
├── overlays/         # Environment-specific overrides
└── docs/             # Documentation

Best Practices

Separation of Concerns: Clear division between applications and infrastructure
Multi-environment Support: Easy promotion between dev, staging, production
Security: RBAC and network policies pre-configured
Monitoring: Integration with observability stack

Key Features

Environment Management

Separate Git branches or directories for each environment
Consistent base configurations with environment-specific overlays
Easy promotion pipeline from dev to production

Scalability

Template-free approach using Kustomize
Easy to add new applications and services
Clear examples for common use cases

Security

Pre-configured RBAC policies
Network policies for pod-to-pod communication
Secrets management best practices
Security scanning integration

Results & Impact

Adoption: Used as reference by teams implementing GitOps
Consistency: Standardized approach across infrastructure
Auditability: Complete Git history of all changes
Efficiency: Reduced manual deployments and configuration drift

Key Learnings

GitOps significantly improves infrastructure reliability
Declarative infrastructure is easier to understand and maintain
Proper tooling (ArgoCD, Kustomize) is essential for GitOps success
Documentation and examples are crucial for adoption
Progressive delivery works well with GitOps practices

Best Practices Demonstrated

Use Git branches for environment promotion
Implement proper RBAC from day one
Automate security scanning in the pipeline
Monitor and alert on ArgoCD synchronization status
Keep base configurations lean and reusable