Argocd CLI

When to Use

• Install ArgoCD on AKS/ARO cluster
• Bootstrap app-of-apps pattern
• ArgoCD application management
• Sync status verification and drift detection
• Repository credential configuration

Prerequisites

• kubectl access to target cluster
• Helm 3.12+ installed
• ArgoCD CLI installed (for day-2 operations)
• GitHub credentials for repository access

Installation & Bootstrap

1. Install ArgoCD via Helm

# Add ArgoCD Helm repo
helm repo add argo https://argoproj.github.io/argo-helm
helm repo update

# Create namespace
kubectl create namespace argocd

# Install with project values
helm install argocd argo/argo-cd \
  --namespace argocd \
  --values deploy/helm/argocd/values.yaml \
  --wait --timeout 10m

# Verify installation
kubectl get pods -n argocd
kubectl wait --for=condition=ready pod -l app.kubernetes.io/name=argocd-server -n argocd --timeout=300s

2. Get Initial Admin Password

# Get auto-generated admin password
kubectl -n argocd get secret argocd-initial-admin-secret \
  -o jsonpath="{.data.password}" | base64 -d; echo

# Login via CLI
argocd login argocd.${DNS_ZONE_NAME} --username admin --password <password>

3. Configure Repository Credentials

# Apply repository credentials from manifests
kubectl apply -f argocd/repo-credentials.yaml

# Or add via CLI
argocd repo add https://github.com/${GITHUB_ORG}/three-horizons-accelerator-v4.git \
  --username <username> --password <github-token>

# Verify
argocd repo list

4. Bootstrap App-of-Apps

# Apply root application (bootstraps all child apps)
kubectl apply -f argocd/app-of-apps/root-application.yaml

# Apply sync policies
kubectl apply -f argocd/sync-policies.yaml

# Verify apps are created
argocd app list

5. Configure External Secrets Integration

# Apply cluster secret store
kubectl apply -f argocd/secrets/cluster-secret-store.yaml

# Deploy External Secrets app
kubectl apply -f argocd/apps/external-secrets.yaml

# Deploy Gatekeeper
kubectl apply -f argocd/apps/gatekeeper.yaml

Day-2 Operations

Authentication

# Login to ArgoCD
argocd login <ARGOCD_SERVER> --username admin --password <password>

# Current context
argocd context

Application Operations

# List applications
argocd app list

# Get application status
argocd app get <app-name>

# Show application diff (ALWAYS do before sync)
argocd app diff <app-name>

# Sync application
argocd app sync <app-name>

# Sync with prune (careful in production)
argocd app sync <app-name> --prune

# Hard refresh
argocd app get <app-name> --hard-refresh

Health & Status

# Application health
argocd app get <app-name> -o json | jq '.status.health.status'

# Sync status
argocd app get <app-name> -o json | jq '.status.sync.status'

# Resources status
argocd app resources <app-name>

Troubleshooting

# Check ArgoCD server logs
kubectl logs -n argocd -l app.kubernetes.io/name=argocd-server --tail=100

# Check application controller logs
kubectl logs -n argocd -l app.kubernetes.io/name=argocd-application-controller --tail=100

# Check repo server logs
kubectl logs -n argocd -l app.kubernetes.io/name=argocd-repo-server --tail=100

# Force sync
argocd app sync <app-name> --force

# Check events
kubectl get events -n argocd --sort-by='.lastTimestamp'

Project Files Reference

• Helm values: deploy/helm/argocd/values.yaml
• App-of-apps: argocd/app-of-apps/root-application.yaml
• Sync policies: argocd/sync-policies.yaml
• Repo credentials: argocd/repo-credentials.yaml
• Secret store: argocd/secrets/cluster-secret-store.yaml
• Terraform module: terraform/modules/argocd/

Best Practices

1. ALWAYS diff before sync
2. Use --prune carefully in production
3. Verify health after sync
4. Use projects for access control
5. Enable auto-sync only for non-prod environments
6. Configure notifications for sync failures
7. Use sync waves for ordered deployments

Output Format

1. Command executed
2. Sync/health status
3. Any drift detected
4. Recommended actions

Integration with Agents

Used by: @devops, @sre