Controller-based GitOps — from bootstrap to image automation
Module 1
Flux Architecture & Core Controllers
- Source controller: GitRepository, OCIRepository, HelmRepository, and Bucket sources — polling intervals and secret authentication
- Kustomization CRD: path targeting, prune, health assessment, dependency ordering with dependsOn
- HelmRelease CRD: chart source references, values overrides, upgrade strategies (remediation on failure)
- Reconciliation loop: how Flux detects drift, forces reconciliation with flux reconcile, and surfaces status
- Bootstrap with flux CLI: GitHub, GitLab, and Gitea providers, Flux system components in cluster
- Secrets for source access: SSH keys, HTTPS tokens, SOPS encryption for secrets in Git
Module 2
Multi-tenancy, Notifications & Image Automation
- Multi-tenant model: namespace isolation, ServiceAccount impersonation, tenant RBAC patterns
- Image automation controller: ImageRepository scanning, ImagePolicy for semver/regex tag filtering, ImageUpdateAutomation for auto-PR or direct push
- Notification controller: Alert and Provider CRDs for Slack, Teams, PagerDuty, and generic webhooks
- Event-driven updates: configuring receivers for GitHub/GitLab push events to trigger immediate reconciliation
- Monitoring Flux: Prometheus metrics, Grafana dashboards, alerting on reconciliation failures
- Upgrading Flux: in-place upgrades with flux install, managing breaking changes between versions
Hands-on
Lab — End-to-End GitOps Workshop
- Bootstrap exercise: install Flux into a cluster and connect it to a Git repository from scratch
- App deployment: deploy a multi-component application using Kustomization overlays per environment
- Helm management: manage a HelmRelease lifecycle including upgrade, rollback, and value overrides
- Image automation: configure auto-update of image tags when a new container image is pushed
- Failure simulation: introduce a bad manifest and observe reconciliation failure, alert firing, and recovery
What your team walks away with
Participants leave with hands-on experience running a full Flux-based GitOps system — including automated image updates and operational alerting — and understand the design decisions behind Flux's controller model.
- Bootstrap clusters with Flux GitOps from scratch using the flux CLI and a Git provider
- Manage Helm releases and Kustomizations declaratively, including dependency ordering and health gates
- Implement multi-tenant setups with namespace isolation and ServiceAccount-scoped reconcilers
- Automate image updates without manual intervention using image automation and ImagePolicy rules
- Alert on reconciliation failures via Slack or webhooks using the notification controller
Book the Flux CD & GitOps training
Reach out to schedule a session for your team — remote, on-site, or hybrid, in German or English.
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