Kubernetes is the standard for reliably running and managing container applications and is being adopted by more and more organizations. GitOps is a modern approach that combines the benefits of version control and CI/CD pipelines with Kubernetes. By declaratively describing the desired state in Git and utilizing a CD tool like ArgoCD, teams can quickly and reliably deploy their latest developments.

Of course, we start with a brief recap of Kubernetes and GitOps, but then we quickly dive into the practical aspects. I'll demonstrate how, in a small company (25 people), we use Kubernetes to run production code (Azure AKS, Helm, Github, MongoDB Atlas, etc.). I'll also show how, for every pull request, we create a temporary environment used to perform all integration tests. This environment includes a database, other microservices, and even DNS records and certificates. Only with a successful end-to-end test can the pull request be merged. And after merging? The new code automatically goes to production without downtime. And the temporary environment? Thrown away automatically.

The talk will show how GitOps and ArgoCD help a small company (~25 persons) to run production on Kubernetes. Simon will demonstrate the use of ApplicationSets and Helm to deploy a pull request before it's even merged so that you can focus on your change instead of general test environments.

GitOps is a very interesting topic that I actively missed in recent visits I did to conferences: I'm very enthusiastic about the goodness it brings and that's why I decided to create a talk. I already gave the talk in Dutch for the first time on Dotned Saturday in May (https://dotnedsaturday.nl/sessions/breng-je-pull-requests-tot-leven-met-kubernetes-gitops-en-argocd/), and I would love to give it to a larger audience.

I can give it both in English or Dutch: and I at least need 45 minutes because I do live demonstrations.