Scaling fluxcd/flux2-kustomize-helm-example

This document provides detailed instructions on how to effectively scale the fluxcd/flux2-kustomize-helm-example project in a production environment. This guide assumes an understanding of GitOps practices and Flux CD’s operational principles.

Prerequisites

Before proceeding, ensure that your production environment meets the initial setup requirements already established within the project.

Step 1: Scaling the Clone Cluster

To create a clone of your production environment for scaling purposes, execute the following steps:

Clone Your Repository Locally

git clone https://github.com/${GITHUB_USER}/${GITHUB_REPO}.git
cd ${GITHUB_REPO}

Create a Directory for the New Cluster
```
mkdir -p clusters/production-clone
```

Copy Infrastructure and Apps Manifests

cp clusters/production/infrastructure.yaml clusters/production-clone
cp clusters/production/apps.yaml clusters/production-clone

Push Changes to the Main Branch

git add -A && git commit -m "add production clone" && git push

Step 2: Bootstrap the New Cluster

To deploy the new workload on the production-clone cluster, bootstrap it and instruct Flux to apply your cluster configurations.

Bootstrap Flux on the Production Clone

flux bootstrap github \
--context=production-clone \
--owner=${GITHUB_USER} \
--repository=${GITHUB_REPO} \
--branch=main \
--personal \
--path=clusters/production-clone

Tell Flux to Deploy Production Workloads

flux reconcile kustomization flux-system \
--context=production-clone \
--with-source

Step 3: Monitoring Production Scaling

After bootstrapping and deploying, it’s crucial to monitor your production environment and ensure everything is working as intended.

Watch for Kustomization Reconciliations
```
flux get kustomizations --watch
```

This command allows you to monitor the state of your kustomizations in real-time. Take note of whether they are ready and if any errors arise during deployment.

Step 4: Adjusting Resource Specifications

Scaling may also require you to adjust resource configurations defined in your manifest files to meet increased load demands. For instance, within clusters/production/apps.yaml, you may define additional replicas for a specific application.

Example: Updating Replica Count

Modify your application resource’s replica count as follows:

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: podinfo
  namespace: podinfo
spec:
  replicas: 5  # Updated from 1 to 5 for increased scalability
  template:
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: podinfo
        image: my-podinfo-image:latest

Step 5: Validating Scaled Deployments

After making changes and triggering deployment, perform validations to ensure the application is serving requests appropriately.

Access the Application

curl -H "Host: podinfo.production" http://localhost:8080

Check the output to confirm that the production cluster is running the adequate version and hostname.

Conclusion

Following the outlined steps allows expert developers to scale their fluxcd/flux2-kustomize-helm-example project effectively in a production environment. Continuous monitoring and resource adjustments will further enhance the resilience and performance of the deployed applications.

Refer to the project’s README.md for additional context and background on configuring Flux and managing multiple clusters efficiently.