Flux CD GitOps Patterns

Implement GitOps best practices with Flux CD, including repository structure, dependency management, and deployment patterns.

Keywords

flux, fluxcd, gitops, patterns, architecture, repository, structure, kustomization, helmrelease, dependencies, multi-tenant, multi-cluster, secrets, sops, designing, creating, deployment, deployments, notification, alerts, alerting, reconciliation, interval

When to Use This Skill

•Designing GitOps repository structure
•Setting up dependency chains between resources
•Implementing multi-environment deployments
•Configuring secrets management with Flux
•Setting up notifications and alerts
•Optimizing reconciliation intervals

Related Skills

•flux-troubleshooting - Diagnosing issues
•flux-operations - Day-to-day operations
•k8s-platform-tenancy - Multi-tenant patterns

Repository Patterns

Monorepo (Recommended for Small Teams)

code

homelab/
├── clusters/
│   ├── production/
│   │   ├── flux-system/
│   │   ├── infrastructure.yaml
│   │   └── apps.yaml
│   └── staging/
│       ├── flux-system/
│       └── ...
├── infrastructure/
│   ├── kustomization.yaml
│   ├── cert-manager/
│   ├── external-dns/
│   └── external-secrets/
├── apps/
│   ├── kustomization.yaml
│   ├── grafana/
│   └── loki/
└── helm/
    └── local-charts/

Multi-Repo (Enterprise)

code

fleet-infra/          # Flux bootstrap, cluster configs
├── clusters/
│   ├── production/
│   └── staging/

platform-components/  # Shared infrastructure
├── cert-manager/
├── ingress-nginx/
└── monitoring/

team-alpha-apps/      # Team-specific apps
├── app1/
└── app2/

Component Structure

code

component-name/
├── namespace.yaml       # Namespace isolation
├── repository.yaml      # HelmRepository source
├── release.yaml         # HelmRelease deployment
└── kustomization.yaml   # Resource orchestration

Dependency Management

Kustomization Dependencies

yaml

apiVersion: kustomize.toolkit.fluxcd.io/v1
kind: Kustomization
metadata:
  name: apps
  namespace: flux-system
spec:
  dependsOn:
    - name: infrastructure
    - name: configs
  interval: 10m
  path: ./apps
  prune: true
  wait: true
  sourceRef:
    kind: GitRepository
    name: flux-system

Deployment Order

code

Flux System (bootstrapped)
  └─> Infrastructure (CRDs, operators)
      ├─> Configs (ConfigMaps, Secrets)
      └─> Monitoring (Prometheus, Grafana)
          └─> Apps (depends on all above)

Source Configuration

GitRepository

yaml

apiVersion: source.toolkit.fluxcd.io/v1
kind: GitRepository
metadata:
  name: flux-system
  namespace: flux-system
spec:
  interval: 10m
  url: https://github.com/org/repo
  ref:
    branch: main
  secretRef:
    name: flux-system
  ignore: |
    /*
    !/clusters/
    !/infrastructure/
    !/apps/

OCI Repository

yaml

apiVersion: source.toolkit.fluxcd.io/v1beta2
kind: OCIRepository
metadata:
  name: podinfo
  namespace: flux-system
spec:
  interval: 10m
  url: oci://ghcr.io/stefanprodan/manifests/podinfo
  ref:
    tag: latest
  provider: generic  # or aws, azure, gcp

HelmRepository

yaml

apiVersion: source.toolkit.fluxcd.io/v1
kind: HelmRepository
metadata:
  name: bitnami
  namespace: flux-system
spec:
  interval: 30m
  url: https://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami

Variable Substitution

Environment Variables

yaml

apiVersion: kustomize.toolkit.fluxcd.io/v1
kind: Kustomization
spec:
  postBuild:
    substitute:
      CLUSTER_NAME: production
      DOMAIN: example.com
      ENVIRONMENT: prod
    substituteFrom:
      - kind: ConfigMap
        name: cluster-vars
      - kind: Secret
        name: cluster-secrets

Usage in Manifests

yaml

apiVersion: networking.k8s.io/v1
kind: Ingress
spec:
  rules:
    - host: app.${DOMAIN}  # Substituted

Secrets Management

SOPS Integration

yaml

apiVersion: kustomize.toolkit.fluxcd.io/v1
kind: Kustomization
spec:
  decryption:
    provider: sops
    secretRef:
      name: sops-age  # Contains age private key

External Secrets Pattern

yaml

apiVersion: external-secrets.io/v1beta1
kind: ExternalSecret
metadata:
  name: app-secrets
spec:
  refreshInterval: 1h
  secretStoreRef:
    kind: ClusterSecretStore
    name: vault
  target:
    name: app-secrets
    creationPolicy: Owner
  data:
    - secretKey: db-password
      remoteRef:
        key: secret/data/app
        property: password

Notification Patterns

Provider Configuration

yaml

apiVersion: notification.toolkit.fluxcd.io/v1beta3
kind: Provider
metadata:
  name: discord
  namespace: flux-system
spec:
  type: discord
  secretRef:
    name: discord-webhook

Alert Configuration

yaml

apiVersion: notification.toolkit.fluxcd.io/v1beta3
kind: Alert
metadata:
  name: on-call-alerts
  namespace: flux-system
spec:
  providerRef:
    name: discord
  eventSeverity: error
  eventSources:
    - kind: GitRepository
      name: '*'
    - kind: Kustomization
      name: '*'
    - kind: HelmRelease
      name: '*'
      namespace: '*'

Interval Guidelines

Resource Type	Recommended Interval	Rationale
GitRepository	10m	Balance freshness vs API calls
HelmRepository	30m	Charts update less frequently
Kustomization	10m	Sync with Git interval
HelmRelease	15m	Allow chart fetch first
OCIRepository	10m	Similar to Git

GitOps Principles

•Declarative - Desired state in Git, not imperative commands
•Versioned - All changes tracked in Git history
•Automated - Flux applies changes automatically
•Auditable - Git log provides complete audit trail
•Self-healing - Drift automatically corrected

Anti-Patterns to Avoid

Anti-Pattern	Problem	Solution
Direct kubectl apply	Bypasses GitOps	Always commit to Git
Forgotten suspensions	Resources don't update	Document, set reminders
Missing dependsOn	Race conditions	Define explicit dependencies
Secrets in Git (plaintext)	Security breach	Use SOPS or External Secrets
Very short intervals	API throttling	Use 10m+ for most resources
Wildcard sources	Security risk	Explicit resource names