f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 9: GitOps with ArgoCD

2026-04-02T00:00:00+03:00

f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 9: GitOps with ArgoCD

+
+

f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 9: GitOps with ArgoCD
⇢ Introduction
⇢ GitOps in a Nutshell
⇢ ArgoCD
⇢ Why Bother for a Home Lab?
⇢ Deploying ArgoCD
⇢ ⇢ Accessing ArgoCD
⇢ In-Cluster Git Server
⇢ Repository Organization
⇢ Migrating an App: Miniflux as Example
⇢ ⇢ Migration Order
⇢ Complex Migration: Prometheus Multi-Source
⇢ ⇢ Sync Waves
⇢ The Result
⇢ What Changed Day-to-Day
⇢ Challenges Along the Way
⇢ ⇢ Helm Release Adoption
⇢ ⇢ PersistentVolumes
⇢ ⇢ Secrets
⇢ ⇢ Grafana Not Reloading
⇢ ⇢ Prometheus Multi-Source Ordering
⇢ Wrapping Up

Introduction

+
+In previous posts, I deployed applications to the k3s cluster using Helm charts and Justfiles--running just install or just upgrade to push changes to the cluster. That worked, but it had some drawbacks:
+
+

No single source of truth--cluster state depends on which commands were run and when
Every change requires manually running commands
No easy way to tell if the cluster drifted from the desired config
Rolling back means re-running old Helm commands
No audit trail for who changed what

+This post covers the migration to GitOps with ArgoCD. After this, the Git repo is the single source of truth, and ArgoCD keeps the cluster in sync automatically.
+
+

GitOps in a Nutshell

+
+The idea behind GitOps is simple: describe your entire desired state in Git, and let an agent in the cluster pull that state and reconcile it continuously. Every change goes through a commit, so you get version history, collaboration, and rollback for free.
+
+For Kubernetes specifically:
+
+

All manifests, Helm charts, and config live in a Git repo
ArgoCD watches that repo
Push a change, ArgoCD applies it
If someone manually tweaks something in the cluster, ArgoCD detects the drift and reverts it

ArgoCD

+
+ArgoCD is a GitOps continuous delivery tool for Kubernetes. It runs as a controller in the cluster, continuously comparing live state against what's defined in Git.
+
+ArgoCD Documentation
+
+The features I care about most for f3s:
+
+

Automatic sync--monitors Git and applies changes to the cluster
Application CRDs--each app is a Kubernetes custom resource
Health checks--knows whether an app is healthy or degraded
Web UI--visual overview of all applications and their sync status
Sync waves and hooks--control deployment order and run post-deploy jobs
Multi-source--combine upstream Helm charts with custom manifests

Why Bother for a Home Lab?

+
+Honestly, the biggest reason is disaster recovery. If the cluster dies, I can:
+
+

Bootstrap a fresh k3s cluster
Install ArgoCD
Point it at the Git repo
Everything deploys automatically

+That's it. No "let me check my shell history to remember how I set this up."
+
+It's also a great way to learn. Setting up GitOps for real--even on a small cluster--teaches you things you won't pick up from tutorials alone. Debugging sync issues, figuring out sync waves, dealing with secrets management--all stuff that's directly applicable at work too.
+
+Beyond that: push to Git, things deploy. No SSH'ing to a workstation to run Helm commands. And if I manually tweak something while debugging and forget about it, ArgoCD reverts it back to the desired state. That's happened more than once.
+
+

Deploying ArgoCD

+
+ArgoCD manages everything else via GitOps, but ArgoCD itself needs a bootstrap. Chicken-and-egg problem.
+
+The installation lives in the config repo:
+
+codeberg.org/snonux/conf/f3s/argocd
+
+I deployed it using Helm via a Justfile:
+
+ +

$ cd conf/f3s/argocd
+$ just install
+helm repo add argo https://argoproj.github.io/argo-helm
+helm repo update
+kubectl create namespace cicd
+kubectl apply -f persistent-volumes.yaml
+helm install argocd argo/argo-cd --namespace cicd -f values.yaml
+kubectl apply -f ingress.yaml
+

+
+A few things worth noting in the values.yaml:
+
+Persistent storage for the repo-server so cloned Git repos survive pod restarts:
+
+

+repoServer:
+  volumes:
+    - name: repo-server-data
+      persistentVolumeClaim:
+        claimName: argocd-repo-server-pvc
+  volumeMounts:
+    - name: repo-server-data
+      mountPath: /home/argocd/repo-cache
+  env:
+    - name: XDG_CACHE_HOME
+      value: /home/argocd/repo-cache
+

+
+Server runs in insecure mode since TLS is terminated by the OpenBSD edge relays (same pattern as all other f3s services):
+
+

+server:
+  insecure: true
+configs:
+  params:
+    server.insecure: true
+

+
+Dex (SSO) and notifications are disabled--overkill for a single-user home lab:
+
+

+dex:
+  enabled: false
+notifications:
+  enabled: false
+

+
+The admin password is auto-generated on first install and stored in argocd-initial-admin-secret. It's preserved across Helm upgrades, so no manual secret creation needed:
+
+ +

$ just get-password
+# Reads from argocd-initial-admin-secret
+

+
+

Accessing ArgoCD

+
+After deployment, ArgoCD runs in the cicd namespace:
+
+ +

$ kubectl get pods -n cicd
+NAME                                                READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
+argocd-application-controller-0                     1/1     Running   0          45d
+argocd-applicationset-controller-66d6b9b8f4-vhm9k   1/1     Running   0          45d
+argocd-redis-77b8d6c6d4-mz9hg                       1/1     Running   0          45d
+argocd-repo-server-5f98f77b97-8xtcq                 1/1     Running   0          45d
+argocd-server-6b9c4b4f8d-kxw7p                      1/1     Running   0          45d
+

+
+
+
+The ingress exposes both a WAN and LAN endpoint:
+
+

+# WAN access (via OpenBSD relayd)
+- host: argocd.f3s.foo.zone
+# LAN access (via FreeBSD CARP VIP, with TLS)
+- host: argocd.f3s.lan.foo.zone
+

+
+

In-Cluster Git Server

+
+I didn't want ArgoCD pulling from Codeberg over the internet every time it checks for changes. If Codeberg is down (or my internet is), the cluster can't reconcile. So I set up a Git server inside the cluster itself.
+
+codeberg.org/snonux/conf/f3s/git-server (at 190473b)
+
+The git-server runs as a single pod in the cicd namespace with two containers sharing a PVC:
+
+

An SSH git server (Alpine + OpenSSH + git-shell) for pushing changes from my laptop
A CGit web UI with git-http-backend (nginx + fcgiwrap) for browsing repos and HTTP clones

+ArgoCD uses the HTTP backend to clone repos. Most Application manifests point at:
+
+

+http://git-server.cicd.svc.cluster.local/conf.git
+

+
+For pushing, I use SSH via a NodePort (30022). The git user is locked down to git-shell--no actual shell access. SSH keys are managed through a Kubernetes Secret.
+
+There's a chicken-and-egg situation here. The git-server's own ArgoCD Application manifest points at Codeberg (not at itself), since ArgoCD needs to bootstrap the git-server before it can use it:
+
+

+# argocd-apps/cicd/git-server.yaml
+source:
+  repoURL: https://codeberg.org/snonux/conf.git
+  targetRevision: master
+  path: f3s/git-server/helm-chart
+

+
+Once the pod is up, all other apps use the in-cluster URL. The dependency chain is: Codeberg -> git-server -> everything else.
+
+The repo storage lives on NFS. Initial setup was just cloning the Codeberg repo as a bare repo into the NFS volume, then pointing my laptop's git remote at the NodePort:
+
+ +

$ git remote add f3s f3s-git:/repos/conf.git
+$ git push f3s master
+

+
+ArgoCD detects the change within a few minutes and syncs. No internet required. The whole thing is intentionally minimal--no database, no accounts, no webhooks. Just git over SSH for writes and HTTP for reads.
+
+

Repository Organization

+
+I reorganized the config repo to support GitOps. Application manifests are grouped by Kubernetes namespace:
+
+

+/home/paul/git/conf/f3s/
+├── argocd-apps/
+│   ├── cicd/                  # CI/CD tooling (2 apps)
+│   │   ├── argo-rollouts.yaml
+│   │   └── git-server.yaml
+│   ├── infra/                 # Infrastructure (4 apps)
+│   │   ├── cert-manager.yaml
+│   │   ├── pkgrepo.yaml
+│   │   ├── registry.yaml
+│   │   └── traefik-config.yaml
+│   ├── monitoring/            # Observability stack (6 apps)
+│   │   ├── alloy.yaml
+│   │   ├── grafana-ingress.yaml
+│   │   ├── loki.yaml
+│   │   ├── prometheus.yaml
+│   │   ├── pushgateway.yaml
+│   │   └── tempo.yaml
+│   ├── services/              # User-facing applications (18 apps)
+│   │   ├── anki-sync-server.yaml
+│   │   ├── apache.yaml
+│   │   ├── audiobookshelf.yaml
+│   │   ├── filebrowser.yaml
+│   │   ├── immich.yaml
+│   │   ├── ipv6test.yaml
+│   │   ├── jellyfin.yaml
+│   │   ├── keybr.yaml
+│   │   ├── kobo-sync-server.yaml
+│   │   ├── miniflux.yaml
+│   │   ├── navidrome.yaml
+│   │   ├── opodsync.yaml
+│   │   ├── pihole.yaml
+│   │   ├── radicale.yaml
+│   │   ├── syncthing.yaml
+│   │   ├── tracing-demo.yaml
+│   │   ├── wallabag.yaml
+│   │   └── webdav.yaml
+│   └── test/                  # Test/example applications
+├── miniflux/                  # Per-app directories (unchanged)
+│   ├── helm-chart/
+│   │   ├── Chart.yaml
+│   │   ├── values.yaml
+│   │   └── templates/
+│   └── Justfile
+├── prometheus/
+│   ├── manifests/             # Additional manifests for multi-source
+│   └── Justfile
+└── ...
+

+
+The per-app directories (miniflux, prometheus, etc.) stayed mostly the same--ArgoCD points at the same Helm charts. The main additions are the argocd-apps/ directory structure and manifests/ subdirectories for complex apps.
+
+

Migrating an App: Miniflux as Example

+
+I migrated all apps incrementally, one at a time. The procedure was the same for each. Here's miniflux as a concrete example.
+
+Before ArgoCD, the Justfile looked like this:
+
+ +

install:
+    kubectl apply -f helm-chart/persistent-volumes.yaml
+    helm install miniflux ./helm-chart --namespace services
+
+upgrade:
+    helm upgrade miniflux ./helm-chart --namespace services
+
+uninstall:
+    helm uninstall miniflux --namespace services
+

+
+Workflow: edit chart, run just upgrade, hope you didn't forget anything.
+
+To migrate, I created an Application manifest telling ArgoCD where the Helm chart lives and how to sync it:
+
+

+apiVersion: argoproj.io/v1alpha1
+kind: Application
+metadata:
+  name: miniflux
+  namespace: cicd
+  finalizers:
+    - resources-finalizer.argocd.argoproj.io
+spec:
+  project: default
+  source:
+    repoURL: http://git-server.cicd.svc.cluster.local/conf.git
+    targetRevision: master
+    path: f3s/miniflux/helm-chart
+  destination:
+    server: https://kubernetes.default.svc
+    namespace: services
+  syncPolicy:
+    automated:
+      prune: true
+      selfHeal: true
+    syncOptions:
+      - CreateNamespace=false
+    retry:
+      limit: 3
+      backoff:
+        duration: 5s
+        factor: 2
+        maxDuration: 1m
+

+
+Then applied it:
+
+ +

# 1. Apply the Application manifest
+$ kubectl apply -f argocd-apps/services/miniflux.yaml
+application.argoproj.io/miniflux created
+
+# 2. Verify ArgoCD adopted the existing resources
+$ argocd app get miniflux
+Name:               miniflux
+Sync Status:        Synced to master (4e3c216)
+Health Status:      Healthy
+
+# 3. Test that the app still works
+$ curl -I https://flux.f3s.foo.zone
+HTTP/2 200
+

+
+About 10 minutes, zero downtime. ArgoCD recognised the already-running resources matched the Helm chart in Git and adopted them without re-deploying.
+
+After the migration, the Justfile turned into utility commands--no more install/upgrade/uninstall:
+
+ +

status:
+    @kubectl get pods -n services -l app=miniflux-server
+    @kubectl get pods -n services -l app=miniflux-postgres
+    @kubectl get application miniflux -n cicd \
+        -o jsonpath='Sync: {.status.sync.status}, Health: {.status.health.status}'
+
+sync:
+    @kubectl annotate application miniflux -n cicd \
+        argocd.argoproj.io/refresh=normal --overwrite
+
+logs:
+    kubectl logs -n services -l app=miniflux-server --tail=100 -f
+
+restart:
+    kubectl rollout restart -n services deployment/miniflux-server
+
+port-forward port="8080":
+    kubectl port-forward -n services svc/miniflux {{port}}:8080
+
+psql:
+    kubectl exec -it -n services deployment/miniflux-postgres -- psql -U miniflux
+

+
+New workflow: edit chart, commit, push. ArgoCD picks it up within a few minutes. Run just sync if you're impatient.
+
+

Migration Order

+
+I started with the simplest services (miniflux, wallabag, radicale, etc.)--apps with straightforward Helm charts and no complex dependencies. This let me validate the pattern before touching anything critical.
+
+After that: infrastructure apps (registry, cert-manager, pkgrepo, traefik-config), then the monitoring stack (tempo, loki, alloy, and finally prometheus--the most complex one), and last the CI/CD tools (git-server, argo-rollouts).
+
+

Complex Migration: Prometheus Multi-Source

+
+Prometheus was the tricky one. It combines an upstream Helm chart with a bunch of custom manifests--recording rules, dashboards, persistent volumes, and a post-sync hook to restart Grafana.
+
+ArgoCD's multi-source feature handles this cleanly:
+
+

+apiVersion: argoproj.io/v1alpha1
+kind: Application
+metadata:
+  name: prometheus
+  namespace: cicd
+spec:
+  sources:
+    # Source 1: Upstream Helm chart
+    - repoURL: https://prometheus-community.github.io/helm-charts
+      chart: kube-prometheus-stack
+      targetRevision: 55.5.0
+      helm:
+        releaseName: prometheus
+        valuesObject:
+          kubeEtcd:
+            enabled: true
+            endpoints:
+              - 192.168.2.120
+              - 192.168.2.121
+              - 192.168.2.122
+          # ... hundreds of lines of config
+
+    # Source 2: Custom manifests from Git
+    - repoURL: http://git-server.cicd.svc.cluster.local/conf.git
+      targetRevision: master
+      path: f3s/prometheus/manifests
+
+  syncPolicy:
+    automated:
+      prune: false  # Manual pruning--too risky for the monitoring stack
+      selfHeal: true
+    syncOptions:
+      - ServerSideApply=true
+

+
+The prometheus/manifests/ directory has 13 files, each with a sync wave annotation to control deployment order:
+
+

+f3s/prometheus/manifests/
+├── persistent-volumes.yaml              # Wave 0
+├── grafana-restart-rbac.yaml            # Wave 0
+├── additional-scrape-configs-secret.yaml # Wave 1
+├── grafana-datasources-configmap.yaml   # Wave 1
+├── freebsd-recording-rules.yaml         # Wave 3
+├── openbsd-recording-rules.yaml         # Wave 3
+├── zfs-recording-rules.yaml             # Wave 3
+├── argocd-application-alerts.yaml       # Wave 3
+├── epimetheus-dashboard.yaml            # Wave 4
+├── zfs-dashboards.yaml                  # Wave 4
+├── argocd-applications-dashboard.yaml   # Wave 4
+├── node-resources-multi-select-dashboard.yaml # Wave 4
+├── prometheus-nodeport.yaml             # Wave 4
+└── grafana-restart-hook.yaml            # Wave 10 (PostSync)
+

+
+

Sync Waves

+
+Without sync waves, ArgoCD deploys all resources at once in no particular order. That's fine for simple apps, but for something like Prometheus it causes failures--a PersistentVolumeClaim can't bind if the PersistentVolume doesn't exist yet, and a PrometheusRule can't be created if the CRD hasn't been registered.
+
+Sync waves fix this. You annotate each resource with a wave number:
+
+

+annotations:
+  argocd.argoproj.io/sync-wave: "3"
+

+
+ArgoCD deploys all wave 0 resources first, waits until they're healthy, then moves to wave 1, waits again, and so on. Resources without the annotation default to wave 0.
+
+For the Prometheus stack, the waves look like this:
+
+

Wave 0: PersistentVolumes, RBAC--infrastructure that everything else depends on
Wave 1: Secrets, ConfigMaps--config that Prometheus and Grafana need at startup
Wave 3: PrometheusRule CRDs--recording rules for FreeBSD, OpenBSD, ZFS, ArgoCD (the operator from wave 0 needs to be running first)
Wave 4: Dashboard ConfigMaps and nodeport config
Wave 10: PostSync hook--a Job that runs after all waves complete

+The PostSync hook is worth explaining. ArgoCD supports lifecycle hooks (PreSync, Sync, PostSync) that run Jobs at specific points. The Grafana restart hook is a good example--it restarts Grafana after every sync so it picks up updated datasources and dashboards:
+
+

+apiVersion: batch/v1
+kind: Job
+metadata:
+  name: grafana-restart-hook
+  namespace: monitoring
+  annotations:
+    argocd.argoproj.io/hook: PostSync
+    argocd.argoproj.io/hook-delete-policy: BeforeHookCreation
+    argocd.argoproj.io/sync-wave: "10"
+spec:
+  template:
+    spec:
+      serviceAccountName: grafana-restart-sa
+      restartPolicy: OnFailure
+      containers:
+        - name: kubectl
+          image: bitnami/kubectl:latest
+          command:
+            - /bin/sh
+            - -c
+            - |
+              kubectl wait --for=condition=available --timeout=300s \
+                deployment/prometheus-grafana -n monitoring || true
+              kubectl delete pod -n monitoring \
+                -l app.kubernetes.io/name=grafana --ignore-not-found=true
+  backoffLimit: 2
+

+
+

The Result

+
+All 30 applications across 5 namespaces, synced and healthy:
+
+ +

$ argocd app list
+NAME                      CLUSTER                         NAMESPACE    PROJECT  STATUS  HEALTH   SYNCPOLICY
+alloy                     https://kubernetes.default.svc  monitoring   default  Synced  Healthy  Auto-Prune
+anki-sync-server          https://kubernetes.default.svc  services     default  Synced  Healthy  Auto-Prune
+apache                    https://kubernetes.default.svc  services     default  Synced  Healthy  Auto-Prune
+argo-rollouts             https://kubernetes.default.svc  cicd         default  Synced  Healthy  Auto-Prune
+audiobookshelf            https://kubernetes.default.svc  services     default  Synced  Healthy  Auto-Prune
+cert-manager              https://kubernetes.default.svc  infra        default  Synced  Healthy  Auto-Prune
+filebrowser               https://kubernetes.default.svc  services     default  Synced  Healthy  Auto-Prune
+git-server                https://kubernetes.default.svc  cicd         default  Synced  Healthy  Auto-Prune
+grafana-ingress           https://kubernetes.default.svc  monitoring   default  Synced  Healthy  Auto-Prune
+immich                    https://kubernetes.default.svc  services     default  Synced  Healthy  Auto-Prune
+ipv6test                  https://kubernetes.default.svc  services     default  Synced  Healthy  Auto-Prune
+jellyfin                  https://kubernetes.default.svc  services     default  Synced  Healthy  Auto-Prune
+keybr                     https://kubernetes.default.svc  services     default  Synced  Healthy  Auto-Prune
+kobo-sync-server          https://kubernetes.default.svc  services     default  Synced  Healthy  Auto-Prune
+loki                      https://kubernetes.default.svc  monitoring   default  Synced  Healthy  Auto-Prune
+miniflux                  https://kubernetes.default.svc  services     default  Synced  Healthy  Auto-Prune
+navidrome                 https://kubernetes.default.svc  services     default  Synced  Healthy  Auto-Prune
+opodsync                  https://kubernetes.default.svc  services     default  Synced  Healthy  Auto-Prune
+pihole                    https://kubernetes.default.svc  services     default  Synced  Healthy  Auto-Prune
+pkgrepo                   https://kubernetes.default.svc  infra        default  Synced  Healthy  Auto-Prune
+prometheus                https://kubernetes.default.svc  monitoring   default  Synced  Healthy  Auto
+pushgateway               https://kubernetes.default.svc  monitoring   default  Synced  Healthy  Auto-Prune
+radicale                  https://kubernetes.default.svc  services     default  Synced  Healthy  Auto-Prune
+registry                  https://kubernetes.default.svc  infra        default  Synced  Healthy  Auto-Prune
+syncthing                 https://kubernetes.default.svc  services     default  Synced  Healthy  Auto-Prune
+tempo                     https://kubernetes.default.svc  monitoring   default  Synced  Healthy  Auto-Prune
+traefik-config            https://kubernetes.default.svc  infra        default  Synced  Healthy  Auto-Prune
+tracing-demo              https://kubernetes.default.svc  services     default  Synced  Healthy  Auto-Prune
+wallabag                  https://kubernetes.default.svc  services     default  Synced  Healthy  Auto-Prune
+webdav                    https://kubernetes.default.svc  services     default  Synced  Healthy  Auto-Prune
+

+
+
+
+

What Changed Day-to-Day

+
+The practical difference is pretty big:
+
+

Single source of truth--clone the repo, look at argocd-apps/, and you know exactly what's running. No more helm list or guessing.
Push and forget--edit a Helm value, commit, push. ArgoCD picks it up within a few minutes. No SSH, no just upgrade.
Self-healing--I've tweaked things manually for debugging, forgotten about it, and ArgoCD quietly reverted it. That's saved me from some confusing "why is this behaving differently?" moments.
Rollback = git revert--git revert HEAD && git push and ArgoCD syncs back to the previous state.
Disaster recovery--bootstrap k3s, install ArgoCD, apply the Application manifests, wait. The cluster rebuilds itself. I haven't had to do this for real yet, but I've tested it and it works.
Drift detection--the ArgoCD UI shows immediately if something is out of sync. Much better than running kubectl commands and comparing output manually.

Challenges Along the Way

+
+

Helm Release Adoption

+
+When ArgoCD tries to manage resources already deployed by Helm, it can get confused. The fix: make sure the Application manifest matches the current Helm values exactly. ArgoCD then recognizes the resources and adopts them without re-deploying.
+
+

PersistentVolumes

+
+PVs are cluster-scoped, and many of my Helm charts created them with kubectl apply outside of Helm. For simple apps I moved PV definitions into the Helm chart templates. For complex apps like Prometheus, I used the multi-source pattern with PVs in a separate manifests/ directory at sync wave 0.
+
+

Secrets

+
+Secrets shouldn't live in Git as plaintext. For now, I create them manually with kubectl create secret and reference them from Helm charts. ArgoCD doesn't manage the secrets themselves. This works fine but isn't fully declarative--External Secrets Operator is on the list for the future.
+
+

Grafana Not Reloading

+
+After updating datasource ConfigMaps, Grafana wouldn't notice until the pod was restarted. The PostSync hook (the Grafana restart Job in sync wave 10) handles this automatically now.
+
+

Prometheus Multi-Source Ordering

+
+Without sync waves, Prometheus resources deployed in random order and things broke. PVs need to exist before PVCs, secrets before the operator, recording rules after the CRDs are registered. Adding sync wave annotations to everything in prometheus/manifests/ fixed all the ordering issues.
+
+

Wrapping Up

foo.zone feed

f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 9: GitOps with ArgoCD

f3s: Kubernetes with FreeBSD - Part 9: GitOps with ArgoCD

Table of Contents

Introduction

GitOps in a Nutshell

ArgoCD

Why Bother for a Home Lab?

Deploying ArgoCD

Accessing ArgoCD

In-Cluster Git Server

Repository Organization

Migrating an App: Miniflux as Example

Migration Order

Complex Migration: Prometheus Multi-Source

Sync Waves

The Result

What Changed Day-to-Day

Challenges Along the Way

Helm Release Adoption

PersistentVolumes

Secrets

Grafana Not Reloading

Prometheus Multi-Source Ordering

Wrapping Up

Distributed Systems Simulator - Part 3: Advanced Examples and Protocol API