Tutorials
Red Hat introduces new offerings that integrate GitOps and Pipeline functionalities into its OpenShift platform, empowering developers with enhanced CI/CD capabilities and a modular approach to cloud-native development.
Streamlining Development Workflows with OpenShift: The Dawn of Modular CI/CD
Red Hat's Major Leap in Open Source CI/CD with OpenShift GitOps and Pipelines
During KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Europe, the enterprise open-source software giant, Red Hat, officially unveiled the general availability of its OpenShift GitOps and OpenShift Pipelines features. These new functionalities are built upon the foundations of the widely adopted open-source projects, Argo CD and Tekton, respectively, and are designed to deliver a complete continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) framework.
The Evolution of Red Hat's CI/CD Strategy: From Preview to Production Readiness
Red Hat’s journey to this general release began with the preview of OpenShift Pipelines in May 2020. Later that year, the company shared its vision for a comprehensive GitOps solution, highlighting its compatibility with established CI tools like Jenkins, while also exploring cloud-native CI/CD alternatives. The preview of OpenShift GitOps followed in February 2021, and now, Red Hat affirms that both features are robust enough for production environments.
Modularity as a Core Principle: Enhancing Flexibility for OpenShift Users
Brian Gracely, Senior Director of Product Strategy at Red Hat, underscored that this general availability signifies not only product readiness but also full alignment with upstream projects, comprehensive documentation, and seamless integration across Red Hat’s product ecosystem. Gracely emphasized a strategic shift towards modularity, which offers users unprecedented flexibility. This approach allows components like GitOps, Pipelines, serverless functions, and service mesh to be deployed as independent operators.
Empowering Users with Granular Control and Adaptability in Deployment
Gracely elaborated on the benefits of this modular design, stating that OpenShift no longer needs to be perceived as a monolithic entity. Customers can now selectively add these capabilities to any cluster at their desired pace. This flexibility allows users to mix and match functionalities, even when adhering to specific release versions, overcoming previous limitations where new features were tied to full platform upgrades.
Advanced Resource Management: OpenShift Pipelines Leverage Kubernetes Efficiency
With this latest release, the CI/CD features in OpenShift now surpass the capabilities previously available through integrations with tools such as Jenkins. OpenShift Pipelines, powered by Tekton, harness Kubernetes to execute processes with superior resource awareness, a significant improvement over its predecessors.
Optimizing Resource Utilization: Containerized Pipeline Execution
Gracely explained that traditional CI tools like Jenkins often demanded substantial resources, such as entire virtual machines. In contrast, OpenShift Pipelines operate each step within its own container. This containerized approach not only allows for precise resource allocation but also fully exploits Kubernetes deployment models, leading to greater efficiency.
Scalability and Independence: Tailoring CI/CD to Specific Needs
OpenShift Pipelines facilitate independent scaling of each CI/CD step, thereby minimizing resource consumption during inactive periods and eliminating the need for a central CI/CD server. Gracely highlighted that pipelines can be customized to individual requirements. For example, frequently updated projects can run as Kubernetes daemon sets for maximum machine utilization, while intermittent tasks can be managed as batch jobs, releasing resources when not in use.
Revolutionizing Resource Allocation: Kubernetes-Native Pipeline Management
Gracely articulated that this granular control allows pipelines to be more specialized, moving away from generic, resource-intensive designs. Kubernetes' inherent ability to support diverse deployment models means that Tekton effectively transforms every element into a worker node, eliminating the need to maintain large, stateful resource hogs continuously.
GitOps on OpenShift: A New Paradigm for Infrastructure Management
On the GitOps front, the landscape is less constrained by traditional technology. GitOps is a contemporary practice that establishes a Git repository as the authoritative source of truth for both development and operations teams, encompassing infrastructure configuration. Argo CD, an integral part of this offering, serves as a declarative GitOps Operator for Kubernetes, automating application deployment across clusters and ensuring they maintain their desired state, as detailed in Red Hat's blog.
Bridging the Gap: Empowering Application and Platform Teams with GitOps
Gracely emphasized that this integration is specifically designed to reconcile the distinct needs of platform teams, who manage resources, security, and potential conflicts, with those of application teams, who primarily seek a productive environment for their projects.
Red Hat's Contribution to the Argo CD Community and Customer Advocacy
Red Hat joined the Argo CD community in August 2020. Gracely noted that their contributions have extended beyond integrating the project into OpenShift, encompassing valuable insights into usage patterns gleaned from their customer base. This involvement has deepened their understanding of the technology, enabling full support and positioning them as advocates for customer use cases at the committer level.
Accessibility and Availability: OpenShift GitOps and Pipelines for All Users
Both OpenShift GitOps and OpenShift Pipelines are readily accessible via the OperatorHub. They are available to all managed OpenShift subscribers, as well as users of the self-managed OpenShift Container Platform and the recently introduced OpenShift Platform Plus.