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Chapter 2. Enabling the Argo CD plugin

You can use the Argo CD plugin to visualize the Continuous Delivery (CD) workflows in OpenShift GitOps. This plugin provides a visual overview of the status of the application, deployment details, commit message, author of the commit, container image promoted to environment and deployment history.

Prerequisites

  • Add Argo CD instance information to your app-config.yaml configmap as shown in the following example: 

    argocd:
  appLocatorMethods:
    - type: 'config'
      instances:
        - name: argoInstance1
          url: https://argoInstance1.com
          username: ${ARGOCD_USERNAME}
          password: ${ARGOCD_PASSWORD}
        - name: argoInstance2
          url: https://argoInstance2.com
          username: ${ARGOCD_USERNAME}
          password: ${ARGOCD_PASSWORD}
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    Note

    Avoid using a trailing slash in the url, as it might cause unexpected behavior.

  • Add the following annotation to the entity catalog-info.yaml file to identify the Argo CD applications. 

    annotations:
  ...
  # The label that Argo CD uses to fetch all the applications. The format to be used is label.key=label.value. For example, rht-gitops.com/janus-argocd=quarkus-app.

  argocd/app-selector: '${ARGOCD_LABEL_SELECTOR}'
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  • (Optional) Add the following annotation to the entity’s catalog-info.yaml file to switch between Argo CD instances as shown in the following example: 

     annotations:
   ...
    # The Argo CD instance name used in `app-config.yaml`.

    argocd/instance-name: '${ARGOCD_INSTANCE}'
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    Note

    If you do not set this annotation, the Argo CD plugin defaults to the first Argo CD instance configured in app-config.yaml.

Procedure

  1. Add the following to your dynamic-plugins ConfigMap to enable the Argo CD plugin. 

    global:
  dynamic:
    includes:
      - dynamic-plugins.default.yaml
    plugins:
      - package: ./dynamic-plugins/dist/roadiehq-backstage-plugin-argo-cd-backend-dynamic
        disabled: false
      - package: ./dynamic-plugins/dist/backstage-community-plugin-redhat-argocd
        disabled: false
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2.1. Enabling Argo CD Rollouts
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The optional Argo CD Rollouts feature enhances Kubernetes by providing advanced deployment strategies, such as blue-green and canary deployments, for your applications. When integrated into the backstage Kubernetes plugin, it allows developers and operations teams to visualize and manage Argo CD Rollouts seamlessly within the Backstage interface.

Prerequisites

  • The Backstage Kubernetes plugin (@backstage/plugin-kubernetes) is installed and configured.

  • You have access to the Kubernetes cluster with the necessary permissions to create and manage custom resources and ClusterRoles.
  • The Kubernetes cluster has the argoproj.io group resources (for example, Rollouts and AnalysisRuns) installed.

Procedure

  1. In the app-config.yaml file in your Backstage instance, add the following customResources component under the kubernetes configuration to enable Argo Rollouts and AnalysisRuns: 

    kubernetes:
  ...
  customResources:
    - group: 'argoproj.io'
      apiVersion: 'v1alpha1'
      plural: 'Rollouts'
    - group: 'argoproj.io'
      apiVersion: 'v1alpha1'
      plural: 'analysisruns'
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  2. Grant ClusterRole permissions for custom resources.

    Note
    • If the Backstage Kubernetes plugin is already configured, the ClusterRole permissions for Rollouts and AnalysisRuns might already be granted.
    • Use the prepared manifest to provide read-only ClusterRole access to both the Kubernetes and ArgoCD plugins.
    1. If the ClusterRole permission is not granted, use the following YAML manifest to create the ClusterRole: 
    apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
kind: ClusterRole
metadata:
  name: backstage-read-only
rules:
  - apiGroups:
      - argoproj.io
    resources:
      - rollouts
      - analysisruns
    verbs:
      - get
      - list
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    1. Apply the manifest to the cluster using kubectl: 

      kubectl apply -f <your-clusterrole-file>.yaml
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    2. Ensure the ServiceAccount accessing the cluster has this ClusterRole assigned.

  3. Add annotations to catalog-info.yaml to identify Kubernetes resources for Backstage.

    1. For identifying resources by entity ID: 

      annotations:
  ...
  backstage.io/kubernetes-id: <BACKSTAGE_ENTITY_NAME>
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    2. (Optional) For identifying resources by namespace: 

      annotations:
  ...
  backstage.io/kubernetes-namespace: <RESOURCE_NAMESPACE>
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    3. For using custom label selectors, which override resource identification by entity ID or namespace: 

      annotations:
  ...
  backstage.io/kubernetes-label-selector: 'app=my-app,component=front-end'
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      Note

      Ensure you specify the labels declared in backstage.io/kubernetes-label-selector on your Kubernetes resources. This annotation overrides entity-based or namespace-based identification annotations, such as backstage.io/kubernetes-id and backstage.io/kubernetes-namespace.

  4. Add label to Kubernetes resources to enable Backstage to find the appropriate Kubernetes resources.

    1. Backstage Kubernetes plugin label: Add this label to map resources to specific Backstage entities. 

      labels:
  ...
  backstage.io/kubernetes-id: <BACKSTAGE_ENTITY_NAME>
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    2. GitOps application mapping: Add this label to map Argo CD Rollouts to a specific GitOps application 

      labels:
  ...
  app.kubernetes.io/instance: <GITOPS_APPLICATION_NAME>
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    Note

    If using the label selector annotation (backstage.io/kubernetes-label-selector), ensure the specified labels are present on the resources. The label selector will override other annotations like kubernetes-id or kubernetes-namespace.

Verification

  1. Push the updated configuration to your GitOps repository to trigger a rollout.
  2. Open Red Hat Developer Hub interface and navigate to the entity you configured.
  3. Select the CD tab and then select the GitOps application. The side panel opens.

  4. In the Resources table of the side panel, verify that the following resources are displayed:

    • Rollouts
    • AnalysisRuns (optional)

  5. Expand a rollout resource and review the following details:

    • The Revisions row displays traffic distribution details for different rollout versions.
    • The Analysis Runs row displays the status of analysis tasks that evaluate rollout success.
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