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Install Argo CD

Time to add the GitOps agent to your cluster. Argo CD is the tool that will watch your Git repository and keep the cluster in sync with it. In this lesson you install it and open its dashboard. 🎛️

ℹ️ This lesson needs a running Kubernetes cluster. We use minikube, the same local cluster from the Kubernetes course. Start it first with minikube start.

What we will do (in very simple steps)

  1. Install Argo CD into the cluster
  2. Wait for it to be ready
  3. Open its dashboard and log in

Step 1: Install Argo CD

Argo CD runs inside its own namespace. Create it, then apply the official install manifest:

kubectl create namespace argocd
kubectl apply -n argocd -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/argoproj/argo-cd/stable/manifests/install.yaml

This installs everything Argo CD needs: its controllers, its API server, and its web dashboard.

Step 2: Wait for it to be ready

Argo CD has several components that take a minute to start. Watch them:

kubectl get pods -n argocd

Keep running that until every pod shows Running. When they are all up, Argo CD is ready. ✅

Step 3: Open the dashboard

The dashboard is not exposed outside the cluster by default, so forward its port to your machine:

kubectl port-forward svc/argocd-server -n argocd 8080:443

Leave that running, and open https://localhost:8080 in your browser. Your browser will warn about the certificate, since it is self-signed for local use. Accept the warning to continue.

Step 4: Log in

The username is admin. Argo CD generates a one-time password and stores it in a secret. Fetch it in a new terminal:

kubectl -n argocd get secret argocd-initial-admin-secret -o jsonpath="{.data.password}" | base64 -d

Copy the value it prints, log in as admin, and you are looking at the Argo CD dashboard. 🎉 Right now it is empty, no apps yet. In the next lesson you point it at your repo and watch it deploy Snapshot.

✅ Checkpoint

You are ready for the next lesson if:

  • All Argo CD pods in the argocd namespace are Running
  • The dashboard opens at https://localhost:8080
  • You logged in as admin with the generated password

🩹 Common hiccups

  • Pods stuck not ready: give it a minute or two. Re-run kubectl get pods -n argocd to check progress.
  • Dashboard will not open: the port-forward command must stay running in its terminal. If it stopped, run it again.
  • Password command prints nothing: the secret may not exist yet, or was already changed. Make sure the pods are running first.
  • Port 8080 in use: forward to a different local port, such as 8081:443, and open that.

Next up: Your First Synced App, where you point Argo CD at your repository and watch it deploy Snapshot on its own.