Shared Configuration Repository

Share configuration settings across GitOps Runtimes

A Codefresh account with a Hosted or a Hybrid GitOps runtime can store configuration manifests for account-level resources in a Git repository. This repository, the Shared Configuration Repository, can be shared with other GitOps Runtimes in the same account, avoiding the need to create and maintain different configuration manifests for every GitOps Runtime. At the same time, you also have the flexibility to store resources unique to specific Runtimes without affecting other Runtimes.

IMPORTANT
Only Codefresh account administrators should have access to the Shared Configuration Repository. Its content is automatically generated and maintained by Codefresh.
While it is useful to understand its structure, we recommend using it for reference only, and NOT for making commits or manual changes.

  • Centralized Runtime configuration management
    With the Shared Configuration Repository, you can store configuration manifests for account-level resources in a centralized location. The Git repository is accessible to all GitOps Runtimes within the same Codefresh account, ensuring that account-level resources are consistently deployed and managed across all environments.

  • Runtime-specific configuration
    With the Shared Configuration Repository, you can create subdirectories for different GitOps Runtimes, and place configuration manifests that are only applied to specific GitOps Runtimes. You have fine-grained control over the configuration of individual Runtimes without affecting others.

Examples of configuration definitions in Shared Repo

Here are a few types of configuration definitions stored in the Shared Configuration Repository:

GitOps Runtimes & Shared Configuration Repos

  • Hosted GitOps Runtimes
    As part of the setup for a Hosted GitOps runtime, Codefresh creates the Shared Configuration Repository in the selected organization, together with the default Git Source repo. See Connect Git provider in Hosted GitOps setup.

  • Hybrid GitOps Runtimes
    When you install the first Hybrid GitOps runtime for an account, you are required to define the Shared Configuration Repo as part of setting up your Git account. See Installing Hybrid GitOps Helm Runtime installation.

Shared Configuration Repo structure

Below is a representation of the structure of the repository with the shared configuration. See a sample repo.


├── resources <───────────────────┐
│   ├── all-runtimes-all-clusters │
│   │   ├── cm-all.yaml           │
│   │   └── subfolder             │
│   │       └── manifest2.yaml    │
│   ├── control-planes            │
│   │   └── manifest3.yaml        │
│   ├── runtimes                  │
│   │   ├── runtime1              │
│   │   │   └── manifest4.yaml    │
│   │   └── runtime2              │
│   │       └── manifest5.yaml    │
│   └── manifest6.yaml            │
└── runtimes                      │
    ├── runtime1                  │ # referenced by "production-isc" argo-cd application, applied to the cluster by "cap-app-proxy"
    │   ├── in-cluster.yaml      ─┤ #     manage `include` field determines which dirs/files to sync to cluster
    │   └── remote-cluster.yaml  ─┤ #     manage `include` field to decide which dirs/files to sync to cluster
    └── runtime2                  │ # referenced by "staging-isc" argo-cd application, applied to the cluster by "cap-app-proxy
        └── in-cluster.yaml      ─┘ #     manage `include` field determines which dirs/files to sync to cluster

resources directory

The resources directory holds the resources shared by all clusters managed by the GitOps Runtimes:

  • resources/all-runtimes-all-clusters: Every resource manifest in this subdirectory is applied to all the GitOps Runtimes in the account, and to all the clusters managed by those Runtimes. In the above example, manifest2.yaml is applied to both runtime1 and runtime2.
  • resources/control-planes: Optional. When defined, every resource manifest in this subdirectory is applied to each Runtime’s in-cluster.
    Config map resources for example, when committed to this subdirectory, are deployed to each Runtime’s in-cluster.
  • resources/runtimes/<runtime_name>: Optional. Runtime-specific subdirectory. Every resource manifest in a runtime-specific subdirectory is applied to only the GitOps Runtime defined by <runtime_name>. In the above example, manifest4.yaml is applied only to runtime1, and manifest5.yaml is applied only to runtime2.

runtimes directory

The runtimes directory includes subdirectories specific to each GitOps Runtime installed in the cluster. Every subdirectory always has an in-cluster.yaml, and optionally, application manifest YAMLs for other clusters. The runtimes/<runtime1> subdirectory for example, includes the in-cluster.yaml, and a remote-cluster.yaml for the remote cluster also managed by the same Runtime.

Example application manifest for in-cluster.yaml

apiVersion: argoproj.io/v1alpha1
kind: Application
metadata:
  labels:
    codefresh.io/entity: internal-config
    codefresh.io/internal: 'true'
  name: in-cluster
spec:
  project: default
  source: 
    repoURL: <account's-shared-config-repository>
    path: resources # or shared-config/resources
    directory:
      include: '{all-runtimes-all-clusters/*.yaml,all-runtimes-all-clusters/**/*.yaml,runtimes/<runtime_name>/*.yaml,runtimes/<runtime_name>/**/*.yaml,control-planes/*.yaml,control-planes/**/*.yaml}'
      recurse: true
  destination:
    namespace: <runtime_name>
    server: https://kubernetes.default.svc
  syncPolicy:
    automated:
      allowEmpty: true
      prune: true
      selfHeal: true
    syncOptions:
      - allowEmpty=true

Git Source application per Runtime

In addition to the application manifests for GitOps Runtimes in the Shared Configuration Repository, every GitOps Runtime has a Git Source application that references runtimes/<runtime-name>.

This Git Source application creates an application manifest with the <cluster-name> for every cluster managed by the GitOps Runtime. The include field in the <cluster-name> application manifest determines which subdirectories in the resources directory are synced to the target cluster.

Use case: Integration resources for Runtimes

When creating a new GitOps Integration resource, such as a container registry integration for example in the Codefresh UI, you can define the GitOps Runtimes to which to apply that resource. The app-proxy saves the resource in the correct location in the Shared Configuration Repo, and updates the relevant Argo CD Applications to include it.

Use case: Create application for distribution across all GitOps Runtimes

In this scenario, you want to distribute an application configuration to all GitOps Runtimes within your Codefresh account. Storing the application manifest in the resources/all-runtimes-all-clusters directory of the Shared Configuration Repository makes it automatically accessible to all the GitOps Runtimes in the account and to all the clusters managed by those Runtimes.

Here’s how to do this with the Shared Configuration Repo:

  1. Create or update the application manifest in the resources/all-runtimes-all-clusters directory of the Shared Configuration Repository.
  2. Specify the desired configuration settings and resources required for the application in the manifest file.
  3. Save and commit the changes to the Git repository.

TIP
You can then monitor these applications in the GitOps Overview Dashboard, and drill down to each application in the GitOps Apps dashboard.

Hosted GitOps Runtime installation
Hybrid GitOps Runtime installation