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# GitOps: The past, present and future

Stop granting pipelines elevated access to your infrastructure. Discover how a pull-based GitOps model prevents configuration drift and makes rollbacks as simple as reverting a commit.

- **Speakers:** Roberth Strand
- **Event:** WeAreDevelopers LIVE
- **Published:** October 19, 2021
- **Duration:** 47:42
- **URL:** https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/267-gitops-the-past-present-and-future

## Summary

GitOps represents a major shift from traditional push-based CI/CD pipelines to a pull-based operational model where Git serves as the sole, immutable source of truth for a system's desired state. Originating from principles established by Weaveworks, true GitOps extends beyond simply storing configuration code in a repository. It relies on four core tenets: systems must be expressed declaratively, states must be versioned and immutable, changes must be pulled automatically by software agents, and the environment must be continuously reconciled to prevent configuration drift. This architectural choice inherently improves security; rather than granting external pipelines elevated access to infrastructure, autonomous agents run directly within the cluster and pull updates inward.

By utilizing Kubernetes operators and controller patterns, Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) projects like FluxCD and ArgoCD automatically detect approved repository changes and synchronize the target environment. This "operations by pull request" methodology ensures that the codebase acts as accurate, real-time documentation of the entire infrastructure. Because every change represents a strict new version of the desired state, engineering teams can execute near-instantaneous deployments or perform seamless rollbacks simply by reverting a Git commit, bypassing the need for complex, manual troubleshooting during production incidents.

As the Open GitOps working group continues to standardize these practices, the ecosystem is laying the groundwork for broader adoption and formalized certifications. Embracing this methodology allows organizations to leverage familiar developer tools—such as branch protections and pull request reviews—to manage complex infrastructure safely, accelerating deployment speeds while maintaining a rigorous, self-healing operational baseline.

**Keywords:** gitops principles, continuous reconciliation, declarative infrastructure, pull-based deployments, kubernetes operators, fluxcd, argocd, cncf open gitops, configuration drift management, immutable infrastructure versioning, shift-left operations, source of truth management, automated state enforcement, pull request operations, infrastructure as code evolution

## Chapters

1. **Evolution from manual server management to continuous deployment** (00:00) — The transition from manual server configuration and SSH access to infrastructure as code and CI/CD pipelines.
1. **Defining GitOps and operations by pull requests** (04:49) — How adding automation to Git repositories differs from true GitOps and shift-left operational models.
1. **Introduction to Open GitOps and community standards** (07:39) — The formation of the Open GitOps project to provide standardized approaches and education for organizations.
1. **Four core principles defining a GitOps system** (09:21) — The essential requirements for GitOps, including declarative state, immutable versioning, automatic pulling, and continuous reconciliation.
1. **Key benefits of adopting a GitOps workflow** (16:50) — Advantages of GitOps such as faster deployment speeds, simplified security boundaries, built-in documentation, and flexible operator models.
1. **Overview of a typical GitOps deployment workflow** (24:48) — A walk-through of the process where source operators detect changes and update the target system state.
1. **Popular GitOps tools and CNCF ecosystem projects** (26:00) — Evaluating vendor-neutral GitOps solutions like Flux CD, Argo CD, Fleet, and Jenkins X within the CNCF ecosystem.
1. **Addressing common misconceptions and questions about GitOps** (28:46) — Clarifying that GitOps is not strictly limited to Git repositories or Kubernetes environments.
1. **Future trends and adoption rates for GitOps** (30:36) — Predictions for increased community standards, technology integrations, and broader adoption of operator models.
1. **Ways to contribute to the GitOps community** (32:03) — How to get involved by joining the CNCF Slack, contributing to open-source tools, and advocating for GitOps practices.
1. **Choosing between Helm and Kustomize for application definitions** (34:09) — Comparing the use cases and complexities of Helm charts versus Kustomize in a GitOps configuration.
1. **Strategies for advocating GitOps within engineering teams** (35:56) — Using practical demonstrations and whitepapers to showcase the immediate benefits of GitOps to stakeholders.
1. **Applying GitOps practices outside of Kubernetes environments** (37:55) — Exploring how GitOps principles can be adapted for serverless functions, cloud app services, and non-Kubernetes architectures.
1. **Understanding the self-managed nature of GitOps software agents** (39:26) — How operator and controller models run autonomously to detect and apply resource changes without manual intervention.
1. **Integrating configuration management tools like Ansible with GitOps** (40:56) — The potential and limitations of using configuration management tools like Ansible within a strict GitOps framework.
1. **The ongoing role of continuous integration pipelines in GitOps** (42:23) — Why traditional build pipelines remain necessary for compiling code before the GitOps deployment phase takes over.
1. **Managing secrets and security in a GitOps model** (43:54) — Best practices for securely handling encrypted secrets through external key management systems instead of storing them in Git.

## Related Moments

- [Core principles and prerequisites of GitOps implementations](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/370-practical-tips-and-tricks-for-ci-cd-success) (from "Practical tips and tricks for CI/CD success")
- [Introduction to GitOps and the Argo CD presentation](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/108-get-ready-for-operations-by-pull-requests) (from "Get ready for operations by pull requests")
- [Exploring the core benefits of adopting GitOps](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/547-how-to-gitops-your-cluster-with-flux) (from "How to GitOps your cluster with Flux")
- [Core principles and prerequisites of robust GitOps workflows](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/372-a-practitioners-guide-to-gitops-introduction-principles-and-implementation) (from "A Practitioners Guide to GitOps - Introduction, Principles and Implementation")
- [Understanding principles and benefits of the GitOps workflow](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/852-securing-secrets-in-the-gitops-era) (from "Securing secrets in the GitOps Era")
- [Treating Git as the source of truth for operations](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1603-next-gen-ci-cd-with-gitops-and-progressive-delivery) (from "Next-gen CI/CD with Gitops and Progressive Delivery")

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