GitOps & Delivery Models: Scenario-Based Questions

GitOps is a modern infrastructure and application delivery model where Git is the single source of truth. It automates deployment through declarative manifests and continuous reconciliation, enabling safer, auditable changes with minimal human intervention.

🧠 Core Principles of GitOps

• Declarative: Desired system state is defined in Git (e.g., YAML files for Kubernetes).
• Versioned & Auditable: Git tracks all changes — every deployment is a Git commit.
• Automated Reconciliation: Agents sync actual state with desired state (e.g., ArgoCD, Flux).
• Pull-Based Deployments: Changes are applied by the cluster itself, not pushed from a CI server.

📊 GitOps vs Traditional CI/CD

Aspect	Traditional CI/CD	GitOps
Deployment Trigger	Push from CI pipeline	Pull from Git by a reconciler
Change Source	Pipeline script	Git commit
Rollback	Redeploy or revert pipeline	Git revert + auto-sync
Audit Trail	In CI logs	Git history
Drift Detection	Manual or partial	Built-in continuous sync

✅ Best Practices

• Structure Git repos clearly (app config, infra, secrets).
• Use signed commits and protected branches for security.
• Automate sync and alerts for drift or reconciliation failures.
• Use GitOps not only for apps but also for infra (Terraform with Atlantis, Pulumi, etc.).

🛠️ Tools

• ArgoCD, Flux: Kubernetes-native GitOps controllers.
• Kustomize, Helm: Templating engines for YAML reuse.
• Sealed Secrets, SOPS: Secure secrets in Git workflows.

🚫 Common Pitfalls

• Too much logic in Git — keep pipelines lean, state declarative.
• Inconsistent environments due to broken syncs or manual hotfixes.
• Overloading a single repo without ownership boundaries.

📌 Final Insight

GitOps streamlines deployments, reduces human error, and enables true infrastructure-as-code operations. It’s a cultural shift as much as a tooling choice — turning delivery into a shared, auditable, and repeatable workflow.