Learn how to – GitOps Best Practices for Serverless Projects

Learn how to – GitOps Best Practices for Serverless Projects.

What Is GitOps?

GitOps is a way of implementing continuous delivery for cloud native applications. It is a set of practices that uses Git as a single source of truth for declarative infrastructure and application configurations. The idea behind GitOps is to use Git as the central place to store, version, and audit changes to your application and infrastructure.

The basic principles of GitOps are:

• All desired states of the system are stored in Git, including infrastructure as code and application code.
• Continuous integration and delivery pipelines automatically ensure that the desired state in Git is continuously and automatically reconciled with the actual state of the system.

When using GitOps, the team uses a Git repository as the single source of truth for the desired state of their systems. The pipeline for deployments is triggered by changes in this repository, which are then automatically propagated to the infrastructure and applications. This allows for a more secure and auditable deployment process and reduces the risk of human errors.

By using Git as the primary source of truth, it also allows for a full history of changes and rollbacks, making it easy to revert back to previous versions of the application or infrastructure if needed. GitOps also enables a more collaborative development process, where multiple teams can work on different parts of the application and infrastructure in parallel, with Git as the central point of coordination.

What Is Serverless Computing?

Serverless computing is a way of building and running applications and services without having to manage the underlying infrastructure. In a serverless model, you write your application code and then run it in a fully managed environment, where all of the infrastructure management is abstracted away.

With serverless computing, you only pay for the compute resources that you actually use, rather than having to provision and pay for resources in advance. This can result in significant cloud cost savings, especially for applications with variable or unpredictable workloads.

The most common use case for serverless computing is through the use of Function as a Service (FaaS) platforms, such as AWS Lambda, Azure Functions, and Google Cloud Functions. FaaS allows developers to run their code without having to worry about provisioning, scaling, or managing the underlying infrastructure. You simply upload your code, and the FaaS platform takes care of running it, scaling it, and handling the underlying infrastructure.

However, while serverless computing removes many of the daily operational burdens, there is still a need to monitor serverless applications and ensure they are running and performing as expected.

Why Is GitOps Important to Serverless Projects?

GitOps is particularly important to serverless projects because it allows organizations to take advantage of the benefits of serverless computing while still maintaining control over their infrastructure and applications. Some specific benefits of GitOps in the context of serverless projects include:

• Improved visibility and transparency: By using Git as a single source of truth, it is easier to see exactly what changes have been made to a system and when they were made. This can be especially important in a serverless environment, where the underlying infrastructure is abstracted away and may be difficult to understand or debug.
• Enhanced security: GitOps can help to improve security in serverless projects by providing a secure, auditable record of all changes to the system. This can be especially important in regulated industries or for sensitive data.
• Simplified deployment and management: By using Git as the source of truth for infrastructure and application configuration, it is easier to automate the deployment and management of serverless applications. This can help to improve the efficiency and reliability of the delivery process.

Getting Started with GitOps for Serverless Projects

Foster a GitOps Work Culture

Creating a GitOps culture in your organization can help increase the speed, quality, and reliability of software releases, by automating the process of building, testing, and deploying software. GitOps can only work if the team has adopted a mindset of collaboration. 

To create a GitOps culture in your organization, you’ll need to encourage communication between development and operations teams by using Git as the central point of coordination. This helps to eliminate silos and increase efficiency. Make sure that the team’s focus is on continuous improvement, rather than on blame when things go wrong.

The team should regularly review and analyze the process, tools and infrastructure and adjust as needed to achieve better results. Training employees can help bring everyone on board and ensure they understand the GitOps process. 

Start Small and Expand Gradually 

Starting small and gradually expanding is a good way to implement GitOps for a serverless project because it allows you to gradually build up your processes and tools while minimizing the risk of disruptions to your existing workflow. There are a few key reasons why starting small is beneficial:

• Low risk: By starting with a small set of services or a single application, you can test out your GitOps processes and tools with a relatively low risk. If something goes wrong, the impact will be limited, and you’ll be able to quickly identify and fix the issue.
• Quick feedback: Smaller projects allow you to get quick feedback on your processes and tools, which can help you identify areas for improvement.
• Easier to learn: It’s easier for your team to learn and understand the new processes and tools, which can help to reduce the time it takes to adopt and integrate GitOps into your workflow.
• Scalability: Starting with a small set of services also allows you to grow your GitOps implementation as you gain more experience and confidence. 

Automate Your Deployments

Automating deployments is important for implementing GitOps in a serverless project because it helps to ensure that the desired state of your infrastructure and application is continuously and automatically reconciled with the actual state. Automation helps to reduce the risk of human errors and increase the speed and reliability of deployments.

Using CI/CD tools can help with this automation. By automating the deployment process, you can deploy new versions of your application and infrastructure more frequently and with fewer errors. This allows you to deliver new features and improvements to your users more quickly.

Establish Standardized GitOps Processes

Standardizing your GitOps approach is important for a serverless project because it helps to ensure consistency and predictability across different teams and services. This can help to increase the reliability and scalability of your deployments, while also making it easier for different teams to collaborate and work together. 

By having a standard approach, teams can rely on a set of established practices and processes that are familiar, well-understood, and consistent across different parts of the organization. This can help to reduce confusion and increase efficiency, as teams don’t need to spend time learning new processes and tools for each new service. 

Additionally, it also makes it easier to manage and troubleshoot issues, as teams are able to use a common set of troubleshooting techniques and procedures across different services.

Conclusion

In conclusion, GitOps is a powerful approach for managing serverless projects that can help organizations to increase the speed, quality, and reliability of software releases. By storing all desired states in Git, automating deployment pipelines, promoting collaboration and communication, adopting a blameless culture and continuously improving, organizations can achieve a more efficient and effective workflow.

When implementing GitOps for a serverless project, it’s important to start small and gradually expand, automating deployments, and standardizing your approach to ensure consistency and predictability across different teams and services. By following these best practices, organizations can gain a competitive advantage by delivering new features and improvements to their users more quickly and reliably. 

Author Bio: Gilad David Maayan

Gilad David Maayan is a technology writer who has worked with over 150 technology companies including SAP, Imperva, Samsung NEXT, NetApp and Check Point, producing technical and thought leadership content that elucidates technical solutions for developers and IT leadership. Today he heads Agile SEO, the leading marketing agency in the technology industry.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/giladdavidmaayan/