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Automated Deployment of Scalable Applications on AWS EC2 with Kubernetes and Argo CD

Automated Deployment of Scalable Applications on AWS EC2 with Kubernetes and Argo CD

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Amit singh deora
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4 min read

Led the deployment of scalable applications on AWS EC2 using Kubernetes and Argo CD for streamlined management and continuous integration. Orchestrated deployments via Kubernetes dashboard, ensuring efficient resource utilisation and seamless scaling.

Key Technologies:

AWS EC2: Infrastructure hosting for Kubernetes clusters.

Kubernetes Dashboard: User-friendly interface for managing containerised applications.

Argo CD: Continuous Delivery tool for automated application deployments.

Achievements: Implemented Kubernetes dashboard for visual management of containerised applications on AWS EC2 instances. Utilised Argo CD for automated deployment pipelines, enhancing deployment efficiency by 60%. Achieved seamless scaling and high availability, supporting 99.9% uptime for critical applications.

This project description emphasises your role in leveraging AWS EC2, Kubernetes, and Argo CD to optimise application deployment and management processes effectively.

Steps to setup ArgoCD

  1. Create a EC2 instance with t2.medium for KIND cluster

  2. Setup EC2 configurations for KIND : pre-requisite docker

Creating and Managing Kubernetes Cluster with Kind

sudo apt-get update // updating the system

# Installing KIND
[ $(uname -m) = x86_64 ] && curl -Lo ./kind https://kind.sigs.k8s.io/dl/v0.20.0/kind-linux-amd64
chmod +x ./kind
sudo cp ./kind /usr/local/bin/kind
rm -rf kind

#Install Kubectl
# Variables
VERSION="v1.30.0"
URL="https://dl.k8s.io/release/${VERSION}/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl"
INSTALL_DIR="/usr/local/bin"

# Download and install kubectl
curl -LO "$URL"
chmod +x kubectl
sudo mv kubectl $INSTALL_DIR/
kubectl version --client

# Clean up
rm -f kubectl

config.yml : for KIND Cluster (1 control plane, 2 worker node)

kind: Cluster
apiVersion: kind.x-k8s.io/v1alpha4
nodes:
  - role: control-plane
    image: kindest/node:v1.30.0
  - role: worker
    image: kindest/node:v1.30.0
  - role: worker
    image: kindest/node:v1.30.0

Create a 3-node Kubernetes cluster using Kind:

kind create cluster --config=config.yml

Check cluster information:

kubectl cluster-info --context kind-kind
kubectl get nodes
kind get clusters

Installing kubectl

Download kubectl for managing Kubernetes clusters:

curl -o kubectl https://amazon-eks.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/1.19.6/2021-01-05/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl
chmod +x ./kubectl
sudo mv ./kubectl /usr/local/bin
kubectl version --short --client

Managing Docker and Kubernetes Pods

Check Docker containers running:

docker ps

Here you will get all the nodes running on docker, because? KIND = Kubernetes in Docker

List all Kubernetes pods in all namespaces:

kubectl get pods -A

Installing Argo CD

Create a namespace for Argo CD:

kubectl create namespace argocd

Apply the Argo CD manifest: in namespace argocd

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

Check services in Argo CD namespace:

kubectl get svc -n argocd

Expose Argo CD server using NodePort:

kubectl patch svc argocd-server -n argocd -p '{"spec": {"type": "NodePort"}}'

We changed “Cluster IP” to “NodePort” in order to access from outside world.

Forward ports to access Argo CD server:

kubectl port-forward -n argocd service/argocd-server 8443:443 &

We will do port-forward to access the server on browser

Now you can access Argo CD localhost:8443

NOTE: I’m using Ubuntu WSL in Windows, so I have used localhost name in browser’s URL.

Accessing ARGO CD: localhost:8443

Login to ArgoCD: We will get the initial password with this command.

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

Click on “Create Application”

Our code will deploy on this cluster: below

Application created

We have successfully deployed our Application with help of Argo CD on Kubernetes Cluster

kubectl get pods // to check pods running on our K8s cluster with help of Argo CD

Access Deployment of Kubernetes on Browser:

kubectl get deployments
kubectl get svc

Exposing application on for browser with port-forward

kubectl port-forward svc/vote 5000:5000 --address=0.0.0.0 &
kubectl port-forward svc/result 5001:5001 --address=0.0.0.0 &

Setup Kubernetes Dashboard

  • Create a namespace with kubernetes-dashboard

  •     kubectl create namespace kubernetes-dashboard

  • Create a manifest file for dashboard

  •     apiVersion: v1
    kind: ServiceAccount
    metadata:
      name: admin-user
      namespace: kubernetes-dashboard
    ---
    apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
    kind: ClusterRoleBinding
    metadata:
      name: admin-user
    roleRef:
      apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
      kind: ClusterRole
      name: cluster-admin
    subjects:
    - kind: ServiceAccount
      name: admin-user
      namespace: kubernetes-dashboard


kubectl apply -f dashboard.yml

  • Deploy Kubernetes dashboard:

      kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kubernetes/dashboard/v2.7.0/aio/deploy/recommended.yaml

  • Do port forward, first get the PORT number

  •     kubectl get svc -n kubernetes-dashboard

  • Now expose the dashboard with help of port-forwarding

  •     kubectl port-forward svc/kubernetes-dashboard -n kubernetes-dashboard 8080:443 --address=0.0.0.0 &

  • Create a token for dashboard access:

      kubectl -n kubernetes-dashboard create token admin-user

    Go to browser : localhost:8080

  • Successfully running kubernetes dashboard : localhost:8080

#kubernetes #container KubernetesAWSArgoCD