In dynamic cloud-native environments like Red Hat OpenShift Service on AWS (ROSA), infrastructure and applications are constantly evolving. But with this flexibility comes risk—what happens when someone changes a resource manually and the cluster state drifts from its intended configuration?
That’s where OpenShift GitOps steps in, using Git as the single source of truth and automatically remediating any drift from your desired state.
Let’s break it down in plain language.
🧭 What Is Drift in a ROSA Cluster?
Drift happens when the actual state of your ROSA cluster diverges from the configuration you’ve defined in version control (usually Git).
This could be caused by:
Manual changes in the OpenShift web console
Untracked updates made through the CLI
Misconfigurations during troubleshooting
Human error during deployments
Even small changes can lead to inconsistent environments, broken apps, or security gaps.
🚀 Enter OpenShift GitOps (Argo CD Behind the Scenes)
OpenShift GitOps, built on Argo CD, solves this by continuously monitoring your cluster and comparing it to the desired configuration stored in Git. If it detects a difference, it can automatically revert or alert you—depending on how it’s configured.
🔁 How Resource Reconciliation Works in ROSA with GitOps
Here’s the typical flow:
Define your desired state
Store Kubernetes manifests, Helm charts, or Kustomize configs in a Git repository. This defines what your cluster should look like—services, deployments, permissions, etc.
Sync to the cluster
Argo CD watches the Git repo and applies changes to your ROSA cluster. This initial sync brings your live cluster into alignment with Git.
Detect drift
If someone modifies a resource manually (say, updates a deployment replica count), Argo CD notices the change doesn't match Git.
Remediate automatically (or manually)
Auto-sync on: GitOps immediately reverts the manual change and restores the defined state
Auto-sync off: You’re alerted to the drift and can choose to sync manually
⚙️ Example: Remediating Deployment Changes
Let’s say your Git repo says an app should have 3 replicas, but someone manually scales it to 5 using the OpenShift console.
Argo CD sees that the deployment in the cluster (5 replicas) doesn't match the Git config (3 replicas).
It flags this as Out of Sync.
If auto-sync is enabled, it scales the deployment back to 3—no human intervention needed.
🔐 Why Drift Remediation Matters
Consistency across environments (dev, staging, production)
Faster recovery from misconfigurations
Improved compliance with audit trails and version control
Safer rollouts by ensuring only approved changes take effect
🎯 Final Thoughts
ROSA makes managing OpenShift clusters simple. When you combine it with OpenShift GitOps, you gain automated, Git-driven control over your cluster state. Drift becomes less of a threat, and your infrastructure stays predictable—even in the face of change.
By continuously reconciling resources with the Git source of truth, OpenShift GitOps ensures your ROSA cluster is always in the shape you want it to be.
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