Building a GitOps CI/CD Pipeline for React Vite Apps with Argo CD

Introduction

GitOps uses Git as the single source of truth for both application code and infrastructure. You can automate your deployment pipeline with traceability and resilience by integrating GitHub Actions, GitHub Container Registry (GHCR), Kubernetes, and Argo CD. This post outlines setting up a GitOps-driven CI/CD workflow for a React Vite app, from code push to production deployment.

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GitHub Actions Workflow

This workflow automates the CI and triggers CD via Argo CD.

Step 1: Build the React Application

Purpose: Compile and bundle the React application.

Check out the source code from the repository.
Sets up js v18 environment.
Installs pnpm and project dependencies.
Executes the build command: pnpm run build.

Note: Using pnpm instead of npm or yarn reduced the build time by approximately 40%.

Step 2: Build and Push Docker Image

Purpose: Containerize the application and push the image to a container registry.

Uses Docker Buildx for optimized multi-stage builds.
Authenticates with GitHub Container Registry (GHCR).
Builds the Docker image and tags it using the Git commit SHA.
Pushes the image to GHCR for versioned storage and deployment.

Step 3: Update Kubernetes Manifest and Trigger Deployment

Purpose: Update the Kubernetes deployment with the new image version and trigger a GitOps-based deployment.

Check out the gitops-infra repository containing Kubernetes manifests.
Uses sed to update the image tag in deployment.yaml.
Commits and pushes the updated manifest if any changes are detected.
Argo CD automatically detects the commit and syncs the changes to the Kubernetes cluster, completing the deployment pipeline.

# .github/workflows/ci-cd.yaml 
name: Build Step 
on: 
  push: 
    branches: ['master'] 
 
jobs: 
  build: 
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest 
    strategy: 
      matrix: 
        node-version: [18.x] 
    steps: 
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3 
      - name: Use Node.js ${{ matrix.node-version }} 
        uses: actions/setup-node@v3 
        with: { node-version: ${{ matrix.node-version }} } 
      - name: Install pnpm 
        run: npm install -g pnpm 
      - name: Cache pnpm and node_modules 
        uses: actions/cache@v3 
        with: 
          path: | 
            ~/.pnpm-store 
            node_modules 
          key: ${{ runner.os }}-pnpm-${{ hashFiles('**/pnpm-lock.yaml', '**/package.json') }} 
      - name: Install Dependencies 
        run: pnpm install --frozen-lockfile 
      - name: Build Project 
        run: pnpm run build 
 
  build-and-push-docker-image: 
    name: Build Docker Image and Push to GHCR 
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest 
    needs: build 
    steps: 
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3 
        name: Checkout Code 
      - uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@v2 
        name: Set up Docker Buildx 
      - uses: docker/login-action@v2 
        name: GHCR Login 
        with: 
          registry: ghcr.io 
          username: ${{ github.actor }} 
          password: ${{ secrets.G_TOKEN }} 
      - uses: docker/build-push-action@v2 
        name: Build and Push Docker Image 
        with: 
          context: ./ 
          push: ${{ github.ref == 'refs/heads/master' }} 
          tags: | 
            ghcr.io/repo_name/gitops-01:${{ github.sha }} 
          cache-from: type=registry,ref=ghcr.io/	/gitops-01:latest 
          cache-to: type=inline 
 
  update-manifest-stage: 
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest 
    needs: build-and-push-docker-image 
    steps: 
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3 
        with: 
          repository: repo_name/gitops-infra 
          ref: 'master' 
          token: ${{ secrets.G_TOKEN }} 
      - name: Configure Git 
        run: | 
          git config --global user.email "demo@gmail.com" 
          git config --global user.name "demo" 
      - name: Update Deployment Image 
        run: | 
          sed -i "s#image: .*#image: ghcr.io/repo_name/gitops-01:${{ github.sha}}#g"      deployment.yaml 
      - name: Detect Changes 
        id: check_changes 
        run: | 
          git diff --quiet || echo "changes_detected=true" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT 
      - name: Commit & Push if Changed 
        if: steps.check_changes.outputs.changes_detected == 'true' 
        run: | 
          git add deployment.yaml 
          git commit -m "Update image to ghcr.io/repo_name/gitops-01:${{ github.sha }}" 
          git push origin master

# .github/workflows/ci-cd.yaml

on:

push:

branches: ['master']

jobs:

build:

runs-on: ubuntu-latest

strategy:

matrix:

node-version: [18.x]

steps:

- uses: actions/checkout@v3

- name: Use Node.js ${{ matrix.node-version }}

uses: actions/setup-node@v3

with: { node-version: ${{ matrix.node-version }} }

- name: Install pnpm

run: npm install -g pnpm

- name: Cache pnpm and node_modules

uses: actions/cache@v3

with:

path: |

~/.pnpm-store

node_modules

key: ${{ runner.os }}-pnpm-${{ hashFiles('**/pnpm-lock.yaml', '**/package.json') }}

- name: Install Dependencies

run: pnpm install --frozen-lockfile

- name: Build Project

run: pnpm run build

build-and-push-docker-image:

runs-on: ubuntu-latest

needs: build

steps:

- uses: actions/checkout@v3

- uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@v2

- uses: docker/login-action@v2

with:

registry: ghcr.io

username: ${{ github.actor }}

password: ${{ secrets.G_TOKEN }}

- uses: docker/build-push-action@v2

with:

context: ./

push: ${{ github.ref == 'refs/heads/master' }}

tags: |

ghcr.io/repo_name/gitops-01:${{ github.sha }}

cache-from: type=registry,ref=ghcr.io/ /gitops-01:latest

cache-to: type=inline

update-manifest-stage:

runs-on: ubuntu-latest

needs: build-and-push-docker-image

steps:

- uses: actions/checkout@v3

with:

repository: repo_name/gitops-infra

ref: 'master'

token: ${{ secrets.G_TOKEN }}

- name: Configure Git

run: |

git config --global user.email "demo@gmail.com"

git config --global user.name "demo"

- name: Update Deployment Image

run: |

sed -i "s#image: .*#image: ghcr.io/repo_name/gitops-01:${{ github.sha}}#g" deployment.yaml

- name: Detect Changes

id: check_changes

run: |

git diff --quiet || echo "changes_detected=true" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT

- name: Commit & Push if Changed

if: steps.check_changes.outputs.changes_detected == 'true'

run: |

git add deployment.yaml

git commit -m "Update image to ghcr.io/repo_name/gitops-01:${{ github.sha }}"

git push origin master

MultiStage Dockerfile

First stage

Based on node:18-alpine. Installs dependencies and runs npm run build to generate /app/dist.

Second stage

Based on a minimal nginx:1.23-alpine. Copies static files from the build stage into Nginx’s default root. Exposes port 80. The final image size is small, containing no build tools or Node runtime.

# Stage 1: Build the React application 
FROM node:18-alpine AS build-step 
WORKDIR /app 
COPY package*.json ./ 
RUN npm install 
COPY . . 
RUN npm run build 
 
# Stage 2: Serve the built app using Nginx 
FROM nginx:1.23-alpine 
COPY --from=build-step /app/dist /usr/share/nginx/html/ 
EXPOSE 80 
CMD ["nginx", "-g", "daemon off;"]

# Stage 1: Build the React application

FROM node:18-alpine AS build-step

WORKDIR /app

COPY package*.json ./

RUN npm install

COPY . .

RUN npm run build

# Stage 2: Serve the built app using Nginx

FROM nginx:1.23-alpine

COPY --from=build-step /app/dist /usr/share/nginx/html/

EXPOSE 80

CMD ["nginx", "-g", "daemon off;"]

Kubernetes Manifests

These manifests define how the application runs in Kubernetes.

deployment.yaml

This Deployment runs 4 replicas of a stateless React app served via Nginx, using a specific image from GitHub Container Registry (GHCR). It authenticates using an imagePullSecret and exposes port 80 for HTTP traffic.

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: react-app
spec:
  replicas: 4
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: react-app
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: react-app
    spec:
      imagePullSecrets:
        - name: ghcr-secret  
      containers:
        - name: react-app
          image: ghcr.io/username/gitops-01:1fd1b2ca4f29d1fe3b49bdb03a2956c5a5e68513
          imagePullPolicy: Always
          ports:
            - containerPort: 80

apiVersion: apps/v1

kind: Deployment

metadata:

spec:

replicas: 4

selector:

matchLabels:

app: react-app

template:

metadata:

labels:

app: react-app

spec:

imagePullSecrets:

- name: ghcr-secret

containers:

- name: react-app

image: ghcr.io/username/gitops-01:1fd1b2ca4f29d1fe3b49bdb03a2956c5a5e68513

imagePullPolicy: Always

ports:

- containerPort: 80

service.yaml

Exposes the app via NodePort on port 31000.

apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
name: react-app
spec:
  type: NodePort
  selector:
    app: react-app
  ports:
    - port: 80
      protocol: TCP
      targetPort: 80
      nodePort: 31000

apiVersion: v1

kind: Service

metadata:

spec:

type: NodePort

selector:

app: react-app

ports:

- port: 80

protocol: TCP

targetPort: 80

nodePort: 31000

Conclusion

We have created a GitOps pipeline for zero-touch deployments of a React Vite app by combining GitHub Actions, Docker, Argo CD, and Kubernetes. Each code push triggers a full CI/CD pipeline, build, image publish, manifest update, and deployment without manual steps.

This setup enhances developer productivity, ensures versioned deployments, and brings traceable, auditable automation to your delivery workflow, which is ideal for modern cloud-native teams.

Drop a query if you have any questions regarding ArgoCD and we will get back to you quickly.

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FAQs

1. How do I roll back a bad deployment?

ANS: – Simply revert the Git commit that updated the image tag in your Kubernetes manifest. Once pushed, Argo CD will detect the change and automatically redeploy the previous version to the cluster, no manual intervention is required.

2. Why use a multistage Dockerfile?

ANS: – To produce lean and secure Docker images. The first stage handles building the application, while the second serves it using a minimal Nginx image. This approach removes unnecessary build tools and dependencies from the final image, reducing the size and surface area for vulnerabilities