Push Based CICD Workflow

In this guide, you’ll learn how to convert an imperative AKS deployment into a declarative setup with YAML manifests and integrate it into a push-based CI/CD pipeline. We cover:

Exporting existing Kubernetes resources to YAML
Cleaning up and reapplying manifests
Deleting old imperative resources
Redeploying declaratively
Designing a push-based CI/CD workflow with Azure DevOps

Preparing Your Environment

Log in to your Azure subscription (local machine or Cloud Shell).
Fetch and merge your AKS credentials into kubeconfig:

az aks get-credentials \
  --name AKS1-KodeKloudApp \
  --resource-group MyResourceGroup
# Merged "AKS1-KodeKloudApp" as current context in /home/user/.kube/config

Verify your existing Service and Deployment:

kubectl get service
kubectl get deployment

Make sure your current context points to the correct AKS cluster. Use kubectl config current-context to check.

1. Export the Deployment to YAML

Run the following command to export the kodekloudapp Deployment manifest:

kubectl get deployment kodekloudapp \
  --namespace default \
  --output yaml > deployment.yaml

A portion of the generated deployment.yaml:

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: kodekloudapp
  namespace: default
spec:
  replicas: 1
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: kodekloudapp
  strategy:
    type: RollingUpdate
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: kodekloudapp
    spec:
      containers:
        - name: kodekloudapp
          image: <your-image>
          ports:
            - containerPort: 80

Tip: Customize replicas, strategy, and container resources to match your production requirements.

2. Export the Service to YAML

Export the Service object:

kubectl get service kodekloudapp \
  --namespace default \
  --output yaml > service.yaml

Remove dynamic fields from service.yaml:

clusterIP
status.loadBalancer.ingress
spec.ports[*].nodePort

Your cleaned-up service.yaml should look like:

apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
  name: kodekloudapp
  namespace: default
spec:
  type: LoadBalancer
  selector:
    app: kodekloudapp
  ports:
    - port: 80
      targetPort: 80
      protocol: TCP

If you switch to type: NodePort, ensure nodePort values are in the 30000–32767 range.

3. Delete Imperative Resources

Remove the existing Deployment and Service:

kubectl delete deployment kodekloudapp
kubectl delete service kodekloudapp

Verify they’re gone:

kubectl get deployment  # No resources found
kubectl get service     # No resources found

4. Redeploy Declaratively

Apply your YAML manifests:

kubectl apply -f deployment.yaml
kubectl apply -f service.yaml

Check the status:

kubectl get deployment
kubectl get service

Open the external IP in your browser to confirm the application is running.

5. Push-Based CI/CD Pipeline Overview

Below is a sample push-based pipeline in Azure DevOps. You can adapt these stages for GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, or other tools.

Stage	Description	Example Tools
Source Control	Push code & manifests to Git repo	Azure Repos, GitHub, GitLab
Continuous Integration	Build container image and run unit tests	Azure Pipelines, GitHub Actions
Artifact Publishing	Push Docker image to registry	ACR, Docker Hub, ECR
Continuous Deployment	Detect new image; apply YAML to AKS	`kubectl apply`, Helm, Flux CD
Monitoring & Feedback	Collect logs/metrics, update backlog	Azure Monitor, Application Insights

Commit & Push your application code and deployment.yaml + service.yaml to your repo.
CI Pipeline: Build the container image, run tests, and publish to Azure Container Registry (ACR).
CD Trigger: ACR webhook invokes the CD pipeline upon new image push.
Deploy: Execute kubectl apply -f on your manifests to update AKS.
Monitor: Use Azure Monitor or Application Insights for observability.

Introduction

Just Enough Azure for AKS

Building and containerizing sample application

Working with AKS

Networking in AKS

AKS Security

CI/CD Workflow for AKS

Observability

Close out

Push Based CICD Workflow

Preparing Your Environment

1. Export the Deployment to YAML

2. Export the Service to YAML

3. Delete Imperative Resources

4. Redeploy Declaratively

5. Push-Based CI/CD Pipeline Overview

References

Watch Video

​Preparing Your Environment

​1. Export the Deployment to YAML

​2. Export the Service to YAML

​3. Delete Imperative Resources

​4. Redeploy Declaratively

​5. Push-Based CI/CD Pipeline Overview

​References

Watch Video

Preparing Your Environment

1. Export the Deployment to YAML

2. Export the Service to YAML

3. Delete Imperative Resources

4. Redeploy Declaratively

5. Push-Based CI/CD Pipeline Overview

References