DEMO Install Image Automation Controller

In this guide, you’ll upgrade an existing Flux CD installation to include both the Image Reflector Controller and the Image Automation Controller. By the end, you’ll verify new deployments, CRDs, and see the updated Git manifests.

1. Verify Existing Flux Controllers

Ensure you’re working in the flux-system namespace and list deployed controllers:

kubectl -n flux-system get deployment

Expected output:

NAME                    READY   UP-TO-DATE   AVAILABLE   AGE
helm-controller         1/1     1            1           18h
kustomize-controller    1/1     1            1           18h
notification-controller 1/1     1            1           18h
source-controller       1/1     1            1           18h

2. List All Flux Sources

Check which source types are defined in your cluster:

flux get sources all

Sample output:

NAME                                           SUSPENDED  READY  MESSAGE
ocirepository/7-demo-source-oci-bb-app         False      True   stored artifact
bucket/4-demo-source-minio-s3-bucket-bb-app    False      False  bucket not found
gitrepository/2-demo-source-git-bb-app         False      True   stored artifact
gitrepository/3-demo-source-git-bb-app         False      True   stored artifact
gitrepository/5-demo-source-git-helm-bb-app    False      True   stored artifact
gitrepository/flux-system                      False      True   stored artifact
gitrepository/infra-source-git                 False      True   stored artifact
helmrepository/6-demo-source-helm-bb-app       False      True   stored artifact

This confirms you have all standard source types: Git, Helm, OCI, and Bucket.

3. Upgrade Flux to Include Image Controllers

Re-run the Flux bootstrap command with the --components-extra flag:

flux bootstrap github \
  --owner=sidd-harth-2 \
  --repository=block-buster \
  --path=flux-clusters/dev-cluster \
  --personal=true \
  --private=false \
  --components-extra="image-reflector-controller,image-automation-controller"

Flux will detect existing components and automatically upgrade to add the image controllers.

4. Confirm New Deployments and CRDs

4.1 Check Pods & Deployments

kubectl -n flux-system get pod,deploy

Expected snippet:

pod/image-automation-controller-xxxxx    1/1   Running   0   30s
pod/image-reflector-controller-xxxxx     1/1   Running   0   30s
...
deployment.apps/image-automation-controller  1/1  1  1  30s
deployment.apps/image-reflector-controller  1/1  1  1  30s

4.2 List Image CRDs

kubectl get crds | grep image

imagepolicies.image.toolkit.fluxcd.io
imagerepositories.image.toolkit.fluxcd.io
imageupdateautomations.images.toolkit.fluxcd.io

5. Review the Updated Flux Component Manifest

Open the generated manifest at flux-clusters/dev-cluster/flux-components.yaml and confirm the new controllers are included:

# This manifest was generated by flux. DO NOT EDIT.
# Flux Version: v0.41.2
# Components: source-controller,kustomize-controller,helm-controller,notification-controller,image-reflector-controller,image-automation-controller
apiVersion: v1
kind: Namespace
metadata:
  name: flux-system
  labels:
    app.kubernetes.io/instance: flux-system
    app.kubernetes.io/part-of: flux
    app.kubernetes.io/version: v0.41.2
...

6. Sync & Review Git Changes

Pull the latest commits to see the diff:

git pull

Sample output:

Updating 9b16147..03b28c3
Fast-forward
 flux-clusters/dev-cluster/flux-components.yaml       | 1389 +++++...
 flux-clusters/dev-cluster/flux-system/gotk-sync.yaml |    4 +-
 2 files changed, 1390 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

Great work! You’ve successfully upgraded Flux with the Image Reflector and Image Automation Controllers.

Links and References

• Flux CD Documentation
• GitHub Personal Access Tokens
• kubectl Cheat Sheet