Setting Up a Local Kubernetes Cluster with Terraform, Kind, and ArgoCD for DevOps Training

This article describes the preparation of the environment for the seventh session of a DevOps training camp, using Terraform and Kind to create a local Kubernetes cluster and deploying ArgoCD for subsequent tool delivery.

Prerequisites

Operating System: CentOS 8 Linux

Memory: 32 GB+

Tool Versions

Tool Name

Version

Description

Terraform

1.1.7

Uses the Kind provider to operate Kind

Kind

0.14.0

Kubernetes cluster creation tool

Docker‑CE

1.19+ (Docker 23.0.3)

Container runtime

kubectl

v1.24.0

Kubernetes CLI

Kubernetes

1.24.0

Container cloud platform

ArgoCD

2.6.7

Cloud‑native continuous‑delivery tool

NFS

Persistent storage for containers

Infrastructure code repository: https://jihulab.com/devopsvip/myiac

1. Install Terraform

Download and unzip Terraform 1.1.7:

$: unzip terraform_1.1.7_darwin_amd64.zip
Archive:  terraform_1.1.7_darwin_amd64.zip
  inflating: terraform
# ls
install.md                     terraform_1.1.7_darwin_amd64.zip
terraform
# mv terraform /usr/local/bin
# terraform version

2. Install Kind

wget  https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kind/releases/download/v0.14.0/kind-linux-amd64
mv kind-linux-amd64  /usr/bin/kind
chmod +x /usr/bin/kind

Official Kind documentation: https://kind.sigs.k8s.io/docs/user/configuration/#getting-started

3. Install kubectl

Refer to the official guide: https://kubernetes.io/docs/tasks/tools/#kubectl

4. Deploy the Kubernetes cluster

Pull required Docker images in advance:

kindest/node:v1.24.0

k8s.gcr.io/ingress-nginx/controller:v1.2.0

k8s.gcr.io/ingress-nginx/kube-webhook-certgen:v1.1.1

Clone the IaC repository:

git clone https://jihulab.com/devopsvip/myiac.git

Key files:

kind.tf – cluster configuration

ingress.yaml – Ingress installation manifest

Initialize and apply Terraform:

# install
cd k8s
terraform init
terraform apply --auto-approve
# uninstall
terraform destroy --auto-approve

Verify the cluster status:

kubectl get node
NAME                         STATUS   ROLES           AGE   VERSION
devopscluster-control-plane   Ready    control-plane   2m53s v1.24.0
devopscluster-worker         Ready
2m19s v1.24.0
test-cluster-worker2         Ready
2m20s v1.24.0

Check Ingress‑NGINX pods:

# kubectl get pod -n ingress-nginx
NAME                                 READY   STATUS      RESTARTS   AGE
ingress-nginx-admission-create-fbh5n 0/1     Completed   0          5m41s
ingress-nginx-admission-patch-xttkh 0/1     Completed   0          5m41s
ingress-nginx-controller-7bd87766fb-lsv89 1/1 Running 0 5m41s

5. Deploy ArgoCD

Add a host entry to access the UI:

192.168.1.200 argocd.idevops.site

Pull required ArgoCD images, retag them, and load into the Kind cluster:

# Get Docker images
docker pull ccr.ccs.tencentyun.com/argocds/dex:v2.35.3
docker pull ccr.ccs.tencentyun.com/argocds/redis:7.0.8-alpine
docker pull ccr.ccs.tencentyun.com/argocds/argocd:v2.6.7

# Tag images
docker tag ccr.ccs.tencentyun.com/argocds/dex:v2.35.3 ghcr.io/dexidp/dex:v2.35.3
docker tag ccr.ccs.tencentyun.com/argocds/argocd:v2.6.7 quay.io/argoproj/argocd:v2.6.7
docker tag ccr.ccs.tencentyun.com/argocds/redis:7.0.8-alpine redis:7.0.8-alpine

# Load images into Kind
images=$(grep image: install.yaml | awk -F 'image: ' '{print $NF}' | sort -n | uniq)
for image in $images; do
  kind load docker-image $image --name devopscluster
done

# Install ArgoCD
kubectl create ns argocd
kubectl -n argocd apply -f install.yaml
kubectl -n argocd apply -f ingress.yaml
sleep 3
kubectl -n argocd get pod
kubectl -n argocd get secret
sleep 5
# Retrieve admin password
kubectl -n argocd get secret argocd-initial-admin-secret -o jsonpath='{.data.password}' | base64 -d ; echo

Verify ArgoCD pods are running:

# kubectl -n argocd get pod
NAME                                         READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
argocd-application-controller-0             1/1     Running   0          7m25s
argocd-applicationset-controller-56bcd8d9c5-8jwq5   1/1     Running   0          7m25s
argocd-dex-server-5c7956f67-zthlg           1/1     Running   0          7m25s
argocd-notifications-controller-d9849775f-vwbn2 1/1   Running   0          7m25s
argocd-redis-6489dcbcd5-kbjhj               1/1     Running   0          7m25s
argocd-repo-server-6c68b85655-s8gkz         1/1     Running   0          7m25s
argocd-server-747b8c84bd-5b9r4              1/1     Running   0          7m25s

With the cluster and ArgoCD ready, participants can start exploring continuous‑delivery workflows as part of the DevOps training.