Your First GitOps Project with PipeCD

Welcome to the ultimate GitOps flex. This project shows you how to automate AWS infrastructure (S3) using PipeCD running inside a local Kind cluster. No more "It worked on my machine." Now, it only works in Git.

I’m 17, and I’m too lazy to manually click buttons in the AWS Console. So I built this. — Ayush

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Prerequisites (The "Don't Forget These" List)

• Docker: The engine under the hood.
• kubectl: Your magic wand for K8s.
• Kind: Kubernetes-in-Docker (The local playground).
• AWS Keys: Your IAM user needs AmazonS3FullAccess.
• A Fork of this Repo: Because you can't push to mine! 😉

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Step 1: Spin up the Cluster

We’re building a playground. If you mess up, you can just delete it and pretend it never happened.

kind create cluster --name pipecd-demo
kubectl get nodes # Should show 'Ready' or I'll wait...

Step 2: The PipeCD Brain (Control Plane)

Let's install the commander. This is the UI where the magic happens.

kubectl create namespace pipecd
kubectl apply -n pipecd -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/pipe-cd/pipecd/master/quickstart/manifests/control-plane.yaml

Fun Fact: While you wait for pods to be Running, know that PipeCD can manage K8s, Terraform, Lambda, AND Cloud Run. It’s basically the Swiss Army knife of CD.

Step 3: Port Forward (The Portal)

Open the UI in your browser.

kubectl port-forward -n pipecd svc/pipecd 8080:8080

• URL: http://localhost:8080
• Project Name: quickstart
• User/Pass: hello-pipecd / hello-pipecd (Classic security, right?)

Step 4: Deploy the Agent (The Muscle)

Go to Settings > Pipeds > Add Piped. Name it aws-agent. Copy your ID and Key.

curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/pipe-cd/pipecd/master/quickstart/manifests/piped.yaml | \
sed -e 's/<YOUR_PIPED_ID>/PASTE_ID_HERE/g' \
-e 's/<YOUR_PIPED_KEY_DATA>/PASTE_BASE64_KEY_HERE/g' | \
kubectl apply -n pipecd -f -

Tip: Wait for the red dot in the UI to turn GREEN. If it stays red, check your internet or your coffee levels.

Step 5: The "Secret Sauce" (Terraform + AWS)

Now we tell the agent how to talk to AWS. Update the remote URL to your fork.

kubectl apply -f - <<EOF
apiVersion: v1
kind: ConfigMap
metadata:
  name: piped
  namespace: pipecd
data:
  piped-config.yaml: |-
    apiVersion: pipecd.dev/v1beta1
    kind: Piped
    spec:
      projectID: quickstart
      pipedID: YOUR_ID_HERE
      pipedKeyData: YOUR_KEY_HERE
      apiAddress: pipecd:8080
      repositories:
        - repoId: aws-demo-repo
          remote: https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/pipecd-aws-demo.git
          branch: main
      cloudProviders:
        - name: aws-terraform
          type: TERRAFORM
          config: {}
EOF

# Inject the keys (Don't leak these on stream!)
kubectl set env deployment/piped -n pipecd \
  AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID="AKIA..." \
  AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY="wJalr..."

kubectl rollout restart deployment piped -n pipecd

Final Step: Register the App

In the UI: Applications > + ADD > ADD MANUALLY.

• Kind: TERRAFORM (Don't skip this or nothing works!)
• Platform Provider: aws-terraform
• Path: infra-s3 (NO TRAILING SPACES! Seriously, I lost an hour to a space character.)
• Config File: app.pipecd.yaml

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The Payoff

Click SYNC. Go to the Deployments tab. Watch the terminal logs stream in. If you see Apply complete!, go check your AWS Console. An S3 bucket just appeared out of thin air.

You did it!!!!!

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The Clean-Up (Don't get billed!)

1. Delete the Bucket: Go to AWS Console and delete the bucket pipecd-gitops-demo-ayush-001.
2. Kill the Cluster:

   kind delete cluster --name pipecd-demo

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If you want to understand what is happening behind the scenes — how PipeCD, Terraform, and Kubernetes work together in this setup — a detailed explanation is available here: https://heyyayush.hashnode.dev/your-first-gitops-project-with-pipecd

Made with ❤️ by Ayush More. If this helped you, give it a ⭐ and find me on LinkedIn If you found this project useful, this is a good starting point to explore PipeCD.