Hey everyone! I've just completed my first full CI/CD pipeline project, and I'm really excited to share it with you all. It's a basic phonebook app that includes the frontend, backend, and a PostgreSQL database. For deployment, I used GitHub for source control and manifests, Argo CD to implement GitOps practices, and I set everything up on a self-hosted Kubernetes cluster. I also created separate development and production environments. Here are a few key features: - The CI pipeline automatically builds container images upon push - The CD process auto-syncs changes to the cluster via ArgoCD - Secrets management is done neatly, and services are logically divided I'm coming from a background in Network Security and Infrastructure, but I'm aiming to transition into freelance or full-time roles in DevSecOps, Platform, or SRE. I'm building projects that showcase the skills I'd use professionally. I'm really looking for feedback on a few things: - How solid is this project as a portfolio piece? - Would you consider hiring someone with this on their GitHub? - What else do you think I might be missing? Is it observability, Helm charts, RBAC, or additional services? - What should I consider building next to really stand out? Check out my repo here: [GitHub link](https://github.com/Alexbeav/devops-phonebook-demo). I appreciate any guidance or constructive criticism!
5 Answers
You've done a pretty good job here! Just a heads up—having multiple Argo CD instances (one per cluster) is a common practice. For managing visibility over changes in merge requests or pull requests, you might want to check out the [Argo CD Diff Preview tool](https://github.com/dag-andersen/argocd-diff-preview). It’s lightweight and doesn’t require direct cluster access.
Looks impressive! Quick question: how much did you rely on AI tools while creating this?
Overall, your project looks great! I have a personal preference for using the rendered manifest pattern rather than relying on Argo CD to render Helm charts. If you're interested, there's a pretty informative article on that here: [link](https://akuity.io/blog/the-rendered-manifests-pattern).
Thanks for the tip! I’ll check that out.
Argo CD does have that source hydrator feature built-in, which might simplify things for you!
As a senior DevOps professional, I think these lab projects are great for learning, but they might not hold as much weight during interviews. They’re more valuable for junior roles, but I’d pay more attention to projects that have real business cases backing them. Sorry for the downer, but I just wanted to be honest based on your question about getting hired with this GitHub project.
Real-world projects are definitely more impactful. But if you want to share any projects or examples that caught your attention, I’d be happy to check them out!
That makes sense! If this wouldn't be enough, how would someone get real experience?
Your project is solid, but to align more with GitOps, try to avoid hard-coded values. Instead of including these in your manifests, use references to external value files. This can really enhance your workflow!
+1 to that! Keeping your dev and prod value files outside the helm chart directory is a smart move.
Thanks! I appreciate the advice!
I’d say around 30% for coding where I didn’t want to rewrite things I already knew, and about 60% for review and documentation.