Flux GitOps program matures into a CNCF incubator project.

Flux has been on the map for a while now, increasing in size and acquisition; the Continuous Delivery platform has been enjoying an uptrend for a long time, debuted in 2016, initializing the Helm Operator 2 years after, Kustomize support in 2019. Then in 2020, it took a niche as a GitOps Family of Projects.

The Cloud Native Computing Foundation's Technical Oversight committees advanced the open source GitOps platform to incubation level after being in contention since it joined in 2019. This is owed to the growing adoption of the Kubernetes-run platform with an endearing drive to become a GitOps family of projects and sub-projects like Flagger GitOps Toolkit, Flux v1, and Helm Operator.

Flux co-creator Michael Bridgen said this in a blog post,

We created Flux as an open source project because we believe that is the best environment in which to develop software. Since then, I have continually been shown that trusting your users and contributors is rewarded. Although it is still a modest project, there is a loyal and growing community around Flux and the methodology it engendered.

As is widely known, Kubernetes cluster management alongside application delivery requires GitOps adoption. GitOps platforms such as Flux, Argo CD, and Jenkins are designed to keep track of activity in the Git storage and Kubernetes cluster network. Kubernetes automatically reacts upon changes made in the cluster by updating or rolling back the running code.

Flux incorporated Helm, Minio, and other cloud-native applications, both CNCF acknowledged or not. To combine with other CNCF projects, a software development kit that creates supplementary Flux controllers has been offered.

The Flux project comprises three major components:

GitOps Toolkit: Responsible for applying Flux to other applications/projects and developing different systems for Continuous Delivery. It constitutes APIs and controllers responsible for runtime management.

Flagger: The automation Kubernetes tool, responsible for the automation of canary releases using Istio, Gloo, Linkerd, among other service meshes.

Flux v1 and Helm Operator: The flagship components of the flux project. They are currently undergoing maintenance.

Flux v2 replaces the v1 and picks up where it left off. It will be an enterprise GitOps solution iteration. Building on Flux v1 capabilities, Flux v2 will augment the project by including Progressive Delivery, staying on Kubernetes, synchronizing any forms of clusters with Git repositories, and implementing automatic updates.

Having just left the sandbox ranks, Flux gained traction and recorded adoption growth, Starbucks, Plex, and more organizations operate the open source project. Flux also stands out as the only CD the CNCF community recommends for adoption.