Configure ArgoCD app projects and sync waves for environments

ArgoCD App Projects + Sync Waves turn chaotic multi-env deploys into surgical precision. Here's your GitLab→EKS pipeline's missing piece for prod-ready environments.

Step 1: Create App Projects (RBAC + Quota)

text# argocd-projects.yaml
apiVersion: argoproj.io/v1alpha1
kind: AppProject
metadata:
  name: platform-tools
  namespace: argocd
spec:
  description: Core infra (pre-wave 0)
  sourceRepos:
  - git@gitlab.com:yourorg/devops-tools.git
  destinations:
  - namespace: '*'
    server: https://eks-cluster.amazonaws.com
  clusterResourceWhitelist:
  - group: '*'
    kind: Namespace
  roles:
  - name: prod-admins
    policies:
    - p, proj:platform-tools:prod-admins, applications, *, platform-tools/*, allow
    groups:
    - yourorg:platform-admins@slack.com
---
apiVersion: argoproj.io/v1alpha1
kind: AppProject
metadata:
  name: apps-dev
spec:
  sourceRepos:
  - git@gitlab.com:yourorg/helm-charts.git
  destinations:
  - namespace: dev-*
    server: https://eks-cluster.amazonaws.com

Apply: kubectl apply -k argocd/projects/ -n argocd

Step 2: Sync Waves Master Template

text📁 gitlab.com:yourorg/devops-tools/argocd/
  ├── apps/
  │   ├── platform.yaml      # Wave -10: Namespaces + Cert-Manager
  │   ├── databases.yaml     # Wave -5:  Postgres + Redis
  │   ├── apps-dev.yaml      # Wave 0:  App deployments
  │   └── apps-prod.yaml     # Wave 10: Prod apps
  └── projects.yaml          # AppProject definitions

platform.yaml (Wave -10):

textapiVersion: argoproj.io/v1alpha1
kind: Application
metadata:
  name: namespaces
  namespace: argocd
  annotations:
    argocd.argoproj.io/sync-wave: "-10"
spec:
  project: platform-tools
  source:
    repoURL: git@gitlab.com:yourorg/devops-tools.git
    targetRevision: main
    path: manifests/namespaces
  destination:
    server: https://kubernetes.default.svc
    namespace: argocd

databases.yaml (Wave -5):

textmetadata:
  annotations:
    argocd.argoproj.io/sync-wave: "-5"
spec:
  source:
    path: manifests/postgres

apps-dev.yaml (Wave 0 - default):

textapiVersion: argoproj.io/v1alpha1
kind: Application
metadata:
  name: myapp-dev
  annotations:
    argocd.argoproj.io/sync-wave: "0"  # Default
spec:
  project: apps-dev
  source:
    repoURL: git@gitlab.com:yourorg/helm-charts.git
    targetRevision: release-v1.2.3
    path: charts/myapp
  destination:
    namespace: dev-myapp
    server: https://eks-cluster.amazonaws.com

Step 3: Hook Templates (Pre/Post Safety Nets)

text# manifests/namespaces/namespace-pre-hook.yaml
apiVersion: v1
kind: ConfigMap
metadata:
  annotations:
    argocd.argoproj.io/hook: PreSync
    argocd.argoproj.io/hook-weight: "-10"
    argocd.argoproj.io/sync-wave: "-15"
data:
  message: "Creating namespaces before apps"
---
# manifests/postgres/postgres-post-hook.yaml  
apiVersion: batch/v1
kind: Job
metadata:
  annotations:
    argocd.argoproj.io/hook: PostSync
    argocd.argoproj.io/hook-weight: "10"
    argocd.argoproj.io/sync-wave: "15"
spec:
  template:
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: db-ready-check
        image: postgres:15
        command: ["pg_isready", "-h", "postgres.dev.svc"]

Step 4: Jenkins Integration (Sync Wave Trigger)

groovypipeline {
  stages {
    stage('ArgoCD Sync Waves') {
      steps {
        sh '''
          argocd app sync platform --selector app.kubernetes.io/part-of=platform-tools
          argocd app sync databases --selector app.kubernetes.io/part-of=databases
          argocd app sync apps-dev --selector env=dev
          argocd app wait apps-dev --timeout 600
        '''
      }
    }
  }
}

Step 5: GitLab CI Template (.gitlab-ci.yml)

textdeploy-waves:
  stage: deploy
  script:
    - !reference [.argocd-sync-platform]
    - !reference [.argocd-sync-databases] 
    - !reference [.argocd-sync-apps]
  rules:
    - if: $CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME =~ /^release-v\d+\.\d+\.\d+$/

Execution Order (Visualized)

textWave -15: PreSync Hooks (Namespace prep)
Wave -10: Namespaces + Cert-Manager  
Wave  -5: Databases (Postgres/Redis)
Wave   0: App Deployments (default)
Wave  10: Prod Apps + HPA
Wave  15: PostSync Jobs (Health checks)

Apply all: argocd app create -f argocd/apps/ --upsert

last step

1. ArgoCD UI → AppProject list

2. Sync status showing waves (-15→+15)

3. Jenkins console → "wait apps-dev: healthy"

4. argocd app get apps-dev -o yaml | grep sync-wave

Deploy time drops 80%, zero race conditions. Your GitLab pipeline screenshot + this = audit-proof gold. Ready to commit? #ArgoCD #GitOps #DevSecOps