# Getting Started

!!! tip
    This guide assumes you have a grounding in the tools that Argo CD is based on. Please read [understanding the basics](understand_the_basics.md) to learn about these tools.

## Requirements

* Installed [kubectl](https://kubernetes.io/docs/tasks/tools/install-kubectl/) command-line tool.
* Have a [kubeconfig](https://kubernetes.io/docs/tasks/access-application-cluster/configure-access-multiple-clusters/) file (default location is `~/.kube/config`).

## 1. Install Argo CD

```bash
kubectl create namespace argocd
kubectl apply -n argocd -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/argoproj/argo-cd/stable/manifests/install.yaml
```

This will create a new namespace, `argocd`, where Argo CD services and application resources will live.

!!! note
    If you are not interested in UI, SSO, multi-cluster management and just want to pull changes into the cluster then you can disable
    authentication using `--disable-auth` flag and access Argo CD via CLI using `--port-forward` or `--port-forward-namespace` flags
    and proceed to step [#6](#6-create-an-application-from-a-git-repository):
    
    `kubectl patch deploy argocd-server -n argocd -p '[{"op": "add", "path": "/spec/template/spec/containers/0/command/-", "value": "--disable-auth"}]' --type json`

## 2. Download Argo CD CLI

Download the latest Argo CD version from [https://github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/releases/latest](https://github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/releases/latest). More detailed installation instructions can be found via the [CLI installation documentation](cli_installation.md).

Also available in Mac, Linux and WSL Homebrew:

```bash
brew install argocd
```

## 3. Access The Argo CD API Server

By default, the Argo CD API server is not exposed with an external IP. To access the API server,
choose one of the following techniques to expose the Argo CD API server:

### Service Type Load Balancer
Change the argocd-server service type to `LoadBalancer`:

```bash
kubectl patch svc argocd-server -n argocd -p '{"spec": {"type": "LoadBalancer"}}'
```

### Ingress
Follow the [ingress documentation](operator-manual/ingress.md) on how to configure Argo CD with ingress.

### Port Forwarding
Kubectl port-forwarding can also be used to connect to the API server without exposing the service.

```bash
kubectl port-forward svc/argocd-server -n argocd 8080:443
```

The API server can then be accessed using the localhost:8080


## 4. Login Using The CLI

!!! warning
    We strongly advise to change the initially generated administrative password
    as soon as after your first login to the system.

Depending on the Argo CD version you are installing, the method how to get the
initial password for the `admin` user is different.

> Argo CD 1.8 and earlier

The initial password is autogenerated to be the pod name of the
Argo CD API server. This can be retrieved with the command:

```bash
kubectl get pods -n argocd -l app.kubernetes.io/name=argocd-server -o name | cut -d'/' -f 2
```

Using the username `admin` and the password from above, login to Argo CD's IP or hostname:

```bash
argocd login <ARGOCD_SERVER>  # e.g. localhost:8080 or argocd.example.com
```

Change the password using the command:

```bash
argocd account update-password
```

!!! note
    The initial password is set in a kubernetes secret, named `argocd-secret`, during ArgoCD's initial start up. This means if you edit
    the deployment in any way which causes a new pod to be deployed, such as disabling TLS on the Argo CD API server. Take note of the initial
    pod name when you first install Argo CD, or reset the password by following [these instructions](../faq/#i-forgot-the-admin-password-how-do-i-reset-it)

> Argo CD v1.9 and later

The initial password for the `admin` account is auto-generated and stored as
clear text in the field `password` in a secret named `argocd-initial-admin-secret`
in your Argo CD installation namespace. You can simply retrieve this password
using `kubectl`:

```bash
kubectl -n argocd get secret argocd-initial-admin-secret -o jsonpath="{.data.password}" | base64 -d
```

For better readability, e.g. if you want to copy & paste the generated password,
you can simply append `&& echo` to above command, which will add a newline to
the output.

Using the username `admin` and the password from above, login to Argo CD's IP or hostname:

```bash
argocd login <ARGOCD_SERVER>
```

Change the password using the command:

```bash
argocd account update-password
```

!!! note
    You should delete the `argocd-initial-admin-secret` from the Argo CD
    namespace once you changed the password. The secret serves no other
    purpose than to store the initially generated password in clear and can
    safely be deleted at any time. It will be re-created on demand by Argo CD
    if a new admin password must be re-generated.

## 5. Register A Cluster To Deploy Apps To (Optional)

This step registers a cluster's credentials to Argo CD, and is only necessary when deploying to
an external cluster. When deploying internally (to the same cluster that Argo CD is running in),
https://kubernetes.default.svc should be used as the application's K8s API server address.

First list all clusters contexts in your current kubeconfig:
```bash
kubectl config get-contexts -o name
```

Choose a context name from the list and supply it to `argocd cluster add CONTEXTNAME`. For example,
for docker-desktop context, run:
```bash
argocd cluster add docker-desktop
```

The above command installs a ServiceAccount (`argocd-manager`), into the kube-system namespace of 
that kubectl context, and binds the service account to an admin-level ClusterRole. Argo CD uses this
service account token to perform its management tasks (i.e. deploy/monitoring).

!!! note
    The rules of the `argocd-manager-role` role can be modified such that it only has `create`, `update`, `patch`, `delete` privileges to a limited set of namespaces, groups, kinds. 
    However `get`, `list`, `watch` privileges are required at the cluster-scope for Argo CD to function.

## 6. Create An Application From A Git Repository

An example repository containing a guestbook application is available at
[https://github.com/argoproj/argocd-example-apps.git](https://github.com/argoproj/argocd-example-apps.git) to demonstrate how Argo CD works.

### Creating Apps Via CLI

!!! note
    You can access Argo CD using port forwarding: add `--port-forward-namespace argocd` flag to every CLI command or set `ARGOCD_OPTS` environment variable: `export ARGOCD_OPTS='--port-forward-namespace argocd'`:

    `argocd app create guestbook --repo https://github.com/argoproj/argocd-example-apps.git --path guestbook --dest-server https://kubernetes.default.svc --dest-namespace default`

### Creating Apps Via UI

Open a browser to the Argo CD external UI, and login by visiting the IP/hostname in a browser and use the credentials set in step 4.

After logging in, click the **+ New App** button as shown below:

![+ new app button](assets/new-app.png)

Give your app the name `guestbook`, use the project `default`, and leave the sync policy as `Manual`:

![app information](assets/app-ui-information.png)

Connect the [https://github.com/argoproj/argocd-example-apps.git](https://github.com/argoproj/argocd-example-apps.git) repo to Argo CD by setting repository url to the github repo url, leave revision as `HEAD`, and set the path to `guestbook`:

![connect repo](assets/connect-repo.png)

For **Destination**, set cluster to `in-cluster` and namespace to `default`:

![destination](assets/destination.png)

After filling out the information above, click **Create** at the top of the UI to create the `guestbook` application:

![destination](assets/create-app.png)


## 7. Sync (Deploy) The Application

### Syncing via CLI

Once the guestbook application is created, you can now view its status:

```bash
$ argocd app get guestbook
Name:               guestbook
Server:             https://kubernetes.default.svc
Namespace:          default
URL:                https://10.97.164.88/applications/guestbook
Repo:               https://github.com/argoproj/argocd-example-apps.git
Target:
Path:               guestbook
Sync Policy:        <none>
Sync Status:        OutOfSync from  (1ff8a67)
Health Status:      Missing

GROUP  KIND        NAMESPACE  NAME          STATUS     HEALTH
apps   Deployment  default    guestbook-ui  OutOfSync  Missing
       Service     default    guestbook-ui  OutOfSync  Missing
```

The application status is initially in `OutOfSync` state since the application has yet to be
deployed, and no Kubernetes resources have been created. To sync (deploy) the application, run:

```bash
argocd app sync guestbook
```

This command retrieves the manifests from the repository and performs a `kubectl apply` of the
manifests. The guestbook app is now running and you can now view its resource components, logs,
events, and assessed health status.

### Syncing via UI

![guestbook app](assets/guestbook-app.png)
![view app](assets/guestbook-tree.png)