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Use ApplicationSets

ApplicationSets generate multiple Applications from templates, enabling you to deploy the same application across multiple clusters, environments, or namespaces with a single resource definition.

Prerequisites

How ApplicationSets work

ApplicationSets use generators to produce parameters, then apply those parameters to an Application template. Each set of generated parameters creates one Application.

Common generators for EKS deployments:

For complete generator reference, see ApplicationSet Documentation.

List generator

Deploy to multiple clusters with explicit configuration:

apiVersion: argoproj.io/v1alpha1
kind: ApplicationSet
metadata:
  name: guestbook-all-clusters
  namespace: argocd
spec:
  generators:
  - list:
      elements:
      - cluster: arn:aws:eks:us-west-2:111122223333:cluster/dev-cluster
        environment: dev
        replicas: "2"
      - cluster: arn:aws:eks:us-west-2:111122223333:cluster/staging-cluster
        environment: staging
        replicas: "3"
      - cluster: arn:aws:eks:us-west-2:111122223333:cluster/prod-cluster
        environment: prod
        replicas: "5"
  template:
    metadata:
      name: 'guestbook-{{environment}}'
    spec:
      project: default
      source:
        repoURL: https://github.com/example/guestbook
        targetRevision: HEAD
        path: 'overlays/{{environment}}'
      destination:
        server: '{{cluster}}'
        namespace: guestbook
      syncPolicy:
        automated:
          prune: true
          selfHeal: true

This creates three Applications: guestbook-dev, guestbook-staging, and guestbook-prod.

Cluster generator

Deploy to all registered clusters automatically:

apiVersion: argoproj.io/v1alpha1
kind: ApplicationSet
metadata:
  name: cluster-addons
  namespace: argocd
spec:
  generators:
  - clusters: {}
  template:
    metadata:
      name: '{{name}}-addons'
    spec:
      project: default
      source:
        repoURL: https://github.com/example/cluster-addons
        targetRevision: HEAD
        path: addons
      destination:
        server: '{{server}}'
        namespace: kube-system
      syncPolicy:
        automated:
          prune: true
          selfHeal: true

This automatically creates an Application for each registered cluster.

Filter clusters:

spec:
  generators:
  - clusters:
      selector:
        matchLabels:
          environment: production

Git generators

Git generators create Applications based on repository structure:

Example: Microservices deployment

apiVersion: argoproj.io/v1alpha1
kind: ApplicationSet
metadata:
  name: microservices
  namespace: argocd
spec:
  generators:
  - git:
      repoURL: https://github.com/example/microservices
      revision: HEAD
      directories:
      - path: services/*
  template:
    metadata:
      name: '{{path.basename}}'
    spec:
      project: default
      source:
        repoURL: https://github.com/example/microservices
        targetRevision: HEAD
        path: '{{path}}'
      destination:
        server: arn:aws:eks:us-west-2:111122223333:cluster/my-cluster
        namespace: '{{path.basename}}'
      syncPolicy:
        automated:
          prune: true
          selfHeal: true
        syncOptions:
        - CreateNamespace=true

For details on Git generators and file-based configuration, see Git Generator in the Argo CD documentation.

Matrix generator

Combine multiple generators to deploy across multiple dimensions (environments × clusters):

apiVersion: argoproj.io/v1alpha1
kind: ApplicationSet
metadata:
  name: multi-env-multi-cluster
  namespace: argocd
spec:
  generators:
  - matrix:
      generators:
      - list:
          elements:
          - environment: dev
          - environment: staging
          - environment: prod
      - clusters:
          selector:
            matchLabels:
              region: us-west-2
  template:
    metadata:
      name: 'app-{{environment}}-{{name}}'
    spec:
      project: default
      source:
        repoURL: https://github.com/example/app
        targetRevision: HEAD
        path: 'overlays/{{environment}}'
      destination:
        server: '{{server}}'
        namespace: 'app-{{environment}}'

For details on combining generators, see Matrix Generator in the Argo CD documentation.

Progressive rollout

Deploy to environments sequentially with different sync policies:

apiVersion: argoproj.io/v1alpha1
kind: ApplicationSet
metadata:
  name: progressive-rollout
  namespace: argocd
spec:
  generators:
  - list:
      elements:
      - environment: dev
        autoSync: "true"
      - environment: staging
        autoSync: "true"
      - environment: prod
        autoSync: "false"
  template:
    metadata:
      name: 'app-{{environment}}'
    spec:
      project: default
      source:
        repoURL: https://github.com/example/app
        targetRevision: HEAD
        path: 'overlays/{{environment}}'
      destination:
        server: arn:aws:eks:us-west-2:111122223333:cluster/{{environment}}-cluster
        namespace: app
      syncPolicy:
        automated:
          prune: true
          selfHeal: '{{autoSync}}'

Dev and staging sync automatically, while production requires manual approval.

Multi-region deployment

Deploy to clusters across multiple regions:

apiVersion: argoproj.io/v1alpha1
kind: ApplicationSet
metadata:
  name: global-app
  namespace: argocd
spec:
  generators:
  - list:
      elements:
      - cluster: arn:aws:eks:us-west-2:111122223333:cluster/prod-us-west
        region: us-west-2
      - cluster: arn:aws:eks:us-east-1:111122223333:cluster/prod-us-east
        region: us-east-1
      - cluster: arn:aws:eks:eu-west-1:111122223333:cluster/prod-eu-west
        region: eu-west-1
  template:
    metadata:
      name: 'app-{{region}}'
    spec:
      project: default
      source:
        repoURL: https://github.com/example/app
        targetRevision: HEAD
        path: kubernetes
        helm:
          parameters:
          - name: region
            value: '{{region}}'
      destination:
        server: '{{cluster}}'
        namespace: app
      syncPolicy:
        automated:
          prune: true
          selfHeal: true

Manage ApplicationSets

View ApplicationSets and generated Applications:

kubectl get applicationsets -n argocd
kubectl get applications -n argocd -l argocd.argoproj.io/application-set-name=<applicationset-name>

Update an ApplicationSet:

Modify the ApplicationSet spec and reapply. Argo CD automatically updates all generated Applications:

kubectl apply -f applicationset.yaml

Delete an ApplicationSet:

kubectl delete applicationset <name> -n argocd

Additional resources