Transformation is a powerful configuration customization technique used by kustomize, kpt, Crossplane, and ConfigHub. This post describes the approach, includes some examples, explains the rationale, and discusses some lessons learned. medium.com/@bgrant0607/... #Kubernetes

Kubernetes configuration transformation orchestrators

Transformation is a powerful technique used by config-as-data tools, such as kustomize, kpt, and ConfigHub, but it’s a means to an end.

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Introducing a new validation check or policy when you have existing configuration is likely to find violations. To help with that, we created an Initiatives workflow. What would the ideal workflow look like in your situation? medium.com/@bgrant0607/...

Rolling out new Kubernetes policies with Initiatives

Rolling out new configuration policies across an organization with configuration as code and policy as code tools can be a challenge.

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My last post was about using AI to generate Kubernetes configuration. Someone suggested that validating the configuration helps by providing guardrails for the agent. I integrated several Kubernetes validation / policy tools to test the approach. medium.com/@bgrant0607/...

Validating, scoring, and gating Kubernetes configuration after every change

Validating triggers provide the kind of guardrails that AI agents need in order to verify their work and guide their act-and-fix loops.

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I experimented with multiple approaches to generate Kubernetes configuration using AI. Is it better than existing methods? confighub.com/blog/using-a... #Kubernetes

Using AI to generate Kubernetes configuration

Is generating Kubernetes configuration with AI better than alternative methods of authoring the configuration?

confighub.com

10 years ago I co-authored a blog post about the lack of well defined, discoverable application management interfaces. This gap impedes configuration validation and generation and other application automation and management. Has anything changed? confighub.com/blog/applica...

Application interfaces revisited 10 years later

The lack of well defined, discoverable application interfaces impedes automation and management of applications, and obstructs configuration validation and generation in particular. Ten years later,…

confighub.com

Can the evolution of operational tools over the past 4 decades provide clues about what changes AI will bring to ops? I reviewed the evolution of ops tools and speculated on the future. What did I miss? What do you think the future will bring? medium.com/@bgrant0607/...

Putting Agentic Ops into context: the Evolution of Operational Tools over the past 40 years

Can the evolution of operational tools over the past 4 decades provide clues about what changes AI will bring to ops?

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Instead of just making changes to helm or cdk8s with AI, I built some tools to manage several cross-cutting concerns, such as security, scheduling, observability, and autoscaling, in Kubernetes workloads. What tools would you build? itnext.io/building-too... #Kubernetes #ConfigAsData

Building tools to manage cross-cutting concerns in Kubernetes by using ConfigHub

We can build composable, interoperable tools to automate cross-cutting configuration changes on top of configuration as data.

itnext.io

Technology klaxon Is gitops dead because of ai, or can it eat the brains of claude and become eternal? And other questions answered confighub.com/blog/gitops-...

GitOps in the age of AI

Where does GitOps go if AI manages all our configuration? A proposal to extend the GitOps principles for config that is generated and processed at machine speed — call it Generative GitOps.

confighub.com

For years, security tools have been hindered by the use of configuration as code. Direct remediation caused drift. Recommendations needed to be implemented manually. What if we could build tools that could make configuration changes? medium.com/@bgrant0607/... #Kubernetes #ConfigAsData

Configuration as Code is a liability for security

Configuration as data is a paradigm shift that enables platform teams to query and fix security policy across whole fleets of clusters.

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We've only just scratched the surface, but it's already clear that the ability to build Kubernetes management tools on top of config as data with AI is a game-changing paradigm shift, as shown here by @chanwitkaewkasi.bsky.social. chanwit.medium.com/cost-as-data... #Kubernetes #ConfigAsData

Cost as Data: a fleet cost estimator on ConfigHub

Last time I built a container vulnerability scanner on ConfigHub by domain-swapping Brian Grant’s RBAC Manager. This post does it again…

chanwit.medium.com

A look at the outcomes of dealing with complicated configuration as code, by @monadic.bsky.social medium.com/@monadic/hel...

Moving beyond Git — towards a new System of Record for Software Operations

Hello New World!

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We've advocated that configuration should be represented as data, but how do you actually do that? I've written about some pieces to the puzzle, such as strategic merge patch and managed fields. This post discusses a few more challenges. medium.com/@bgrant0607/... #Kubernetes #ConfigAsData

Representing configuration as data

Configuration data is not just text, but is not just JSON, either. It requires some special approaches to effectively represent it as data.

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Last week @jesperfj shared his view on why configuration should be stored in a database. This week, we shared two example applications we built on top of a config database with an API. Now I'm sharing my take. itnext.io/configuratio... #Kubernetes #GitOps

Configuration belongs in a database

“Configuration as Code” trades off API-driven automation for scripted variant creation. What have we traded away?

itnext.io

When configuration has an API, it becomes straightforward to build apps that read and write configuration data. I created a simple RBAC management example app as a demonstration. medium.com/@bgrant0607/... What would you build? #Kubernetes #PlatformEngineering

There should be an app for that

Configuration as code has a huge opportunity cost: the ability to create apps that change state. Build K8s apps using configuration as data.

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When people think about storing "configuration" in git, they aren't really storing configuration. They are storing configuration generation code or templates and input values. Jesper's post explains why git is not great for storing actual configuration.

Git is not great for deployment configuration. I wrote a short post about it. medium.com/@jesperfj/gi...

If you've used Kubernetes server-side apply, you may have encountered issues with "managed fields". I wrote a post that explains what they are and why they exist and created a tool that categorizes field managers and can change them. LMKWYT medium.com/@bgrant0607/... #Kubernetes

Managed fields in Kubernetes

The history behind Kubernetes managed fields, an explanation of what it is for, and introduction to a tool to manage them.

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ConfigHub isn't the first configuration-as-data tool I created. In this post, I explain the evolution from kustomize to kpt to porch to ConfigHub, how the tools are different, and what led to the development of each. medium.com/@bgrant0607/... #Kubernetes #Kustomize

Kustomize, Kpt, Porch, and ConfigHub

How Kustomize, Kpt, Porch, and ConfigHub are different, and why each one was created.

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I created a Kubernetes package installer based on configuration as data. Instead of parameterizing every field, it encourages post-installation customization. The installer is open source and can be used without ConfigHub. Let me know what you think. medium.com/@bgrant0607/... #Kubernetes

A new Kubernetes package installer

Introduces a Kubernetes package installer designed for simple installation and post-installation customization.

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I replaced a manual task with an agent skill: configuring and installing a complex workload (vLLM) on Kubernetes. Rather than designing it to deploy via a complicated Helm chart, I replaced the Helm chart with the skill. WDYT? medium.com/itnext/conve... #Kubernetes #AgentSkills

Converting Helm charts to Agent Skills

I used an AI agent to convert a Helm chart to an Agent skill, and discuss the benefits of using skills to install workloads on Kubernetes.

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In this post I cover the history of how/why the problem with ConfigMap updates exists in Kubernetes, what the current most common solutions are (AFAICT), and how I decided to handle it in ConfigHub, at least for now. medium.com/@bgrant0607/... #Kubernetes #GitOps

The Challenge of ConfigMap rollouts in Kubernetes

Kubernetes does not roll out changes to ConfigMaps automatically. This discusses the history of the issue and the two prevailing solutions.

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Congrats to the Kyverno project for achieving graduated status in the CNCF. I wrote a post about Kyverno and how to use it to vet Kubernetes configuration prior to deployment, and how to use Kyverno with ConfigHub. medium.com/@bgrant0607/... #Kubernetes #Kyverno #PolicyAsCode

Vetting Kubernetes configuration with Kyverno prior to deployment

Kyverno is a policy-as-code tool for Kubernetes that enforces state-based policy constraints, which can be used with ConfigHub.

medium.com

Have you wondered why “strategic merge patch” is called that? Have you wondered why it exists? This post covers its history. itnext.io/kubernetes-s... #kubernetes #gitops

Kubernetes Strategic Merge Patch

What is Kubernetes Strategic Merge Patch, and why does it exist?

itnext.io

I believe that abstraction, as typically implemented, is not the right way to simplify configuration. medium.com/@bgrant0607/... I expect most of you disagree. Have you used simple abstractions of configuration? #Kubernetes #GitOps #InfrastructureAsCode #PlatformEngineering

Abstraction is the wrong way to simplify configuration

Abstraction of configuration through parameterization and encapsulation of configuration generators contribute to configuration complexity.

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Overview of ConfigHub and the problems we are trying to solve on TNS: thenewstack.io/tech-veteran...

Tech Veterans’ New Approach To Eliminate ‘Configuration Hell’

Startup ConfigHub treats configuration as data rather than relying on endless opaque files generated in CI/CD pipelines.

thenewstack.io

Are you tired of writing the same kinds of configuration templates over and over again? Do you wish that configuration changes weren't so manual and error-prone? Configuration as data could change that. medium.com/@bgrant0607/... #Kubernetes #GitOps #InfrastructureAsCode

Configuration needs an API

If configuration had an API, you could build and use tools to edit, inspect, and validate configuration.

medium.com

If you've ever had to "break glass" and change the state in the cluster directly rather than through git, you probably had to update the values or templates in git by hand afterwards. What if you could do that automatically? medium.com/@bgrant0607/... #Kubernetes #GitOps

What is Bidirectional GitOps?

An explanation of bidirectional GitOps and why and when it can be useful.

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Is maintaining multiple copies of fully rendered WET configuration feasible? How does ConfigHub do it without templates or patches? Is it even simpler? Hopefully this post will answer those questions: medium.com/@bgrant0607/... #Kubernetes #GitOps

How are Variants managed in ConfigHub?

Variants — similar but different related configurations — are very common. How does ConfigHub manage them using WET configuration?

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The past couple of weeks I've written about Configuration as Data. This week I'm unveiling ConfigHub: medium.com/@bgrant0607/... If you're going to KubeCon and/or FluxCon in Atlanta, come see ConfigHub in action at our sessions. Links in a followup. #Kubernetes #GitOps #InfrastructureAsCode

Introducing ConfigHub

Why ConfigHub manages configuration as data.

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Last week I defined "Configuration as Data". This week I sketched a real, if trivial, example of what that looks like in the context of Kubernetes, and compare it with Helm. medium.com/@bgrant0607/... #Kubernetes #GitOps #InfrastructureAsCode

A concrete example of Configuration as Data

A simple, concrete example of Configuration as Data.

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What is Configuration as Data? Why would anyone want to use that approach to manage configuration? I wrote a brief post to explain it: medium.com/@bgrant0607/... If you already use the rendered manifest pattern, you're partway there. I'll bee talking about it at Kubecon. #Kubernetes #GitOps

What is Configuration as Data?

Explanation of “Configuration as Data” and its potential benefits.

medium.com