How to Install argocd on Centos 9

ArgoCD is a declarative GitOps tool that continuously deploys applications to Kubernetes clusters. Setting it up on CentOS Stream 9 is simple if you already have kubectl and a working Kubernetes cluster. Here’s a clean, terminal-based setup.

Step 1: Update the System

Before installing anything, make sure your CentOS 9 packages are up to date:

sudo dnf update -y

Step 2: Install kubectl

If you don’t already have kubectl installed, set it up manually:

sudo dnf install -y curl
curl -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/release/$(curl -L -s https://dl.k8s.io/release/stable.txt)/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl"
sudo install -o root -g root -m 0755 kubectl /usr/local/bin/kubectl

Confirm installation:

kubectl version --client

Step 3: Create a Namespace for ArgoCD

Separate ArgoCD components into their own namespace for cleaner management:

kubectl create namespace argocd

Step 4: Install ArgoCD Components

Apply the official ArgoCD installation manifest directly from GitHub:

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

This deploys the full ArgoCD stack — API server, repo server, application controller, and related services — into the argocd namespace.

Step 5: Expose the ArgoCD API Server

By default, the ArgoCD API is only accessible inside the cluster.
To access it externally, switch the service type to NodePort:

kubectl patch svc argocd-server -n argocd -p '{"spec": {"type": "NodePort"}}'

Find the assigned port:

kubectl get svc argocd-server -n argocd

You’ll see something like:

argocd-server  NodePort  10.96.0.1  <none>  8080:31443/TCP

Your external port is 31443 in this example.

Step 6: Get the Admin Password

ArgoCD creates an admin password automatically. Retrieve it with:

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

Step 7: Access the ArgoCD Dashboard

Open your browser and go to:

http://<node-ip>:<node-port>

Login details:

• Username: admin

• Password: (from previous step)

Step 8: Install the ArgoCD CLI (Optional)

The CLI makes managing ArgoCD easier from the terminal.

sudo curl -sSL -o /usr/local/bin/argocd https://github.com/argoproj/argo-cd/releases/latest/download/argocd-linux-amd64
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/argocd

Check the version:

argocd version

For production setups, it’s best to expose ArgoCD through an Ingress controller with TLS.
If you already have NGINX Ingress and cert-manager, apply:

kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/argoproj/argo-cd/stable/manifests/ha/install.yaml

Then configure HTTPS with your SSL certificate. After your first login, change the default password and delete the initial admin secret for security: 

kubectl delete secret argocd-initial-admin-secret -n argocd