Lab - Local DevOps Platform Manager

A fully automated local Internal Developer Platform built using:

• Docker
• kind (Kubernetes in Docker)
• Local container registry
• Argo CD (GitOps)
• Bash-based lifecycle automation

This tool provides a single command interface to bring up, pause, inspect, and destroy a complete Kubernetes-based DevOps environment on a laptop.

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Why I Built This

Modern cloud-native workflows require:

• A container registry
• A Kubernetes cluster
• GitOps deployment tooling
• Image pull configuration
• Repeatable environment setup

Most tutorials rely on manual steps (kind load, ad-hoc port-forwarding, repeated installations). This project eliminates that.

I built this tool to:

• Understand containerd registry mirrors
• Automate Kubernetes infrastructure lifecycle
• Implement GitOps locally with Argo CD
• Learn real-world DevOps patterns (mirrors, networking, idempotency)
• Create a reproducible platform similar to ECR + EKS + Argo CD

The result is a production-like cloud-native platform running entirely on a laptop.

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Architecture Overview

Docker
  ├── Local Registry (port 5000)
  ├── Registry UI (port 8080)
  └── kind Kubernetes cluster
         └── containerd mirror → lab-registry:5000

Kubernetes
  └── Argo CD (port-forwarded to 8888)

Key design decisions:

• Registry is persistent across cluster recreations
• Kind cluster is disposable
• Argo CD password is automatically enforced
• Registry is connected to the kind Docker network with a DNS alias
• No kind load required ever

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Ports Used

Component	Port	Purpose
Docker Registry	5000	Push/Pull container images
Registry UI	8080	View images in local registry
Argo CD Server	8888	GitOps UI (port-forwarded)
Kubernetes API	dynamic	Managed internally by kind

Access URLs:

• Registry: http://localhost:5000
• Registry UI: http://localhost:8080
• Argo CD: https://localhost:8888

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Commands

The platform is controlled through a single CLI entrypoint:

lab <command>

lab info

Displays Available commands

lab up

Brings the entire platform online.

Ensures:

• Docker is running
• kind cluster exists (creates if missing)
• Local registry is running
• Registry is connected to kind network
• Argo CD is installed (if absent)
• Argo CD password is set
• Port-forward is active

Idempotent - safe to run multiple times.

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lab down

Pauses platform services without deleting data.

Stops:

• Argo CD controllers (scaled to zero)
• Local registry containers

Preserves:

• Kubernetes cluster
• Registry data
• Argo CD configuration

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lab status

Displays structured system state:

• Docker status
• Kubernetes cluster state
• Registry container state
• Data persistence
• Argo CD readiness

Designed to be deterministic and automation-friendly.

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lab destroy

Completely wipes the platform.

Deletes:

• Argo CD namespace
• Local registry containers
• Registry data directory
• kind Kubernetes cluster

After destroy, running lab up recreates everything cleanly.

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Development Workflow

Build and push images:

docker build -t localhost:5000/app:1 .
docker push localhost:5000/app:1

Deploy to Kubernetes:

kubectl apply -f .

No kind load required. The registry mirror is automatically configured via containerd.

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Registry Integration with kind

The kind cluster is configured with:

containerdConfigPatches:
  mirror localhost:5000 → lab-registry:5000

The registry container is attached to the kind Docker network with an alias:

lab-registry

This enables containerd inside Kubernetes to resolve and pull images correctly.

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Argo CD Integration

Argo CD is:

• Installed automatically if absent
• Made accessible via port-forward
• Given a fixed admin password (bcrypt hash)
• Preserved across normal lab up runs

Admin login:

Username: admin
Password: <configured password>

Password is automatically enforced during lab up.

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Project Structure

lab/
├── lab                # CLI entrypoint
├── lib/
│   ├── core.sh
│   ├── docker.sh
│   ├── kind.sh
│   ├── registry.sh
│   └── argocd.sh
├── registry/
│   └── docker-compose.yml
├── kind/
│   └── kind.yaml
└── config/
    └── argocd.env

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What This Project Demonstrates

• Bash-based infrastructure automation
• Idempotent lifecycle management
• containerd registry mirrors
• Docker network alias handling
• GitOps automation with Argo CD
• Persistent secret management
• Real-world DevOps troubleshooting

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