This assumes:

• You have an ArgoCD server up and running. If not, check out my article Install Red Hat OpenShift GitOps Operator using the console (Argo CD)
• You have installed the ArgoCD CLI.
• You are able to log into ArgoCD using the CLI. If not, check out my article Log into ArgoCD using the CLI on OpenShift

ArgoCD sits between your version control system (such as GitHub) and your Kubernetes or OpenShift clusters and is used to create resources (such as deployments, pods, services, routes, config maps and secrets) in a particular namespace in your Kubernetes or OpenShift clusters. Almost always, this means you will have YAML files for your various Kubernetes or OpenShift resources in your version control system, such as YAML files for your Kubernetes or OpenShift deployments, YAML files for your Kubernetes or OpenShift secrets, YAML files for your Kubernetes or OpenShift services, et cetera, and ArgoCD will create the corresponding resources in your Kubernetes or OpenShift clusters using the YAML files in your version control system. ArgoCD will also ensure the resources on your Kubernetes or OpenShift clusters remain in sync with their corresponding YAML files in your version control system.

You can

• Sync an app (Push the YAML manifests in ArgoCD to Kubernetes or OpenShift)
• Refresh a repo (The YAML manifest in ArgoCD will be compared to the YAML in the version control system (such as GitHub) and if any differences are detected the YAML manifest in ArgoCD will be updated to match the YAML in the version control system (such as GitHub))
• Hard Refresh a repo (YAML manifests in ArgoCD are cached - A hard refresh invalidates the cache which forces the YAML manifests in ArgoCD to match the YAML in the version control system (such as GitHub))

The argocd app list command can then be used to list the app you have created.

~]$ argocd app list
NAME                   CLUSTER                         NAMESPACE  PROJECT  STATUS     HEALTH   SYNCPOLICY  CONDITIONS  REPO                                       PATH    TARGET
openshift-gitops/demo  https://kubernetes.default.svc  default    default  OutOfSync  Missing  Manual      <none>      https://github.com/my_project/my_repo.git  python

Notice in this example that the app is OutOfSync. The argocd app sync command can be used to attempt to sync the app.

~]$ argocd app sync openshift-gitops/demo
TIMESTAMP                  GROUP        KIND   NAMESPACE                  NAME    STATUS    HEALTH        HOOK  MESSAGE
2024-12-19T20:42:14-06:00   apps  Deployment     default                python  OutOfSync  Missing
2024-12-19T20:42:14-06:00   apps  Deployment     default                python  OutOfSync  Missing              deployments.apps is forbidden: User "system:serviceaccount:openshift-gitops:openshift-gitops-argocd-application-controller" cannot create resource "deployments" in API group "apps" in the namespace "default"
Name:               openshift-gitops/demo
Project:            default
Server:             https://kubernetes.default.svc
Namespace:          default
URL:                https://openshift-gitops-server-openshift-gitops.apps.openshift.example.com/applications/openshift-gitops/demo
Source:
- Repo:             https://github.com/my_project/my_repo.git
  Target:
  Path:             python
SyncWindow:         Sync Allowed
Sync Policy:        Manual
Sync Status:        OutOfSync from  (dbc57d6)
Health Status:      Missing
Operation:          Sync
Sync Revision:      dbc57d62045ddae6c68f925b7cb3f6a1f621bd81
Phase:              Failed
Start:              2024-12-19 20:42:14 -0600 CST
Finished:           2024-12-19 20:42:14 -0600 CST
Duration:           0s
Message:            one or more objects failed to apply, reason: deployments.apps is forbidden: User "system:serviceaccount:openshift-gitops:openshift-gitops-argocd-application-controller" cannot create resource "deployments" in API group "apps" in the namespace "default"
GROUP  KIND        NAMESPACE  NAME    STATUS     HEALTH   HOOK  MESSAGE
apps   Deployment  default    python  OutOfSync  Missing        deployments.apps is forbidden: User "system:serviceaccount:openshift-gitops:openshift-gitops-argocd-application-controller" cannot create resource "deployments" in API group "apps" in the namespace "default"
FATA[0000] Operation has completed with phase: Failed

As a default safety feature, automated sync in ArgoCD doesn't delete resources that have been removed from the Git repository. These resources then need to be pruned. The --prune flag can be used if you want to also prune which will remove resources that no longer exist in the git repo.

argocd app sync openshift-gitops/demo --prune

Or in the ArgoCD console at Applications > Sync.

The "server" pod should contain logs like this.

~]$ oc logs openshift-gitops-server-6794f7fc56-sh8hx --namespace openshift-gitops

time="2025-01-15T02:14:55Z" level=info msg="Refreshing app status (spec.source differs), level (3)" app-namespace=openshift-gitops app-qualified-name=openshift-gitops/hello-world application=hello-world project=default

time="2025-01-15T02:14:55Z" level=info msg="Comparing app state (cluster: https://kubernetes.default.svc, namespace: my-project)" application=openshift-gitops/hello-world

time="2025-01-15T02:15:01Z" level=info msg="Updated sync status:  -> OutOfSync" application=hello-world dest-namespace=my-project dest-server="https://kubernetes.default.svc" reason=ResourceUpdated type=Normal

time="2025-01-15T02:15:01Z" level=info msg="Updated health status:  -> Missing" application=hello-world dest-namespace=my-project dest-server="https://kubernetes.default.svc" reason=ResourceUpdated type=Normal

time="2025-01-15T02:15:01Z" level=info msg="Update successful" app-namespace=openshift-gitops app-qualified-name=openshift-gitops/hello-world application=hello-world project=default

time="2025-01-15T02:15:01Z" level=info msg=Syncing application=openshift-gitops/hello-world skipHooks=false started=false syncId=00001-XEDbR