Installation Overview

Choose the right Argo CD installation method for your needs

Argo CD offers flexible installation options to suit different use cases, from testing to production deployments. Choose the installation method that best fits your requirements.

Installation Types

Argo CD has two primary installation types:

Multi-Tenant

Full-featured installation with UI, API, and RBAC for serving multiple teams

Core

Lightweight headless installation for single-cluster GitOps

Multi-Tenant Installation

The multi-tenant installation is the most common deployment method, typically maintained by a platform team to service multiple application developer teams.

Standard Installation

Recommended for: Testing, demonstrations, and single-cluster deployments

The standard installation includes all Argo CD components with single replicas:

Components:

• API Server (argocd-server)
• Repository Server (argocd-repo-server)
• Application Controller (argocd-application-controller)
• Redis
• Dex (for SSO)
• ApplicationSet Controller
• Notifications Controller

Standard Installation

Get started with the standard installation

High Availability Installation

Production environments should use the HA installation for reliability and resiliency

The HA installation includes the same components but configured for high availability:

Key Differences:

• Multiple replicas for critical components
• Redis HA with Sentinel
• Pod anti-affinity rules
• Requires at least 3 nodes

HA Installation

Set up Argo CD for production

Installation Comparison

Standard vs HA

Component	Standard	High Availability
API Server	1 replica	Multiple replicas
Repo Server	1 replica	Multiple replicas
Application Controller	1 replica (StatefulSet)	Multiple replicas (StatefulSet)
Redis	Single instance	Redis HA with Sentinel
Use Case	Testing, demos	Production
Min Nodes	1	3 (due to anti-affinity)
IPv6 Support	Yes	No

Multi-Tenant vs Core

Feature	Multi-Tenant	Core
Web UI	✓ Full access	✓ Local dashboard only
CLI	✓ Full access	✓ With —core flag
API Server	✓	✗
RBAC	✓ Argo CD RBAC	✗ Kubernetes RBAC only
OIDC Auth	✓	✗
Notifications	✓	✗
Multi-tenancy	✓ API-based	✓ GitOps-based
Best For	Multiple teams	Single admin/team

Cluster Access Modes

Argo CD supports two cluster access modes:

Cluster-Admin Access

install.yaml - Standard installation with cluster-admin access

• Use when Argo CD manages applications in the same cluster it runs in
• Can deploy to kubernetes.svc.default (in-cluster)
• Can also deploy to external clusters with credentials
• Includes ClusterRole and ClusterRoleBinding

The ClusterRoleBinding is bound to a ServiceAccount in the argocd namespace. Be cautious when changing the namespace - update the ClusterRoleBinding accordingly.

Namespace-Level Access

namespace-install.yaml - Installation with namespace-level privileges only

• Use when Argo CD only deploys to external clusters
• No cluster-level permissions required
• Ideal for multi-instance deployments (different teams/namespaces)
• Can still deploy to same cluster with explicit credentials
• Only deploys Argo CD resources (Applications, ApplicationSets, AppProjects) locally

Argo CD CRDs are not included in namespace-install.yaml and must be installed separately.

Installation Methods

Argo CD manifests can be installed using multiple methods:

kubectl

Direct installation using kubectl:

kubectl create namespace argocd
kubectl apply -n argocd --server-side --force-conflicts \
  -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/argoproj/argo-cd/stable/manifests/install.yaml

The --server-side --force-conflicts flags are required because some CRDs exceed the size limit for client-side apply.

Kustomize

Install using Kustomize for easier customization:

apiVersion: kustomize.config.k8s.io/v1beta1
kind: Kustomization

namespace: argocd
resources:
  - https://raw.githubusercontent.com/argoproj/argo-cd/stable/manifests/install.yaml

Apply with:

kustomize build . | kubectl apply --server-side --force-conflicts -f -

Helm

Install using the community-maintained Helm chart:

helm repo add argo https://argoproj.github.io/argo-helm
helm install argocd argo/argo-cd -n argocd --create-namespace

The Helm chart is maintained at argo-helm/charts/argo-cd.

Custom Namespace Installation

To install Argo CD in a custom namespace, use Kustomize to patch the ClusterRoleBinding:

apiVersion: kustomize.config.k8s.io/v1beta1
kind: Kustomization

namespace: <your-custom-namespace>
resources:
  - https://raw.githubusercontent.com/argoproj/argo-cd/stable/manifests/install.yaml

patches:
  - patch: |-
      - op: replace
        path: /subjects/0/namespace
        value: <your-custom-namespace>
    target:
      kind: ClusterRoleBinding

Next Steps

1. Choose Installation Type

   Select between Standard, High Availability, or Core Mode based on your requirements.

2. Install Argo CD

   Follow the installation guide for your chosen deployment method.

3. Access the UI

   Retrieve the initial admin password and access the Argo CD UI.

4. Configure

   Set up repositories, projects, and applications.

Version Support

For detailed information about Argo CD’s version support policy and tested Kubernetes versions, refer to the Release Process documentation.