Prepare a GKE cluster for Argo CD deployments

Set up your GKE environment

In this section, you prepare a production-ready Arm64 Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) cluster for GitOps with Argo CD.

This cluster is designed for:

• Arm-based workloads (Axion / C4A)
• GitOps-based deployments
• Production-style Kubernetes operation

Prerequisites

You must have:

• A SUSE Linux Arm64 VM
• A Google Cloud account
• Internet access from the VM

Prepare the system

Update the system packages and install dependencies:

    

        
        
sudo zypper refresh
sudo zypper update -y
sudo zypper install -y curl git tar gzip

    

Install kubectl

Install the kubectl command-line tool for interacting with Kubernetes clusters:

    

        
        
curl -LO https://dl.k8s.io/release/v1.30.1/bin/linux/arm64/kubectl
chmod +x kubectl
sudo mv kubectl /usr/local/bin/

    

Verify kubectl installation

Confirm that kubectl is installed and accessible in your PATH:

    

        
        
kubectl version --client

    

The output is similar to:

    

        
        Client Version: v1.30.1
Kustomize Version: v5.0.4-0.20230601165947-6ce0bf390ce3

        
    

Install Python 3.11

Install Python 3.11:

    

        
        
sudo zypper install -y python311
which python3.11

    

Install Google Cloud SDK (gcloud)

The Google Cloud SDK is required to create and manage GKE clusters.

Download and extract the SDK package:

    

        
        
wget https://dl.google.com/dl/cloudsdk/channels/rapid/downloads/google-cloud-sdk-460.0.0-linux-arm.tar.gz
tar -xvf google-cloud-sdk-460.0.0-linux-arm.tar.gz

    

Run the installation script to set up gcloud:

    

        
        
./google-cloud-sdk/install.sh

    

After installation completes, exit the terminal and reconnect via SSH to apply the PATH changes:

    

        
        
exit

    

Initialize gcloud

Authenticate and configure the Google Cloud CLI:

    

        
        
gcloud init

    

During initialization, select Login with a new account. You’ll be prompted to authenticate using your browser and receive an auth code to copy back. Select the project you want to use and choose default settings when unsure.

Get the list of Google project IDs

Retrieve the list of project IDs:

    

        
        
gcloud projects list

    

The output is similar to:

    

        
        PROJECT_ID               NAME              PROJECT_NUMBER
imperial-time-463411-q5  My First Project  662694175852

        
    

Note the PROJECT_ID for use in the next step.

Set the active project

Ensure the correct GCP project is selected:

    

        
        
gcloud config set project <YOUR_PROJECT_ID>

    

Replace <YOUR_PROJECT_ID> with your actual project ID from the previous step.

Install the auth plugin for gcloud

    

        
        
gcloud components install gke-gcloud-auth-plugin

    

Enable Kubernetes API

Enable the required API for GKE:

    

        
        
gcloud services enable \
  compute.googleapis.com \
  container.googleapis.com

    

Create a GKE cluster

Create a Kubernetes cluster to host Argo CD deployments:

    

        
        
gcloud container clusters create argocd-arm-cluster   \
--zone us-central1-a   \
--machine-type c4a-standard-4   \
--num-nodes 2   \
--release-channel regular   \
--workload-pool=$(gcloud config get-value project).svc.id.goog \
--enable-ip-alias

    

Configure kubectl access to GKE

Fetch cluster credentials:

    

        
        
gcloud container clusters get-credentials argocd-arm-cluster   --zone us-central1-a

    

Verify cluster access

Confirm Kubernetes access:

    

        
        
kubectl get nodes

    

The output is similar to:

    

        
        NAME                                                STATUS   ROLES    AGE     VERSION
gke-argocd-arm-cluster-default-pool-301523aa-6t7f   Ready    <none>   3h11m   v1.33.5-gke.2072000
gke-argocd-arm-cluster-default-pool-301523aa-cczh   Ready    <none>   3h11m   v1.33.5-gke.2072000

        
    

All nodes should be in Ready state, and the Kubernetes control plane should be accessible.

    

        
        
kubectl get nodes -o jsonpath='{.items[*].status.nodeInfo.architecture}'

    

The output is similar to:

    

        
        arm64 arm64

        
    

Remove taint on the cluster nodes for Arm64 support

Remove the taint on the nodes to ensure proper scheduling on Arm64 VMs. For each node starting with gke, run the following taint command.

For example, using the node IDs in the output above:

    

        
        
kubectl taint nodes gke-argocd-arm-cluster-default-pool-301523aa-6t7f kubernetes.io/arch=arm64:NoSchedule-
kubectl taint nodes gke-argocd-arm-cluster-default-pool-301523aa-cczh kubernetes.io/arch=arm64:NoSchedule-

    

Replace the node names with your actual node names from the previous command output.

The output is similar to:

    

        
        node/gke-argocd-arm-cluster-default-pool-c090f2b1-48t7 untainted

        
    

What you’ve accomplished and what’s next

You’ve successfully prepared a production-ready Arm64 GKE environment by installing and configuring the Google Cloud SDK, creating an Arm-based (Axion) GKE cluster, connecting kubectl to the cluster, and verifying cluster access and node architecture. Your Kubernetes environment is now ready to support GitOps workflows.

In the next section, you’ll install Argo CD on the GKE cluster, expose the Argo CD server for external browser access, install and configure the Argo CD CLI, and verify connectivity between the CLI, browser UI, and cluster.