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Quick Start

To see how Argo Workflows work, you can install it and run examples of simple workflows.

Before you start you need a Kubernetes cluster and kubectl set up to be able to access that cluster. For the purposes of getting up and running, a local cluster is fine. You could consider the following local Kubernetes cluster options:

Alternatively, if you want to try out Argo Workflows and don't want to set up a Kubernetes cluster, try the Killercoda course.

Development vs. Production

These instructions are intended to help you get started quickly. They are not suitable in production. For production installs, please refer to the installation documentation.

Install Argo Workflows

To install Argo Workflows, navigate to the releases page and find the release you wish to use (the latest full release is preferred).

Scroll down to the Controller and Server section and execute the kubectl commands.

Below is an example of the install commands, ensure that you update the command to install the correct version number:

kubectl create namespace argo
kubectl apply -n argo -f https://github.com/argoproj/argo-workflows/releases/download/v<<ARGO_WORKFLOWS_VERSION>>/install.yaml

Patch argo-server authentication

The argo-server (and thus the UI) defaults to client authentication, which requires clients to provide their Kubernetes bearer token in order to authenticate. For more information, refer to the Argo Server Auth Mode documentation. We will switch the authentication mode to server so that we can bypass the UI login for now:

kubectl patch deployment \
  argo-server \
  --namespace argo \
  --type='json' \
  -p='[{"op": "replace", "path": "/spec/template/spec/containers/0/args", "value": [
  "server",
  "--auth-mode=server"
]}]'

Port-forward the UI

Open a port-forward so you can access the UI:

kubectl -n argo port-forward deployment/argo-server 2746:2746

This will serve the UI on https://localhost:2746. Due to the self-signed certificate, you will receive a TLS error which you will need to manually approve.

Pay close attention to the URI. It uses https and not http. Navigating to http://localhost:2746 result in server-side error that breaks the port-forwarding.

Install the Argo Workflows CLI

You can more easily interact with Argo Workflows with the Argo CLI.

Submitting an example workflow

Submit an example workflow (CLI)

argo submit -n argo --watch https://raw.githubusercontent.com/argoproj/argo-workflows/master/examples/hello-world.yaml

The --watch flag used above will allow you to observe the workflow as it runs and the status of whether it succeeds. When the workflow completes, the watch on the workflow will stop.

You can list all the Workflows you have submitted by running the command below:

argo list -n argo

You will notice the Workflow name has a hello-world- prefix followed by random characters. These characters are used to give Workflows unique names to help identify specific runs of a Workflow. If you submitted this Workflow again, the next Workflow run would have a different name.

Using the argo get command, you can always review details of a Workflow run. The output for the command below will be the same as the information shown as when you submitted the Workflow:

argo get -n argo @latest

The @latest argument to the CLI is a short cut to view the latest Workflow run that was executed.

You can also observe the logs of the Workflow run by running the following:

argo logs -n argo @latest

Submit an example workflow (GUI)

  • Open a port-forward so you can access the UI:
kubectl -n argo port-forward deployment/argo-server 2746:2746

  • Navigate your browser to https://localhost:2746.

  • Click + Submit New Workflow and then Edit using full workflow options

  • You can find an example workflow already in the text field. Press + Create to start the workflow.

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