Continuous Delivery & GitOps

Learn Continuous Delivery & GitOps through Harness University

Eliminate scripting and manual deployments with Argo CD-as-a-Service and powerful, easy-to-use pipelines. Empower your teams to deliver new features, faster – with AI/ML for automated canary and blue/green deployments, advanced verification, and intelligent rollback.

Go to Harness University for the full catalogue of courses and certifications.

Self-Paced Training Instructor-Led Training Certifications

Self-Paced Training

Free self-paced courses that you can consume on your own time.

Harness Platform Fundamentals

Self-paced video course introducing the Harness Platform. Product version: Free Plans of any module

Free

Introduction to AI Agents

Self-paced tidbit introducing the Custom AI Agents. Product version: Paid Plans of any module

Free

Continuous Delivery & GitOps

Self-paced video course introducing Harness Continuous Delivery & GitOps. Product version: Harness CD & GitOps Free Plans

Free

Introducing CD Service Setup

Self-paced tidbit introducing CD Service Setup. Product version: Harness CD & GitOps Free Plans

Free

Introduction to GitOps Application Deployments with Feature Management

Self-paced tidbit introducing GitOps applications with feature management. Product version: Harness CD & GitOps Free Plans

Free

Introduction to Basic CD Deployments

Self-paced tidbit introducing basic CD deployments. Product version: Harness CD & GitOps Free Plans

Free

Introduction to Policy as Code [OPA]

Self-paced tidbit introducing Policy as Code [OPA].

Product version: Harness CD & GitOps Free Plans

Free

Introduction to Drift Detection

Self-paced tidbit introducing Drift Detection.

Product version: Harness CD & GitOps Free Plans

Free

Introduction to Pipeline Controls

Self-paced tidbit introducing Pipeline Controls.

Product version: Harness CD & GitOps Free Plans

Free

Introduction to Continuous Verification with Prometheus

Self-paced tidbit introducing Continuous Verification with Prometheus.

Product version: Harness CD & GitOps Free Plans

Free

Introduction to Custom Plugins in CD Steps

Self-paced tidbit introducing Custom Plugins in CD Steps.

Product version: Harness CD & GitOps Free Plans

Free

Instructor-Led Training

Intensive two-day courses are designed for engineers looking to deepen their understanding and expertise in Harness.

Introduction to the Harness Platform

Self-paced hands-on, prerequisite course to all module-specific ILT courses.

Product version: Paid Plans of any module

Paid

Continuous Delivery & GitOps

Deep dive into advanced Continus Delivery concepts using Kubernetes as the deployment infrastructure.

Product version: Harness CD & GitOps Paid Plans

Paid

Certifications

Test and validate your knowledge of Harness by becoming a Harness Certified Expert.

For Developer

Continuous Delivery & GitOps - Developer

Continuous Delivery & GitOps - Developer badge

Product version: Harness CD & GitOps Free Plans

Review Study Guide

Assesses the fundamental skills to deploy your applications with CD & GitOps projects.

Topic	Material
1. Application Architectures and Services for Deployment
Define Continuous Delivery	CD overview and key concepts
Delegates	Delegate overview
Service Overrides	Services and environments overview
Artifact/Kubernetes Manifest Sources	Harness Kubernetes Services
Overrides	Propagate and Override CD Services
2. Swimlanes
Services and Environments	Services and environments overview
Infrastructure and Environments	Kubernetes Infrastructure
SSH Deployments	Secure Shell (SSH) deployment tutorial
Blue/Green Deployments	Create a Kubernetes Blue Green Deployment
Canary Deployments	Create a Kubernetes Canary Deployment
3. Continuous Delivery
Barriers	Synchronize Parallel Stages and Step Groups
Conditional Execution	Define conditional executions for stages and steps
Steps	Use looping strategies
Looping Strategies	Best Practices for Looping Strategies
Terraform Provider	Harness Terraform Provider overview
Cloud Formation Provider	CloudFormation How-tos
Git Trigger	Triggers
Webhooks	Trigger Pipelines using Git Events
API Triggers	Get started with Harness APIs
Policy as Code	Policy as Code Overview
Kubernetes Sidecars	Add a Kubernetes Sidecar Container
Approvals	Approvals
Failure Strategies	Define a Failure Strategy on Stages and Steps
4. Continuous Verification
APM/Log Based Verification	Verify Deployments with the Verify Step
Validate Deployments	Continuous Verification
HTTP Execution Checks	HTTP step reference
5. GitOps
GitOps Basics	Harness GitOps Basics
Install GitOps Agent	Harness CD GitOps Tutorial
6. Data Visibility
Describe Dashboards	Overview and Service dashboards
Selectors	Select delegates with delegate selectors and tags
Tagging and Labeling	Select delegates with delegate selectors and tags
7. Security
Role Based Access Control	RBAC in Harness

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Exam Details

The Continuous Delivery Developer exam tests your knowledge and skills of the Harness Continuous Delivery module.

Prerequisites

• Basic terminal skills

• Basic understanding of on premise or cloud architecture

Exam Details

Exam Duration: 90 minutes

Question Type: Multiple choice

Covered Domain	Percentage
Understanding and Configuring Deployment Architectures	10%
Exploring Kubernetes Deployment & Manifests	15%
Deployment Environment Configuration	10%
Application Tagging and Deployment Strategies	15%
Mastering Continuous Delivery	20%
Diving into Continuous Verification	10%
Leveraging GitOps	10%
Gaining Data Visibility	5%
Ensuring Security	5%

Exam Objectives

List of Objectives

The following is a detailed list of exam objectives:

#	Objectives
1	Understanding and Configuring Deployment Architectures
1.1	Define what deployment means and what makes it continuous.
1.2	Explain different application architectures.
1.3	Identify the necessary artifacts, manifests, and services for a deployment.
2	Exploring Kubernetes Deployment & Manifests
2.1	Understand the purpose and use of Kubernetes manifests (flat file, helm, etc.)
2.2	Identify and configure overrides for service variables (secrets, non-secrets).
2.3	Understand the concept of basic, rolling, canary, and blue/green deployments.
3	Deployment Environment Configuration
3.1	Understand and set up environments for your Kubernetes deployment, including Prod and Non-prod.
3.2	Describe and configure infrastructure definitions and overrides for an environment.
4	Application Tagging and Deployment Strategies
4.1	Learn about tagging, labeling, identifiers, and their uses.
4.2	Understand and configure rolling, canary, and blue/green deployments for different application types.
5	Mastering Continuous Delivery
5.1	Automate deployments in your environment.
5.2	Identify pre-deployment steps and set up triggers.
5.3	Describe and configure Policy as Code, ticketing, documentation, fetching process, approval process, and failure strategies.
6	Diving into Continuous Verification
6.1	Identify deployment verification types.
6.2	Understand verification through deployment logs and deployment health checks.
6.3	Monitor server health and execution checks during a deployment.
7	Leveraging GitOps
7.1	Explain the principles, use cases, and benefits of GitOps.
7.2	Install the GitOps agent and connect your Kubernetes cluster and application repository to Harness.
7.3	Set up an application in Harness using GitOps.
8	Gaining Data Visibility
8.1	Describe dashboards.
8.2	Configure notifications, alerts, and tagging and labeling for governance and reporting.
9	Ensuring Security
9.1	Understand two-factor authentication (2FA).
9.2	Describe Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) and built-in roles.

Next Steps

The Continuous Delivery Developer exam can start immediately after registering. Please allow up to 90 mins for the exam.

1. Create an account in Harness University

2. Register for an exam

3. Take the exam

Register for Exam

For Administrator

Continuous Delivery & GitOps - Administrator

Continuous Delivery & GitOps - Administrator badge

Product version: Harness CD & GitOps Paid Plans

Review Study Guide

Assesses the fundamental skills to deploy and maintain CD & GitOps projects and the overall Harness Platform. This exam builds upon the Continuous Delivery & GitOps Developer Certification.

Topic	Material
1. Deployment Management with Harness CD
Understanding the mechanisms of Kubernetes deployments via Harness CD	Kubernetes deployments overview
Managing artifacts and manifests for application deployment	CD artifact sources
Handling deployment issues and implementing troubleshooting strategies	Deployment concepts and strategies
2. Delegate and Infrastructure Management
Configuring Harness Delegates for specific tasks	Configure delegate metrics
Implementing best practices for delegate installation	Learn delegate concepts
Ensuring effective logging and communication from Harness Delegates	Delegate overview
3. Implementing and Managing Canary and Traditional Deployments
Setting up and managing Kubernetes Canary deployments	Create a Kubernetes Canary deployment
Utilizing Harness CD features for deployments	CD steps, stages, and strategies
Addressing deployment issues	Monitor deployments and services in CD dashboards
4. Effective Use of Harness Expressions and Variables
Using Harness expressions and variables within deployments	Use Harness expressions
Managing and referring service variables at runtime	Services and environments basics
5. Harness Configuration Management and Parameter Control
Managing parameters securely using Harness	Kubernetes steps timeouts and deadline parameters
Understanding and implementing values overrides	Add and override values YAML files
Handling Helm Chart parameter control	Deploy using Helm Chart
6. Secure and Efficient Artifact Management
Onboarding new applications using Harness CD	Onboarding guide
Integrating Harness with artifact repositories	Connect to an Artifact repository
7. Implementing and Utilizing GitOps with Harness
Understanding and addressing drift between Git and deployed workloads	Monitor deployments and services in CD dashboards
Managing Harness Git Experience for different entities	Harness Git Experience quickstart
8. Implementing and Managing Secret Management
Integrating Harness with different Secrets Managers	Use secrets managers
Ensuring secure handling of secrets in pipelines	Add and reference file secrets
9. Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and Provisioning Management
Implementing IaC principles with Harness	Harness Policy As Code overview
Troubleshooting IaC deployment issues	Troubleshooting CD
10. Harness User and Access Management
Implementing and managing user authentication	Role-based access control (RBAC) in Harness
Implementing and managing Role-Based Access Control within Harness	Role-based access control (RBAC) in Harness
11. Implementation of Policies and Governance in Deployment
Implementing deployment halts or restrictions	Freeze deployments
Managing stability during critical times	Harness Continuous Verification (CV) overview
12. Harness UI and UX Proficiency
Navigating and utilizing Harness UI for configurations	Harness UI Overview
Efficiently locating and modifying configurations within the UI	Account Settings
13. Custom and Advanced Deployment Strategies
Creating and managing custom deployment strategies	Deployment concepts and strategies
Handling deployment to various infrastructure types	Deployment concepts and strategies
14. Advanced Troubleshooting and Optimization
Implementing advanced troubleshooting steps in CD stages and pipelines	Troubleshooting CD
Optimizing delegate usage and managing workload distribution	Manage delegates

Register for Exam

Exam Details

The Continuous Delivery & GitOps Administrator exam tests your knowledge and skills of the Harness Continuous Delivery module.

Prerequisites

• Basic terminal skills

• Intermediate understanding of on-premise or cloud architecture

• This exam builds upon the Continuous Delivery & GitOps Developer Exam

Exam Details

Exam Type	Duration
Knowledge Exam	90 minutes
Hands On Exam	120 minutes

Covered Domain	Percentage
Deployment Management and Troubleshooting	15%
Delegate and Infrastructure Management	10%
Deployment Strategies (Canary, Traditional, etc.)	10%
Harness Expressions and Variable Management	10%
Configuration Management and Parameter Control	15%
Artifact and Repository Management	5%
GitOps, Drift Management, and Git Integrations	10%
Secret Management and Security Configurations	5%
IaC, Provisioning, and Cloud Configurations	10%
User, Access, and Identity Management	5%
Policies, Governance, and Deployment Restrictions	5%

Exam Objectives

List of Objectives

The following is a detailed list of exam objectives:

#	Objective
1	Deployment Management with Harness CD
1.1	Understanding the mechanisms of Kubernetes deployments via Harness CD
1.2	Managing artifacts and manifests for application deployment
1.3	Handling deployment issues and implementing troubleshooting strategies
2	Delegate and Infrastructure Management
2.1	Configuring Harness Delegates for specific tasks
2.2	Implementing best practices for delegate installation
2.3	Ensuring effective logging and communication from Harness Delegates
3	Implementing and Managing Canary and Traditional Deployments
3.1	Setting up and managing Kubernetes Canary deployments
3.2	Utilizing Harness CD features for deployments
3.3	Addressing deployment issues
4	Effective Use of Harness Expressions and Variables
4.1	Using Harness expressions and variables within deployments
4.2	Managing and referring service variables at runtime
5	Harness Configuration Management and Parameter Control
5.1	Managing parameters securely using Harness
5.2	Understanding and implementing values overrides
5.3	Handling Helm Chart parameter control
6	Secure and Efficient Artifact Management
6.1	Onboarding new applications using Harness CD
6.2	Integrating Harness with artifact repositories
7	Implementing and Utilizing GitOps with Harness
7.1	Understanding and addressing drift between Git and deployed workloads
7.2	Managing Harness Git Experience for different entities
8	Implementing and Managing Secret Management
8.1	Integrating Harness with different Secrets Managers
8.2	Ensuring secure handling of secrets in pipelines
9	Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and Provisioning Management
9.1	Implementing IaC principles with Harness
9.2	Troubleshooting IaC deployment issues
10	Harness User and Access Management
10.1	Implementing and managing user authentication
10.2	Implementing and managing Role-Based Access Control within Harness
11	Implementation of Policies and Governance in Deployment
11.1	Implementing deployment halts or restrictions
11.2	Managing stability during critical times
12	Harness UI and UX Proficiency
12.1	Navigating and utilizing Harness UI for configurations
12.2	Efficiently locating and modifying configurations within the UI
13	Custom and Advanced Deployment Strategies
13.1	Creating and managing custom deployment strategies
13.2	Handling deployment to various infrastructure types
14	Advanced Troubleshooting and Optimization
14.1	Implementing advanced troubleshooting steps in CD stages and pipelines
14.2	Optimizing delegate usage and managing workload distribution

Next Steps

The Continuous Delivery Administrator exam can start immediately after registering. Please allow up to 90 mins for the knowledge exam and up to 2 hours for the hands on exam.

1. Create an account in Harness University

2. Register for an exam. There is a $50 fee for the exam

3. Review the instructions for the Hands On Exam

4. Take the exams

   1. There will be a knowledge and hands on portion.

Register for Exam

For Architect

Continuous Delivery & GitOps - Architect

Continuous Delivery & GitOps - Architect badge

Product version: Harness CD & GitOps Paid Plans

Review Study Guide

Assess key technical job functions and advanced skills in design, implementation and management of CD & GitOps. This exam builds upon the Continuous Delivery & GitOps Administrator Certification.

Objective	Material
1. Harness Delegates Management
Understand and troubleshoot Delegate installation and connectivity	Install a delegate
Implement high availability for Harness Delegates	High availability
Manage Delegate upgradability and customization using INIT_SCRIPT	Install a delegate with third-party tool custom binaries
2. Security Practices in Harness
Apply the Principle of Least Privilege (PoLP) in Harness setup	Manage roles
Implement secure deployment practices in varied environments	Deployment concepts and strategies
Manage and mitigate security concerns related to Delegate access and use	Role-based access control (RBAC) in Harness
3. Designing and Implementing CD Pipelines in Harness
Develop and optimize pipelines using Harness	Developer day to day guide
Implement and manage pipeline templates using GitOps practices	Best practices and guidelines for templates
Manage artifacts and dependencies in pipeline stages	CD artifact sources
4. Infrastructure as Code and Configuration Management
Differentiate and apply concepts of IaC and Configuration Management within Harness	Harness Policy As Code quickstart
Implement and optimize the use of Terraform within Harness pipelines	Terraform Cloud provisioning
Handle and manage dependencies and initial requirements for IaC within Harness	Harness Policy As Code quickstart
5. Continuous Verification (CV) and Observability in Harness
Utilize various tools for logs and APM in CV strategies	APM and logging tools
Implement effective observability and monitoring of Harness components	Monitor deployments and services in CD dashboards
Understand and optimize feedback loops within CD pipelines	Pipeline design guide
6. Utilizing and Managing Secrets and Configurations in Harness
Efficiently manage secrets within Harness	Use secrets managers
Ensure secure and optimal handling of configurations	Keep your pipelines DRY
7. Deployment Strategies and Rollbacks in Harness
Implement different deployment strategies (e.g., Canary, Blue-Green) using Harness	Blue Green deployment
Design and troubleshoot rollback strategies for failed deployments	Deployment concepts and strategies
Manage and troubleshoot Helm and Umbrella Chart deployments in Kubernetes	Deploy using Helm Chart
8. Integrating and Optimizing the Use of Cloud Providers and Platforms in Harness
Implement optimal Harness setups for varied cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, Azure)	Deploy services on different platforms
Manage and troubleshoot deployments in varied environments (e.g., AWS EKS, Lambda)	Deploy services on different platforms
9. Automating and Customizing Workflow Triggers in Harness
Design and implement custom pipeline triggers with parameters	Trigger pipelines using custom triggers
Ensure secure and authorized trigger execution in Harness workflows	Manage input sets and triggers in Git Experience
10. Harness Best Practices for Scalable and Efficient CD
Implement best practices for utilizing Harness features for scalable and efficient CD	Scale Kubernetes pods
Optimize user experience and performance through effective management of Harness components	Monitor deployments and services in CD dashboards
11. Problem Solving and Troubleshooting in Harness Environment
Develop proficiency in troubleshooting common issues within Harness	Troubleshoot Harness
Implement problem-solving strategies for diverse deployment and operational challenges	Continuous delivery troubleshooting

Register for Exam

Exam Details

The Continuous Delivery & GitOps Architect exam tests your knowledge and skills of the Harness Continuous Delivery module.

Prerequisites

• Basic terminal skills

• Advanced understanding of on-premise or cloud architecture

• This exam builds upon the Continuous Delivery & GitOps Developer Admin

Exam Details

Exam Type	Duration
Knowledge Exam	90 minutes
Hands On Exam	120 minutes

Covered Domain	Percentage
Harness Delegates Management	15%
Security Practices in Harness	10%
Designing and Implementing CD Pipelines in Harness	20%
Infrastructure as Code and Configuration Management	15%
Continuous Verification (CV) and Observability in Harness	10%
Utilizing and Managing Secrets and Configurations in Harness	10%
Deployment Strategies and Rollbacks in Harness	10%
Integrating and Optimizing Cloud Providers and Platforms	5%
Automating and Customizing Workflow Triggers in Harness	5%
Harness Best Practices for Scalable and Efficient CD	5%
Problem Solving and Troubleshooting in Harness Environment	5%

Exam Objectives

List of Objectives

The following is a detailed list of exam objectives:

#	Objective
1	Harness Delegates Management
1.1	Understand and troubleshoot Delegate installation and connectivity
1.2	Implement high availability for Harness Delegates
1.3	Manage Delegate upgradability and customization using INIT_SCRIPT
2	Security Practices in Harness
2.1	Apply the Principle of Least Privilege (PoLP) in Harness setup
2.2	Implement secure deployment practices in varied environments
2.3	Manage and mitigate security concerns related to Delegate access and use
3	Designing and Implementing CD Pipelines in Harness
3.1	Develop and optimize pipelines using Harness
3.2	Implement and manage pipeline templates using GitOps practices
3.3	Manage artifacts and dependencies in pipeline stages
4	Infrastructure as Code and Configuration Management
4.1	Differentiate and apply concepts of IaC and Configuration Management within Harness
4.2	Implement and optimize the use of Terraform within Harness pipelines
4.3	Handle and manage dependencies and initial requirements for IaC within Harness
5	Continuous Verification (CV) and Observability in Harness
5.1	Utilize various tools for logs and APM in CV strategies
5.2	Implement effective observability and monitoring of Harness components
5.3	Understand and optimize feedback loops within CD pipelines
6	Utilizing and Managing Secrets and Configurations in Harness
6.1	Efficiently manage secrets within Harness
6.2	Ensure secure and optimal handling of configurations
7	Deployment Strategies and Rollbacks in Harness
7.1	Implement different deployment strategies (e.g., Canary, Blue-Green) using Harness
7.2	Design and troubleshoot rollback strategies for failed deployments
7.3	Manage and troubleshoot Helm and Umbrella Chart deployments in Kubernetes
8	Integrating and Optimizing the Use of Cloud Providers and Platforms in Harness
8.1	Implement optimal Harness setups for varied cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, Azure)
8.2	Manage and troubleshoot deployments in varied environments (e.g., AWS EKS, Lambda)
9	Automating and Customizing Workflow Triggers in Harness
9.1	Design and implement custom pipeline triggers with parameters
9.2	Ensure secure and authorized trigger execution in Harness workflows
10	Harness Best Practices for Scalable and Efficient CD
10.1	Implement best practices for utilizing Harness features for scalable and efficient CD
10.2	Optimize user experience and performance through effective management of Harness components
11	Problem Solving and Troubleshooting in Harness Environment
11.1	Develop proficiency in troubleshooting common issues within Harness
11.2	Implement problem-solving strategies for diverse deployment and operational challenges

Next Steps

The Continuous Delivery Architect exam can start immediately after registering. Please allow up to 90 mins for the knowledge exam and up to 2 hours for the hands-on exam.

1. Create an account in Harness University

2. Register for an exam. There is a $50 fee for the exam

3. Review the instructions for the Hands-on Exam

4. Take the exams

   1. There will be a knowledge and hands-on portion.

Register for Exam