Remove Weave GitOps

[stefanprodan]

Weave GitOps is not compatible with Flux v2.2 and given that Weaveworks has shutdown I propose we remove it from the Flux examples to stop people reporting issues for Weave GitOps in the CNCF Flux project. Example: fluxcd/flux2#4593

[laszlocph]

Hey folks,

I understand the decision.

Hoping we can fill the void with https://github.com/gimlet-io/capacitor in the near future. Flux deserves a widely used GUI.
Our vision is to be that, to create the right context for developers to debug their deployments. Whether the error is related to Flux or not.

Laszlo

[kingdonb]

Good news! Weave GitOps Enterprise and all its friends appear to have just been open sourced. But I don't think this changes much in terms of our references to WG in the docs, as at least for now, these things all don't have maintainers anymore, so we still can't recommend them.

I'm in favor of removing these (for now at least.) I have also been removing them bit by bit from my personal example repos.

[nick4fake]

So, I've just updated flux and noticed it... What is the solution? Capacitor?

[kingdonb]

Most enterprises I think are using Prometheus; we've added some great docs about how to monitor Flux resources with kube-state-metrics, that solves a lot of issues around the old metrics emitters (that were built into the controller reconcilers)

https://github.com/fluxcd/flux2-monitoring-example

The solution officially supported in the Flux docs is to use Prometheus, another CNCF solution, and integrate it with the notification platform of your choice. The Flux docs cover this well:

https://fluxcd.io/flux/monitoring/

It's a guide in parts. We have heard feedback that there is a mismatch of alignment, or expectation error, because we show how to install kube-prometheus-stack from scratch, but most companies already have this (or a managed solution of similar)

I'm taking feedback from the community about how to present this better, in bites rather than a full long-form guide that you must follow all the steps and more. If you already have a managed solution, you would get more mileage and better MTTD out of a quick "how to add a Flux dashboard to Grafana" page than the full docs we have now. (as an example of some feedback I already heard, can't find a link to that topic just now, but please search discussions for relevant threads, or add a new one, if you have something new to add!)

I'm also interested in knowing what UIs people are using - there is a list of FOSS UI's and supported offerings that may go above and beyond a UI:

https://fluxcd.io/ecosystem/

We have a section for Flux UI's & GUI's, if you're using something not listed there, please let us know:

https://fluxcd.io/ecosystem/#flux-uis--guis

[nick4fake]

Well, after checking Capacitor it seems that a lot of features are simply not available. Prometheus might be fine for monitoring, but it wouldn't allow doing sync/pause/resume that Weave is used for by us.

So, seems like there are no options anymore. BTW, why fluxcd/flux2#4593 is closed? Either flux is still being developed (which as I understand mean Weave GitOps too), or it should be left without any new breaking changes until people switch to other tools like ArgoCD.

[kingdonb]

Either flux is still being developed (which as I understand mean Weave GitOps too)

@nick4fake No, that's not correct. Flux is still being developed, and breaking changes are occasionally planned and scheduled according to the roadmap:

https://fluxcd.io/roadmap/

Flux is defined as a set of APIs, which advance on a path to GA ("v1" or in the case of HelmReleases, "v2") - many APIs have already gone GA, you can see the Blog reflects that some GA updates have happened since the closing of Weaveworks:

https://fluxcd.io/blog/

Weaveworks officially closed in February, so Weave GitOps development may be finished. It is open source, (and Weave GitOps Enterprise was also open sourced) so I cannot say definitively there will never be another WG release, but I don't know anyone working on that now.

These (UI) projects are external, were never an official part of Flux, despite some references in the documentation due to many people with concerns like yours. The official position of Flux is you can use any UI that supports Custom Resource Definitions. This is how the Kubernetes ecosystem works at-large. Not every CNCF project has or needs its own UI; frankly many OSS projects in the CNCF are like Flux, they're controllers built with an expectation that you're bringing your own UI.

why fluxcd/flux2#4593 is closed

Because (unstated in the description) it is a report about a UI issue from an external UI, which is not referenced in Flux docs anymore. The HelmRepository API changed before Helm Controller GA was announced in Flux 2.3. The meaning of the "NotReady" status is that HelmRepository (OCI type) are not reconciled anymore (only HelmChart is), so there is no status, as that function served no purpose in OCI-based HelmRepositories.

The Weave GitOps UI just never caught up with that. It would be an easy fix, but rolling a new release is not so easy now without a company behind Weave GitOps, or a roadmap for future development.

[kingdonb]

From the latest blog, see the intended successor to HelmRepository for OCI repos:

https://fluxcd.io/blog/2024/05/flux-v2.3.0/#enhanced-helm-oci-support

This new method does not suffer from the potential confusion of a HelmRepository API with sometimes no status block.

[kingdonb]

I have heard many say that Headlamp and Backstage are both viable UI's for Flux (with plugins to support) - should address your specific concern about a successor for Weave GitOps; these are mature CNCF projects with UIs that support Flux.

Here is also a great thread about UI's on the front page of Reddit today, looking for "OpenLens alternatives" - I see a lot of newcomers I've never heard of before emerging still in this space.

https://www.reddit.com/r/kubernetes/comments/1er1d9d/openlens_alternative/

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Update - since this PR has drifted off-topic, please note there is a similar discussion where Weave GitOps is homed:

• Documentation web doesn't have right certificate weaveworks/weave-gitops#4204

If you have questions about the fate of Weave GitOps & WGE, that pinned issue would be a better place to discuss it.