Citation :

Ravindra Agrawal, Saurabh Verma, "Extending GitOps Principles to Terraform Deployments," International Journal of Computer Trends and Technology (IJCTT), vol. 73, no. 9, pp. 10-18, 2025. Crossref, https://doi.org/10.14445/22312803/IJCTT-V73I9P102

Abstract

GitOps has completely changed how we deploy and manage Kubernetes apps. It’s made Git repos the single source of truth for Infrastructure, using the declarative approach. But when it comes to Infrastructure as Code deployments and especially Terraform, GitOps is pretty underutilized. This article digs into extending GitOps beyond just Kubernetes to build reliable, auditable Terraform workflows. Traditional CI/CD has some limitations when dealing with Infrastructure, and we are proposing a controller-based approach that brings all those GitOps benefits to Terraform operations. Through analyzing existing patterns and tools, organizations can get way better deployment reliability, security, and operational visibility. The article shows GitOps-driven Terraform deployments are superior for drift detection, rollbacks, and compliance management. GitOps has the potential to be the next big step in infrastructure automation. 

Keywords

Devops, Gitops, Kubernetes, Argocd, Terraform.

References

[1] Argo Project, Argo CD - Declarative GitOps CD for Kubernetes. [Online]. Available: https://argo-cd.readthedocs.io/
[2] Flux Community, Flux: GitOps Family of Projects. [Online]. Available: https://fluxcd.io/
[3] HashiCorp, Enhanced GitOps Workflows with Terraform Cloud, 2022. [Online]. Available: https://www.hashicorp.com/en/resources/enhanced-gitops-workflows-with-terraform-cloud
[4] INNOQ, Implementing GitOps Without Kubernetes, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://www.innoq.com/en/articles/2025/01/gitops kubernetes/
[5] Jason Dobies, and Joshua Wood, Kubernetes Operators: Automating the Container Orchestration Platform, O'Reilly Media, 2020.
[Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]
[6] Kief Morris, Infrastructure as Code: Managing Servers in the Cloud, O'Reilly Media, 2021.
[Google Scholar] [Publisher Link]
[7] NextLink Labs. How GitOps Goes Beyond Kubernetes. [Online]. Available: https://nextlinklabs.com/resources/insights/how-gitops-goes beyond-kubernetes
[8] Terrateam, GitOps Beyond Kubernetes: Applying GitOps Principles to Infrastructure as Code, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://terrateam.io/blog/gitops-beyond-kubernetes
[9] Medium, GitOps in Modern Times: Beyond CI/CD Pipelines, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://medium.com/the-programmer/gitops-in modern-times-beyond-ci-cd-pipelines-8af53c88fe84
[10] Akuity, Christian Hernandez, GitOps Best Practices: A Complete Guide to Modern Deployments, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://akuity.io/blog/gitops-best-practices-whitepaper