--- title: Build a Local Kubernetes Platform with kubara, kind, and... description: A step-by-step tutorial for building a local Kubernetes GitOps platform using kubara, kind, and Argo CD. The workflow covers initializing a local environment,... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/build-a-local-kubernetes-platform-with-kubara-kind-and-argo-cd-zb6ibe5zy twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Build a Local Kubernetes Platform with kubara, kind, and Argo CD | daily.dev og:description: A step-by-step tutorial for building a local Kubernetes GitOps platform using kubara, kind, and Argo CD. The workflow covers initializing a local environment,... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/build-a-local-kubernetes-platform-with-kubara-kind-and-argo-cd-zb6ibe5zy og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/Zb6IBE5ZY.png og:image:alt: Build a Local Kubernetes Platform with kubara, kind, and Argo CD og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Build a Local Kubernetes Platform with kubara, kind, and Argo CD **[ITNEXT](https://daily.dev/sources/itnext)** · 9 min read · 4 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A step-by-step tutorial for building a local Kubernetes GitOps platform using kubara, kind, and Argo CD. The workflow covers initializing a local environment, generating a platform configuration via kubara's declarative contract, bootstrapping a kind cluster with Argo CD and OpenBao as a secret backend, committing generated state to Git, and observing Argo CD reconciliation. The guide also demonstrates a Day-2 change cycle — modifying config, regenerating state, reviewing the diff, and pushing to trigger reconciliation — while clearly noting the setup is for learning only and not production-ready. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### How do I set up a local Kubernetes GitOps environment with Argo CD and kind for testing? Install kubara, a container runtime, Helm, kind, cloud-provider-kind, kubectl, and Git, then run kubara init --prep --local followed by kubara init --local to generate a config.yaml platform contract. Running kubara bootstrap --local test-cluster creates a kind cluster, installs Argo CD, sets up a local OpenBao dev secret backend, and waits for a load-balancer address from cloud-provider-kind. Commit and push the generated files so Argo CD can reconcile them. _Developers piecing together GitOps workflows can compare tools and tutorials like this one on daily.dev._ ### Why is a kind cluster with Argo CD and OpenBao dev mode not suitable for production Kubernetes GitOps? OpenBao runs in development mode with temporary state and evaluation credentials, meaning restarting the environment can wipe local secret data, and the development root token must never be reused in a real platform. Production setups need explicit decisions on identity and access management, secret rotation, networking, DNS, certificates, persistent storage, high availability, backup, and monitoring, none of which the local preset addresses. _Teams weighing local proof-of-concepts against production Kubernetes architecture can track this trade-off on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [kubara: An Open Source Kubernetes Platform Framework Built on GitOps](https://daily.dev/posts/kubara-an-open-source-kubernetes-platform-framework-built-on-gitops-4wtpimtvb) · ITNEXT · 13 upvotes · 0 comments - [Building a Local Production-Ready GitOps Architecture with k3d, ArgoCD, and Kustomize](https://daily.dev/posts/building-a-local-production-ready-gitops-architecture-with-k3d-argocd-and-kustomize-cfh69rkah) · Medium · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [How to Deploy to Kubernetes using Argo CD and GitOps](https://daily.dev/posts/how-to-deploy-to-kubernetes-using-argo-cd-and-gitops-loemaf7pl) · DigitalOcean Community · 4 upvotes · 0 comments - [Stop Rebuilding Your Kubernetes Platform: How kubara Catalogs Make Architecture Reusable](https://daily.dev/posts/stop-rebuilding-your-kubernetes-platform-how-kubara-catalogs-make-architecture-reusable-xemppzuox) · ITNEXT · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [Make Your Kubernetes Apps Self-Heal With Argo CD and GitOps](https://daily.dev/posts/make-your-kubernetes-apps-self-heal-with-argo-cd-and-gitops-lwzsrhx4f) · The New Stack · 2 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#kubernetes](https://daily.dev/tags/kubernetes), [#gitops](https://daily.dev/tags/gitops), [#argocd](https://daily.dev/tags/argocd) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/build-a-local-kubernetes-platform-with-kubara-kind-and-argo-cd-zb6ibe5zy) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Build a Local Kubernetes Platform with kubara, kind, and Argo CD","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/build-a-local-kubernetes-platform-with-kubara-kind-and-argo-cd-zb6ibe5zy","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/build-a-local-kubernetes-platform-with-kubara-kind-and-argo-cd-zb6ibe5zy"},"datePublished":"2026-08-04T21:02:24.662Z","dateModified":"2026-09-14T07:16:13.273Z","description":"A step-by-step tutorial for building a local Kubernetes GitOps platform using kubara, kind, and Argo CD. 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