Skip to main content

Loading tutorial…

Installing Argo CD With Kubezilla Desktop And Helm

Learn how to install ArgoCD on a Kubernetes cluster using Kubezilla Desktop's Helm workflow.

6 min read · Published · Updated

Introduction

This guide shows how to install Argo CD into a Kubernetes cluster using Kubezilla Desktop’s Helm workflow. Argo CD will act as the GitOps control plane for deploying and managing applications from Git repositories.

Prerequisites

Before starting, make sure you have:

  • Kubezilla Desktop installed
  • A working Kubernetes cluster
  • A kubeconfig connected in Kubezilla
  • Permission to create namespaces, CRDs, Deployments, Services, and Secrets
  • Internet access from your machine and cluster to pull Helm charts and container images

For this tutorial, we will install Argo CD into the namespace:

argocd

Step 1: Verify Cluster Access

Open Kubezilla Desktop and select your cluster context.

Confirm that Kubezilla can load:

  • nodes
  • namespaces
  • workloads
  • pods in kube-system

This confirms that the cluster connection works before installing anything.

Step 2: Open The Helm Install Flow

In Kubezilla Desktop, open the Helm section and choose the option to install a new Helm chart.

You will use the official Argo Helm repository:

https://argoproj.github.io/argo-helm

Chart name:

argo-cd

Recommended release name:

argocd

Recommended namespace:

argocd

Since your cluster may not yet have the argocd namespace, choose the option to create namespace at the bottom of the installation guide.

Make sure to click on the connect icon next to the repository URL. It will load the chart context.

Step 3: Disable Ingress In Values

For the first installation, keep Argo CD private inside the cluster. In this tutorial, we will access the Argo CD UI through port-forwarding instead of exposing it publicly with Ingress.

In the Helm values editor, set:

server:
    ingress:
        enabled: false

If you are using Kubezilla’s values table/catalog, search for:

server.ingress.enabled

and set it to:

false

This prevents the chart from creating a public Ingress for Argo CD. The UI will still be reachable later through Kubezilla port-forwarding.

Step 4: Review The Rendered Resources

Before installing, review what the Helm chart will create.

In Kubezilla Desktop’s Helm install flow, use the preview step to inspect the rendered Kubernetes resources.

Check that:

  • the target namespace is argocd
  • the release name is argocd
  • ingress is disabled
  • Argo CD Deployments, Services, ConfigMaps, and Secrets will be created
  • no unexpected public Ingress is included

This review step confirms the chart is configured as intended before anything is applied to the cluster.

When you click Install after the initial check a preflight control message may appear.

Referenced Secret is missing
Deployment/argocd-redis in argocd references missing Secret/argocd-redis

For a fresh Argo CD Helm install, this is expected. The chart references some Secrets that are created as part of the same Helm release. Do not create these Argo CD internal Secrets manually. Let Helm create and manage them.

Only use “create resource” for missing Secrets that are genuinely external to the chart, such as image pull credentials, database credentials, OAuth credentials, or a manually managed TLS Secret.

Step 5: Install Argo CD

After reviewing the rendered resources, start the Helm install (if preflight was invoked click Continue Install.

Kubezilla Desktop will install the Helm release into the argocd namespace.

The Argo CD application will be deployed:

Step 6: Verify Argo CD Pods And Secrets

After installation, switch to the argocd namespace.

Wait until the Argo CD workloads are running and ready.

Expected pods include:

argocd-application-controller
argocd-applicationset-controller
argocd-dex-server
argocd-notifications-controller
argocd-redis
argocd-repo-server
argocd-server

Also confirm that the chart-created Secrets now exist, including:

argocd-redis
argocd-secret
argocd-initial-admin-secret

If some pods are still starting, inspect their status, events, and logs in Kubezilla.

Step 7: Open Argo CD With Pod Port Forwarding

Because ingress is disabled, Argo CD is not exposed publicly.

Use Kubezilla’s port-forwarding feature to open the Argo CD UI locally. For Argo CD, forward the argocd-server pod, not the Service.

In the argocd namespace, find the pod named something like:

argocd-server-xxxxx

Choose port 8080 and start port-forwarding.

Shortly, you will be able to open the page in browser

Click black icon-button to open in browser and red to stop port-forwarding.

Kubezilla may also suggest another pod port such as 8083. Do not use that for the UI. It is typically an auxiliary or metrics port and may return 404.

Your browser may show a certificate warning because Argo CD uses an internal/self-signed certificate for local access. For this local port-forwarded setup, that is expected.

Step 8: Get The Initial Admin Password

Argo CD creates the first admin password in a Kubernetes Secret.

In Kubezilla, open the argocd namespace and find:

  Secret: argocd-initial-admin-secret
  Key: password

Use:

  Username: admin
  Password: value from argocd-initial-admin-secret/password

Step 9: Confirm The Installation

After logging in, confirm that Argo CD is working.

Check that:

  • the Argo CD UI opens through https://localhost:xxxxxx
  • the argocd Helm release is visible in Kubezilla
  • Argo CD pods are running and ready
  • chart-created Secrets exist
  • no public Ingress was created

At this point, Argo CD is installed and ready to manage applications.

Troubleshooting

Missing Secret warning appears before install

For Argo CD internal Secrets like argocd-redis, this is expected during preview. Do not create them manually. Install the chart and verify that Helm created them afterward.

Pods are stuck in Pending

Check node capacity and scheduling events. If a component requires storage, verify that the cluster has a suitable StorageClass.

Images cannot be pulled

Open the affected pod in Kubezilla and inspect events. Image pull errors usually mean the node cannot reach the registry or the image reference is blocked.

Pod fails with missing Secret after install

If the install completed but a pod still fails because a Secret is missing, check whether the Secret is supposed to be chart-created or external. Argo CD internal Secrets should exist after install. External Secrets must be created separately.

Port-forward opens a 404 page

Make sure you forwarded the argocd-server pod remote port 8080, not the auxiliary 8083 port.

Browser shows a certificate warning

This is expected when opening Argo CD through https://localhost:8443 with Argo CD’s internal certificate.

Cannot log in

Check that argocd-initial-admin-secret exists in the argocd namespace and copy the password value again.

Ingress is missing

That is expected in this tutorial. We intentionally disabled ingress and used pod port-forwarding instead.

Next Steps

After Argo CD is installed, use Kubezilla to:

  • create an Argo CD repository entry
  • create an Argo CD Project
  • create an Argo CD Application
  • sync and refresh applications
  • inspect Argo-managed resources
  • combine Helm deployments with GitOps workflows