CentOS-Linux4U: Harness CI/CD Pipeline: Simplifying Continuous Delivery

🧩 What is Harness?

Harness is a modern Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) platform designed to automate the entire software delivery process — from code commit to production deployment — using intelligent automation, built-in security, and real-time visibility.

It helps DevOps teams deploy faster, safer, and smarter by integrating pipelines, observability, and governance into one unified platform.

Click to Listen the story

⚙️ Why Harness?

Traditional CI/CD tools often require complex scripting, multiple integrations, and manual approvals. Harness changes that by offering:

No-code or low-code pipeline creation
Built-in rollback and canary deployments
AI-driven deployment verification
Cost transparency across builds and environments

In short, Harness helps teams move from “managing pipelines” to managing outcomes.

🧱 Harness CI/CD Architecture Overview

Harness pipelines are made up of several core components:

Component	Description
Pipeline	A visual workflow defining build, test, and deploy stages.
Stage	Logical sections in a pipeline (e.g., Build, Deploy, Verify).
Step	Individual tasks within a stage (e.g., clone repo, run test, deploy to Kubernetes).
Connector	Securely connects Harness to Git, Docker, Jenkins, or cloud providers.
Environment & Infrastructure	Defines where your code will be deployed (e.g., Dev, QA, Prod).

🧠 How Harness CI/CD Pipeline Works

Let’s break it down with a simple example:

1. Continuous Integration (CI)

Harness CI automates code integration, testing, and artifact creation.

Connect your GitHub or Bitbucket repository.
Add build steps using Docker or Maven.
Run unit tests automatically after every commit.
Store build artifacts (e.g., .jar, .war, Docker image).

✅ Output: A tested, versioned, and ready-to-deploy artifact.

2. Continuous Delivery (CD)

Harness CD handles automated deployments across environments.

Define deployment strategies: Blue-Green, Canary, or Rolling.
Integrate with Kubernetes, AWS, Azure, GCP, or VM-based infrastructure.
Use built-in verification to check health metrics post-deployment.

✅ Output: Safe and verified application deployment with automated rollback if anomalies are detected.

💡 Key Features of Harness CI/CD

Feature	Description
Smart Rollbacks	Automatically reverts to the last stable version if deployment fails.
Machine Learning Verification	Uses AI to detect anomalies using APM tools like Prometheus or Datadog.
Secrets Management	Integrates with Vault, AWS Secrets Manager, or KMS to protect credentials.
Governance & Audit Trails	Complete visibility into who deployed what and when.
Security Testing Integration	Supports SAST/DAST tools like SonarQube or OWASP ZAP.

🧰 Example: Deploying an App to Kubernetes using Harness

Here’s a high-level workflow:

Create a new pipeline → choose CI/CD → Kubernetes deployment.
Add a GitHub connector → pull your application repo.
Add a Build stage → use Docker or Maven to package your app.
Add a Deploy stage → select your Kubernetes cluster and namespace.
Enable Verification → integrate with Prometheus for health checks.
Run the pipeline → observe real-time logs and auto-deployment verification.

Harness will handle build, deploy, and rollback with zero manual intervention.

🔐 Integration Ecosystem

Harness integrates with all major DevOps tools:

Source Control: GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket
CI Engines: Jenkins, CircleCI
Cloud Providers: AWS, GCP, Azure, DigitalOcean
Observability: Prometheus, Datadog, New Relic
Artifact Repositories: Docker Hub, Nexus, Artifactory

📊 Benefits for Teams

Role	Benefit
Developers	Faster feedback loops and automated deployments.
DevOps Engineers	Unified control and simplified release management.
Managers	Visibility into release frequency, success rate, and MTTR.
Security Teams	Built-in policy enforcement and compliance reports.

🧭 Harness vs Traditional CI/CD Tools

Feature	Harness	Jenkins
UI/UX	Visual & intuitive	Script-based
Deployment Verification	AI-powered	Manual monitoring
Rollback	Automatic	Scripted/manual
Governance	Built-in	Plugin dependent
Cost Management	Integrated visibility	External tools required

Harness allows you to focus on innovation, not on maintaining CI/CD scripts.

🏁 Conclusion

Harness CI/CD Pipeline is a game-changer for modern DevOps teams seeking speed, safety, and scalability in software delivery.
By combining automation, intelligence, and observability, it helps organizations deliver value faster while minimizing risks.

“In DevOps, automation is power — and Harness is the fuel that drives it.”

📘 Next Steps

👉 Try Harness Free
👉 Official Documentation
👉 Harness GitHub Integrations

Perfect 👍 Here’s Part 2 of your Harness blog series — a hands-on practical guide showing step-by-step setup of a Harness CI/CD pipeline with example configurations. It’s written in a clear tutorial format ideal for tech blogs or internal documentation.

🧠 Part 2: Harness CI/CD Practical Setup — Step-by-Step Guide with Screenshots

In Part 1 of this blog series, we explored the fundamentals of the Harness CI/CD Platform — its architecture, benefits, and workflow.
Now, in Part 2, we’ll roll up our sleeves and build a complete CI/CD pipeline using Harness, from code commit to deployment on Kubernetes.

⚙️ Prerequisites

Before starting, make sure you have:

Requirement	Description
🧰 Harness Account	Sign up for a free Harness account.
💻 Git Repository	A sample app on GitHub (Node.js, Java, or Python).
🐳 Docker Hub Account	To push Docker images.
☁️ Kubernetes Cluster	(Optional: Minikube, EKS, GKE, or AKS).
🔑 Access Tokens/Secrets	For GitHub, Docker Hub, and Kubernetes access.

🪜 Step 1: Log in to Harness and Create a Project

Go to app.harness.io
Click Projects → + New Project
Name your project → e.g., Demo-CI-CD-Pipeline
Select your Organization → Default or custom
Click Create Project

🖼️ Screenshot Example:
[Image: Harness Project creation page with project name “Demo-CI-CD-Pipeline”]

🔗 Step 2: Create Connectors

Harness uses Connectors to securely link external systems.

Navigate to Project Setup → Connectors → + New Connector
Choose the connector type:
- GitHub Connector → connects to your source repo
- Docker Hub Connector → for container image registry
- Kubernetes Connector → to access your cluster
Enter credentials (OAuth token, username/password, or service account).
Click Test Connection → Save and Continue

🖼️ Screenshot Example:
[Image: GitHub and Docker connectors configured successfully]

⚙️ Step 3: Create a CI (Continuous Integration) Pipeline

Now we’ll automate the build and image creation process.

Go to Pipelines → + New Pipeline → Create Pipeline
Add Pipeline Name → Build-and-Deploy
Add a CI Stage
- Select “Build” → “Container Build”
Configure the Build Stage:
- Source Repository: Choose your GitHub connector
- Branch: main
- Build Environment: Use a Harness-hosted build or self-managed runner

Example Build Steps:

Step	Description
Clone Codebase	Pulls the latest code from GitHub
Run Unit Tests	Executes tests using Maven/npm/pytest
Build Docker Image	Builds and tags the container image
Push to Docker Hub	Pushes the image to your registry

# Example Build Command (Shell Script Step)
docker build -t mydockerhubuser/demo-app:${HARNESS_BUILD_NUMBER} .
docker push mydockerhubuser/demo-app:${HARNESS_BUILD_NUMBER}

🖼️ Screenshot Example:
[Image: Build pipeline showing steps - Clone, Test, Build, Push]

🚀 Step 4: Add a CD (Continuous Delivery) Stage

After the image is built, we’ll deploy it to Kubernetes.

Click + Add Stage → CD
Select Deployment Type → Kubernetes
Choose the Kubernetes Connector configured earlier.
Select your Namespace and Manifest Source (GitHub or local).
Add Deployment Strategy → Rolling, Canary, or Blue-Green.

Example Kubernetes Manifest (deployment.yaml):

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: demo-app
spec:
  replicas: 2
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: demo-app
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: demo-app
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: demo-app
        image: mydockerhubuser/demo-app:latest
        ports:
        - containerPort: 8080

🖼️ Screenshot Example:
[Image: Deployment stage configuration with Kubernetes connector]

🔍 Step 5: Add Verification & Rollback

Harness allows automated verification using monitoring tools.

Go to Verify Step → Add Verification Provider
Choose Prometheus / Datadog / New Relic
Configure metrics to verify app health (e.g., latency, error rate).
Enable Automatic Rollback if metrics cross threshold limits.

🖼️ Screenshot Example:
[Image: Verification step with Prometheus metrics selected]

▶️ Step 6: Run the Pipeline

Click Run Pipeline
Select your Git branch and Build tag
Monitor logs for each stage — Build, Push, Deploy, Verify.
Wait for Harness to show: ✅ Deployment Successful

🖼️ Screenshot Example:
[Image: Successful Harness pipeline run with all stages green]

🧩 Step 7: Observe, Rollback, and Audit

Harness provides:

Real-time logs and pipeline analytics
Deployment history with one-click rollback
Audit trails for compliance and governance

🖼️ Screenshot Example:
[Image: Pipeline history view with audit and rollback options]

✅ Final Outcome

You’ve successfully created a complete CI/CD pipeline in Harness that:

Builds your app from GitHub
Creates and pushes Docker images
Deploys automatically to Kubernetes
Verifies app health and rolls back on failure

🎉 Your DevOps workflow is now fully automated, observable, and secure.

🔗 Next Steps

In Part 3, we’ll cover advanced Harness features:

🔐 Secrets Management
📊 Cost Optimization & Governance
🤖 AI-based Deployment Verification
🧠 Integration with Jenkins, SonarQube, and Jira

🏁 Conclusion

Harness makes enterprise-grade CI/CD simple, visual, and intelligent.
By using connectors, pre-built steps, and ML verification, teams can deliver software faster and safer — without writing complex scripts.

“With Harness, every commit can become a confident, production-ready release.”

CentOS-Linux4U

Harness CI/CD Pipeline: Simplifying Continuous Delivery

🧩 What is Harness?

⚙️ Why Harness?

🧱 Harness CI/CD Architecture Overview

🧠 How Harness CI/CD Pipeline Works

1. Continuous Integration (CI)

2. Continuous Delivery (CD)

💡 Key Features of Harness CI/CD

🧰 Example: Deploying an App to Kubernetes using Harness

🔐 Integration Ecosystem

📊 Benefits for Teams

🧭 Harness vs Traditional CI/CD Tools

🏁 Conclusion

📘 Next Steps

🧠 Part 2: Harness CI/CD Practical Setup — Step-by-Step Guide with Screenshots

⚙️ Prerequisites

🪜 Step 1: Log in to Harness and Create a Project

🔗 Step 2: Create Connectors

⚙️ Step 3: Create a CI (Continuous Integration) Pipeline

Example Build Steps:

🚀 Step 4: Add a CD (Continuous Delivery) Stage

Example Kubernetes Manifest (deployment.yaml):

🔍 Step 5: Add Verification & Rollback

▶️ Step 6: Run the Pipeline

🧩 Step 7: Observe, Rollback, and Audit

✅ Final Outcome

🔗 Next Steps

🏁 Conclusion

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