CGOA Certified GitOps Associate Exam Questions and Answers

In GitOps,pull-based deploymentis fundamental. Instead of pushing changes into a cluster, GitOps agents running inside the cluster continuouslypull from Gitto reconcile desired state.

“GitOps uses a pull-based model: agents inside the cluster continuously poll the Git repository for desired state changes. If changes are found, they reconcile the live system automatically to match the declared state.”

This ensures secure, automated, and consistent deployments.

Thus,Dis correct.

Prometheus is commonly used in GitOps for monitoring.Alertmanageris the tool integrated with Prometheus to handle alert routing. It supports sending alerts to external systems such as Slack, PagerDuty, or email.

“Prometheus generates alerts, which are routed and managed by Alertmanager. Alertmanager can integrate with messaging tools like Slack to deliver alerts in real time.”

Thus, the correct answer isA: Alertmanager.

GitOps requires apull-based approachas the default model, where agents in the cluster automatically pull desired state from Git. However,push-based triggers(e.g., webhooks) can optionally be used to complement pull-based reconciliation.

“Pull-based reconciliation is required in GitOps to ensure automation and security. Push-based triggers may optionally complement this, but the pull model is fundamental.”

Thus, the correct answer isD.

One of the four fundamental GitOps principles isVersioned and Immutable. This means that the entire system’s desired state must be stored in a Git repository with version control. Each change must be represented as a commit, and Git’s immutability guarantees a reliable, auditable history of how the system evolved.

“The desired state is stored in a version control system. The record of truth is stored in an immutable history, and changes can be audited and reverted if necessary. This guarantees that the system’s configuration is versioned, immutable, and traceable.”

Thus,configuration and infrastructure must be version-controlled and immutable, never changed directly in production.

Areconcilerensures that the actual system matches the desired state declared in Git. External reconcilers run outside the core cluster orchestration process.Fluxis a widely used GitOps external reconciler that continuously syncs cluster state with the repository.

“Flux is an example of a GitOps reconciler that continuously monitors Git repositories and applies changes to the cluster. As an external reconciler, it handles synchronization and reconciliation loops outside the direct application code.”

Thus,A: Fluxis correct.

In GitOps,DevSecOpsintegrates security into the GitOps workflow by treating security policies as code and storing them in Git. This enables automatic detection ofsecurity policy driftand ensures that any misconfiguration or violation is reconciled, just like application and infrastructure code.

“GitOps applies DevSecOps by managing security policies as code. This enables detection of drift in security configurations, ensuring environments remain compliant and secure.”

Thus, the correct answer isA.

Progressive deliveryis a GitOps pattern that incrementally rolls out application updates, using methods like canary releases, feature flags, and blue-green deployments. GitOps enhances this by ensuring the rollout isautomated and declaratively managed through Git, removing the need for manual traffic switching.

“GitOps enables progressive delivery by declaratively managing rollout strategies such as canary or blue-green deployments. These strategies are applied automatically by controllers, without requiring manual traffic switching.”

Thus, the correct answer isB.

Thefeedback loopis critical in GitOps reconciliation. It continuously monitors the system’s actual state and compares it to the desired state. This loop determines when reconciliation is required and whether a full or partial synchronization is necessary.

“The feedback loop in reconciliation continuously observes the actual state. It determines if reconciliation is required, and informs whether to perform a partial or full sync to align with the declared desired state.”

Thus, the correct answer isA.

ArgoCD and Flux are the two primary CNCF GitOps tools. While both are reconciliation engines, they can be used together carefully if configured properly to avoid conflicts. For example, Flux can be used to manage configuration sources, while ArgoCD handles application-level delivery. Extensions and integration points allow them to complement each other.

“ArgoCD and Flux implement the GitOps reconciliation principle. Though they provide overlapping functionality, they can be integrated by carefully managing their scope. For instance, Flux can manage sources and Helm charts, while ArgoCD handles higher-level deployments. Extensions exist to allow cooperation without conflict.”

Thus, the correct answer isC.

Continuous reconciliationis another core GitOps principle. It means that software agents (operators or controllers) run loops that continuously observe the live system and compare it against the desired state declared in Git. If any divergence (drift) is found, the agentautomatically reconcilesthe system to match the declared configuration.

“Software agents continuously observe the actual system state and compare it with the desired state declared in Git. If a divergence is detected, the agents automatically reconcile the difference to bring the system back into alignment.”

This providesautomation, consistency, and self-healing, which are hallmarks of GitOps.

AState Storein GitOps is the system of record whereDesired State declarationsare kept. It must be immutable and versioned to ensure full auditability, traceability, and rollback capabilities. Git itself is the most common State Store.

“The Desired State must be stored in a State Store that is versioned and immutable. This guarantees traceability and enables recovery by reverting to previous commits.”

Thus, the correct answer isD.

In GitOps,Git is the single source of truth. If changes are made manually in the cluster (viakubectl), those changes will drift from the desired state in Git. To ensure consistency, the correct approach is toupdate the Git repository (Desired State store)so that the reconciler can continuously apply and maintain those changes.

“The desired state must always be declared in Git. Manual changes in the cluster will be overwritten by reconciliation unless they are committed to the Git repository.”

Thus, the correct answer isB.

Blue-Green deployments are aprogressive delivery patternwhere two environments exist: Blue (current version) and Green (new version). The new version is deployed in parallel, and once validated, traffic is switched over from Blue to Green.

“Blue-Green deployments provide zero-downtime releases by running two production environments: one active and one idle. A new version is deployed to the idle environment, tested, and when ready, traffic is switched to it.”

Thus, the correct description isA.

The GitOps principle ofVersioned and Immutablerequires Desired State to be stored in a way that enforcesimmutability and versioning. This ensures every change is recorded, auditable, and reversible.

“Desired state must be kept in an immutable, version-controlled system. This guarantees a full history of changes and enables safe rollbacks.”

Thus, the correct answer isD.

Whendriftoccurs (actual state diverges from desired state), GitOps controllers attempt to reapply theDesired Statestored in Git. The system is always converged toward what Git declares, never the other way around.

“In case of drift, the reconciler re-applies the desired state from Git to the runtime environment, ensuring the actual system matches the declared configuration.”

Thus, the correct answer isB.