Harness is a modern CI/CD and DevOps platform that automates software delivery using AI/ML-driven deployment verification, continuous integration, continuous delivery, and cloud cost management.
- Continuous Integration (CI)
- Continuous Delivery (CD)
- Feature Flags
- Cloud Cost Management
- Security Testing Orchestration
- GitOps support
- Automated Rollback using ML verification
Harness is a software delivery platform that automates CI/CD pipelines and uses machine learning for automated verification and rollback of deployments. It supports multiple deployment strategies such as canary, blue-green, and rolling deployments.
Important Harness modules include:
| Module | Purpose |
|---|---|
| CI | Build and test automation |
| CD | Deployment automation |
| Feature Flags | Release features gradually |
| Cloud Cost Management | Optimize cloud spending |
| STO | Security testing orchestration |
| GitOps | Kubernetes Git-based deployment |
A pipeline in Harness is a series of automated steps used to build, test, and deploy applications.
- Stages
- Steps
- Triggers
- Approvals
- Rollback steps
Example flow:
Code Commit → Build → Test → Artifact → Deploy → Verify → Rollback if needed
A Stage is a logical grouping of steps within a pipeline that represents a phase of the delivery process.
- Build Stage
- Deployment Stage
- Approval Stage
- Security Scan Stage
Example:
Pipeline
├── Build Stage
├── Test Stage
└── Deploy Stage
Harness supports several deployment strategies:
| Strategy | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Rolling | Deploy gradually to instances |
| Blue-Green | Switch traffic between environments |
| Canary | Deploy to small subset first |
| Recreate | Stop old version then deploy new |
| Shadow | Mirror traffic to new version |
Example:
In a Canary deployment, a small percentage of traffic is routed to the new version to validate its performance before a full rollout.
Continuous Verification uses machine learning to analyze application metrics and logs during deployment to detect anomalies.
- Prometheus
- Datadog
- Splunk
- New Relic
If anomalies are detected:
-
Harness automatically rolls back the deployment.
A Delegate is a lightweight service installed in your infrastructure that performs tasks on behalf of Harness.
In simple words, Delegate is an agent of Harness who perform all the steps required for deployment on infrastructure.
Harness itself does not directly access your infrastructure; instead, the delegate performs those operations locally and communicates results back to Harness.
- Execute pipeline steps
- Communicate with infrastructure
- Connect with artifact repositories
- Perform deployments
Example:
A Delegate in Harness is a lightweight agent installed in the target infrastructure that executes pipeline tasks such as deployments, integrations, and scripts execution. It acts as a secure communication bridge between the Harness platform and the infrastructure resources.
Connectors allow Harness to connect with external systems.
- Git repositories (like stash)
- Artifact registries (like nexus)
- Cloud providers (like GCP, Azure or AWS)
- Kubernetes clusters
Common integrations:
- GitHub
- Docker Hub
- Amazon Web Services
- Kubernetes
Infrastructure Definition defines where the application will be deployed.
- Kubernetes cluster
- AWS EC2
- Azure VM
- Google Cloud
It includes:
- Cluster details
- Namespace
- Deployment environment
GitOps is a deployment method where Git repositories act as the single source of truth for infrastructure and application configuration.
Harness GitOps integrates with:
- Argo CD
- Flux
Workflow:
Developer commit → Git repo → GitOps tool → Kubernetes clusterAlternate:You can create trigger inside pipeline triggers using Github webhook, that will trigger your pipeline execution on code commits.
Rollback happens automatically when:
- Deployment verification fails
- Error thresholds are crossed
- Manual rollback is triggered
Steps:
- Harness detects failure
- Stops current deployment
- Restores previous stable version
Templates allow reusable pipeline components.
Example reusable templates:
- Deployment step
- Security scan
- Build process
Benefits:
- Standardization
- Reusability
- Reduced configuration errors
Triggers automatically start pipelines based on events.
Common triggers:
- Git commit
- Pull request
- Schedule
- Webhook
Example:
Git Push → Trigger Pipeline → Build + Deploy
| Feature | Harness | Jenkins |
|---|---|---|
| Setup | SaaS / Managed | Self-hosted |
| AI verification | Yes | No |
| UI | Modern UI | Basic |
| Deployment strategies | Built-in | Plugin based |
| Rollback | Automated | Manual scripting |
Secrets store sensitive information securely in encrypted form and decrypted when to use.
Or you can ingrate external store like AWS Secret Manager, Secret Vault etc.
Examples:
- API keys
- Passwords
- Tokens
Harness integrates with secret managers like:
- HashiCorp Vault
- AWS Secrets Manager
Harness supports multiple Kubernetes deployment types:
- Kubernetes Rolling Deployment
- Kubernetes Canary Deployment
- Helm Chart Deployment
- GitOps deployment
Tools used:
- Helm
- Kubectl
Advantages include:
- AI-driven deployment verification
- Automatic rollback
- Reduced deployment failures
- Built-in security scanning
- Native cloud and Kubernetes support
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