CGOA Certified GitOps Associate Exam Question and Answers

The first GitOps principle isDeclarative Descriptions. This means the desired system configuration (for infrastructure, services, and applications) is expressed declaratively and stored in version control. Git becomes the single source of truth.

“The desired system state must be expressed declaratively. This provides a clear, machine-readable blueprint for the system, and ensures that what is in Git is what should be running in the environment.”

Therefore,infrastructure and application configurations must be defined declaratively and stored in Git, not managed imperatively or manually.

In GitOps, rollback is handled via version control. However, the practice is not to overwrite history but toroll forwardby creating a new version that reverts to the configuration of a previous known-good commit. This maintains immutability and a complete audit trail.

“With GitOps, changes are versioned immutably. Rollbacks are performed by rolling forward to a commit that represents a previous known-good configuration, ensuring history is preserved.”

Thus, the correct GitOps approach isB.

TheState Storeis typically implemented using aversion control system (VCS)such as Git. This ensures that the system’s state is auditable, versioned, and immutable. Other systems like databases or distributed file systems do not meet the immutability and versioning requirements of GitOps.

“In GitOps, the desired state must be stored in a version control system. This serves as the State Store, providing a complete, immutable, and auditable history of changes.”

Thus, the correct answer isD: version control system.

AGitOps-managed software systemis defined as one or more runtime environments whose resources are managed declaratively via GitOps practices.

“A GitOps-managed software system includes one or more runtime environments, such as clusters, where resources are under management. The desired state of these resources is declared in Git and reconciled continuously.”

Thus, the correct option isB.

Declarative configuration describeswhatthe system should look like, nothowto achieve it. This enables the use ofstandard reconciliation tools(like ArgoCD or Flux) to manage the system automatically, removing the burden of writing and maintaining imperative scripts.

“Declarative configuration enables systems to be managed by generic reconciliation tools rather than bespoke scripts, reducing operational overhead and increasing reliability.”

Thus, the correct answer isB.

ThePulled Automaticallyprinciple in GitOps means that agents inside the runtime environment (e.g., controllers/operators) continuously monitor Git (the source of truth) andautomatically pull changeswhen updates are detected.

“Software agents continuously pull changes from the version control system and reconcile them automatically. This pull-based approach ensures automation, security, and self-healing.”

Thus, the correct answer isB.

In GitOps, rollback is the process of reverting to a previous known-good configuration stored in Git. This is typically done when a deployment introduces abug, error, or failurethat impacts system stability.

“Rollback in GitOps is used to revert to a previous commit representing a stable configuration when the current deployment causes errors or failures.”

Thus, the correct answer isA.

A fundamental GitOps principle is that reconciliation isautomated and continuous. Software agents (e.g., controllers like ArgoCD or Flux) continuously pull desired state declarations from Git repositories and reconcile them with the actual state.

“Software agents automatically pull the desired state declarations from the source of truth and continuously reconcile the actual state to match.”

Thus, the correct answer isC.

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.

A GitOps-managed Kubernetes cluster uses reconciliation loops to continuously compare the actual state of the system with the desired state declared in Git. When drift (divergence between declared configuration and live cluster state) is detected, the GitOps operator automatically reconciles the difference to bring the system back into alignment.

“In GitOps, a reconciliation loop ensures that the desired state as declared in Git is continuously compared with the observed state of the system. If drift is detected, the system automatically takes corrective action to reconcile the difference and restore the declared configuration.”

This ensures consistency, reliability, and self-healing. Manual intervention is not required for drift correction, as the automated reconciliation is a core principle of GitOps.

The core foundation of GitOps is that Git serves as the single source of truth for the desired state of both applications and infrastructure. This means all configuration is declared in Git in a version-controlled, auditable, and verifiable manner. Operators and reconciliation agents continuously pull these definitions to ensure the live system matches what Git declares.

“Declarative descriptions of the desired state of the system must be versioned in Git, making Git the single source of truth. This provides auditability, reliability, and enables rollbacks by reverting changes in Git.”

This principle ensures that any change in system state is traceable through Git commits, making environments predictable, reproducible, and transparent.

In aBlue-Green deployment, two environments (Blue and Green) exist at the same time. The current version runs in one environment (Blue), and the new version is deployed to the other environment (Green). Traffic is switched to Green once the new version is validated.

“Blue-Green deployments maintain two production environments. The new version is deployed alongside the old version, and once validated, traffic is switched from Blue to Green.”

Thus, the correct answer isC.

GitOps emphasizes immutability and auditability. If an error occurs in the configuration stored in Git, the system should be rolled back to the last known good state while the error is fixed. This preserves system reliability and aligns with the GitOps principle of rollback through version control.

“With Git as the source of truth, if an error is introduced, the system can be rolled back by reverting to a previous commit. This ensures stability while the faulty configuration is corrected.”

Thus, the recommended action isC: Roll back to the previous working version.

In GitOps, Continuous Deployment (CD) follows after Continuous Integration (CI). CI is responsible for building and testing application code, while CD automates the delivery and deployment of these changes into runtime environments. The Git repository serves as the single source of truth, and when CI merges new changes into the main branch, CD reconciles the state of the environment to match what is declared in Git.

“GitOps builds on the principles of DevOps by using Git as the source of truth for declarative infrastructure and applications. CI pipelines handle the integration and testing of code, and CD pipelines or agents automatically reconcile the desired state in Git with the actual state in the cluster.”

This shows that CD is triggered after CI to handle deployment automation, ensuring systems remain in sync with what is declared in version control.

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.