Plugin Installation

The Nyl ArgoCD plugin enables ArgoCD to render Nyl manifests directly from Git repositories. This guide covers plugin installation and configuration.

Prerequisites

ArgoCD 2.4+ installed in your cluster
Access to modify ArgoCD’s configuration
Nyl binary available in the ArgoCD repo-server

Installation Methods

Method 1: Custom ArgoCD Image (Recommended)

Build a custom ArgoCD repo-server image with Nyl included:

FROM quay.io/argoproj/argocd:v2.9.3

# Switch to root to install Nyl
USER root

# Download and install Nyl
RUN curl -L https://github.com/NiklasRosenstein/nyl/releases/download/vX.Y.Z/nyl-linux-amd64 \
    -o /usr/local/bin/nyl && \
    chmod +x /usr/local/bin/nyl

# Switch back to argocd user
USER argocd

Deploy this custom image by updating the argocd-repo-server deployment:

spec:
  template:
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: argocd-repo-server
        image: your-registry/argocd-with-nyl:v2.9.3

Method 2: Init Container

Use an init container to download Nyl into a shared volume:

spec:
  template:
    spec:
      initContainers:
      - name: install-nyl
        image: alpine:3.18
        command:
        - sh
        - -c
        - |
          apk add --no-cache curl
          curl -L https://github.com/NiklasRosenstein/nyl/releases/download/vX.Y.Z/nyl-linux-amd64 \
            -o /plugins/nyl
          chmod +x /plugins/nyl
        volumeMounts:
        - name: plugins
          mountPath: /plugins
      containers:
      - name: argocd-repo-server
        volumeMounts:
        - name: plugins
          mountPath: /usr/local/bin/nyl
          subPath: nyl
      volumes:
      - name: plugins
        emptyDir: {}

Plugin Configuration

Configure the Nyl plugin in the ArgoCD ConfigMap:

apiVersion: v1
kind: ConfigMap
metadata:
  name: argocd-cm
  namespace: argocd
data:
  configManagementPlugins: |
    - name: nyl
      generate:
        command: ["/bin/sh", "-c"]
        args:
        - |
          # Render manifests with Nyl
          nyl render .

Verification

Test the plugin installation:

Create a test Application using the Nyl plugin:

apiVersion: argoproj.io/v1alpha1
kind: Application
metadata:
  name: test-nyl
  namespace: argocd
spec:
  project: default
  source:
    repoURL: https://github.com/your-org/your-repo
    targetRevision: HEAD
    path: path/to/nyl/manifests
    plugin:
      name: nyl
  destination:
    server: https://kubernetes.default.svc
    namespace: default

Check the Application status:

kubectl get application test-nyl -n argocd
argocd app get test-nyl

Verify manifest rendering:

argocd app manifests test-nyl

Passing Environment Variables

You can pass environment variables to the Nyl plugin for configuration:

source:
  plugin:
    name: nyl
    env:
    - name: NYL_RELEASE_NAME
      value: my-app
    - name: NYL_RELEASE_NAMESPACE
      value: production

Troubleshooting

Plugin Not Found

If ArgoCD reports “plugin not found”, check:

The plugin name matches exactly: nyl
The argocd-cm ConfigMap is in the argocd namespace
The repo-server pods have been restarted after configuration changes

kubectl rollout restart deployment argocd-repo-server -n argocd

Command Not Found

If the plugin fails with “nyl: command not found”:

Verify Nyl binary is in the PATH: /usr/local/bin/nyl
Check file permissions (should be executable)
Test manually in the repo-server pod:

kubectl exec -it deployment/argocd-repo-server -n argocd -- nyl --version

Profile Not Found

If Nyl reports “Profile ‘default’ not found”:

Ensure your repository contains nyl-profiles.yaml
Check the profile name matches what you’re referencing
Verify the file is in the repository root or search path

Nyl Documentation