GitOps operations knowledge check and Gate 4

Operations quiz

1. How does drift differ from an invalid desired state?
2. Why should diagnosis proceed from sources toward workloads?
3. What remains running when an OCIRepository tag becomes unavailable?
4. Which evidence distinguishes an OCI authentication failure from a Helm hook failure?
5. Why can a manual helm rollback be temporary under Flux?
6. What does suspending a HelmRelease change, and what does it not change?
7. When is explicit reconciliation preferable to waiting for the interval?
8. Compare credential exposure in GitLab CI push and Flux pull delivery.

Final synthesis quiz

1. Trace a values commit to a Pod update through every Flux resource.
2. Explain Helm values precedence with a dependency example.
3. Explain why Workload Identity is preferred to a JSON key.
4. Assign five likely failures to their owning controllers.
5. Describe a safe rollback for a bad chart version.
6. Explain what each readiness gate proved that the previous gate did not.

Gate 4 live demonstration

Ask a peer to choose, without telling you in advance:

• replica drift;
• a nonexistent OCI tag;
• a failed Helm hook;
• suspended reconciliation.

You must:

1. identify the scenario using status, conditions, events, and logs;
2. name the owning controller;
3. recover through Git when desired state is wrong;
4. prove all Flux resources and the workload are Ready;
5. defend your Flux-versus-CI comparison under follow-up questions.

Pass: correct diagnosis before remediation, durable recovery, and a complete explanation of control and credentials.

After passing, use the cleanup guide or continue with image automation, environment overlays, or progressive delivery as a separate track.