Kubernetes Stateless Migration with GitOps Re-Deployment

Use case

• Category: Kubernetes-to-Kubernetes migration
• State profile: Stateless workloads
• Approach: GitOps-driven re-deployment to target cluster

Mandatory prerequisites

• GitOps baseline active: Source of truth repository and promotion flow are operational.
• Cluster parity validated: Namespaces, policies, secrets model, and ingress rules are mapped.
• Traffic control available: Progressive cutover path is possible through DNS, ingress, or gateway.
• Observability baseline ready: Golden signals and rollback criteria are defined and monitored.

Not suitable when

• Stateful dependencies dominate: Persistent data migration is required in the same path.
• GitOps controls are missing: No reliable declarative deployment pipeline exists.

Implementation template

Phase 1: Prepare target cluster baseline

1. Apply namespace, policy, and secret scaffolding.
2. Deploy supporting services and ingress baseline.
3. Validate readiness probes and scaling behavior.

Phase 2: Deploy with GitOps

1. Promote manifests/helm values to target environment branch.
2. Verify reconciliation status and runtime health.
3. Run pre-cutover functional and integration checks.

Phase 3: Progressive cutover

1. Shift traffic gradually to target workloads.
2. Observe golden signals during each increment.
3. Complete full switch and stabilization period.

Validation checklist

• Deployment parity: Wanted replicas and service endpoints match plan.
• Functional parity: Critical API and UI paths pass.
• Performance parity: Latency and error budgets remain within thresholds.
• Rollback readiness: Previous target percentage can be restored on trigger.