ImagePullPolicy Configuration

The ArgoCD Operator supports configurable imagePullPolicy settings at multiple levels, providing administrators with flexible control over how container images are pulled for ArgoCD components.

Configuration Levels

The imagePullPolicy configuration follows a hierarchical precedence system:

1. Instance-level policy - specified in the ArgoCD CR via .spec.imagePullPolicy.
2. Global-level policy - defined through the IMAGE_PULL_POLICY environment variable in the Operator’s Subscription.
3. Default policy - IfNotPresent (used when neither of the above are specified).

Valid values: - Always - Always pull the image - IfNotPresent - Pull the image only if not present locally - Never - Never pull the image

Operator Level Configuration

Use this configuration to set a global image pull policy for all Argo CD instances managed by the operator. The value is defined as an environment variable in the operator’s deployment/subscription and applies to all Argo CD instances.

Environment Variable

Set the global default imagePullPolicy for all ArgoCD instances managed by the operator:

export IMAGE_PULL_POLICY=IfNotPresent

Subscription Example

apiVersion: operators.coreos.com/v1alpha1
kind: Subscription
metadata:
  name: argocd-operator
spec:
  config:
   env: 
    - name: IMAGE_PULL_POLICY
      value: "IfNotPresent"
  channel: alpha
  name: argocd-operator
  source: argocd-catalog
  sourceNamespace: olm

Operator Deployment Example

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: argocd-operator-controller-manager
  namespace: argocd-operator-system
spec:
  template:
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: manager
        env:
        - name: IMAGE_PULL_POLICY
          value: "IfNotPresent"

ArgoCD Instance Level Configuration

This value overrides the operator-level policy and applies only to the specific Argo CD instance defined in the CR.

Set imagePullPolicy for all components in an ArgoCD instance:

apiVersion: argoproj.io/v1beta1
kind: ArgoCD
metadata:
  name: argocd
  namespace: argocd
spec:
  # Instance level imagePullPolicy for all components
  imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent