Tekton

Tekton is an open-source cloud-native CI/CD framework designed specifically for Kubernetes. Developed under the Continuous Delivery Foundation, Tekton provides standardized components for building flexible, cloud-agnostic CI/CD systems. It leverages Kubernetes Custom Resource Definitions (CRDs) to define pipelines declaratively.

Fundamentals

• Architecture based on Kubernetes resources (Tasks, Pipelines, PipelineRuns)
• Task execution in isolated containers with complete traceability
• Declarative model enabling component reusability and composition
• Cloud vendor independence through Kubernetes standardization

Benefits

• Complete portability across Kubernetes environments (on-premise, cloud, hybrid)
• Component reusability through shareable catalogs (Tekton Hub)
• Native scalability through Kubernetes orchestration
• Extensibility by composition without vendor lock-in
• Natural integration with cloud-native ecosystem (Knative, ArgoCD, Prometheus)

Practical Example

Here's a simple Tekton Pipeline orchestrating application build and deployment:

apiVersion: tekton.dev/v1beta1
kind: Pipeline
metadata:
  name: build-and-deploy
spec:
  params:
    - name: repo-url
      type: string
    - name: image-name
      type: string
  workspaces:
    - name: shared-data
  tasks:
    - name: fetch-source
      taskRef:
        name: git-clone
      workspaces:
        - name: output
          workspace: shared-data
      params:
        - name: url
          value: $(params.repo-url)
    
    - name: run-tests
      runAfter: [fetch-source]
      taskRef:
        name: npm-test
      workspaces:
        - name: source
          workspace: shared-data
    
    - name: build-image
      runAfter: [run-tests]
      taskRef:
        name: kaniko
      workspaces:
        - name: source
          workspace: shared-data
      params:
        - name: IMAGE
          value: $(params.image-name)
    
    - name: deploy-to-cluster
      runAfter: [build-image]
      taskRef:
        name: kubectl-deploy
      params:
        - name: image
          value: $(params.image-name)

Implementation

1. Install Tekton Pipelines on your Kubernetes cluster via kubectl or Operator
2. Define reusable Tasks for common operations (build, test, deploy)
3. Compose Pipelines by orchestrating multiple Tasks with dependencies
4. Create PipelineRuns to trigger execution with specific parameters
5. Configure Triggers to automate executions (Git webhooks, events)
6. Set up monitoring with Tekton Dashboard or Prometheus integration
7. Establish governance with Templates and an internal artifact catalog

Related Tools

• Tekton Dashboard - Graphical interface to visualize and manage pipelines
• Tekton Triggers - Event system to automatically trigger pipelines
• Tekton Chains - Security framework for artifact signing and traceability
• Tekton Hub - Community catalog of reusable Tasks and Pipelines
• Tekton CLI (tkn) - Command-line tool to interact with Tekton
• ArgoCD - GitOps solution often combined with Tekton for continuous deployment

Tekton establishes itself as the foundation for many modern CI/CD solutions through its cloud-native nature and standardization. By adopting Tekton, organizations gain flexibility, avoid vendor lock-in, and benefit from a constantly evolving open ecosystem. Its declarative and modular approach enables building maintainable pipelines that evolve with business needs while respecting security and governance best practices.