This lab will guide you through setting up and using Harness Open Source (referred to as "Harness" from now on), with a focus on managing a project, using GitSpaces, creating pipelines, and setting up an artifact registry. By the end of the lab, you'll be able to create a project, import a repository, work with GitSpaces, and automate build pipelines.
Before starting, ensure you have the following installed on your local machine:
- Docker runtime and client (Docker Desktop, Rancher Desktop, or Colima)
- VS Code (optional but recommended for working with GitSpaces)
- k3d for a local Kubernetes cluster
- kubectl for interacting with the Kubernetes cluster
Configure insecure registries based on your docker daemon:
"insecure-registries": [
"localhost:3000",
"0.0.0.0:3000",
"127.0.0.1:3000",
"host.docker.internal:3000"
]
- Run the following command to start a Harness instance:
docker run -d \
-p 3000:3000 -p 3022:3022 \
-v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock \
-v /tmp/harness:/data \
--name harness \
--restart always \
harness/harness
This command starts the Harness server, exposes it on port 3000, and mounts necessary volumes for Docker and persistent data storage.
-
Follow these steps to create an admin user:
- Once the container is running, open http://localhost:3000 in your browser.
- Select Sign Up.
- Enter a User ID (
admin
), Email (admin@example.com
), and Password (changeit
). - Select Sign Up. (You might see a warning to change your password. You can ignore that warning.)
- Create a directory for the kubeconfig file:
mkdir -p /tmp/k3d
- Create and open the kubeconfig file:
vim /tmp/k3d/config.yaml
- Copy the following content to the above file:
apiVersion: k3d.io/v1alpha4 # this will change in the future as we make everything more stable
kind: Simple # internally, we also have a Cluster config, which is not yet available externally
metadata:
name: podinfo # name that you want to give to your cluster (will still be prefixed with `k3d-`)
servers: 1 # same as `--servers 1`
ports:
- port: 30005-30010:30005-30010 # same as `--port '8080:80@loadbalancer'`
nodeFilters:
- loadbalancer
registries: # define how registries should be created or used
config: | # define contents of the `registries.yaml` file (or reference a file); same as `--registry-config /path/to/config.yaml`
mirrors:
"host.docker.internal:3000":
endpoint:
- http://host.docker.internal:3000
options:
k3s: # options passed on to K3s itself
extraArgs: # additional arguments passed to the `k3s server|agent` command; same as `--k3s-arg`
- arg: --tls-san=host.docker.internal
nodeFilters:
- server:*
- Create a k3d cluster:
k3d cluster create -c /tmp/k3d/config.yaml
- Copy the kubeconfig to the clipboard and save it temporarily:
For macOS:
k3d kubeconfig get podinfo | sed 's/0.0.0.0/host.docker.internal/g' | pbcopy
For Linux:
k3d kubeconfig get podinfo | sed 's/0.0.0.0/host.docker.internal/g' | xclip -selection clipboard
OR
k3d kubeconfig get podinfo | sed 's/0.0.0.0/host.docker.internal/g' | xsel --clipboard
- Select New Project.
- Enter a project Name (harness-lab) and optional Description (Open source code hosting, pipelines, artifact registry, dev environments).
- Select Create Project.
[!NOTE] Harness can also import projects from external sources (such as GitLab groups or GitHub organizations).
- You can organize your work in Harness by creating labels to categorize pull requests, artifacts, and more. To get started, add three labels to your project: "dev," "staging," and "prod." You can also assign specific values to each of these labels, helping to streamline project management and tracking.
- Click on the drop-down under Repositories, and select "Import Repository".
- The Git Provider is "GitHub".
- Use
harness-community
for the organization andpodinfo
for the repository. - Click Import Repository.
You can send data to HTTP endpoints from actions in your repository, such as opened pull requests, new branches, and more. For this exercise, you’ll use webhook.site - a website that offers unique, random URLs to instantly receive and inspect all incoming HTTP requests and webhooks in real-time, facilitating testing and debugging. For free webhook.site users, the URL and its data are kept for 7 days. You can close the browser tab and still return to the same unique webhook.site URL.
- Navigate to webhook.site and copy your unique URL.
- Click on Webhooks under the podinfo repository and then + New Webhook.
- Give this webhook a name:
trigger_on_branch_created
. - Paste the unique URL you copied under Payload URL. You can leave out the Secret.
- Choose Let me select individual events and select Branch created.
- Click Create Webhook.
You'll need to reuse this webhook URL in a later section. Go to Secrets --> + New Secret and add a new secret called webhook_url. Use the value of the unique URL you have copied.
Now, continue to the next section to push a new branch. Once a new branch is pushed, you’ll see the trigger in action on this site.
- Within the podinfo repository, create a new branch named "feature".
- On webhook.site, you should see a notification indicating that the webhook was triggered.
The response will look something like this:
{
"trigger": "branch_created",
"repo": {
"id": 1,
"path": "harness-lab/podinfo",
"identifier": "podinfo",
"description": "",
"default_branch": "master",
"url": "http://159.203.33.47:3000/harness-lab/podinfo",
"git_url": "http://159.203.33.47:3000/git/harness-lab/podinfo.git",
"git_ssh_url": "ssh://git@159.203.33.47:3022/harness-lab/podinfo.git",
"uid": "podinfo"
},
"principal": {
"id": 4,
"uid": "admin",
"display_name": "Administrator",
"email": "mail@example.com",
"type": "user",
"created": 1724895740977,
"updated": 1724895740977
},
"ref": {
"name": "refs/heads/feature3",
"repo": {
"id": 1,
"path": "harness-lab/podinfo",
"identifier": "podinfo",
"description": "",
"default_branch": "master",
"url": "http://159.203.33.47:3000/harness-lab/podinfo",
"git_url": "http://159.203.33.47:3000/git/harness-lab/podinfo.git",
"git_ssh_url": "ssh://git@159.203.33.47:3022/harness-lab/podinfo.git",
"uid": "podinfo"
}
},
"sha": "dbf831f84f486243998a2f86cda9fa76d9f1b748",
"head_commit": {
"sha": "dbf831f84f486243998a2f86cda9fa76d9f1b748",
"message": "Updated pipeline testpipe",
"author": {
"identity": { "name": "Administrator", "email": "mail@example.com" },
"when": "2024-09-03T17:38:34Z"
},
"committer": {
"identity": { "name": "Gitness", "email": "system@gitness.io" },
"when": "2024-09-03T17:38:34Z"
},
"added": [],
"removed": [],
"modified": []
},
"commit": {
"sha": "dbf831f84f486243998a2f86cda9fa76d9f1b748",
"message": "Updated pipeline testpipe",
"author": {
"identity": { "name": "Administrator", "email": "mail@example.com" },
"when": "2024-09-03T17:38:34Z"
},
"committer": {
"identity": { "name": "Gitness", "email": "system@gitness.io" },
"when": "2024-09-03T17:38:34Z"
},
"added": [],
"removed": [],
"modified": []
},
"old_sha": "0000000000000000000000000000000000000000",
"forced": false
}
From Repositories --> podinfo --> Manage Repository --> Security, enable Secret Scanning. Harness Open Source includes gitleaks integrations for detecting and preventing hardcoded secrets.
Now, from Repositories --> podinfo click Clone and copy the HTTPS git clone URL. Clone and open this repository on your code editor. Right below the Git clone URL, click the button to generate clone credential.
On your code editor, create a new file called config.yaml under the podinfo repository and add the following:
SECRET=pat.W3bJ9X4K2L8V7fH1pG0M5nQ.ZM1cP9gB5L2vJ8K6R3wY1N4z.X9V7cT3pB5M1nF2G4J0K
The above follows the same pattern as a Harness Personal Access Token. While this is not a valid token, it has the same pattern as a Harness Personal Access Token.
Configure git credentials before you commit:
git config -–global user.email “admin@example.com”
git config -–global user.name “admin”
Now save the config.yaml
file and try to commit and push the changes. Use the Git credentials you copied earlier. The built-in scanner in Harness will detect the pattern and prevent you from pushing the commit.
This approach is much safer than detecting secrets after they've been committed.
-
Create a GitSpace for the
podinfo/master
branch and open it in VS Code Desktop. -
You will need to create a token and add it to the Gitness extension on VSCode. To do so, click Admin and then + New Token.
-
Build the binary for podinfo by running:
go build ./cmd/podinfo
You should see the following error:
bash: go: command not found
GitSpaces come with an Ubuntu image (mcr.microsoft.com/devcontainers/base:dev-ubuntu-24.04
) if you don’t have a DevContainer file with a base image defined.
In your gitspace, add the following file to your repo: podinfo/files/master/~/.devcontainer/devcontainer.json
{
"image": "mcr.microsoft.com/devcontainers/go"
}
Merge the changes.
Stop and delete the GitSpace instance, then recreate it. Retry the above command, and this time, the Go build should succeed.
-
Run the app:
./podinfo
-
Open another terminal within VS code and
curl localhost:9898
to see the app running version6.6.1
:
{
"hostname": "032d90c07ce6",
"version": "6.6.1",
"revision": "unknown",
"color": "#34577c",
"logo": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/stefanprodan/podinfo/gh-pages/cuddle_clap.gif",
"message": "greetings from podinfo v6.6.1",
"goos": "linux",
"goarch": "arm64",
"runtime": "go1.23.1",
"num_goroutine": "6",
"num_cpu": "2"
}
Make sure to merge your master branch into your feature branch before continuing.
-
Create a gitspaces for the
podinfo/feature
branch and open it in VS Code Browser. -
Make a change to
pkg/version/version.go
and update the version to 6.6.2. Save the file. -
Build the binary for podinfo by running:
go build ./cmd/podinfo
-
Run the app:
./podinfo
-
Open your browser and navigate to http://localhost:9898 to see the app running version
6.6.2
. -
Commit and push the change to feature branch.
Note
Observe that these gitspaces instances are already configured with git credentials from Harness Open Source so you don't have to configure git credentials.
- In the podinfo repository, go to Pipelines and click + New Pipeline.
- Click "Generate" to let Harness automatically create a pipeline for your Go project. This pipeline should install dependencies, build the app, and run tests.
- Click "Save and Run" to execute the pipeline and ensure all steps complete successfully.
- Navigate to Artifact Registries --> + New Artifact Registry and create a new docker artifact registry named "harness-reg".
- In the registry settings, click Set up client to retrieve the connection credentials to that registry. Make a note of the username.
- Click Generate token and make a note of the token.
- Navigate to Secrets in the Harness dashboard.
- Add three secrets:
docker_username
: Use the registry username from the previous step. For most cases, this would be admin.docker_password
: Use the generated token from the previous step.kubeconfig
: Use the kubeconfig copied from a previous section.
Create a new pipeline called "build-test-push" and use the following YAML configuration:
kind: pipeline
spec:
stages:
- name: build-test-push-scan
spec:
platform:
arch: amd64
os: linux
steps:
- name: go_install
spec:
container:
image: golang:1.23
script:
- go install ./...
type: run
- name: go_test
spec:
container:
image: golang:1.23
script:
- go test -v ./...
type: run
- name: go_build_push
type: plugin
spec:
name: docker
inputs:
insecure: true
repo: host.docker.internal:3000/harness-lab/harness-reg/podinfo
registry: host.docker.internal:3000
username: ${{ secrets.get("docker_username") }}
password: ${{ secrets.get("docker_password") }}
tags: ${{ build.number }}
type: ci
version: 1
Click Save and Run to execute the pipeline.
- For local installations, add
host.docker.internal:3000
as an insecure-registry in your docker config. - For cloud VM installations, add
YOUR_IP:3000
as an insecure-registry in your docker config.
- Locate your Docker configuration file:
- On Linux or macOS, this is typically located at
/etc/docker/daemon.json
. - On Windows, you might find it at
C:\ProgramData\docker\config\daemon.json
.
- Edit the
daemon.json
file. If the file does not exist, create it. - Add the following content, making sure to replace
IP:PORT
with the actual address of your insecure registry:
{
"insecure-registries": ["IP:PORT"]
}
- Restart Docker: After saving your changes, restart the Docker service for the new configuration to take effect.
sudo systemctl restart docker
or colima restart
.
Check the artifact registry to ensure the new image has been successfully pushed.
In this step, we use a popular open source image scanning tool called Grype. The goal is to integrate Grype into the pipeline to scan the newly built image for vulnerabilities before promoting it to the prod environment.
Modify the pipeline to include a new step for Grype scanning:
version: 1
kind: pipeline
spec:
stages:
- name: build-test-push-scan
spec:
platform:
arch: amd64
os: linux
steps:
- name: go_install
spec:
container:
image: golang:1.23
script:
- go install ./...
type: run
- name: go_test
spec:
container:
image: golang:1.23
script:
- go test -v ./...
type: run
- name: go_build_push
type: plugin
spec:
name: docker
inputs:
insecure: true
repo: host.docker.internal:3000/harness-lab/harness-reg/podinfo
registry: host.docker.internal:3000
username: ${{ secrets.get("docker_username") }}
password: ${{ secrets.get("docker_password") }}
tags: ${{ build.number }}
- name: Grype_Image_Scan
type: run
spec:
container: alpine
envs:
GRYPE_REGISTRY_INSECURE: "true"
GRYPE_REGISTRY_INSECURE_USE_HTTP: "true"
GRYPE_REGISTRY_INSECURE_SKIP_TLS_VERIFY: "true"
GRYPE_REGISTRY_AUTH_USERNAME: ${{ secrets.get("docker_username") }}
GRYPE_REGISTRY_AUTH_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.get("docker_password") }}
script: |
apk add --no-cache curl
curl -sSfL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/anchore/grype/main/install.sh | sh -s -- -b /tmp/grype-bin
/tmp/grype-bin/grype host.docker.internal:3000/harness-lab/harness-reg/podinfo:${{ build.number }}
echo "Image scan completed!"
type: ci
version: 1
Each pipeline comes with a default trigger. From the pipeline settings, update the default trigger to activate the pipeline only on Pull Request Merged events.
From the "feature" branch, create a new Pull Request (PR) to the "master" branch and merge the PR. This will trigger the pipeline and the Grype_Image_Scan step will scan the newly built image for vulnerabilities.
Update the pipeline as follows:
kind: pipeline
spec:
stages:
- name: e2e
spec:
platform:
arch: amd64
os: linux
steps:
- name: setup
spec:
container:
image: golang:1.23
script:
- go install ./...
type: run
- name: test
spec:
container:
image: golang:1.23
script:
- go test -v ./...
type: run
- name: build
type: plugin
spec:
name: docker
inputs:
insecure: true
repo: host.docker.internal:3000/harnes-lab/harness-reg/podinfo
registry: host.docker.internal:3000
username: ${{ secrets.get("docker_username") }}
password: ${{ secrets.get("docker_password") }}
tags: ${{ build.number }}
- name: scan
type: run
spec:
container: alpine
envs:
GRYPE_REGISTRY_INSECURE: "true"
GRYPE_REGISTRY_INSECURE_USE_HTTP: "true"
GRYPE_REGISTRY_INSECURE_SKIP_TLS_VERIFY: "true"
GRYPE_REGISTRY_AUTH_USERNAME: ${{ secrets.get("docker_username") }}
GRYPE_REGISTRY_AUTH_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.get("docker_password") }}
script: |
apk add --no-cache curl
curl -sSfL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/anchore/grype/main/install.sh | sh -s -- -b /tmp/grype-bin
/tmp/grype-bin/grype host.docker.internal:3000/harness-lab/harness-reg/podinfo:${{ build.number }}
echo "Image scan completed!"
- name: deploy
type: run
spec:
container: bitnami/kubectl
envs:
KUBECONFIG_CONTENT: ${{ secrets.get("kubeconfig") }}
KUBECONFIG: /tmp/kubeconfig.yaml
FRONTEND_IMAGE: host.docker.internal:3000/harness-lab/harness-reg/podinfo:${{ build.number }}
BACKEND_IMAGE: host.docker.internal:3000/harness-lab/harness-reg/podinfo:${{ build.number }}
DOCKER_CONFIG_JSON: ${{ secrets.get("docker-config-json") }}
DOCKER_USERNAME: ${{ secrets.get("docker_username") }}
DOCKER_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.get("docker_password") }}
script: |
kubectl version --client
envsubst --version
# set correct kubeconfig
echo "$KUBECONFIG_CONTENT" > $KUBECONFIG
# apply kubeconfig
cd deploy
# apply common manifests
kubectl apply -f ./webapp/common
# create a docker registry secrete yaml
kubectl create secret docker-registry harness-registry-secret \
--docker-server=host.docker.internal:3000 \
--docker-username=$DOCKER_USERNAME \
--docker-password=$DOCKER_PASSWORD \
-n webapp \
--dry-run=client \
-o yaml | kubectl apply -f -
# apply backend manifest
kubectl apply -f ./webapp/backend
envsubst < ./webapp/backend/deployment.yaml | kubectl apply -f -
# apply frontend manifest
kubectl apply -f ./webapp/frontend
envsubst < ./webapp/frontend/deployment.yaml | kubectl apply -f -
# check the rollout status
kubectl rollout status --namespace webapp deployment/frontend --timeout=1m
# verify running pods and services
kubectl get pods --namespace webapp
kubectl get services --namespace webapp
echo "success"
shell: bash
type: ci
version: 1
After the pipeline succeeds, visit http://localhost:30006
to use the deployed frontend service.
Update the pipeline to add a notifications step on pipeline failure.
kind: pipeline
spec:
stages:
- name: e2e
spec:
platform:
arch: amd64
os: linux
steps:
- name: setup
spec:
container:
image: golang:1.23
script:
- go install ./...
type: run
- name: test
spec:
container:
image: golang:1.23
script:
- go test -v ./...
type: run
- name: build
type: plugin
spec:
name: docker
inputs:
insecure: true
repo: host.docker.internal:3000/harnes-lab/harness-reg/podinfo
registry: host.docker.internal:3000
username: ${{ secrets.get("docker_username") }}
password: ${{ secrets.get("docker_password") }}
tags: ${{ build.number }}
- name: scan
type: run
spec:
container: alpine
envs:
GRYPE_REGISTRY_INSECURE: "true"
GRYPE_REGISTRY_INSECURE_USE_HTTP: "true"
GRYPE_REGISTRY_INSECURE_SKIP_TLS_VERIFY: "true"
GRYPE_REGISTRY_AUTH_USERNAME: ${{ secrets.get("docker_username") }}
GRYPE_REGISTRY_AUTH_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.get("docker_password") }}
script: |
apk add --no-cache curl
curl -sSfL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/anchore/grype/main/install.sh | sh -s -- -b /tmp/grype-bin
/tmp/grype-bin/grype host.docker.internal:3000/harnes-lab/harness-reg/podinfo:${{ build.number }}
echo "Image scan completed!"
- name: deploy
type: run
spec:
container: bitnami/kubectl
envs:
KUBECONFIG_CONTENT: ${{ secrets.get("kubeconfig") }}
KUBECONFIG: /tmp/kubeconfig.yaml
FRONTEND_IMAGE: host.docker.internal:3000/harnes-lab/harness-reg/podinfo:${{ build.number }}
BACKEND_IMAGE: host.docker.internal:3000/harnes-lab/harness-reg/podinfo:${{ build.number }}
DOCKER_CONFIG_JSON: ${{ secrets.get("docker-config-json") }}
DOCKER_USERNAME: ${{ secrets.get("docker_username") }}
DOCKER_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.get("docker_password") }}
script: |
kubectl version --client
envsubst --version
# set correct kubeconfig
echo "$KUBECONFIG_CONTENT" > $KUBECONFIG
# apply kubeconfig
cd deploy
# apply common manifests
kubectl apply -f ./webapp/common
# create a docker registry secrete yaml
kubectl create secret docker-registry harness-registry-secret \
--docker-server=host.docker.internal:3000 \
--docker-username=$DOCKER_USERNAME \
--docker-password=$DOCKER_PASSWORD \
-n webapp \
--dry-run=client \
-o yaml | kubectl apply -f -
# apply backend manifest
kubectl apply -f ./webapp/backend
envsubst < ./webapp/backend/deployment.yaml | kubectl apply -f -
# apply frontend manifest
kubectl apply -f ./webapp/frontend
envsubst < ./webapp/frontend/deployment.yaml | kubectl apply -f -
# check the rollout status
kubectl rollout status --namespace webapp deployment/frontend --timeout=1m
# verify running pods and services
kubectl get pods --namespace webapp
kubectl get services --namespace webapp
echo "success"
shell: bash
- name: notify
type: plugin
when: failure()
spec:
name: webhook
inputs:
content_type: application/json
urls: ${{ secrets.get("webhook_url") }}
template: |
Name: Harness Build Notification
Repo Name: {{ repo.name }}
Build Number {{ build.number }}
Build Event: {{ build.event }}
Build Status: {{ build.status }}
type: ci
version: 1
Introduce a failure in the pipeline for the notification step to be triggered and you'll see a notification like this on webhook.site
:
Name: Harness Build Notification
Repo Name: podinfo
Build Number 9
Build Event: pull_request
Build Status: failure
Check out the Swagger API to programmatically create and manage Harness resources. You'll need to generate a token to get started.
This was just a teaser of what you can do with Harness Open Source. Check out the docs to build something awesome with Harness.