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    Container Service for Kubernetes:Create multiple applications with an ApplicationSet

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    Container Service for Kubernetes:Create multiple applications with an ApplicationSet

    Last Updated:Jun 25, 2026

    ApplicationSet simplifies multi-cluster application orchestration: from one template and generator it automatically creates one or more Argo CD Applications. This topic explains how to use an ApplicationSet to create multiple applications.

    Use this approach when:

    • Multi-environment deployments: Deploy the same application across production and staging with environment-specific configurations.

    • Cluster add-ons: Install shared tools (monitoring, logging, ingress) across a fleet of clusters.

    • Self-service deployments: Let teams deploy to clusters they own without modifying shared configuration.

    How it works

    The ApplicationSet controller processes your manifest in four steps:

    1. The generator produces key-value parameters — in the List generator, each element becomes one parameter set.

    2. The parameters are substituted into the template, once per parameter set.

    3. Each rendered template becomes an Argo CD Application resource.

    4. The Argo CD controller picks up the new Application resources and manages their sync lifecycle.

    Prerequisites

    Before you begin, make sure you have:

    Deploy an ApplicationSet

    This example deploys echo-server to two clusters (production and staging), each with its own manifest subdirectory for environment-specific configuration.

    Repository structure:

    .
├── Dockerfile
├── go.mod
├── go.sum
├── main.go
└── manifests
    └── directory
        ├── production
        │   ├── deployment.yaml
        │   └── service.yaml
        └── staging
            ├── deployment.yaml
            └── service.yaml

    Create the ApplicationSet manifest

    Create applicationset.yaml with the following content.

    The List generator defines two parameter sets — one per cluster. {{cluster}} and {{url}} are substituted into the template, producing two Applications: production-echo-server and staging-echo-server. Each points to its environment's manifest subdirectory.

    apiVersion: argoproj.io/v1alpha1
kind: ApplicationSet
metadata:
  name: echo-server
spec:
  generators:
  - list:
      elements:
      - cluster: production
        url: https://47.91.XX.XX:6443
      - cluster: staging
        url: https://47.111.XX.XX:6443
      # To add more clusters, append another element here:
      # - cluster: <cluster-name>
      #   url: <cluster-api-server-url>
  template:
    metadata:
      name: '{{cluster}}-echo-server'
    spec:
      project: default
      source:
        repoURL: https://code.aliyun.com/shuwei.hsw/echo-server.git
        targetRevision: main
        path: manifests/directory/{{cluster}}
      destination:
        server: '{{url}}'
        namespace: multi-echo-server

    Apply the ApplicationSet

    kubectl -n argocd apply -f applicationset.yaml

    Verify application creation

    kubectl -n argocd get application

    Expected output:

    NAME                     SYNC STATUS   HEALTH STATUS
production-echo-server   OutOfSync     Missing
staging-echo-server      OutOfSync     Missing

    OutOfSync indicates the Applications exist but are not yet deployed.

    Sync the applications

    argocd app sync production-echo-server staging-echo-server

    Verify access

    Test access to each environment after the sync completes.

    Cluster Production (echo-server v1.0):

    curl XX.XX.XX.XX:8080/version

    Expected output:

    "Hello Echo Server v1.0"

    Cluster Staging (echo-server v2.0):

    curl XX.XX.XX.XX:8080/version

    Expected output:

    "Hello Echo Server v2.0"

    Replace XX.XX.XX.XX with the external IP of the echo-server Service in each cluster.

    Next steps