add blog announcing v2.1.0

Signed-off-by: Somtochi Onyekwere <somtochionyekwere@gmail.com>

assets/scss/_gallery.scss

@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
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+    margin-bottom: 20px;
+    margin-top: 20px;
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content/en/blog/2023-08-28-announcing-flux-v2.1.0/index.md

@@ -0,0 +1,280 @@
+---
+author: somtochiama
+date: 2023-09-04 00:00:00+00:00
+title: Announcing Flux 2.1 GA
+description: "Flux v2.1.0: New monitoring setup with support for custom metrics, performance improvements and much more!"
+url: /blog/2023/08/flux-v2.1.0/
+tags: [announcement]
+resources:
+- src: "**.{png,jpg}"
+  title: "Image #:counter"
+---
+
+## New releases
+
+We are happy to announce the latest GA releases for Flux and Flagger.
+
+### Flux v2.1.0
+
+This new release comes with lots of new features,
+fixes, restructured documentation and performance improvements.
+Everyone is encouraged to upgrade for the best experience.
+
+The [Flux APIs](https://github.com/fluxcd/flux2/releases/tag/v2.1.0#api-changes)
+were extended with new opt-in features in a backwards-compatible manner.
+
+The Flux Git capabilities have been improved with support for
+Git push options, Git refspec, Gerrit, HTTP/S and SOCKS5 proxies.
+
+In case you missed it, Flux reached General Availability in June.
+You can read the announcement
+[here](https://fluxcd.io/blog/2023/07/flux-ga/).
+
+You can now check the end-of-life(EOL) dates and support information for
+different Flux versions at https://endoflife.date/flux.
+
+#### Features
+
+- The [GitRepository API](https://fluxcd.io/flux/components/source/gitrepositories/#proxy-secret-reference)
+  has a new field `.spec.proxySecretRef` that is used for specifying proxy configuration to use
+  for all remote Git operations related to the particular object.
+- The`.spec.verify.mode` field of the [GitRepository API](https://fluxcd.io/flux/components/source/gitrepositories/#verification)
+  now accepts one of the following values `HEAD`, `Tag`, `TagAndHEAD`. These values are used to specify
+  how the Git tags and commits are verified.
+- The [server-side apply behaviour](https://fluxcd.io/flux/components/kustomize/kustomizations/#controlling-the-apply-behavior-of-resources)
+  in the kustomize-controller has been extended with two extra policies:
+  `IfNotPresent` and `Ignore`. These policies are specified with the `kustomize.toolkit.fluxcd.io/ssa`
+  annotation on the resource manifest. The `IfNotPresent` policy is useful to have Flux create an object
+  that will later be managed by another controller.
+- Support for sending notifications to [DataDog](https://fluxcd.io/flux/components/notification/providers/#datadog).
+- The [ImageUpdateAutomation API](https://fluxcd.io/flux/components/image/imageupdateautomations/#push) has two
+  new optional fields - `.spec.git.push.refspec` and `.spec.git.push.options` for to specify a refspec and push
+  options that will be used when pushing commits upstream.
+
+#### Fixes and improvements
+
+Here is a short list of features and improvements in this release:
+
+- A new flag `--concurrent-ssa` has been introduced in the kustomize-controller to set the number of concurrent
+ server-side operations that will be performed by the controller per object. This increases speed when
+ reconciling Kustomization with a considerable amount of objects.
+- Performance improvement when loading helm repositories with large indexes (up to 80% memory reduction).
+- The load distribution has been improved when reconciling Flux objects in parallel to reduce CPU and memory spikes.
+- The Installation and Monitoring sections of the Flux documentation have been restructured to make navigation
+  and locating guides easier. We are always open to receiving feedback on how we can improve the documentation.
+
+#### Deprecation
+
+- All APIs that accept TLS data have been modified to support Kubernetes TLS style secrets.
+  The keys `caFile`, `certFile` and `keyFile`  have been deprecated. For more details about the TLS changes 
+  please see the [Kubernetes TLS Secrets section](https://github.com/fluxcd/flux2/releases/tag/v2.1.0#kubernetes-tls-secrets).
+- ⚠️ Breaking changes: This release comes with breaking changes to the Flux monitoring stack (Prom+Grafana).
+  The stack now leverages the
+  [kube-state-metrics Custom Resource State metrics](https://github.com/kubernetes/kube-state-metrics/blob/main/docs/customresourcestate-metrics.md)
+  to report some Flux resource metrics. This will allow users to extend the Flux metrics with custom metadata. The
+  [monitoring configuration in the fluxcd/flux2 repository](https://github.com/fluxcd/flux2/tree/v2.1.0/manifests/monitoring#warning-deprecation-notice)
+  is now deprecated and will be removed in a future release. The new monitoring configuration is located at
+  [fluxcd/flux2-monitoring-example](https://github.com/fluxcd/flux2-monitoring-example/).
+  Please see the new monitoring guide https://fluxcd.io/flux/monitoring for more information.
+
+#### Upgrade
+
+To upgrade Flux from v0.x to v2.1.0 please follow the
+[Flux GA upgrade procedure](https://github.com/fluxcd/flux2/releases/tag/v2.0.0#upgrade).
+
+To Upgrade Flux from v2.0.x to v2.1.0 either by [rerunning bootstrap](https://fluxcd.io/flux/installation/#bootstrap-upgrade)
+or by using the [Flux GitHub Action](https://github.com/fluxcd/flux2/tree/main/action).
+
+You can take a look at the [changelog](https://github.com/fluxcd/flux2/releases/tag/v2.1.0) for the full list of changes.
+
+❣️Big thanks to all the Flux contributors who helped us with this release!
+
+#### Flux Grafana Dashboards
+
+The Flux monitoring stack comes with two dashboards
+for easy visualization of Flux controllers and resource metrics. 
+You can follow this [link](https://github.com/fluxcd/flux2-monitoring-example)
+to learn how to set it up.
+
+{{< gallery match="images/*" sortOrder="desc" rowHeight="150" margins="5"
+      thumbnailResizeOptions="900x900 q90 Lanczos"
+      previewType="blur" embedPreview=true lastRow="nojustify" >}}
+
+
+### Flagger v1.33.0
+
+This release fixes bugs related to the Canary lifecycle. The `confirm-traffic-increase` webhook
+is no longer called if the Canary is in the `WaitingPromotion` phase. Furthermore, a bug which
+caused downtime when initializing the Canary deployment has been fixed. Also, a bug in the
+`request-duration` metric for Traefik which assumed the result to be in milliseconds
+instead of seconds has been addressed.
+
+The loadtester now also supports running `kubectl` commands.
+
+Please see the [changelog](https://github.com/fluxcd/flagger/blob/main/CHANGELOG.md#1310) for the full changes.
+
+## Community News
+
+This section highlights additions to our community -
+new contributors, project members, maintainers or adopters.
+
+### New adopters
+
+{{< gallery match="logos/*" sortOrder="desc" rowHeight="20" margins="20"
+    thumbnailResizeOptions="300x300 q90 Lanczos"
+    previewType="blur" embedPreview=true lastRow="nojustify" >}}
+
+We are very pleased to announce that the following adopters of Flux have
+come forward and added themselves to our website:
+
+- [Zeit Online](https://www.zeit.de): a  German-language platform for demanding online journalism
+  and reader discussions with level.
+- [Sonatype](https://sonatype.com): a developer-friendly full-spectrum software supply chain management
+  platform helps organizations and software developers.
+- [Prophesee](https://www.prophesee.ai): a company using sensor design and AI algorithms
+  to develop computer vision systems.
+- [Infolegale](https://www.infolegale.fr): a legal information platform to monitor company solvency.
+- [Eco Vadis](https://ecovadis.com/): a collaborative platform that allows companies to assess the environmental
+  and social performance of their suppliers.
+
+_If you have not already done so, [use the instructions here](/adopters/)
+or give us a ping and we will help to add you. Not only
+is it great for us to get to know and welcome you to our community. It
+also gives the team a big boost in morale to know where in the world
+Flux is used everywhere._
+
+### New Contributors
+
+Shoutout to all our new contributors:
+
+- [Arukiidou](https://github.com/arukiidou)
+- [Brian Dols](https://github.com/bdols)
+- [Chip Zoller](https://github.com/chipxoller)
+- [Frank J Kelly](https://github.com/kellyfj)
+- [Gerard Krupa](https://github.com/GJKrupa)
+- [Marcus Weiner](https://github.com/mraerino)
+- [Mihai Ratoiu](https://github.com/mihaiandreiratoiu)
+- [Stéphane Este-Gracias](https://github.com/sestegra)
+- [Stephan Scheying](https://github.com/scheying)
+
+Thanks to all of our old and new contributors, and reach out if you'd like to become one as well.
+
+### People writing/talking about Flux
+
+We love it when you all write about Flux and share your experience,
+write how-tos on integrating Flux with other pieces of software or other
+things. Give us a shout-out and we will link it from this section!
+
+#### [How to Build a Self-Service Platform on Upbound: Day 1](https://blog.upbound.io/upbound-day-1)
+
+Our friends at Upbound wrote a great blog post on how you can use the power of Flux and Crossplane to
+drive control plane interactions and configure your control plane for GitOps Flows.
+
+#### [Canary deployment with Flagger and Istio on Devtron](https://www.cncf.io/blog/2023/08/23/canary-deployment-with-flagger-and-istio-on-devtron/)
+
+Rupin Solanki describes how to leverage Flagger and Istio, to automate the canary release process, ensure seamless
+traffic shifting and real-time application health monitoring.
+
+## Events
+
+It's important to keep you up to date with events
+in Flux and provide simple ways to see our work in action and chat with
+our engineers.
+
+### Recent Events
+
+In August here are a couple of talks we would like to highlight.
+
+#### Cloud Native Islamabad - Harnessing the Power of GitOps with Flux
+
+Flux maintainer, Stefan Prodan spoke at Cloud Native Islamabad on Harnessing the Power of GitOps with Flux.
+It is packed with a informed introduction to the concept of GitOps and a demo of Flux and the Weave GitOps UI!
+Click on the video below to watch it.
+
+{{< youtube id=tkC6qrIzA_s >}}
+
+### Upcoming Events
+
+We are happy to announce that we have a number of events coming up.
+Tune in to learn more about Flux and GitOps best practices,
+get to know the team and join our community.
+
+#### Share your story at GitOpsCon EU(virtual) this year! 📆
+
+If you wish to speak at GitOpsCon EU, reach out to us to collaborate on proposals
+on a range of topics related to Kubernetes. We are happy to provide our writing
+expertise to your proposal and to collaborate on ideas. The
+[CFP](https://events.linuxfoundation.org/gitopscon-europe/program/cfp/) deadline is October 4,
+so kindly contact tamao@weave.works ASAP if you’re interested.
+The conference will take place virtually on the 5th - 6th of December.
+
+#### CNCF On-Demand Webinar
+
+Flux Maintainer, Kingdon B will be giving a talk titled 
+`How to start building a self-service infrastructure platform on Kubernetes` on the 14th of September.
+It’s going to be packed with knowledge on how to use Backstage and GitOps.
+Register [here](https://community.cncf.io/events/details/cncf-cncf-online-programs-presents-cncf-on-demand-webinar-how-to-start-building-a-self-service-infrastructure-platform-on-kubernetes/).
+
+### Project meetings and Bug Scrub
+
+Our Flux Bug Scrubs still are happening on a weekly basis and remain one of
+the best ways to get involved in Flux. They are a friendly and welcoming way
+to learn more about contributing and how Flux is organised as a project.
+
+- 2023-09-05 22:00 UTC, 00:00 CEST [The Flux Bug Scrub (AEST)](/#calendar)
+- 2023-09-06 12:00 UTC, 14:00 CEST [The Flux Bug Scrub](/#calendar)
+- 2023-09-07 15:00 UTC, 17:00 CEST [CNCF Flux Project Meeting (late)](/#calendar)
+- 2023-09-13 12:00 UTC, 14:00 CEST [CNCF Flux Project Meeting (early)](/#calendar)
+- 2023-09-14 17:00 UTC, 19:00 CEST [The Flux Bug Scrub](/#calendar)
+- 2023-09-19 22:00 UTC, 00:00 CEST [The Flux Bug Scrub (AEST)](/#calendar)
+
+*We are flexible with subjects and often go with the interests of the
+group or of the presenter. If you want to come and join us in either
+capacity, just show up or if you have questions, reach out to Kingdon B on
+Slack.*
+
+## Flux Ecosystem
+
+### Terraform-controller
+
+The ecosystem is buzzing with news about the licensing changes to Hashicorp’s open-source projects
+including Terraform. Weaveworks has released a
+[statement](https://www.weave.works/blog/statement-for-terraform-hashicorp-license-changes)
+on this and the impact on the tf-controller.
+
+### VS Code GitOps Extension
+
+Significant performance upgrades and code refactoring has been introduced with VS Code GitOps Tools
+extension version 0.25.0. Previously cluster metadata was loaded using `kubectl get` commands.
+Now, a new javascript client is also used which permits faster loading and real-time watching of cluster resources.
+`kubectl proxy` is executed in the background for the new client. Rendering of resource treeviews has been reworked
+to minimise data reloading, to maintain collapsible state and to allow visualising resource errors grouped
+by namespaces. Timeout settings were added and bad cluster connections should no longer slow down Clusters treeview rendering.
+
+UI refinements and bug fixes for the new client are ongoing. The most up-to-date UI features can be previewed by
+selecting “Install Pre-Release Version” in the VS Code Extension Browser.
+
+## Flux Fun Fact!
+
+Did you know …
+🔒 Flux is designed with security in mind: Pull vs. Push,
+least amount of privileges, adherence to Kubernetes security
+policies and tight integration with security tools and
+best-practices. Read more about our security considerations.
+
+## Over and out
+
+If you like what you read and would like to get involved, here are a few good ways to do that:
+
+- Join our [upcoming dev meetings](https://fluxcd.io/community/#meetings).
+- Join the [Flux mailing list](https://lists.cncf.io/g/cncf-flux-dev) and let us know what you'd like to see.
+- Talk to us in the #flux channel on [CNCF Slack](https://slack.cncf.io/).
+- Join the [planning discussions](https://github.com/fluxcd/flux2/discussions).
+- And if you are completely new to Flux, take a look at our [Get Started guide](https://fluxcd.io/docs/get-started/)
+  and give us feedback.
+- Social media: Follow [Flux on Twitter](https://twitter.com/fluxcd), join the discussion in the
+  [Flux LinkedIn group](https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8985374/).
+- We are looking forward to working with you.
+
+:heart: Your Flux maintainer, Somtochi Onyekwere, and project member, Tamao Nakahara.
+

templates/monthly-update.md

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ date: YEAR-XX-01 15:30:00+00:00
 title: LAST_MONTH YEAR Update
 description: "XX"
 url: /blog/YEAR/XX/LAST_MONTH-YEAR-update/
-tags: [monthly-update]
+tags: [announcement]
 resources:
 - src: "**.{png,jpg}"
   title: "Image #:counter"
@@ -31,43 +31,36 @@ involved. Read our last update here (xxx).
 It's the beginning of MONTH YEAR - let's recap together what
 happened in LAST_MONTH - it has been a lot!
 
-## News in the Flux family
+## New Releases
 
-### Next Flux release: more stability and performance improvements
+### Flux vx.y.z
 
-### Security news
+### Flagger vx.y.z
 
-### Flagger x.y.z
+### Security news [if available]
 
-### Flux Ecosystem
+## Community News
 
-<!--
+### People writing/talking about Flux
 
-If you add entries to this subsection, please don't use "we" as it gets
-confusing from which perspective the whole blog post is written and who
-"we" is. The whole post is meant to be from the perspective of the Flux
-community. Better to write:]
+We love it when you all write about Flux and share your experience,
+write how-tos on integrating Flux with other pieces of software or other
+things. Give us a shout-out and we will link it from this section! ✍
 
-- "Since the new release of X, it supports Y." or
-- "Team lead X says: 'we have put a lot of effort into Y and are
-   really proud of the performance results' ..." or
-- "The team has been working on ..."
+### New Adopters
 
--->
+We are very pleased to announce that the following adopters of Flux have
+come forward and added themselves to our website: xxx
 
-#### Weave GitOps
+If you have not already done so, [use the instructions
+here](/adopters/) or give us a ping and we will help to add you. Not only
+is it great for us to get to know and welcome you to our community. It
+also gives the team a big boost in morale to know where in the world
+Flux is used everywhere.
 
-#### Terraform-controller
+### New Contributors (or Project Members / Project Maintainers)
 
-#### Flux Subsystem for Argo
-
-#### Azure GitOps
-
-#### VS Code GitOps Extension
-
-#### New additions to the Flux Ecosystem
-
-## Recent & Upcoming Events
+## Events
 
 It's important to keep you up to date with new features and developments
 in Flux and provide simple ways to see our work in action and chat with
@@ -89,7 +82,7 @@ We are happy to announce that we have a number of events coming up in
 MONTH- tune in to learn more about Flux and GitOps best practices,
 get to know the team and join our community.
 
-#### Flux Bug Scrub
+### Project Meeting & Bug Scrub
 
 Our Flux Bug Scrubs still are happening on a weekly basis and remain one
 of the best ways to get involved in Flux. They are a friendly and
@@ -108,48 +101,37 @@ group or of the presenter. If you want to come and join us in either
 capacity, just show up or if you have questions, reach out to Kingdon on
 Slack.
 
-We really enjoyed this [demo of the k3d git
-server](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNt3v0kk6ec)
-recently. It's a local Git server that runs outside of Kubernetes, to
-support offline dev in a realistic but also simple way that does not
-depend on GitHub or other hosted services.
+## Flux Ecosystem
 
-## In other news
+<!--
 
-### Your Community Team
+If you add entries to this subsection, please don't use "we" as it gets
+confusing from which perspective the whole blog post is written and who
+"we" is. The whole post is meant to be from the perspective of the Flux
+community. Better to write:]
 
-### People writing/talking about Flux
+- "Since the new release of X, it supports Y." or
+- "Team lead X says: 'we have put a lot of effort into Y and are
+   really proud of the performance results' ..." or
+- "The team has been working on ..."
 
-We love it when you all write about Flux and share your experience,
-write how-tos on integrating Flux with other pieces of software or other
-things. Give us a shout-out and we will link it from this section! ✍
+-->
 
-### News from the Website and our Docs
+### Weave GitOps
 
-#### Flux Adopters shout-out
+### Terraform-controller
 
-We are very pleased to announce that the following adopters of Flux have
-come forward and added themselves to our website: xxx
+### Flux Subsystem for Argo
 
-If you have not already done so, [use the instructions
-here](/adopters/) or give us a ping and we will help to add you. Not only
-is it great for us to get to know and welcome you to our community. It
-also gives the team a big boost in morale to know where in the world
-Flux is used everywhere.
+### Azure GitOps
 
-#### More docs and website news
+### VS Code GitOps Extension
 
-We are constantly improving our documentation and website - here are a
-couple of small things we landed recently:
+### New additions to the Flux Ecosystem
 
-- ..
+## Flux Fun Facts 
 
-Thanks a lot to these folks who contributed to docs and website:
-
-## Flux Project Facts
-
-We are very proud of what we have put together. We want to reiterate
-some Flux facts - they are sort of our mission statement with Flux.
+<!-- Select one of the items below for this section
 
 1. 🤝 Flux provides GitOps for both apps or
   infrastructure. Flux and [Flagger](https://github.com/fluxcd/flagger)
@@ -200,6 +182,7 @@ some Flux facts - they are sort of our mission statement with Flux.
   components of Flux are on Kubernetes core controller-runtime, so
   anyone can contribute and its functionality can be extended very
   easily.
+-->
 
 ## Over and out