Last week, we had our second-ever Launch Week at Cyclops! Each day of the week, we revealed a new feature - five features in total! But, features were not the only thing we announced. Behind the scenes, we have been making friends in the Kubernetes space...
We kicked things off with a teaser the week before, revealing five hidden urns, each representing a mystery feature waiting to be uncovered. One by one, we cracked them open throughout the week, unveiling what we’ve been working on. If you missed it, check out our socials (LinkedIn and X) and follow #cyclopslaunchweek2 for all the highlights.
Now, let’s dive into what we revealed during Launch Week 2…
But wait… what is Cyclops?
We know that Kubernetes can be difficult. That is why we created Cyclops, an open-source framework for building developer platforms on Kubernetes. Abstract the complexities of Kubernetes, and deploy and manage your applications through a customizable UI that you can fit to your needs.
We're developing Cyclops as an open-source project. If you're keen to give it a try, here's a quick start guide available on our repository. If you like what you see, consider showing your support by giving us a star ⭐
#1 Migrating Helm Releases to Modules♻️
Cyclops already picks up on any installed Helm releases in your cluster. But when selecting a Helm release, you will notice a new button pop up in the top right corner!
With the release of this feature, you can easily migrate your Helm releases to Cyclops’ modules! (Yes, even in bulk!)
You will simply need to choose a template for your migration, and voila! Your applications will be migrated to Cyclops modules without even noticing. They won’t be redeployed and will continue running like nothing even happened.
But that is not the only news we bring! We are super happy to announce our newly established partnership with Suse! You can now find a familiar face in the Rancher Marketplace and install Cyclops in one click.
#2 Pushing Modules to Git ⏫
You now have the flexibility to deploy a Module in two ways:
- Deploy directly to your Kubernetes cluster
- Push the Module manifest to a Git repository
Simply specify the repository and path where you want to store the configuration, then click Deploy. From there, tools like ArgoCD can take over and deploy the application. Once it's live, Cyclops will automatically detect it and display it in the UI.
When you edit a Module using this workflow, any changes will be pushed to the Git repository, keeping everything in sync.
Check out our updated documentation for more details.
We are also very excited to announce that now you can find Cyclops on the DigitalOcean marketplace! To celebrate, we have published a tutorial in collaboration with DigitalOcean on how you can easily create an internal developer platform on their Kubernetes clusters.
Check it out! 🌊
#3 Backstage Plugin 🧩
Backstage is a framework for building developer portals built and open-sourced by Spotify.
Developer portals built with Backstage allow you to have a centralized catalog of all applications and services running in your system. All of the applications your developers are working on in a company are listed and organized in a single place.
Another benefit of Backstage is that it centralizes all the tools used for managing software into a single platform, so deployment processes, monitoring, alerting, and so on are all in a single app. This is achieved through Backstage's plugin architecture, and Cyclops implements its own plugin.
With the Cyclops plugin, you can view all of your deployed Cyclops applications and get the full experience of Cyclops in your Backstage instance.
Check our docs on how to set it up for yourself!
#4 Backstage Plugin ✌️
This launch week, we are releasing not one but two Backstage plugins.
Backstage has a concept of components that represent services and applications in your system so you keep track of your software. In order to allow you to map your components to applications in Cyclops, we released another plugin that is integrated into your component catalog.
Each of your Backstage components will now have an additional tab showing you your Cyclops application with all the Kubernetes resources and allowing you to edit, roll back, or delete your application.
With this plugin, your software catalog allows your developers to deploy their applications and manage the whole lifecycle from a single pane of glass.
#5 Dark Theme 🌙
We heard you - Dark Mode is here! Cyclops now comes with a sleek dark theme that’s easier on the eyes and perfect for late-night sessions. Simply toggle it in the top right corner and enjoy the new look!
A small change, but an essential one - because let’s be real, no developer can live without Dark Mode! 🌚
That’s it! For now…
And that’s a wrap on Cyclops Launch Week #2! 🎉
Five days, five big releases - from better Helm migrations to Git integration, Backstage plugins, and now Dark Mode. But this is just the beginning!
We’re excited to hear your thoughts, so try out the new features, give us feedback, and stay tuned - we have even bigger things coming soon. 🎵
Thank you for being a part of our journey! If you are interested in keeping up to date, be sure to join our Discord community, where we always share the latest news! 👾