In this guide, you’ll upgrade an existing Flux CD installation to include both the Image Reflector Controller and the Image Automation Controller . By the end, you’ll verify new deployments, CRDs, and see the updated Git manifests.
1. Verify Existing Flux Controllers Ensure you’re working in the flux-system namespace and list deployed controllers:
kubectl -n flux-system get deployment
Expected output:
NAME READY UP-TO-DATE AVAILABLE AGE helm-controller 1/1 1 1 18h kustomize-controller 1/1 1 1 18h notification-controller 1/1 1 1 18h source-controller 1/1 1 1 18h
No image controllers appear yet. You’ll add them in Step 3.
2. List All Flux Sources Check which source types are defined in your cluster:
Sample output:
NAME SUSPENDED READY MESSAGE ocirepository/7-demo-source-oci-bb-app False True stored artifact bucket/4-demo-source-minio-s3-bucket-bb-app False False bucket not found gitrepository/2-demo-source-git-bb-app False True stored artifact gitrepository/3-demo-source-git-bb-app False True stored artifact gitrepository/5-demo-source-git-helm-bb-app False True stored artifact gitrepository/flux-system False True stored artifact gitrepository/infra-source-git False True stored artifact helmrepository/6-demo-source-helm-bb-app False True stored artifact
This confirms you have all standard source types: Git , Helm , OCI , and Bucket .
3. Upgrade Flux to Include Image Controllers Re-run the Flux bootstrap command with the --components-extra flag:
flux bootstrap github \ --owner=sidd-harth-2 \ --repository=block-buster \ --path=flux-clusters/dev-cluster \ --personal=true \ --private=false \ --components-extra= "image-reflector-controller,image-automation-controller"
When prompted, paste your GitHub Personal Access Token.
Flux will detect existing components and automatically upgrade to add the image controllers.
4. Confirm New Deployments and CRDs 4.1 Check Pods & Deployments kubectl -n flux-system get pod,deploy
Expected snippet:
pod/image-automation-controller-xxxxx 1/1 Running 0 30s pod/image-reflector-controller-xxxxx 1/1 Running 0 30s ... deployment.apps/image-automation-controller 1/1 1 1 30s deployment.apps/image-reflector-controller 1/1 1 1 30s
4.2 List Image CRDs kubectl get crds | grep image
imagepolicies.image.toolkit.fluxcd.io imagerepositories.image.toolkit.fluxcd.io imageupdateautomations.images.toolkit.fluxcd.io
CRD Description imagepolicies.image.toolkit.fluxcd.io Define rules for selecting new images imagerepositories.image.toolkit.fluxcd.io Specify external container registries imageupdateautomations.images.toolkit.fluxcd.io Automate updates based on policies
5. Review the Updated Flux Component Manifest Open the generated manifest at flux-clusters/dev-cluster/flux-components.yaml and confirm the new controllers are included:
# This manifest was generated by flux. DO NOT EDIT. # Flux Version: v0.41.2 # Components: source-controller,kustomize-controller,helm-controller,notification-controller,image-reflector-controller,image-automation-controller apiVersion : v1 kind : Namespace metadata : name : flux-system labels : app.kubernetes.io/instance : flux-system app.kubernetes.io/part-of : flux app.kubernetes.io/version : v0.41.2 ...
6. Sync & Review Git Changes Pull the latest commits to see the diff:
Sample output:
Updating 9b16147..03b28c3 Fast-forward flux-clusters/dev-cluster/flux-components.yaml | 1389 +++++... flux-clusters/dev-cluster/flux-system/gotk-sync.yaml | 4 +- 2 files changed, 1390 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)
Great work! You’ve successfully upgraded Flux with the Image Reflector and Image Automation Controllers.
Links and References 
