Glossary
This glossary provides definitions for Fawkes platform-specific terms, concepts, and acronyms.
A
ArgoCD
GitOps continuous delivery tool for Kubernetes. Monitors Git repositories and automatically syncs application state to the cluster.
Application Catalog
Central registry of all applications and services managed by the Fawkes platform, stored in Backstage.
B
Backstage
Developer portal that provides a unified interface for platform services, documentation, and software catalog.
BDD (Behavior-Driven Development)
Testing methodology using Gherkin syntax to describe system behavior in plain language.
Buildpack
Cloud Native Buildpacks technology that transforms application source code into OCI images without requiring a Dockerfile.
C
ClusterPolicy
Kyverno policy resource that applies validation, mutation, or generation rules cluster-wide across all namespaces.
CRD (Custom Resource Definition)
Kubernetes extension mechanism that allows defining custom resource types beyond built-in objects.
Crossplane
Infrastructure-as-code tool that extends Kubernetes to manage cloud resources using declarative YAML.
D
DevLake (Apache DevLake)
Data platform for collecting and analyzing DORA metrics from multiple sources (Jenkins, GitHub, etc.).
Devfile
YAML specification that defines development environment configuration for Eclipse Che workspaces.
DORA Metrics
Four key metrics measuring software delivery performance: Deployment Frequency, Lead Time for Changes, Change Failure Rate, Time to Restore Service.
E
Eclipse Che
Cloud-based IDE providing containerized development environments defined by Devfiles.
External Secrets Operator
Kubernetes operator that synchronizes secrets from external secret management systems (Vault, AWS Secrets Manager) into Kubernetes Secrets.
F
Fawkes
Internal Developer Platform (IDP) for elite software delivery performance. Integrates GitOps, CI/CD, observability, and learning.
Focalboard
Open-source project management tool integrated into the Fawkes platform for sprint planning and tracking.
G
GitOps
Operational framework using Git as the single source of truth for declarative infrastructure and applications.
Golden Path
Standardized, opinionated CI/CD pipeline enforcing best practices for build, test, security scanning, and deployment.
Grafana
Visualization and analytics platform for metrics, logs, and traces.
I
IDP (Internal Developer Platform)
Self-service platform abstracting infrastructure complexity and providing standardized workflows for developers.
Ignite
Bootstrap script (ignite.sh) for initializing the Fawkes platform in a new environment.
J
JCasC (Jenkins Configuration as Code)
Plugin allowing Jenkins configuration to be defined in YAML rather than manual UI setup.
K
Kustomize
Kubernetes configuration management tool using overlays to customize base manifests for different environments.
Kyverno
Kubernetes-native policy engine for validation, mutation, and generation of resources.
M
Mattermost
Open-source team collaboration platform integrated into Fawkes for ChatOps and notifications.
O
OpenSearch
Distributed search and analytics engine used for centralized logging in Fawkes.
OpenTelemetry (OTel)
Vendor-neutral observability framework for generating and collecting telemetry data (traces, metrics, logs).
P
Pod Security Standards
Kubernetes security policies defining privilege levels: Privileged, Baseline, Restricted.
PolicyReport
Custom resource generated by Kyverno containing audit results of policy evaluations.
Prometheus
Time-series database and monitoring system for collecting and querying metrics.
S
SonarQube
Static application security testing (SAST) platform analyzing code quality and security vulnerabilities.
Starter Project
Pre-configured template repository referenced in a Devfile for bootstrapping new applications.
T
Tempo (Grafana Tempo)
Distributed tracing backend storing and querying OpenTelemetry traces.
Trivy
Container image and filesystem vulnerability scanner.
Trunk-Based Development
Source control branching model where developers work on a single main branch with short-lived feature branches.
V
Vault (HashiCorp Vault)
Secrets management system providing secure storage and access control for sensitive data.
Vault Agent
Sidecar container that automatically retrieves secrets from Vault and injects them into application pods.
Y
YAML (YAML Ain't Markup Language)
Human-readable data serialization language used throughout Kubernetes and Fawkes configurations.
Acronyms Quick Reference
| Acronym | Full Term |
|---|---|
| API | Application Programming Interface |
| BDD | Behavior-Driven Development |
| CI/CD | Continuous Integration / Continuous Delivery |
| CRD | Custom Resource Definition |
| DORA | DevOps Research and Assessment |
| IaC | Infrastructure as Code |
| IDP | Internal Developer Platform |
| JCasC | Jenkins Configuration as Code |
| K8s | Kubernetes |
| MTTR | Mean Time To Restore |
| NPS | Net Promoter Score |
| OIDC | OpenID Connect |
| OPA | Open Policy Agent |
| OTel | OpenTelemetry |
| RAG | Retrieval-Augmented Generation |
| RBAC | Role-Based Access Control |
| SAST | Static Application Security Testing |
| SBOM | Software Bill of Materials |
| SRE | Site Reliability Engineering |
| TLS | Transport Layer Security |
| VSM | Value Stream Mapping |
| YAML | YAML Ain't Markup Language |
Note: This glossary is information-oriented reference material. For learning workflows, see Tutorials. For task-specific guidance, see How-To Guides.