Helm

What It Is

Helm packages Kubernetes manifests into charts and helps manage releases.

Basic Commands

helm version
helm repo add bitnami https://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami
helm repo update
helm search repo nginx
helm list -A
helm status my-release -n dev

Install and Upgrade

helm install my-release bitnami/nginx -n dev --create-namespace
helm upgrade my-release bitnami/nginx -n dev
helm upgrade --install my-release ./chart -n dev
helm uninstall my-release -n dev
helm rollback my-release 1 -n dev

Working with Values

helm show values bitnami/nginx
helm install my-release ./chart -f values.yaml
helm upgrade my-release ./chart -f values-prod.yaml -n prod
helm get values my-release -n dev
helm get manifest my-release -n dev

Debugging

helm lint ./chart
helm template my-release ./chart -f values.yaml
helm template my-release ./chart --debug
helm history my-release -n dev

Basic Chart Structure

chart/
  Chart.yaml
  values.yaml
  templates/
  charts/

Practice

• Run helm template and helm lint before installation whenever possible.
• Helm does not replace understanding native Kubernetes resources.
• For production, keep values and the release workflow in a GitOps process.