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Day 5 of 5
⏱ ~60 minutes
Kubernetes in 5 Days — Day 5

Helm: Package Manager for K8s

Install Helm, deploy a chart from a public repo, write your own chart with values, and set up a simple CI pipeline.

What Helm Solves

A real application needs a Deployment, Service, ConfigMap, Ingress, ServiceAccount, and maybe a Secret. That's 6+ YAML files. Helm packages them into a single chart with configurable values. Instead of editing YAML, you set values.

Install Helm and Deploy a Chart
# Install: helm.sh/docs/intro/install
curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/helm/helm/main/scripts/get-helm-3 | bash

# Add a chart repository
helm repo add bitnami https://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami
helm repo update

# Install nginx from bitnami
helm install my-nginx bitnami/nginx

# List installed releases
helm list

# Upgrade
helm upgrade my-nginx bitnami/nginx --set replicaCount=3

# Uninstall
helm uninstall my-nginx
Create Your Own Chart
helm create my-app
# Creates:
# my-app/
#   Chart.yaml     ← chart metadata
#   values.yaml    ← default values
#   templates/     ← Kubernetes YAML with Go templates
#     deployment.yaml
#     service.yaml
#     ingress.yaml
values.yaml
replicaCount: 2

image:
  repository: nginx
  tag: '1.25'
  pullPolicy: IfNotPresent

service:
  type: ClusterIP
  port: 80

ingress:
  enabled: true
  host: myapp.local
Install with custom values
helm install my-release ./my-app \
  --set replicaCount=3 \
  --set image.tag=1.26

# Or use a values file
helm install my-release ./my-app -f production-values.yaml
📝 Day 5 Exercise
Package Your App with Helm
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Day 5 Summary

  • Helm packages multiple Kubernetes manifests into one installable chart.
  • helm install release-name chart-name. helm upgrade updates. helm rollback reverts.
  • Charts use Go templates. {{ .Values.replicaCount }} renders the value from values.yaml.
  • Public charts (bitnami, etc.) let you install complex software (PostgreSQL, Redis) in one command.
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