Helm

Helm for Kubernetes chart repositories, release management, upgrades, and rollbacks.

Repository Management

Add and update chart repositories
helm repo add bitnami https://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami
helm repo add prometheus-community https://prometheus-community.github.io/helm-charts
helm repo update                        # fetch latest chart metadata
helm repo list                          # show configured repos
Search for charts
helm search repo nginx                  # search across added repos
helm search repo bitnami/nginx --versions   # show all available versions
helm search hub grafana                 # search Artifact Hub

Install and Upgrade

Install a chart
helm install nginx bitnami/nginx -n web --create-namespace
helm install nginx bitnami/nginx -f values-prod.yaml   # custom values file
helm install nginx bitnami/nginx --set service.type=ClusterIP
Upgrade a release
helm upgrade nginx bitnami/nginx -f values-prod.yaml
helm upgrade --install nginx bitnami/nginx   # install if not present, upgrade if exists
Rollback
helm rollback nginx 1                   # rollback to revision 1
helm history nginx                      # view release revision history

Inspect and Debug

View release status and values
helm list -A                            # all releases, all namespaces
helm status nginx -n web                # release status and notes
helm get values nginx -n web            # user-supplied values
helm get values nginx -n web --all      # all values including defaults
helm get manifest nginx -n web          # rendered Kubernetes manifests
Preview before applying
helm template nginx bitnami/nginx -f values-prod.yaml   # render locally
helm install nginx bitnami/nginx --dry-run --debug       # simulate install
helm diff upgrade nginx bitnami/nginx -f values-prod.yaml   # requires helm-diff plugin

Uninstall

Remove a release
helm uninstall nginx -n web
helm uninstall nginx -n web --keep-history   # preserve history for rollback

Chart Development

Create and lint charts
helm create mychart                     # scaffold a new chart
helm lint mychart/                      # validate chart structure
helm package mychart/                   # create .tgz archive
Show chart info
helm show chart bitnami/nginx           # Chart.yaml metadata
helm show values bitnami/nginx          # default values.yaml
helm show readme bitnami/nginx          # chart README