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Helm Installation and Usage Guide for Kubernetes (Step-by-Step)

Helm is a package manager for Kubernetes, simplifying application deployment using predefined templates called Helm charts. This guide will cover everything you need to install and use Helm, including practical commands and examples.

🛠 Prerequisites

Before we begin, ensure you have:

  • A Kubernetes cluster running (e.g., Minikube, Kind, or a cloud-based cluster like AKS, EKS, GKE).
  • kubectl installed and configured.
  • Basic understanding of Kubernetes objects like Deployments, Services, and ConfigMaps.

1️⃣ Installing Helm

Helm needs to be installed on your local machine before using it.

🔹 Installing Helm on Linux & macOS

Run the following commands:

curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/helm/helm/main/scripts/get-helm-3 | bash
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Alternatively, you can use package managers:

For macOS (Homebrew):

brew install helm
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For Linux (Snap package manager):

sudo snap install helm --classic
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🔹 Installing Helm on Windows

If you have Chocolatey installed:

choco install kubernetes-helm
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If you have Scoop installed:

scoop install helm
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Alternatively, you can download the binary from the official Helm releases.

🔹 Verify Helm Installation

After installation, check if Helm is installed properly:

helm version
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Expected output:

version.BuildInfo{Version:"v3.x.x", GitCommit:"...", GitTreeState:"clean", GoVersion:"go1.x.x"}
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2️⃣ Understanding Helm Concepts

Before diving into deployment, let’s understand some key Helm concepts:

Concept Description
Chart A Helm package containing YAML files defining a Kubernetes application.
Repository A collection of Helm charts, similar to package managers like APT or YUM.
Release A deployed instance of a Helm chart in a Kubernetes cluster.

3️⃣ Adding a Helm Repository

Helm repositories store pre-built charts. To add a popular Helm chart repository, such as Bitnami, run:

helm repo add bitnami https://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami
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List all added repositories:

helm repo list
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Update the local repository cache:

helm repo update
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4️⃣ Searching for Helm Charts

You can search for available charts in a repository:

helm search repo bitnami
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For a specific application, like Nginx:

helm search repo bitnami/nginx
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5️⃣ Installing Applications using Helm

To deploy an application using a Helm chart, use:

helm install <release-name> <chart-name>
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Example: Installing Nginx from the Bitnami repository:

helm install my-nginx bitnami/nginx
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Check the installed release:

helm list
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Check the status of the release:

helm status my-nginx
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Verify the deployment:

kubectl get pods
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6️⃣ Viewing and Managing Installed Applications

To view details of an installed Helm release:

helm get all my-nginx
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To list all installed releases:

helm list
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To upgrade an existing Helm release:

helm upgrade my-nginx bitnami/nginx
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To uninstall an application:

helm uninstall my-nginx
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7️⃣ Customizing Helm Deployments (Values.yaml)

Helm allows customization using values.yaml files.

🔹 Checking Default Values

To check the default values of a chart:

helm show values bitnami/nginx > custom-values.yaml
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🔹 Modifying and Applying Custom Values

Edit custom-values.yaml and update necessary configurations, such as replica count or service type.

Example:

replicaCount: 3
service:
  type: LoadBalancer
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Then, install the chart with your custom values:

helm install my-nginx -f custom-values.yaml bitnami/nginx
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8️⃣ Helm Rollbacks

Helm allows rolling back to a previous version:

List revision history:

helm history my-nginx
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Rollback to a previous revision:

helm rollback my-nginx <revision-number>
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9️⃣ Creating a Helm Chart (Advanced)

To create your own Helm chart:

helm create my-chart
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This will generate a directory structure like:

my-chart/
├── charts/
├── templates/
│   ├── deployment.yaml
│   ├── service.yaml
│   ├── _helpers.tpl
├── values.yaml
├── Chart.yaml
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You can modify the templates/ folder to customize Kubernetes resources.

To install your custom chart:

helm install my-app ./my-chart
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🔟 Uninstalling Helm

To remove Helm completely from your system:

For Linux/macOS:

rm -rf ~/.helm
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For Windows:

rm -rf $HOME\AppData\Local\helm
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🚀 Conclusion

Helm simplifies Kubernetes deployments by managing applications as packages. In this guide, we covered:
✅ Installing Helm

✅ Adding repositories

✅ Installing applications

✅ Customizing deployments

✅ Upgrading and rolling back applications

✅ Creating custom Helm charts

With Helm, you can deploy complex applications with minimal effort. 🚀

Let me know if you need further details or examples! 😊

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