Helm Commands

This section provides a comprehensive reference for Helm commands, including common use cases and best practices.

Basic Commands

Repository Management

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

# List repositories
helm repo list

# Update repositories
helm repo update

# Remove repository
helm repo remove bitnami

Chart Management

# Search for charts
helm search repo nginx

# Show chart information
helm show all bitnami/nginx

# Show chart values
helm show values bitnami/nginx

# Install chart
helm install my-release bitnami/nginx

# Upgrade release
helm upgrade my-release bitnami/nginx

# Uninstall release
helm uninstall my-release

Common Use Cases

Working with Values

# Install with custom values
helm install my-release bitnami/nginx -f values.yaml

# Install with set values
helm install my-release bitnami/nginx --set service.type=NodePort

# Install with multiple value files
helm install my-release bitnami/nginx -f values.yaml -f prod-values.yaml

Release Management

# List releases
helm list

# List all releases (including failed)
helm list --all

# Get release status
helm status my-release

# Rollback release
helm rollback my-release 1

Chart Development

# Create new chart
helm create my-chart

# Package chart
helm package my-chart

# Lint chart
helm lint my-chart

# Test chart
helm test my-release

Best Practices

  1. Version Management: Always specify chart versions 
    # Install specific version
helm install my-release bitnami/nginx --version 13.2.23
  2. Value Organization: Use separate value files 
    # values.yaml
service:
  type: ClusterIP
  port: 80

# prod-values.yaml
service:
  type: LoadBalancer
  port: 443
  3. Release Naming: Use meaningful release names 
    # Good example
helm install prod-nginx bitnami/nginx

# Bad example
helm install release1 bitnami/nginx

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

  1. Release Failed 
    # Check release status
helm status my-release
   
# Check release history
helm history my-release
  2. Chart Dependencies 
    # Update dependencies
helm dependency update my-chart
   
# Build dependencies
helm dependency build my-chart
  3. Repository Issues 
    # Update repository cache
helm repo update
   
# Check repository status
helm repo list

Additional Resources