What is Helm
Helm — the de facto package manager for Kubernetes (CNCF graduated 2020). A Chart = packaged set of YAML templates + default values, installable via helm install. Solves: template repetition, multi-environment configs (values-prod.yaml vs values-dev.yaml), versioning. Alternatives: Kustomize (simpler but without packaging), raw manifests (early stage).
Below: details, example, related terms, FAQ.
Details
- Chart: folder with Chart.yaml + templates/ + values.yaml
- Release: deployed instance of chart (namespaced)
- Values: override defaults per environment
- Helm Hub / Artifact Hub: public chart registry
- OCI support: Helm 3.8+ push charts to OCI registries (ghcr, ECR)
Example
# Install chart
helm install my-release bitnami/postgresql \
--set primary.persistence.size=100Gi \
--set auth.postgresPassword=secret
# values-prod.yaml override
helm upgrade my-release bitnami/postgresql \
-f values-prod.yamlRelated Terms
Learn more
Frequently Asked Questions
Helm or Kustomize?
Helm — packaging + templating. Kustomize — overlay-based without templates. For distribution (public charts) — Helm. For simple mono-repo — Kustomize.
Helm 2 vs Helm 3?
Helm 2 had Tiller (server component) — security issues. Helm 3 — tiller-less, RBAC-aware. Everyone uses Helm 3 since 2020.
Where to find charts?
Artifact Hub (artifacthub.io) — 12k+ charts. Bitnami, Prometheus, Grafana, cert-manager — main maintainers.