Helm CLI Usage

This section describes how to install the Helm CLI. Helm can be installed either from source or from pre-built binary releases. This topic focuses on installing the latest Helm binaries, which is known as Helm 3.

You may encounter some situations where you need to use an older version of Helm, known as Helm 2. If so, see the Helm documentation.

What Is Helm

If you want to know more about Helm - the package manager for Kubernetes - have a look at their website.

Key Features

  • Repository of managed packages

  • Custom repositories for personal packages

  • Mechanisms for upgrading packages

  • Templating

Before you begin

You need certain software configurations and settings before you start this procedure. This procedure requires the following items and configurations:

  • A running Kubernetes cluster

Install Helm from the binaries

Every Helm release provides binaries for a variety of operating systems. These binary versions can be manually downloaded and installed.

  1. Download and unpack the latest release. Here is an example for the version 3.8.0.

    wget -c https://get.helm.sh/helm-v3.8.0-linux-amd64.tar.gz -O - | tar -xz
    CODE

  2. Add the binary to your path:

    mv linux-amd64/helm /usr/local/bin/
    CODE

  3. Check if everything is working as expected:

    helm help
    CODE

Install Helm from a Package Manager

The Helm community also contributes and maintains packages to several package managers. These are not officially supported, but are generally up-to-date. Here is how to install Helm using Homebrew (macOS), Chocolatey (Windows), and Apt (Debian/Ubuntu).

Add a Helm Chart Repository

After installing Helm, add a Helm chart repository. To add and access the official Helm chart repository, enter the following command:

helm repo add bitnami https://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami
CODE

Install a Helm Chart

After adding the repo, you can install your first Helm chart.

  1. Update local information about the available charts. Enter the following command:

    helm repo update
    CODE

  2. As an example, you can install a MySQL chart creating a Release. A Release is an instance of a chart running in a cluster. This release is named mydb. Enter the following command:

    helm install mydb bitnami/mysql
    CODE

  3. List all installed charts and check their status. Enter the following command:

    helm ls
    CODE 

    NAME    NAMESPACE    REVISION    UPDATED                                 STATUS      CHART          APP VERSION
mydb    default      1           2022-02-06 18:06:24.41517 +0200 CEST    deployed    mysql-8.8.25    8.0.28
    CODE

Related information

For information on Helm, refer to the following: