Helm — Package Manager Cheat Sheet

Setup & Repositories#

# Install Helm (Linux/macOS)
curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/helm/helm/main/scripts/get-helm-3 | bash

# Check version
helm version

# Add repositories
helm repo add stable https://charts.helm.sh/stable
helm repo add bitnami https://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami
helm repo add ingress-nginx https://kubernetes.github.io/ingress-nginx
helm repo add cert-manager https://charts.jetstack.io
helm repo add prometheus-community https://prometheus-community.github.io/helm-charts

# Update repos (like apt-get update)
helm repo update

# List repos
helm repo list

# Remove repo
helm repo remove stable

# Search for charts
helm search repo nginx
helm search repo bitnami/postgres
helm search hub wordpress          # search Artifact Hub (public registry)

Install & Upgrade#

# Install a chart
helm install my-release bitnami/mysql
helm install my-release bitnami/mysql --namespace my-ns --create-namespace
helm install my-release bitnami/mysql --version 9.14.0    # pin version

# Install with values
helm install my-release bitnami/mysql \
  --set auth.rootPassword=secret \
  --set primary.persistence.size=10Gi

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

# Install + wait until ready
helm install my-release bitnami/mysql --wait --timeout 5m

# Dry run (validate without deploying)
helm install my-release bitnami/mysql --dry-run

# Upgrade (create if not exists with --install)
helm upgrade my-release bitnami/mysql --set auth.rootPassword=new-secret
helm upgrade --install my-release bitnami/mysql -f values.yaml

# Upgrade with atomic (auto-rollback on failure)
helm upgrade my-release bitnami/mysql --atomic --timeout 5m

List & Status#

# List releases
helm list                          # Current namespace
helm list --all-namespaces
helm list -A                       # Short form
helm list --failed                 # Only failed releases
helm list --deployed               # Only deployed
helm list --pending

# Status of a release
helm status my-release

# Get all info about a release
helm get all my-release
helm get values my-release         # Current values (user-supplied)
helm get values my-release --all   # All values (computed defaults too)
helm get manifest my-release       # Rendered Kubernetes manifests
helm get hooks my-release
helm get notes my-release

Rollback & Uninstall#

# Rollback to previous version
helm rollback my-release

# Rollback to specific revision
helm rollback my-release 2

# History
helm history my-release

# Uninstall (removes all K8s resources)
helm uninstall my-release
helm uninstall my-release --namespace my-ns
helm uninstall my-release --keep-history   # Keep release history (can rollback later)

Template Rendering#

# Render templates locally (debug without applying)
helm template my-release bitnami/mysql -f values.yaml

# Render specific template
helm template my-release bitnami/mysql --show-only templates/deployment.yaml

# Validate rendered templates against cluster
helm template my-release bitnami/mysql | kubectl apply --dry-run=server -f -

# Lint a chart
helm lint ./my-chart/
helm lint ./my-chart/ -f custom-values.yaml

Values#

# Show default values for a chart
helm show values bitnami/mysql
helm show values bitnami/mysql > default-values.yaml

# Show chart metadata
helm show chart bitnami/mysql

# Show readme
helm show readme bitnami/mysql

# Override precedence (highest wins):
# 1. --set (command line)
# 2. -f values.yaml (file, last file wins if multiple)
# 3. Chart's default values.yaml

# Set nested values
helm install my-release my-chart --set "ingress.hosts[0].host=app.example.com"

# Set multiple values
helm install my-release my-chart \
  --set replicaCount=3 \
  --set image.tag=v2 \
  --set service.type=LoadBalancer

Creating Charts#

# Create a new chart scaffold
helm create my-chart

# Chart structure:
# my-chart/
#   Chart.yaml         ← metadata (name, version, description)
#   values.yaml        ← default values
#   charts/            ← dependencies
#   templates/         ← Kubernetes manifests with templating
#     deployment.yaml
#     service.yaml
#     ingress.yaml
#     _helpers.tpl     ← named templates / helpers

# Package chart
helm package ./my-chart/
# Creates: my-chart-0.1.0.tgz

# Package with signed provenance
helm package --sign ./my-chart/

# Index a chart repo directory
helm repo index ./charts/ --url https://charts.example.com

Bicep/Helm Template Syntax Cheatsheet#

# values.yaml
replicaCount: 2
image:
  repository: nginx
  tag: "1.25"
  pullPolicy: IfNotPresent
service:
  type: ClusterIP
  port: 80

# templates/deployment.yaml
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: {{ include "my-chart.fullname" . }}
  labels:
    {{- include "my-chart.labels" . | nindent 4 }}
spec:
  replicas: {{ .Values.replicaCount }}
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      {{- include "my-chart.selectorLabels" . | nindent 6 }}
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        {{- include "my-chart.selectorLabels" . | nindent 8 }}
    spec:
      containers:
        - name: {{ .Chart.Name }}
          image: "{{ .Values.image.repository }}:{{ .Values.image.tag }}"
          imagePullPolicy: {{ .Values.image.pullPolicy }}
          ports:
            - containerPort: {{ .Values.service.port }}
          {{- if .Values.resources }}
          resources:
            {{- toYaml .Values.resources | nindent 12 }}
          {{- end }}

Common template functions:

Plugins#

# Install plugin
helm plugin install https://github.com/databus23/helm-diff
helm plugin install https://github.com/jkroepke/helm-secrets

# List plugins
helm plugin list

# Useful: helm-diff (show what upgrade would change)
helm diff upgrade my-release bitnami/mysql -f values.yaml

# Useful: helm-secrets (encrypt values.yaml with GPG/SOPS)
helm secrets enc values.secret.yaml
helm secrets install my-release my-chart -f values.secret.yaml