Helm- How to add Repositories and Install charts

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To use a Helm chart from a remote repository, you can follow these steps:

Add the Repository: First, you need to add the remote repository to Helm. You only need to do this step once for each repository you want to use.

 helm repo add <repo-name> <repo-url>

Replace <repo-name> with a name you choose for the repository, and <repo-url> with the URL of the repository. For example:

helm repo add stable https://charts.helm.sh/stable

Search for Charts: After adding the repository, you can search for available Helm charts within that repository:

Search for Charts: After adding the repository, you can search for available Helm charts within that repository:

helm search repo <repo-name>

Replace <repo-name> with the name you used when adding the repository. For example:

helm search repo stable

Install the Chart: Once you've found a Helm chart you want to use, you can install it onto your Kubernetes cluster:

helm install <release-name> <repo-name>/<chart-name>

Replace <release-name> with the name you want to give to the release, <repo-name> with the repository name you added, and <chart-name> with the name of the chart you want to install. For example:

helm install my-app stable/my-chart

3. The above command will install the my-chart Helm chart from the stable repository, creating a release named my-app.

4. Customize Values: You can override default values in the Helm chart during installation by specifying --set flags or by providing a values file. This allows you to customize the deployment to your specific needs.

For example, if you want to install the nginx Helm chart from the stable repository and customize some values:

helm install my-nginx stable/nginx --set service.type=LoadBalancer

Remember to replace my-nginx with the desired release name and adjust the flags and values according to your requirements.

By following these steps, you can use Helm charts from remote repositories to easily deploy and manage applications on your Kubernetes cluster.

: Can we add more customized deployment files to the installed chart

Yes, you can certainly add more customized deployment files to an installed Helm chart. Helm charts are designed to be flexible and extensible, allowing you to add your own custom Kubernetes resource manifests and configuration files as needed.

Here's how you can do it:

Navigate to Chart Directory: First, navigate to the directory of the Helm chart you've installed or created. This is typically the directory with the same name as your release.

cd my-app  # Replace 'my-app' with your release name


Add Custom Files: Within the chart directory, you can create additional subdirectories and add your custom Kubernetes resource manifests, configuration files, or any other files you need. For example:

mkdir my-custom-resources

1. Then, place your custom YAML files, configuration files, or scripts inside the my-custom-resources directory.

2. Update Templates and Values: If you want to use these custom files as part of your Helm chart deployment, you'll need to update the chart's templates and possibly the values.yaml file to incorporate your custom resources and configurations.

   • Templates: Modify the existing template files or create new template files in the templates/ directory to reference your custom resources and values. You can use Helm's templating syntax to dynamically generate the Kubernetes resource manifests based on your custom files and user-defined values.

   • Values: You may need to adjust the values.yaml file to include parameters that control the behavior or configuration of your custom resources.

3. Install or Upgrade: After customizing your Helm chart with your additional files, you can install or upgrade the Helm release to apply the changes.
   
   helm upgrade <release-name> .  # Use '.' to indicate the current directory
   
   if you are inside the chart directory you do not have to specify the chart name - you simply will have to mention the "."

   or if you are ourside your helm chart directory

    helm upgrade <release_name_any_name> <chart_name>
   

   Replace <release-name> with your release name, and use . to indicate the current directory.

   Remember that Helm uses a declarative approach, and your custom files and templates define the desired state of your Kubernetes resources. When you install or upgrade the Helm release, Helm will generate and apply the corresponding Kubernetes resource manifests based on your customizations.

   By adding custom deployment files and templates, you can tailor the Helm chart to your specific application's requirements and easily manage the deployment of additional resources alongside the chart's predefined resources.