Helm · Cheat sheet
Helm cheat sheet
The complete Helm reference, beginner to advanced: repos, install and upgrade, inspecting releases, values and templating, chart authoring, dependencies, rollback, testing, and OCI registries — with example output.
Repos & searchBeginner
helm version
Helm client version.
helm repo add bitnami https://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami
Register a chart repository.
helm repo update
Refresh the local cache of chart indexes.
helm repo list
List configured repositories.
helm search repo nginx
Search added repos for a chart.
NAME CHART VERSION APP VERSION bitnami/nginx 18.2.1 1.27.1
helm search hub wordpress
Search Artifact Hub across all public repos.
Install & upgradeBeginner
helm install web bitnami/nginx
Install a chart as a named release.
NAME: web STATUS: deployed REVISION: 1
helm install web ./mychart
Install from a local chart directory.
helm upgrade web ./mychart
Apply changes to an existing release.
helm upgrade --install web ./mychart
Install if absent, upgrade if present (idempotent).
helm upgrade web ./mychart --atomic
Roll back automatically if the upgrade fails.
helm upgrade web ./mychart --wait --timeout 5m
Block until resources are Ready.
helm uninstall web
Remove a release and its resources.
helm uninstall web --keep-history
Uninstall but keep revision history.
ValuesIntermediate
helm install web ./c -f prod.yaml
Override defaults with a values file.
helm install web ./c -f a.yaml -f b.yaml
Layer multiple files (last wins).
helm install web ./c --set image.tag=1.4.0
Override a single value inline.
helm install web ./c --set-string port=8080
Force a value to be treated as a string.
helm show values bitnami/nginx
Print a chart’s default values.yaml.
helm get values web
Show the values a release was installed with.
Inspect releasesBeginner
helm list
Releases in the current namespace.
NAME NAMESPACE REVISION STATUS CHART web default 3 deployed nginx-18.2.1
helm list -A
Releases across all namespaces.
helm status web
Current status, notes and resources of a release.
helm get manifest web
The exact YAML Helm applied to the cluster.
helm get all web
Everything: values, manifest, hooks, notes.
helm history web
Revision history with status per revision.
Templating & debugIntermediate
helm template web ./mychart
Render manifests locally without installing.
helm template web ./c -f prod.yaml --debug
Render with values + verbose errors.
helm install web ./c --dry-run
Simulate an install server-side.
helm lint ./mychart
Check a chart for problems and best practices.
==> Linting ./mychart 1 chart(s) linted, 0 chart(s) failed
helm get manifest web | kubectl diff -f -
Diff a release against the live cluster.
Chart authoringIntermediate
helm create mychart
Scaffold a new chart with example templates.
Creating mychart mychart/ Chart.yaml values.yaml templates/
{{ .Values.image.tag }}
Reference a value inside a template.
{{ .Release.Name }}-web
Built-in objects: .Release, .Chart, .Capabilities.
{{ include "mychart.labels" . | nindent 4 }}
Reuse a named template (helper).
{{- if .Values.ingress.enabled }}
Conditionals; {{- trims preceding whitespace.
{{ .Values.name | default "web" | quote }}
Pipe through template functions.
DependenciesIntermediate
helm dependency update ./mychart
Fetch subcharts listed in Chart.yaml into charts/.
helm dependency build ./mychart
Rebuild charts/ from the existing lock file.
helm dependency list ./mychart
Show subcharts and whether they are present.
Rollback & release opsIntermediate
helm rollback web 2
Revert a release to a previous revision.
Rollback was a success! Happy Helming!
helm rollback web
Roll back to the immediately previous revision.
helm upgrade web ./c --description "hotfix"
Annotate a revision for the history log.
Packaging & OCIAdvanced
helm package ./mychart
Build a versioned .tgz chart archive.
Successfully packaged chart and saved it to: mychart-0.1.0.tgz
helm package ./mychart --version 1.2.0 --app-version 2.0
Override chart/app versions at package time.
helm push mychart-1.2.0.tgz oci://reg.io/charts
Push a chart to an OCI registry.
helm install web oci://reg.io/charts/mychart --version 1.2.0
Install directly from OCI.
helm registry login reg.io
Authenticate to an OCI registry.
helm test web
Run a chart’s test hooks against the release.
helm plugin install https://github.com/databus23/helm-diff
Add helm-diff (preview upgrades).
Go deeper
Full, hands-on DevSecOps courses