Basic Helm Commands

You can use Helm, the Kubernetes package manager, to install, upgrade, and manage applications, defined as Helm charts.

Learn more

The following table lists the most commonly used Helm commands.

Command

Description

helm repo add <name> <url>

Adds a Helm chart repository so you can install charts from it.

helm repo update

Updates your local list of charts from all added repositories.

helm search repo <keyword>

Searches added repositories for charts that match the keyword.

helm upgrade -i <release_name> <chart> -f values.yaml

Installs the chart as a new release or upgrades an existing release. The -f values.yaml option applies custom configuration values.

helm uninstall <release_name>

Removes a release and all associated Kubernetes resources.

helm list

Lists all releases installed in the default namespace.

helm status <release_name>

Displays the status and details of a specific release.

Use -n <namespace> with any command to target a specific namespace, or -A to list or manage releases across all namespaces.

The following example shows a common three-step workflow when installing an application using Helm:

helm repo add my-repository <helm_repository_url> helm repo update helm upgrade -i my-release my-repository/<chart_name> -f values.yaml

The description of the workflow's individual parts is the following:

  • helm repo add: Adds a Helm repository to your local configuration.

  • my-repository: The name that you assign to the Helm repository. Select a unique, descriptive name.

  • helm upgrade -i: Installs a new chart if the release does not exist or upgrades an existing one.

  • my-release: The name of your Helm release. Select a unique, descriptive name for the deployment.

  • my-repository/<chart_name>: The chart reference, where my-repository is the name of the added repository and <chart_name> is the chart’s official name within that repository.

  • -f values.yaml: Specifies a custom value file that overrides the default settings in the chart. This allows you to configure environment-specific parameters, such as image tags, resource limits, and service settings.