If you’ve worked with Kubernetes, you know that managing multiple YAML files can be a daunting task. Fortunately, Helm Charts provide a solution to this problem. In this post, we will discuss the main features of Helm Charts and how they can simplify Kubernetes deployment.
What are Helm Charts?
Helm is a package manager for Kubernetes that enables the packaging and distribution of collections of Kubernetes DML files. Think of it as apt, yum, or Homebrew for Kubernetes. These collections of files are called Helm Charts and are stored in public and private registries.
Simplifying Kubernetes Deployment
Let’s say you want to deploy Elasticsearch on your Kubernetes cluster. You would need to create several components such as a StatefulSet for stateful applications like databases, a ConfigMap with external configuration, a Secret for storing credentials and secret data, a service account with permissions, and a couple of services.
Creating all of these files manually can be a tedious job. Fortunately, someone has already done the work for you and packaged them up into a Helm Chart. With Helm, you can create your own Helm Charts or download and use existing ones from a Helm repository.
Using Helm Charts
Helm Charts are available for commonly used deployments like database applications (e.g., Elasticsearch, MongoDB, MySQL) and monitoring applications like Prometheus. Using the simple command helm install <chart-name>, you can reuse the configuration that someone else has already made without additional effort.
Apart from public repositories for Helm Charts like Helm Hub, there are also private registries for sharing charts within organizations. Several tools are available for using Helm Charts private repositories as well.
Conclusion
Helm Charts provide a convenient way to package collections of Kubernetes DML files and distribute them in public and private registries. They simplify Kubernetes deployment by allowing users to reuse configurations that others have already created. If you’re working with Kubernetes, you should definitely give Helm Charts a try!
