k0s Helm - Kubernetes Package Manager

Status: Active
Last Updated: 2026-01-30
Category: Containers - Kubernetes
Prerequisites: k0s-introduction, k0s-storage
Time: 2-3 hours
Tags: k0s, kubernetes, helm, charts, packages

Summary

Master Helm package manager for Kubernetes to deploy applications with pre-configured charts. Learn Helm basics, chart structure, repositories, releases, values customization, and managing application lifecycle in k0s clusters.

🎯 What You'll Learn

By the end of this article, you'll be able to:

✅ Install and configure Helm
✅ Use Helm repositories
✅ Deploy applications with charts
✅ Customize chart values
✅ Manage releases
✅ Create custom charts
✅ Debug Helm deployments

📦 What is Helm?

The Problem

Manual Kubernetes deployment:

# Deploy application manually
k0s kubectl apply -f deployment.yaml
k0s kubectl apply -f service.yaml
k0s kubectl apply -f ingress.yaml
k0s kubectl apply -f configmap.yaml
k0s kubectl apply -f secret.yaml
# ... 20+ files

Issues:

📝 Too many YAML files
🔄 Hard to upgrade
❌ Difficult to rollback
🎛️ No parameterization
📦 Not portable

The Solution: Helm

Helm is the Kubernetes package manager:

📦 Packages (charts) with all resources
🎯 One-command deployment
🔄 Easy upgrades and rollbacks
🎛️ Parameterized values
🌐 Shared via repositories

Think: APT for Kubernetes

Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│           Helm CLI (helm)               │
│     (runs on your machine)              │
└─────────────┬───────────────────────────┘
              │
              ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│      Kubernetes API Server              │
│                                         │
│  ┌─────────────────────────────────┐   │
│  │  Helm Release (in ConfigMap)    │   │
│  │  - Release name                 │   │
│  │  - Chart version                │   │
│  │  - Values                       │   │
│  │  - Deployed resources           │   │
│  └─────────────────────────────────┘   │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘

🔧 Installing Helm

Install Helm CLI

Linux:

# Download script
curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/helm/helm/main/scripts/get-helm-3 | bash

# Or manual
curl -LO https://get.helm.sh/helm-v3.13.3-linux-amd64.tar.gz
tar -zxvf helm-v3.13.3-linux-amd64.tar.gz
sudo mv linux-amd64/helm /usr/local/bin/helm

macOS:

brew install helm

Windows:

choco install kubernetes-helm
# Or
scoop install helm

Verify:

helm version
# version.BuildInfo{Version:"v3.13.3", GitCommit:"..."}

Configure Helm for k0s

Set kubeconfig:

# Export k0s kubeconfig
sudo k0s kubeconfig admin > ~/.kube/k0s-config

# Use it
export KUBECONFIG=~/.kube/k0s-config

# Or set permanently
echo 'export KUBECONFIG=~/.kube/k0s-config' >> ~/.bashrc

Test connection:

helm list
# Should connect to k0s cluster (empty list initially)

📚 Helm Repositories

Add Repositories

Popular repositories:

# Bitnami (most popular)
helm repo add bitnami https://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami

# Stable (official)
helm repo add stable https://charts.helm.sh/stable

# Prometheus
helm repo add prometheus-community https://prometheus-community.github.io/helm-charts

# Grafana
helm repo add grafana https://grafana.github.io/helm-charts

# Traefik
helm repo add traefik https://traefik.github.io/charts

# Update indexes
helm repo update

List repositories:

helm repo list

# NAME                	URL
# bitnami             	https://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami
# prometheus-community	https://prometheus-community.github.io/helm-charts

Search Charts

Search in repositories:

# Search all repos
helm search repo nginx

# NAME                            	CHART VERSION	APP VERSION	DESCRIPTION
# bitnami/nginx                   	15.4.4       	1.25.3     	NGINX Open Source is a web server...
# bitnami/nginx-ingress-controller	10.1.1       	1.9.5      	NGINX Ingress Controller...

# Search specific repo
helm search repo bitnami/postgres

# Search Helm Hub (all public charts)
helm search hub wordpress

🚀 Deploying Applications

Install Chart

Basic installation:

# Install nginx
helm install my-nginx bitnami/nginx

# Output:
# NAME: my-nginx
# LAST DEPLOYED: Thu Jan 30 10:00:00 2026
# NAMESPACE: default
# STATUS: deployed
# REVISION: 1

Check release:

helm list

# NAME     	NAMESPACE	REVISION	UPDATED                            	STATUS  	CHART       	APP VERSION
# my-nginx 	default  	1       	2026-01-30 10:00:00.123456 -0500 EST	deployed	nginx-15.4.4	1.25.3

Check resources:

k0s kubectl get all -l app.kubernetes.io/instance=my-nginx

# NAME                             READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
# pod/my-nginx-123456-abc          1/1     Running   0          1m
#
# NAME               TYPE           CLUSTER-IP      EXTERNAL-IP   PORT(S)
# service/my-nginx   LoadBalancer   10.96.123.45    <pending>     80:30123/TCP

Install with Values

Get default values:

helm show values bitnami/nginx > values.yaml

values.yaml (excerpt):

replicaCount: 1

image:
  registry: docker.io
  repository: bitnami/nginx
  tag: 1.25.3

service:
  type: LoadBalancer
  port: 80

resources:
  limits:
    cpu: 100m
    memory: 128Mi
  requests:
    cpu: 100m
    memory: 128Mi

Customize values - my-values.yaml:

replicaCount: 3

service:
  type: NodePort
  nodePorts:
    http: 30080

resources:
  limits:
    cpu: 200m
    memory: 256Mi
  requests:
    cpu: 100m
    memory: 128Mi

ingress:
  enabled: true
  hostname: nginx.example.com

Install with custom values:

helm install my-nginx bitnami/nginx -f my-values.yaml

Install with Inline Values

Override specific values:

helm install my-nginx bitnami/nginx \
  --set replicaCount=3 \
  --set service.type=NodePort \
  --set service.nodePorts.http=30080

Multiple values:

helm install my-db bitnami/postgresql \
  --set auth.username=admin \
  --set auth.password=secret123 \
  --set auth.database=myapp \
  --set primary.persistence.size=10Gi

🔄 Managing Releases

List Releases

# Current releases
helm list

# All namespaces
helm list -A

# Specific namespace
helm list -n production

# Include uninstalled
helm list --uninstalled

Upgrade Release

Upgrade to new version:

# Update repo
helm repo update

# Upgrade
helm upgrade my-nginx bitnami/nginx

# Upgrade with new values
helm upgrade my-nginx bitnami/nginx -f my-values.yaml

Upgrade with changes:

# Change replica count
helm upgrade my-nginx bitnami/nginx \
  --set replicaCount=5 \
  --reuse-values

Rollback Release

View history:

helm history my-nginx

# REVISION	UPDATED                 	STATUS    	CHART       	APP VERSION	DESCRIPTION
# 1       	Thu Jan 30 10:00:00 2026	superseded	nginx-15.4.4	1.25.3     	Install complete
# 2       	Thu Jan 30 11:00:00 2026	superseded	nginx-15.4.5	1.25.4     	Upgrade complete
# 3       	Thu Jan 30 12:00:00 2026	deployed  	nginx-15.4.6	1.25.5     	Upgrade complete

Rollback:

# Rollback to previous version
helm rollback my-nginx

# Rollback to specific revision
helm rollback my-nginx 2

Uninstall Release

# Uninstall (delete resources)
helm uninstall my-nginx

# Keep history
helm uninstall my-nginx --keep-history

# Can see in history later
helm list --uninstalled

📊 Common Applications

PostgreSQL Database

Install:

helm install my-db bitnami/postgresql \
  --set auth.username=admin \
  --set auth.password=secret123 \
  --set auth.database=myapp \
  --set primary.persistence.storageClass=local-path \
  --set primary.persistence.size=20Gi

Get connection info:

# Password stored in secret
export POSTGRES_PASSWORD=$(kubectl get secret --namespace default my-db-postgresql -o jsonpath="{.data.postgres-password}" | base64 -d)

# Connect
kubectl run my-db-postgresql-client --rm --tty -i --restart='Never' \
  --namespace default \
  --image docker.io/bitnami/postgresql:15 \
  --env="PGPASSWORD=$POSTGRES_PASSWORD" \
  --command -- psql --host my-db-postgresql -U postgres -d postgres -p 5432

Redis Cache

Install:

helm install my-cache bitnami/redis \
  --set auth.password=redis123 \
  --set master.persistence.storageClass=local-path \
  --set master.persistence.size=5Gi

Connect:

export REDIS_PASSWORD=$(kubectl get secret --namespace default my-cache-redis -o jsonpath="{.data.redis-password}" | base64 -d)

kubectl run --namespace default redis-client --restart='Never' --rm -i --tty \
  --env REDIS_PASSWORD=$REDIS_PASSWORD \
  --image docker.io/bitnami/redis:7.2 \
  -- bash

# Inside container
redis-cli -h my-cache-redis-master -a $REDIS_PASSWORD

WordPress

Install:

helm install my-blog bitnami/wordpress \
  --set wordpressUsername=admin \
  --set wordpressPassword=admin123 \
  --set wordpressEmail=admin@example.com \
  --set service.type=NodePort \
  --set service.nodePorts.http=30180 \
  --set mariadb.auth.rootPassword=secret123 \
  --set persistence.storageClass=local-path \
  --set persistence.size=10Gi

Access:

# Get node IP
NODE_IP=$(kubectl get nodes -o jsonpath="{.items[0].status.addresses[0].address}")

echo "WordPress URL: http://$NODE_IP:30180"
echo "Username: admin"
echo "Password: admin123"

Grafana

Install:

helm install grafana grafana/grafana \
  --set adminPassword=admin123 \
  --set service.type=NodePort \
  --set service.nodePort=30300 \
  --set persistence.enabled=true \
  --set persistence.storageClassName=local-path \
  --set persistence.size=5Gi

🎨 Creating Custom Charts

Generate Chart

Create chart skeleton:

helm create myapp

# Creates:
# myapp/
# ├── Chart.yaml
# ├── values.yaml
# ├── templates/
# │   ├── deployment.yaml
# │   ├── service.yaml
# │   ├── ingress.yaml
# │   └── ...
# └── charts/

Chart.yaml

Chart metadata:

apiVersion: v2
name: myapp
description: My application Helm chart
type: application
version: 0.1.0
appVersion: "1.0.0"
keywords:
  - web
  - nodejs
maintainers:
  - name: Your Name
    email: you@example.com

values.yaml

Default values:

replicaCount: 1

image:
  repository: myapp
  pullPolicy: IfNotPresent
  tag: "latest"

service:
  type: ClusterIP
  port: 80

ingress:
  enabled: false
  className: ""
  hosts:
    - host: myapp.local
      paths:
        - path: /
          pathType: Prefix

resources:
  limits:
    cpu: 100m
    memory: 128Mi
  requests:
    cpu: 100m
    memory: 128Mi

env:
  DATABASE_URL: "postgres://db:5432/myapp"
  REDIS_URL: "redis://cache:6379"

templates/deployment.yaml

Use template syntax:

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: {{ include "myapp.fullname" . }}
  labels:
    {{- include "myapp.labels" . | nindent 4 }}
spec:
  replicas: {{ .Values.replicaCount }}
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      {{- include "myapp.selectorLabels" . | nindent 6 }}
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        {{- include "myapp.selectorLabels" . | nindent 8 }}
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: {{ .Chart.Name }}
        image: "{{ .Values.image.repository }}:{{ .Values.image.tag | default .Chart.AppVersion }}"
        imagePullPolicy: {{ .Values.image.pullPolicy }}
        ports:
        - name: http
          containerPort: 8080
          protocol: TCP
        env:
        {{- range $key, $value := .Values.env }}
        - name: {{ $key }}
          value: {{ $value | quote }}
        {{- end }}
        resources:
          {{- toYaml .Values.resources | nindent 10 }}

Install Custom Chart

From directory:

# Test rendering
helm template myapp ./myapp

# Dry run
helm install myapp ./myapp --dry-run --debug

# Install
helm install myapp ./myapp -f myapp-prod-values.yaml

Package chart:

# Create .tgz
helm package myapp

# Output: myapp-0.1.0.tgz

# Install from package
helm install myapp myapp-0.1.0.tgz

🔍 Debugging

Get Manifest

See what Helm deployed:

helm get manifest my-nginx

# Shows all Kubernetes YAML

Get Values

Current values:

helm get values my-nginx

# USER-SUPPLIED VALUES:
# replicaCount: 3
# service:
#   type: NodePort

# All values (including defaults)
helm get values my-nginx --all

Template Debugging

Render templates locally:

# See what would be deployed
helm template my-nginx bitnami/nginx

# With custom values
helm template my-nginx bitnami/nginx -f my-values.yaml

# Debug mode
helm template my-nginx bitnami/nginx --debug

Dry Run

Test installation:

helm install my-nginx bitnami/nginx --dry-run --debug

Status

Check release status:

helm status my-nginx

# NAME: my-nginx
# LAST DEPLOYED: Thu Jan 30 10:00:00 2026
# NAMESPACE: default
# STATUS: deployed
# REVISION: 1
# TEST SUITE: None
# NOTES:
# ... (chart notes)

💡 Best Practices

1. Use Values Files

# Good: Values in file
helm install myapp ./myapp -f production.yaml

# Avoid: Too many --set flags
helm install myapp ./myapp \
  --set a=1 --set b=2 --set c=3 ...  # ❌ Hard to maintain

2. Pin Chart Versions

# Good: Specific version
helm install myapp bitnami/nginx --version 15.4.4

# Avoid: Latest (can break)
helm install myapp bitnami/nginx  # ❌ Gets latest

3. Namespace Isolation

# Create namespace
k0s kubectl create namespace production

# Install in namespace
helm install myapp bitnami/nginx -n production

4. Use --wait for CI/CD

# Wait for resources to be ready
helm install myapp ./myapp --wait --timeout 5m

# Rollback on failure
helm install myapp ./myapp --wait --atomic

5. Always Test First

# Dry run
helm install myapp ./myapp --dry-run --debug

# Template locally
helm template myapp ./myapp

# Then install
helm install myapp ./myapp

6. Document with NOTES.txt

templates/NOTES.txt:

Thank you for installing {{ .Chart.Name }}.

Your release is named {{ .Release.Name }}.

To access your application:

{{- if contains "NodePort" .Values.service.type }}
  export NODE_PORT=$(kubectl get --namespace {{ .Release.Namespace }} -o jsonpath="{.spec.ports[0].nodePort}" services {{ include "myapp.fullname" . }})
  export NODE_IP=$(kubectl get nodes --namespace {{ .Release.Namespace }} -o jsonpath="{.items[0].status.addresses[0].address}")
  echo http://$NODE_IP:$NODE_PORT
{{- else if contains "LoadBalancer" .Values.service.type }}
  NOTE: It may take a few minutes for the LoadBalancer IP to be available.
  You can watch the status by running: kubectl get --namespace {{ .Release.Namespace }} svc -w {{ include "myapp.fullname" . }}
{{- end }}

🔗 What's Next?

Ingress:

k0s-ingress - HTTP routing with Traefik

Monitoring:

k0s-monitoring - Prometheus and Grafana

Advanced:

Helm hooks for migrations
Subchart dependencies
Chart testing

📚 Resources

Helm Documentation:

Popular Charts:

📝 Change Log

2026-01-30

Created Helm guide
Explained Helm concepts
Covered installation
Demonstrated repositories
Showed application deployment
Covered release management
Explained custom charts
Added debugging techniques
Included best practices

Next Article: k0s-ingress - Expose applications to the internet!

k0s Helm - Kubernetes Package Manager

Summary

🎯 What You'll Learn

📦 What is Helm?

The Problem

The Solution: Helm

Architecture

🔧 Installing Helm

Install Helm CLI

Configure Helm for k0s

📚 Helm Repositories

Add Repositories

Search Charts

🚀 Deploying Applications

Install Chart

Install with Values

Install with Inline Values

🔄 Managing Releases

List Releases

Upgrade Release

Rollback Release

Uninstall Release

📊 Common Applications

PostgreSQL Database

Redis Cache

WordPress

Grafana

🎨 Creating Custom Charts

Generate Chart

Chart.yaml

values.yaml

templates/deployment.yaml

Install Custom Chart

🔍 Debugging

Get Manifest

Get Values

Template Debugging

Dry Run

Status

💡 Best Practices

1. Use Values Files

2. Pin Chart Versions

3. Namespace Isolation

4. Use --wait for CI/CD

5. Always Test First

6. Document with NOTES.txt

🔗 What's Next?

📚 Resources

📝 Change Log

2026-01-30

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