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HelmRelease

Table of Contents​

  1. Concept
  2. Create a HelmRelease
  3. Values and configuration
  4. Upgrade and Rollback
  5. Helm tests
  6. Hands-on exercises

1 - Concept​

What is a HelmRelease?​

A HelmRelease manages the lifecycle of a Helm chart via GitOps.

Benefits​

BenefitDescription
GitOpsConfiguration in Git
DeclarativeDesired state, not commands
Auto rollbackOn failure
Drift detectionContinuous reconciliation

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2 - Create a HelmRelease​

From a HelmRepository​

apiVersion: helm.toolkit.fluxcd.io/v2
kind: HelmRelease
metadata:
  name: nginx
  namespace: web
spec:
  interval: 5m
  chart:
    spec:
      chart: nginx
      version: "15.x"
      sourceRef:
        kind: HelmRepository
        name: bitnami
        namespace: flux-system
  values:
    replicaCount: 3
    service:
      type: ClusterIP

From a GitRepository​

apiVersion: helm.toolkit.fluxcd.io/v2
kind: HelmRelease
metadata:
  name: my-app
  namespace: default
spec:
  interval: 5m
  chart:
    spec:
      chart: ./charts/my-app
      sourceRef:
        kind: GitRepository
        name: my-repo
        namespace: flux-system

Via CLI​

# Créer le HelmRepository
flux create source helm bitnami \
  --url=https://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami \
  --interval=1h

# Créer la HelmRelease
flux create helmrelease nginx \
  --source=HelmRepository/bitnami \
  --chart=nginx \
  --chart-version="15.x" \
  --namespace=web \
  --create-target-namespace
clusters/my-cluster/
├── flux-system/
├── infrastructure/
│   ├── sources/
│   │   ├── bitnami.yaml
│   │   └── ingress-nginx.yaml
│   └── releases/
│       ├── cert-manager.yaml
│       └── ingress-nginx.yaml
└── apps/
    └── nginx.yaml

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3 - Values and configuration​

Inline values​

spec:
  values:
    replicaCount: 3
    image:
      repository: nginx
      tag: "1.25"
    service:
      type: LoadBalancer
    resources:
      requests:
        memory: 128Mi
        cpu: 100m

ValuesFrom (ConfigMap/Secret)​

spec:
  valuesFrom:
    - kind: ConfigMap
      name: nginx-values
      valuesKey: values.yaml
    - kind: Secret
      name: nginx-secrets
      valuesKey: secrets.yaml
# ConfigMap avec values
apiVersion: v1
kind: ConfigMap
metadata:
  name: nginx-values
  namespace: web
data:
  values.yaml: |
    replicaCount: 3
    service:
      type: ClusterIP

Values merging​

The priority order (from lowest to highest):

  1. values from the chart
  2. valuesFrom (in order)
  3. inline values
spec:
  valuesFrom:
    - kind: ConfigMap
      name: common-values
    - kind: ConfigMap
      name: env-specific-values
  values:
    # Override final
    replicaCount: 5

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4 - Upgrade and Rollback​

Automatic upgrade​

spec:
  chart:
    spec:
      version: "15.x"  # Semver range
      # Flux met à jour automatiquement vers 15.1, 15.2, etc.

Automatic rollback​

spec:
  upgrade:
    remediation:
      remediateLastFailure: true
      retries: 3
  rollback:
    cleanupOnFail: true

Installation with remediation​

spec:
  install:
    remediation:
      retries: 3
  upgrade:
    remediation:
      retries: 3
      remediateLastFailure: true

Suspend a release​

flux suspend helmrelease nginx -n web

# Reprendre
flux resume helmrelease nginx -n web

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5 - Helm tests​

Enable tests​

spec:
  test:
    enable: true
    timeout: 5m

Ignore test failures​

spec:
  test:
    enable: true
    ignoreFailures: true

Post-install hooks​

spec:
  postRenderers:
    - kustomize:
        patches:
          - target:
              kind: Deployment
            patch: |
              - op: add
                path: /metadata/labels/managed-by
                value: flux

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6 - Hands-on exercises​

Exercise 1: Deploy nginx​

# 1. Ajouter le repo Bitnami
flux create source helm bitnami \
  --url=https://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami \
  --interval=1h

# 2. Créer le namespace
kubectl create namespace web

# 3. Déployer nginx
flux create helmrelease nginx \
  --source=HelmRepository/bitnami \
  --chart=nginx \
  --namespace=web \
  --values=replicaCount=2

# 4. Vérifier
flux get helmreleases -n web
kubectl get pods -n web

Exercise 2: HelmRelease YAML​

# nginx-release.yaml
apiVersion: source.toolkit.fluxcd.io/v1
kind: HelmRepository
metadata:
  name: bitnami
  namespace: flux-system
spec:
  interval: 1h
  url: https://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami
---
apiVersion: helm.toolkit.fluxcd.io/v2
kind: HelmRelease
metadata:
  name: nginx
  namespace: web
spec:
  interval: 5m
  chart:
    spec:
      chart: nginx
      version: "15.x"
      sourceRef:
        kind: HelmRepository
        name: bitnami
        namespace: flux-system
  install:
    createNamespace: true
  values:
    replicaCount: 3
    service:
      type: ClusterIP

Quiz​

Q1. What is the difference between valuesFrom and values?

Answer
  • valuesFrom: Loads values from external ConfigMaps or Secrets
  • values: Values defined inline in the HelmRelease

Inline values has the highest priority and overrides valuesFrom.

Q2. How does Flux handle an upgrade failure?

Answer

With remediation:

spec:
  upgrade:
    remediation:
      retries: 3
      remediateLastFailure: true
  rollback:
    cleanupOnFail: true

Flux retries the upgrade, and if it fails, performs an automatic rollback.

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Key takeaways​

  • HelmRelease = Helm chart in GitOps
  • Sources: HelmRepository or GitRepository
  • inline values or valuesFrom (ConfigMap/Secret)
  • Automatic rollback with remediation
  • Semver range for automatic upgrades

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