20+ Commands

Helm Kubernetes Package Manager Cheat Sheet

Production Helm CLI reference: helm repo update, helm upgrade --install, rollback revisions, template rendering, and values overrides with 1-click copy.

Chart Repositories (3 commands)

Chart Repositories

helm repo add bitnami https://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami

Registers a remote chart repository in your local Helm client configuration.

PRO TIP Repositories contain packaged, tested Kubernetes application definitions.

Chart Repositories

helm repo update

Fetches the latest version manifests and metadata from all configured chart repos.

PRO TIP Run prior to helm install or helm upgrade to ensure newest chart versions.

Chart Repositories

helm search repo nginx

Searches configured repositories for charts matching the query string.

PRO TIP Use helm search hub to search the public Artifact Hub catalog.

Release Lifecycle (5 commands)

Release Lifecycle

helm install my-release bitnami/nginx --set service.type=LoadBalancer

Installs a chart into the Kubernetes cluster with custom inline variable overrides.

PRO TIP Pass --namespace --create-namespace to deploy into an isolated namespace.

Release Lifecycle

helm upgrade --install my-release ./my-chart -f values.production.yaml

Idempotently upgrades an existing release or installs it if not already present.

PRO TIP Standard command for CI/CD continuous deployment automation pipelines.

Release Lifecycle

helm list --all-namespaces

Lists all deployed Helm releases across all Kubernetes cluster namespaces.

PRO TIP Shows release status (deployed, failed, pending-upgrade) and chart revision.

Release Lifecycle

helm rollback my-release 2

Rolls back a release to a specific previous revision number instantly.

PRO TIP Check revision history first using helm history my-release.

Release Lifecycle

helm uninstall my-release --namespace prod

Removes all Kubernetes resources associated with the specified release.

PRO TIP Pass --keep-history to maintain revision records for auditing.

Inspection & Debug (3 commands)

Inspection & Debug

helm template my-release ./my-chart -f values.yaml

Renders chart templates locally and outputs valid Kubernetes YAML to stdout.

PRO TIP Validates template syntax and variable interpolation without communicating with a cluster.

Inspection & Debug

helm get values my-release

Retrieves the user-supplied values overrides applied to a deployed release.

PRO TIP Pass --all to include default chart values along with user overrides.

Inspection & Debug

helm lint ./my-chart

Performs static analysis on a local chart directory to catch structural formatting errors.

PRO TIP Catch syntax errors and missing mandatory fields before deploying to production.