helm commands

54 commands, each with a one-line explanation. Click a command to copy it, or its title for details.

Commands 54 shown

  • Install chart with values file
    helm install <release> <chart> -f values.yaml -n <ns> --create-namespace

    Deploy a chart; creates namespace if it doesn't exist

  • Upgrade or install (idempotent)
    helm upgrade --install <release> <chart> -f values.yaml -n <ns>

    Safe in CI — installs if absent, upgrades if present

  • Diff before upgrade
    helm diff upgrade <release> <chart> -f values.yaml -n <ns>

    Show exactly what will change (requires helm-diff plugin)

    debug

  • Render templates locally
    helm template <release> <chart> -f values.yaml --debug

    Output rendered YAML to stdout without deploying

    debug

  • Show release values
    helm get values <release> -n <ns> --all

    All computed values for a deployed release

  • List all releases
    helm list -A --output table

    All Helm releases across every namespace

  • Rollback release to revision
    helm rollback <release> <revision> -n <ns>

    Revert to a specific historical revision

  • Uninstall a release
    helm uninstall <release> -n <ns>

    Remove release and all managed resources

  • Lint a chart
    helm lint <chart-dir> -f values.yaml --strict

    Validate chart structure and values; fails on warnings in --strict mode

    debug

  • Search chart versions in repo
    helm search repo <chart> --versions

    List all available versions of a chart in added repositories

  • Add OCI registry
    helm registry login registry.example.com -u user -p pass

    Authenticate to an OCI-based Helm registry

  • Push chart to OCI registry
    helm push mychart-0.1.0.tgz oci://registry.example.com/charts

    Upload a packaged chart to an OCI registry

  • Package a chart
    helm package ./my-chart --destination ./dist

    Create a .tgz archive from a chart directory

  • Show chart README
    helm show readme <chart>

    Print the chart README to stdout

  • Show chart values
    helm show values <chart> > values.yaml

    Dump default values to a file for customization

  • Plugin install
    helm plugin install https://github.com/databus23/helm-diff

    Install a Helm plugin from URL (e.g. helm-diff, helm-secrets)

  • Plugin list
    helm plugin list

    Show all installed Helm plugins with versions

  • Release manifest dump
    helm get manifest <release> -n <ns>

    All Kubernetes manifests generated by this Helm release

    debug

  • Test a release
    helm test <release> -n <ns>

    Run any test hooks defined in the chart

    debug

  • Helm secrets decrypt
    helm secrets view secrets.yaml

    Decrypt a SOPS/age-encrypted values file (requires helm-secrets plugin)

    secrets

  • Get release notes
    helm get notes <release> -n <ns>

    Print post-install notes for a deployed release

  • Show computed values
    helm get values <release> -n <ns> --all

    Display all values (user + chart defaults) for a release

    debug

  • Render templates locally
    helm template myrelease ./mychart -f values-prod.yaml | kubectl apply --dry-run=client -f -

    Render and validate manifests without installing

    debug

  • Diff release before upgrade
    helm diff upgrade <release> ./mychart -f values.yaml -n <ns>

    Show YAML diff between current and new release (requires helm-diff plugin)

    debug

  • Upgrade with atomic rollback
    helm upgrade <release> ./mychart -n <ns> -f values.yaml --atomic --timeout 5m

    Roll back automatically if upgrade does not succeed in 5m

  • Set individual values
    helm upgrade <release> ./mychart --set image.tag=v1.5.0 --set replicaCount=3

    Override specific chart values from command line

  • Show release manifest
    helm get manifest <release> -n <ns>

    Print the Kubernetes YAML applied by the current release

    debug

  • Roll back to previous version
    helm history <release> -n <ns> && helm rollback <release> 0 -n <ns>

    Show history and roll back to previous revision (0 = latest-1)

  • Search chart versions
    helm search repo <chart> --versions | head -20

    List all available versions of a chart in configured repos

  • Show chart default values
    helm show values <repo>/<chart> --version <ver>

    Print default values.yaml for a chart version

  • Package chart
    helm package ./mychart --destination ./dist

    Create a versioned .tgz chart archive

  • Push chart to OCI registry
    helm push mychart-1.0.0.tgz oci://registry.example.com/charts

    Upload chart package to an OCI-compliant container registry

  • Install from OCI
    helm install myrelease oci://registry.example.com/charts/mychart --version 1.0.0

    Install a chart directly from an OCI registry

  • Lint chart
    helm lint ./mychart -f values-prod.yaml --strict

    Validate chart structure and templates with strict mode

    debug

  • Force resource replacement
    helm upgrade <release> ./mychart -n <ns> --force

    Force replace resources that can't be patched (delete+create)

  • Install plugins
    helm plugin install https://github.com/databus23/helm-diff

    Install helm-diff plugin for release comparison

  • Diff before upgrade
    helm diff upgrade myrelease ./chart -f values.yaml

    Show what would change in the cluster (requires helm-diff plugin)

    debug

  • Show computed values
    helm get values myrelease -n mynamespace

    Print the user-supplied values for a deployed release

    debug

  • Show all computed values (with defaults)
    helm get values myrelease -a -n mynamespace

    Show all values including chart defaults (-a / --all)

    debug

  • Rollback to specific revision
    helm rollback myrelease 2 -n mynamespace

    Roll back a release to revision number 2

  • Show release history
    helm history myrelease -n mynamespace

    List all revisions of a Helm release with status

    debug

  • Package chart for distribution
    helm package ./mychart --version 1.2.3 --app-version 1.2.3

    Create a versioned .tgz package from a chart directory

    ci

  • Push chart to OCI registry
    helm push mychart-1.2.3.tgz oci://registry.example.com/charts

    Publish a chart to an OCI-compatible registry (Helm 3.8+)

    ci

  • Lint a chart
    helm lint ./mychart -f values.yaml --strict

    Validate chart structure and catch template errors

    debug · ci

  • Render one template
    helm template <name> ./chart --show-only templates/deployment.yaml

    Render just one manifest to inspect output; note: path is relative to chart root

    debug · k8s · troubleshooting

  • Template with version gates
    helm template <name> ./chart --kube-version 1.29 --api-versions policy/v1 --include-crds

    Render with fixed kube/API versions for CRD capability gates offline; includes CRDs

    k8s · ci · troubleshooting

  • reuse-values pitfall
    helm upgrade --install <name> ./chart --reset-values -f values.yaml

    note: --reuse-values silently keeps stale overrides; --reset-values forces clean merge

    troubleshooting · gitops · k8s

  • Inspect release hooks
    helm get hooks <rel> -n <ns>

    Dump rendered pre/post-install/upgrade hooks to debug failing job ordering

    debug · k8s · troubleshooting

  • Dry-run a rollback
    helm history <rel> -n <ns> && helm rollback <rel> <rev> --dry-run -n <ns>

    Preview which revision a rollback targets before committing to it

    troubleshooting · k8s · gitops

  • Update chart dependencies
    helm dependency update ./chart && helm dependency build ./chart

    update refreshes Chart.lock from repos; build fetches subcharts from existing lock

    ci · k8s

  • Wait for jobs on install
    helm upgrade --install <name> ./chart --wait --wait-for-jobs --timeout 10m -n <ns>

    Block until pods ready AND hook Jobs complete; avoids racing on migrations

    ci · k8s · gitops

  • Parse release status as JSON
    helm status <rel> -n <ns> -o json | jq '.info.status, .info.last_deployed'

    Extract machine-readable deploy state for scripts and gate checks

    observability · ci · k8s

  • Post-render with kustomize
    helm upgrade --install <name> ./chart --post-renderer ./kustomize-hook.sh -n <ns>

    Patch rendered manifests via kustomize without forking the upstream chart

    gitops · k8s

  • Pull and unpack OCI chart
    helm pull oci://<host>/charts/<name> --version 1.2.3 --untar --untardir ./charts

    Vendor an OCI chart locally for inspection or air-gapped installs

    security · ci · k8s