What is Helm?
Options
- A container runtime that runs the images on each node
- The Kubernetes package manager: charts with templates and values (Correct option)
- A monitoring tool that collects metrics from the whole cluster
- A Git client that is used for managing the manifests of a project
Answer
The package manager for Kubernetes: a chart bundles templated manifests so you install and upgrade an app with values per environment
Why
Applications in Kubernetes need many YAML files (Deployment, Service, Ingress, ConfigMap). Helm packages them as a chart with templates and a values.yaml.
helm install myapp ./chart -f values-prod.yaml deploys it; helm upgrade updates; helm rollback goes back.
It avoids copy-pasting manifests between environments, since only the values change.
Remember
Helm = chart + values = installable, upgradable Kubernetes app.