kubernetes
Helm Chart values.yaml Generator
Generate a Helm chart values.yaml with image, replicas, resources, service, ingress, and environment variable sections. Ready to use with helm install --values.
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Helm Charts and values.yaml
Helm is the Kubernetes package manager. A chart is a directory of YAML templates + values.yaml defaults.
Chart Structure
my-chart/
├── Chart.yaml # chart metadata
├── values.yaml # default values (generated here)
└── templates/
├── deployment.yaml # uses {{ .Values.replicaCount }}
├── service.yaml
└── ingress.yamlTemplate Syntax
# templates/deployment.yaml
replicas: {{ .Values.replicaCount }}
image: {{ .Values.image.repository }}:{{ .Values.image.tag }}Multi-environment Pattern
values.yaml ← defaults (committed to repo)
values-prod.yaml ← prod overrides (committed)
values-staging.yaml ← staging overrides (committed)# Deploy to prod
helm upgrade --install my-app ./chart \
--values values.yaml \
--values values-prod.yaml \
--namespace productionUseful Commands
helm template ./chart --values values.yaml # preview rendered YAML
helm lint ./chart # validate chart
helm diff upgrade my-app ./chart --values values.yaml # show what changesKey Terms
Full glossary →kubeadm
A tool for bootstrapping Kubernetes clusters. It automates the setup of control plane components and joining worker nodes, following Kubernetes best practices.
etcd
A distributed key-value store used by Kubernetes to store all cluster state and configuration. etcd is the single source of truth for the entire cluster.
cert-manager
A Kubernetes controller for automating TLS certificate management. cert-manager can issue certificates from Let's Encrypt, Vault, or internal CAs, and automatically renews them.
Helm
A package manager for Kubernetes. Helm charts bundle Kubernetes manifests into reusable packages with configurable values, versioned and published to chart repositories.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is values.yaml used for?
values.yaml is the default configuration file for a Helm chart. It defines all the variables the chart templates reference via {{ .Values.* }}. When you run helm install, Helm merges values.yaml with any --values overrides you pass. This lets you deploy the same chart to dev/staging/prod with different settings without changing the chart itself.
How do I override values at deploy time?
Use --set for single values: helm upgrade my-app ./chart --set image.tag=sha-abc123. Use --values for a full file: helm upgrade my-app ./chart --values prod-values.yaml. Multiple --values files are merged left-to-right, with later files winning. This is the GitOps pattern: commit environment-specific overrides to your repo.
How do I pass secrets via Helm values?
Never put secrets in values.yaml committed to Git. Instead: use --set for CI/CD secrets (helm upgrade --set db.password=$DB_PASS), use external-secrets to pull from Vault/AWS SSM, or use Sealed Secrets for encrypted secrets in Git. The {{ .Values.secret }} pattern is fine for non-sensitive config; use Kubernetes Secrets for credentials.
What's the difference between helm install and helm upgrade --install?
helm install creates a new release. If the release already exists, it fails. helm upgrade --install does both: upgrades if the release exists, installs if it doesn't. In CI/CD, always use helm upgrade --install so the pipeline works for both first-time deploys and updates.
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