Creating custom Helm charts in Kubernetes - Practice Exercises

Challenge - 5 Problems

💻 Command Output

intermediate

Helm template rendering output

You have a Helm chart with a template that uses the following snippet:

{{- if .Values.service.enabled }}
apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
  name: {{ .Release.Name }}-service
spec:
  type: {{ .Values.service.type }}
{{- end }}

If the values.yaml contains:

service:
  enabled: true
  type: ClusterIP

What will be the output of helm template mychart . regarding the Service resource?

A The Service resource is included but the name is missing.

B No Service resource is included because the template has a syntax error.

C The Service resource is included but with type LoadBalancer regardless of values.yaml.

D The Service resource YAML is included with type ClusterIP and name mychart-service.

💡 Hint

Check how the if condition uses the values.yaml to include the Service resource.

Since service.enabled is true, the if block includes the Service resource. The type is taken from values.yaml, so it is ClusterIP. The name uses the release name 'mychart' plus '-service'.

❓ Configuration

intermediate

Correct Helm Chart directory structure

Which of the following directory structures is the correct minimal layout for a custom Helm chart named myapp?

A

myapp/
  Chart.yaml
  values.yaml
  templates/
    deployment.yaml
    service.yaml

B

myapp/
  chart.yaml
  values.yaml
  templates/
    deployment.yaml

C

myapp/
  Chart.yaml
  values.yaml
  template/
    deployment.yaml

D

myapp/
  Chart.yaml
  values.yaml
  templates.yaml

💡 Hint

Remember Helm requires a Chart.yaml file and a templates directory.

The correct structure includes a capitalized Chart.yaml file, a values.yaml file, and a templates directory containing resource templates.

❓ Troubleshoot

advanced

Helm install failure due to missing values

You run helm install myapp ./mychart and get the error:

Error: YAML parse error on mychart/templates/deployment.yaml: error converting YAML to JSON: yaml: line 10: did not find expected key

What is the most likely cause?

A The values.yaml file is empty causing the deployment template to fail.

B The deployment.yaml template has incorrect indentation or missing colon causing YAML syntax error.

C The Kubernetes cluster is not reachable causing Helm to fail.

D The Chart.yaml file is missing causing Helm to fail parsing templates.

💡 Hint

YAML parse errors usually mean indentation or syntax issues in the template files.

The error points to a YAML syntax problem in deployment.yaml at line 10, likely due to wrong indentation or missing colon.

🔀 Workflow

advanced

Helm chart versioning best practice

You want to release a new version of your Helm chart with bug fixes but no API changes. Which version bump is recommended according to semantic versioning in Chart.yaml?

A Increase the minor version, e.g., from 1.2.3 to 1.3.0

B Increase the major version, e.g., from 1.2.3 to 2.0.0

C Increase the patch version, e.g., from 1.2.3 to 1.2.4

D Keep the same version number since only bug fixes were made

💡 Hint

Semantic versioning uses patch version for bug fixes without API changes.

Patch version increments indicate backward-compatible bug fixes. Minor and major versions are for new features or breaking changes.

🧠 Conceptual

expert

Helm hooks execution order

Given these Helm hook annotations in templates:

• pre-install
• post-install
• pre-upgrade
• post-upgrade

What is the correct order of execution when you run helm upgrade --install on a new release?

A 1, 2

B 3, 4

C 1, 3, 4, 2

D 1, 2, 3, 4

💡 Hint

For a new release, only install hooks run, not upgrade hooks.

On a new install, Helm runs pre-install then post-install hooks. Upgrade hooks run only on upgrades.