Helm charts concept in Kubernetes - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Deploy a Simple Web App Using Helm Charts

📖 Scenario: You are working as a DevOps engineer. Your team wants to deploy a simple web application on Kubernetes. To make deployment easier and reusable, you will use Helm charts. Helm helps package Kubernetes resources together.

🎯 Goal: Build a Helm chart for a simple web app that runs an NGINX server. You will create the chart, configure values, write templates, and deploy using Helm commands.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a Helm chart using the helm create command

Configure values.yaml with app name, image, and replica count

Understand the generated deployment and service templates

Deploy the Helm chart and verify the app is running

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Helm charts are widely used to package and deploy applications on Kubernetes clusters. They simplify managing complex Kubernetes manifests and enable easy upgrades and rollbacks.

💼 Career

Knowing Helm is essential for DevOps engineers working with Kubernetes. It helps automate deployments, manage configurations, and maintain consistency across environments.

1

Create a Helm chart using helm create

Use the helm create command to scaffold a new Helm chart named mywebapp. This generates the standard chart directory structure with Chart.yaml, values.yaml, and templates.

Kubernetes

# Create a new Helm chart
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use helm create mywebapp to generate the full chart structure automatically.

2

Configure values.yaml with app settings

Edit the values.yaml file inside the mywebapp chart. Set the image repository to nginx, image tag to stable, and replica count to 2.

Kubernetes

helm create mywebapp

# Edit mywebapp/values.yaml with image and replica settings
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use cat < mywebapp/values.yaml to write the values file with replicaCount, image repository, and tag.

3

Install the Helm chart to deploy the app

Use helm install to deploy the chart. Name the release mywebapp-release and point to the mywebapp chart directory.

Kubernetes

helm create mywebapp

cat  mywebapp/values.yaml
replicaCount: 2

image:
  repository: nginx
  tag: stable
  pullPolicy: IfNotPresent

service:
  type: ClusterIP
  port: 80
EOF

# Deploy the chart using helm install
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use helm install mywebapp-release ./mywebapp to deploy the chart from the local directory.

4

Verify the deployment is running

Use kubectl get pods and kubectl get svc to verify the pods and service are created. Then print Helm deployment successful to confirm.

Kubernetes

helm create mywebapp

cat  mywebapp/values.yaml
replicaCount: 2

image:
  repository: nginx
  tag: stable
  pullPolicy: IfNotPresent

service:
  type: ClusterIP
  port: 80
EOF

helm install mywebapp-release ./mywebapp

# Verify deployment and print confirmation
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use kubectl get pods and kubectl get svc to check, then echo 'Helm deployment successful'.