🏹 Helm Quick Reference Guide (CKA Speed Mode)
1️⃣ Repo Management
helm repo add bitnami https://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami
helm repo update
helm search repo <keyword> # Search in repos
helm search repo <chart> --versions # Show all versions
controlplane ~ ➜ helm search repo nginx
NAME CHART VERSION APP VERSION DESCRIPTION
bitnami/nginx 21.1.23 1.29.1 NGINX Open Source is a web server that can be a...
bitnami/nginx-ingress-controller 12.0.7 1.13.1 NGINX Ingress Controller is an Ingress controll...
bitnami/nginx-intel 2.1.15 0.4.9 DEPRECATED NGINX Open Source for Intel is a lig...
controlplane ~ ➜ helm search repo bitnami/nginx
NAME CHART VERSION APP VERSION DESCRIPTION
bitnami/nginx 21.1.23 1.29.1 NGINX Open Source is a web server that can be a...
bitnami/nginx-ingress-controller 12.0.7 1.13.1 NGINX Ingress Controller is an Ingress controll...
bitnami/nginx-intel 2.1.15 0.4.9 DEPRECATED NGINX Open Source for Intel is a lig...
controlplane ~ ➜ helm search repo bitnami/nginx --versions # not version
NAME CHART VERSION APP VERSION DESCRIPTION
bitnami/nginx 21.1.23 1.29.1 NGINX Open Source is a web server that can be a...
bitnami/nginx 21.1.22 1.29.1 NGINX Open Source is a web server that can be a...
bitnami/nginx 21.1.21 1.29.1 NGINX Open Source is a web server that can be a...
bitnami/nginx 21.1.16 1.29.1 NGINX Open Source is a web server that can be a...
... much more
2️⃣ Install / Upgrade
<chart> = bitnami/nginx # repo/chart name
# Install (create namespace if not exists)
helm install <release> <chart> -n <ns> --create-namespace
# Install with file overrides
helm install <release> <chart> -f values.yaml
# Install with sepecific chart version
helm install <release> <chart> --version 9.3.5 # chart version — not the application (app) version
# Install with quick set
helm install <release> <chart> --set key1=val1,key2=val2
# Multiple value files + set overrides
helm install <release> <chart> \
-f base.yaml -f extra.yaml \
--set key=val
# Upgrade existing release
helm upgrade <release> <chart> -f values.yaml
or
helm upgrade --install <release> <chart> -f values.yaml
# While adding --set flag
# To see all values, including defaults or see values.yaml
controlplane ~ ➜ helm get values ingress-nginx --all | grep replica
replicaCount: 1
replicaCount: 1
3️⃣ View / Debug
helm list -a -A or helm ls --all -A # All releases, all namespaces
helm get values <release> # Show custom values
helm get values <release> -a # All (default+custom)
helm status <release>
helm history <release>
helm template <release> <chart> # Render without installing
helm install <release> <chart> --dry-run --debug # Preview
helm template silver-argo argo/argo-cd \
--version 7.6.12 \
--namespace argocd \
--set installCRDs=false \
> argocd-template.yaml
4️⃣ Rollback
helm rollback <release> <revision>
5️⃣ Uninstall
helm uninstall <release> -n <ns>
6️⃣ Chart Download & Local Install
helm pull <chart> --untar
helm install <release> ./<chart_folder>
❌ helm install my-nginx .
✅ helm install my-nginx ./nginx
7️⃣ Speed Scenarios
| Task | Command |
Install nginx in app-ns | helm install web bitnami/nginx -n app-ns --create-namespace |
| Install specific version | helm install app bitnami/nginx --version 15.0.2 |
| Set replicas=4 | helm install web bitnami/nginx --set replicaCount=4 |
| Rollback to rev 1 | helm rollback web 1 |
| Show all versions of a chart | helm search repo bitnami/nginx --versions |
| List all releases | helm list -A |
controlplane ~ ➜ helm repo list
NAME URL
bitnami https://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami
puppet https://puppetlabs.github.io/puppetserver-helm-chart
hashicorp https://helm.releases.hashicorp.com
controlplane ~ ➜ helm install amaze-surf bitnami/apache
Pulled: us-central1-docker.pkg.dev/kk-lab-prod/helm-charts/bitnami/apache:11.3.2
Digest: sha256:1bd45c97bb7a0000534e3abc5797143661e34ea7165aa33068853c567e6df9f2
NAME: amaze-surf
LAST DEPLOYED: Sun Sep 28 11:45:40 2025
NAMESPACE: default
STATUS: deployed
REVISION: 1
TEST SUITE: None
NOTES:
CHART NAME: apache
CHART VERSION: 11.3.2
APP VERSION: 2.4.63
controlplane ~ ➜ helm status amaze-surf
NAME: amaze-surf
LAST DEPLOYED: Sun Sep 28 11:45:40 2025
NAMESPACE: default
STATUS: deployed
REVISION: 1
TEST SUITE: None
NOTES:
CHART NAME: apache
CHART VERSION: 11.3.2
APP VERSION: 2.4.63
controlplane ~ ➜ helm list -A # also tells chart name, chart version, and app version
NAME NAMESPACE REVISION UPDATED STATUS CHART APP VERSION
amaze-surf default 1 2025-09-28 11:45:40.183342347 +0000 UTC deployed apache-11.3.2 2.4.63
crazy-web default 1 2025-09-28 11:46:31.217903645 +0000 UTC deployed nginx-19.0.0 1.27.4
happy-browse default 1 2025-09-28 11:46:29.364833702 +0000 UTC deployed nginx-19.0.0 1.27.4
helm repo add <> <url>
helm repo update <>
helm repo list <> or helm repo ls <>
helm repo remove <>
helm ls -A or helm list -A