Helm
Helm is the package manager for Kubernetes, letting teams define, install, and upgrade even the most complex Kubernetes applications using reusable, versioned packages called charts.
Definition
Helm is the package manager for Kubernetes, letting teams define, install, and upgrade even the most complex Kubernetes applications using reusable, versioned packages called charts.
Overview
Managing a non-trivial application on Kubernetes usually means wrangling many YAML manifests for deployments, services, config maps, and secrets. Helm packages all of that into a single unit called a chart, which uses templates and a values file to parameterize configuration, so the same chart can be reused across environments by simply changing input values rather than duplicating manifests. Helm became a graduated Cloud Native Computing Foundation project and today ships as a client-side CLI tool. Earlier versions relied on a server-side component called Tiller running inside the cluster, but that was removed in Helm 3 in favor of a simpler, more secure architecture that talks directly to the Kubernetes API using the same permissions as the user running it. Charts can be shared through chart repositories, including registries like Harbor, and Helm supports installing, upgrading, rolling back, and uninstalling entire application "releases" as atomic operations. This makes it a common building block in CI/CD pipelines alongside tools like Argo CD for GitOps-style deployment, and it's a core skill covered in SkillVeris's Kubernetes course.
Key Features
- Charts package Kubernetes manifests into reusable, versioned units
- Templating engine that parameterizes manifests via values files
- Release management for installing, upgrading, and rolling back apps
- Public and private chart repositories for sharing packages
- Client-only architecture in Helm 3, with no in-cluster Tiller component
- Hooks for running jobs at specific points in a release lifecycle
- Dependency management between charts for complex applications
Use Cases
History
Helm is the de-facto package manager for Kubernetes, letting teams define, install, and upgrade applications as versioned "charts." It began in 2015 as a Deis project (retrospectively "Helm Classic") and was announced at the inaugural KubeCon in San Francisco. In January 2016 it merged with Google's Kubernetes Deployment Manager and moved under the Kubernetes project, a union that produced Helm 2 later that year. Helm was promoted from a Kubernetes sub-project to a full Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) project in June 2018 and reached CNCF "graduated" status in April 2020. It packages the many Kubernetes manifests an application needs into a single templated, shareable unit.
Sources
- Helm — "The History of the Project" · as of 2026-07-17
- CNCF — "Helm, the package manager for Kubernetes" · as of 2026-07-17