Hands-on Lab·Kubernetes and Cloud Native Associate
Helm Charts and Release State
helm create scaffolds a working chart, helm template renders it without a cluster, and --dry-run creates nothing at all - not even the namespace. Then two Secrets in the release namespace turn out to be the whole of Helm's memory.
Delivery and GitOps Guide 45 of 46 Beginner
- Helmv3.18.5
- Kubernetes1.36.4
- TimeAbout 17 min
- Reviewed22 August 2026
Written against the versions above. Chart scaffolding differs slightly between Helm minor versions. Release storage as Secrets has been the default since Helm 3.
| Server Name | IP Address | OS | Roles | CPU | RAM | HDD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CKA1001 | 192.168.0.175 | Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | Control Plane Node | 2 Core | 4 GB | 50 GB |
| CKA1001-NODE01 | 192.168.0.176 | Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | Worker Node | 2 Core | 4 GB | 50 GB |
Before you start
helminstalled and a working kubeconfig.helm versionshould answer.- Familiarity with the two Helm nouns: a chart is a package of templates, and a release is one installed instance of a chart, with its own name and its own values.
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Scaffold one, and lint it
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Render it without a cluster
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Dry-run creates nothing - check it
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Install it for real
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Upgrade, and read the history
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Helm has no database