Using Helm for deployment
Helm is a package manager for Kubernetes, which simplifies the deployment, scaling and management of applications in the Kubernetes cluster. It allows developers to define, install and upgrade complex application configurations as a single unit, known as a chart. A chart is a collection of files that describe the resources to be deployed, including pods, services, configmaps, and others.
To install the Helm binary, you can follow the instructions for your platform on the Helm GitHub repository. Once installed, you can use the Helm CLI to manage charts and install packages.
Here is an example of how to deploy an Nginx chart using Helm:
- Initialize Helm: helm init
- Create a new chart directory: helm create mychart
- Navigate to the chart directory: cd mychart
- Edit the values.yaml file to customize the chart as needed
- Install the chart: helm install –name myrelease .
With these steps, you can deploy an Nginx chart using Helm, and it will automatically manage the resources required for the deployment and keep them up-to-date. You can also use the helm upgrade command to upgrade the chart to a new version, and the helm delete command to delete the chart.
Helm repositories are centralized collections of packaged applications that are used to manage the deployment of Kubernetes applications. The packaged applications are referred to as Charts, which contain all of the necessary configuration files, dependencies, and templates required to deploy an application. A chart can include anything from a simple web server to complex microservice applications.
To add a Helm repository, you can use the helm repo add command followed by the name and URL of the repository you would like to add. For example, to add the stable repository, you could run:
Nginx Ingress Controller: A popular Ingress controller for Kubernetes that provides load balancing and SSL termination features for external traffic to your cluster.
MySQL: A production-ready Helm chart for deploying the popular MySQL database server.
Jenkins: A highly-configurable Helm chart that helps you deploy and manage a Jenkins continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipeline.
Redis: A highly-available Helm chart that deploys Redis with Sentinel to provide automatic failover and high-availability.
Traefik: A modern, edge-routing load balancer that makes it easy to deploy and manage applications in a microservices architecture.
These charts help to simplify the deployment process, reduce the time and effort required to get started with common applications, and provide a consistent and reliable deployment experience. Additionally, Helm charts are typically customizable and configurable, so you can tailor the deployment to meet your specific needs.
Once the repository is added, you can use the helm search command to search for charts within the repository. To install a chart, you can use the helm install command followed by the name of the chart you would like to install.
It’s also possible to create your own custom repositories and share them with others. This allows you to share custom charts or even enterprise applications within your organization. To create a repository, you need to set up a web server and create an index file that describes the charts within your repository. The index file is used by Helm to search for charts, and the web server is used to host the charts and the index file.