The Definitive Helm Course: From Beginner To Master

Install, manage, create, and deploy Helm charts in Kubernetes clusters! Learn the Helm CLI, Hooks, Plugins and more!

What you'll learn

Build Helm charts from scratch using best practices and optimal chart structures

Customize existing Helm charts to perfectly fit your application’s requirements

Master Go Template syntax to produce dynamic, maintainable Kubernetes manifests

Confidently handle configuration values and apply overrides to achieve flexible deployments

Perform seamless version upgrades to keep your deployments current without downtime

Execute rapid rollbacks to previous stable releases for immediate recovery

Maintain stable, scalable Kubernetes deployments through Helm-driven best practices

Implement Helm Hooks for automating pre- and post-deployment tasks

Add testing Hooks to validate chart quality and ensure robust releases

Leverage Library charts to promote reusability and reduce duplication in deployments

Work with Helm Plugins to extend the functionality of Helm and achieve even more with the tool

Requirements

Familiarity with Docker and Kubernetes

Familiarity with running commands in the terminal and the command line

Familiarity with any programming language is highly desirable to make the most of this course

Description

Welcome to The Definitive Helm Course: From Beginner to Master!Are you ready to take your Kubernetes skills to the next level and truly master Helm? This Helm course is crafted to help you build confidence and expertise, ensuring you can streamline and simplify your Kubernetes deployments like never before.Why Learn Helm?Helm is the Kubernetes package manager that brings order to complexity, allowing you to package, install, upgrade, and manage even the most intricate applications. Here’s why mastering Helm is a strategic move:Streamlined Kubernetes Deployments: With Helm charts, say goodbye to repetitive and error-prone YAML work! Enjoy a smoother, more automated approach to deploying complex applications.Consistency Across Environments: Standardize your application configurations from development to production. Helm ensures consistent deployments every time, no matter where you run your workloads.Effortless Upgrades and Rollbacks: Roll out new application versions with confidence or revert to stable states in seconds. With Helm, you’ll gain the flexibility and safety net you need to innovate quickly.Widely Adopted by the Industry: Mastering Helm sets you apart in the competitive Cloud Native and DevOps arenas, making you a more valuable asset to your current or future employers.By investing in this course, you’re not just learning another tool—you’re unlocking a powerful ally for delivering reliable, scalable, and easily maintainable Kubernetes applications.Why Choose This Helm Course?This course provides both the essential theory and extensive hands-on experience, giving you the confidence and know-how to excel:Hands-On, Practical Approach: Get ready for practical exercises, demos, and interactive lessons. You’ll create and manage Helm charts, integrate dependencies, and automate deployments. Every concept you learn is immediately reinforced by real, hands-on activities.Real-World Scenarios: We’ll dive into advanced features like hooks, library charts, and testing hooks—real skills that matter when you’re working in production environments.Behind the Scenes Knowledge: Gain a deep understanding of the underlying templating engine and learn to debug and optimize your charts. This ensures you’re prepared for any challenges that arise on the job.Expert Guidance: With years of industry experience, I’ll share best practices, tips, and strategies so you can learn to not only use Helm, but truly excel with it.Which Skills Will You Acquire During This Course?As you go through this course, you will gain a comprehensive and valuable set of skills, including:Build Helm Charts from Scratch: Learn to design and structure Helm charts using best practices, enabling you to create maintainable configurations tailored to your applications.Customize Existing Helm Charts: Gain the ability to take charts from repositories or open-source projects and adapt them to your organization’s unique needs.Confidently Handle Configuration Values: Understand how to use values files and overrides, giving you complete control over how your applications are deployed, configured, and scaled.Perform Seamless Upgrades: Learn how to update your deployments smoothly and confidently, keeping your applications up-to-date without service interruptions.Master Go Template Syntax: Get comfortable with Helm’s powerful templating engine, allowing you to dynamically generate Kubernetes manifests and avoid repetitive YAML definitions.Maintain Stable, Scalable Kubernetes Deployments: Use Helm’s packaging and templating features to consistently deliver reliable, production-grade deployments at scale.Execute Rapid Rollbacks With Confidence: Acquire the know-how to immediately revert to stable previous releases if something goes wrong, minimizing downtime and user impact.Implement Helm Hooks: Automate pre- and post-deployment tasks such as database migrations, ensuring smooth rollout procedures and cleaner workflows.And much more! Get ready to elevate your Kubernetes game, master Helm, and become the Helm hero your team needs. Let’s embark on this journey together!

Overview

Section 1: Introduction

Lecture 1 Welcome to the course!

Lecture 2 How to make the most of this course

Lecture 3 Aligning expectations

Lecture 4 Course resources

Section 2: What is Helm?

Lecture 5 Section introduction

Lecture 6 The role of Helm in Kubernetes

Lecture 7 Benefits of using Helm

Lecture 8 Helm vs. Kustomize

Lecture 9 Helm architecture

Section 3: Installing Tools

Lecture 10 [Windows Users] Installing Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)

Lecture 11 [Windows Users] Windows Subsystem for Linux Features

Lecture 12 Installing Minikube

Lecture 13 Installing Kubectl

Lecture 14 Installing Helm

Lecture 15 Installing and configuring VS Code

Section 4: Helm Fundamentals

Lecture 16 Section introduction

Lecture 17 Exploring ArtifactHub

Lecture 18 Managing Helm repositories with the Helm CLI

Lecture 19 Installing the Wordpress Helm chart

Lecture 20 Exploring the default Wordpress chart configuration

Lecture 21 Uninstalling Helm charts

Lecture 22 Cleaning up Kubernetes resources

Lecture 23 Setting custom values via the Helm CLI

Lecture 24 Setting custom values via files

Lecture 25 Upgrading Helm releases: Setting new values

Lecture 26 Upgrading Helm releases: Setting new chart versions

Lecture 27 Rollbacks in Helm

Lecture 28 Upgrading Helm releases: Useful CLI flags

Section 5: Creating Our Own Helm Charts

Lecture 29 Section introduction

Lecture 30 Why create our own charts?

Lecture 31 Helm chart structure and files

Lecture 32 Creating our first Helm chart

Lecture 33 Introduction to Go Templates: Part 1

Lecture 34 Introduction to Go Templates: Part 2

Lecture 35 Introduction to Go Templates: Part 3

Lecture 36 Adding first values to our values.yaml file

Lecture 37 Using release and chart information in templates

Lecture 38 Conditionally deploy Kubernetes resources

Lecture 39 Packaging our Helm chart

Lecture 40 Publishing our Helm chart with GitHub Pages

Lecture 41 Installing our newly published Helm chart

Lecture 42 Leveraging the Helm CLI for creating new charts

Lecture 43 Recap: Building, packaging, and publishing Helm charts

Section 6: Go Template Deep-Dive

Lecture 44 Section introduction

Lecture 45 Template functions and pipelines

Lecture 46 Named templates

Lecture 47 If and If-Else statements

Lecture 48 Variables

Lecture 49 Variables' Scopes

Lecture 50 Using "range" to iterate over lists

Lecture 51 Using "range" to iterate over dictionaries

Lecture 52 Understanding the "dot" variable

Lecture 53 Using "with" blocks

Lecture 54 Validation functions

Lecture 55 Implementing custom validation logic

Section 7: [Optional] Coding a Key-Value Store API

Lecture 56 Project setup

Lecture 57 Express app setup

Lecture 58 PostgreSQL setup

Lecture 59 Implement API routes

Lecture 60 Testing, building, and pushing the Docker images

Section 8: Managing Chart Dependencies

Lecture 61 Section introduction

Lecture 62 What are Subcharts?

Lecture 63 Bootstrap the Config Store Helm chart

Lecture 64 Add PostgreSQL subchart as chart dependency

Lecture 65 Passing values from parent to subchart

Lecture 66 Global values

Lecture 67 Including names templates from subchart in parent chart

Lecture 68 Conditionally enabling subcharts

Lecture 69 Integrate PostgreSQL into our Kubernetes resources

Section 9: Advanced Topics

Lecture 70 Section introduction

Lecture 71 Accessing files: Introduction

Lecture 72 Accessing files: Glob patterns

Lecture 73 Accessing files: ConfigMap and Secret utilities

Lecture 74 Chart hooks: Introduction

Lecture 75 Chart hooks: Working with hooks

Lecture 76 Chart hooks: Hook weights

Lecture 77 Chart hooks: Handling hook failures

Lecture 78 Chart hooks: Cluster cleanup

Lecture 79 Library charts

Lecture 80 Test hook: Introduction

Lecture 81 Test hook: Extract and decouple testing script

Lecture 82 Test hook: Update templates and Kubernetes resources

Lecture 83 Test hook: Add configuration values to values.yaml

Lecture 84 Helm plugins: Helm Dashboard

Lecture 85 Helm plugins: Helm Diff

Lecture 86 Helm plugins: Helm Unittest

Section 10: Conclusion

Lecture 87 Congratulations!

Developers, DevOps Engineers, System Administrators, and Operators looking to simplify and improve their Kubernetes workflows.,Anyone seeking to adopt best-in-class tooling and evolve their containerized environments.,Professionals responsible for maintaining and optimizing large-scale, containerized systems.,Those aiming to stand out in the DevOps and Cloud Native ecosystem by mastering in-demand tools like Helm.