Helm – The Kubernetes package manager hands-on course

Master Helm charts, templates, functions, repos, plugins and advance your Kubernetes DevOps career!

What you’ll learn:
Helm deployment on Kubernetes using minikube
Using Helm repositories to automate popular application deployments
Creating your own Helm charts and repositories
Learn how to safely rollback failed deployments using Helm
Integrate Helm with popular CI/CD tools like Jenkins, Github actions, and Bitbucket pipelines
Develop powerful Helm templates using the Go template engine
Use Helm plugins to automate complex tasks
Build your own Helm plugins for your very specific needs

Requirements
Administrative access to a Kubernetes cluster (we use minikube in the labs)
Basic knowledge of Kubernetes and kubectl commands
Familiarity with Linux and the shell
Familiarity with Docker basic commands
Basic understanding of the YAML format
Watch the course content on a laptop and practice the commands with me

Description
Helm is a tool used to package Kubernetes manifest files that are used to install a cloud native application. Deployments, Services, Ingresses, ConfigMaps, etc. are all packed into a Helm chart. Using this Helm chart, you can deploy the app to a Kubernetes cluster the same way you use apt-get in Ubuntu, or brew on a macOS.

After completing this course, you will have a working knowledge of Helm. You’ll be able not only to use ready-made Helm Charts to automate day-to-day deployments, but you’ll also automate the most complex Kubernetes deployments and contribute them to the community.

I’ve designed this course to focus on the important parts of Helm. I did my best not to bother you with boring material that you’d seldom use in your day-to-day life as a Helm and Kubernetes engineer. Instead, I give you the core stuff of the tool together with some tips and tricks that will let you code Helm charts like a pro in no time!

To get the most out of this course, I highly encourage you to open your laptop and do the labs that I explain in the class. There’s nothing better than getting your hands dirty learning a new tool or technology. That way, by the end of this course, you’ll find yourself already developing, applying, maintaining, and even sharing your very own Helm charts.

The best way to learn any tool is by using it! In this course, we’ll work together to deploy ready-made Helm charts to Kubernetes using Helm. After mastering that, we’ll start analyzing Helm chart bit by bit. Along the way, you’ll learn the following:

Understand why we need a package manager for Kubernetes

Deploying Helm to minikube (local Kubernetes cluster)

Understanding Helm repositories

Adding one or more Helm repositories to your system

Searching the Helm repository for your desired Chart

Using Helm to deploy ready-made Charts from popular repositories

Inspecting a Helm Chart deployment

Upgrading a Helm deployment and viewing its history

Customizing the Helm Chart to your own needs by modifying the values file

How (and when) to create your own Helm Charts

Understanding Helm Templates

Testing your Helm templates without applying them using the dry-run flag.

Revisiting Helm history by upgrading and rolling back package deployments

Using Helm functions (include, indent, nindent, toYaml, b64enc, and more)

Decision making using conditional and logical statements (IF, NOT, AND, OR)

Loop through simple and complex objects using the “range” keyword

Deep diving into Helm variables

Debugging your Helm charts

Creating your own Helm repositories and pushing Charts

Deploying even more complex Kubernetes environments using Helm Chart dependencies

Learning about popular community-based Helm projects like Chartmuseum

Extending Helm by building your own repositories

Exploring different Helm plugins to automate repetitive tasks and store charts in the cloud

Build your own Helm plugins and use custom commands and protocols

Configure Helm to create your own specific boilerplate charts using Helm starters

Who this course is for
Aspiring DevOps students who want to add Helm to their tool sets
Ops staff who need to speed up and control complex Kubernetes deployments
Developers who are tasked with deploying their apps to Kubernetes and need to automate the process
Kubernetes students who want to get hands-on experience with Helm
IT managers who need to assess the value of Helm as a tool to be adopted in their teams