Installation and configuration

In this lesson, we provide an overview of installing Helm, the package manager for Kubernetes. Helm simplifies the deployment and management of applications on Kubernetes. Before you begin, ensure that you have a fully functional Kubernetes cluster and that the kubectl command-line tool is properly configured on your local machine. Also, verify that your kubeconfig file contains the correct credentials to interact with your Kubernetes cluster.

Helm is compatible with Linux, Windows, and macOS. This guide focuses on installing Helm on Linux systems.

Installing Helm on Linux

Using Snap

If your Linux system supports Snap, you can install Helm using the following command:

sudo snap install helm --classic

The --classic flag allows Helm to access necessary files (like your kubeconfig) by relaxing sandbox restrictions.

For apt-based Systems (Debian/Ubuntu)

Follow these steps to add the Helm repository and install Helm on systems that use apt:

1. Add the Helm GPG key:

   curl https://baltocdn.com/helm/signing.asc | sudo apt-key add -
   

2. Install HTTPS support for apt:

   sudo apt-get install apt-transport-https --yes
   

3. Add the Helm repository:

   echo "deb https://baltocdn.com/helm/stable/debian/ all main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/helm-stable-debian.list
   

4. Update the package index:

   sudo apt-get update
   

5. Install Helm:

   sudo apt-get install helm
   

For PKG-Supported Systems

If your system uses the PKG package manager, install Helm with this command:

pkg install helm

Now it's time to practice installing Helm in your lab environment. For additional details, visit the Helm documentation.