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In this demo, you’ll learn how to package a Helm chart from your project and publish it to the GitHub Container Registry (GHCR) using the OCI protocol. We’ll cover everything from exploring the directory layout to pulling the chart artifact.

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Inspect the Project Structure

Open your project in Visual Studio Code on the 7-demo branch. In the Explorer pane, you’ll find a 7.7.1 directory containing your Helm chart sources alongside your application code:
The image shows a Visual Studio Code interface with a file explorer on the left and a terminal at the bottom, displaying a command prompt in a directory named "7-demo".
$ tree 7.7.1
7.7.1
└── helm-chart
    ├── Chart.yaml
    ├── values.yaml
    └── templates
        ├── NOTES.txt
        ├── _helpers.tpl
        ├── deployment.yaml
        └── service.yaml

$ tree src
src
├── Dockerfile
├── highscore.php
└── images
    ├── level1.png
    └── level2.png

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Prerequisite: Install Helm v3.11.2+

Make sure you have Helm version 3.11.2 or later: 
$ helm version
version.BuildInfo{Version:"v3.11.2", GitCommit:"...", GitTreeState:"clean", GoVersion:"go1.18.10"}
If you see warnings about your kubeconfig file being group- or world-readable, consider tightening permissions:
chmod 600 ~/.kube/config

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Step 1: Package the Helm Chart

Run the following command in your project root. This generates a compressed chart archive (.tgz): 
$ helm package 7.7.1/helm-chart/
Successfully packaged chart and saved it to: block-buster-helm-app-7.7.1.tgz

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Step 2: Authenticate to GHCR

Log in to the GitHub Container Registry using your GitHub username and a Personal Access Token: 
$ helm registry login ghcr.io --username YOUR_GITHUB_USERNAME
Password: <YOUR_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN>
Login Succeeded
Your token should have the read:packages and write:packages scopes to push and pull images.

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Step 3: Push the Chart to the OCI Repository

Push the packaged chart to your GHCR repository under your namespace: 
$ helm push block-buster-helm-app-7.7.1.tgz oci://ghcr.io/YOUR_GITHUB_USERNAME/bb-app
Pushed: ghcr.io/YOUR_GITHUB_USERNAME/bb-app:7.7.1
Digest: sha256:87b78637863479fa843cd7c2951911285eacd089ff10e6a

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Step 4: Verify the Package in GitHub

  1. Go to your GitHub repository.
  2. Click on Packages in the sidebar.
  3. You should see block-buster-helm-app with version 7.7.1 listed.

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Step 5: Pull the OCI Artifact

Retrieve the chart archive using Docker or any OCI-compliant client: 
$ docker pull ghcr.io/YOUR_GITHUB_USERNAME/bb-app:7.7.1

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Summary of Commands

StepCommandDescription
Verify Helm versionhelm versionCheck installed Helm version
Package charthelm package <chart-path>Create a .tgz archive
Authenticate to GHCRhelm registry login ghcr.io --username <user>Log in with GitHub credentials
Push charthelm push <archive>.tgz oci://ghcr.io/<user>/<repo>Upload chart to OCI registry
Pull chartdocker pull ghcr.io/<user>/<repo>:<version>Download chart artifact

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