Demo Helm Controller with Helm Repository as Source

In the previous lesson we covered Helm charts and how to deploy them in a Kubernetes cluster using Flux’s HelmRelease controller. In this lesson we’ll deploy a packaged Helm chart (.tgz) that is published in a Helm repository (hosted via GitHub Pages / Artifact Hub). We’ll use Flux’s source-controller Helm API to register the Helm repository and a HelmRelease to install the chart into the cluster. This demo uses a packaged Helm chart (block-buster-helm-app) published as a GitHub Release and indexed on Artifact Hub. The release contains the Helm artifact block-buster-helm-app-7.6.0.tgz and a sample values.yaml.

A dark‑theme GitHub releases page for the repository "sidd-harth/block-buster-helm-app" showing the 7.6.0 release. The page lists assets including a block-buster-helm-app-7.6.0.tgz and source code archives.

Artifact Hub lists the package entry (this version does not include a README in Artifact Hub):

A dark-themed ArtifactHUB package page screenshot showing the message "This package version does not provide a README file" and a bar chart of views over the last 30 days. The right sidebar shows chart version and a security report with vulnerability counts, and related packages are listed below.

You can install the chart locally with Helm for quick testing:

helm repo add block-buster-app https://sidd-harth.github.io/block-buster-helm-app/
helm install my-block-buster-helm-app block-buster-app/block-buster-helm-app --version 7.6.0

In this lesson we will instead register the Helm repository with Flux, create a HelmRelease that references that HelmRepository, and let Flux reconcile and install the chart.

Overview of the steps

Create a HelmRepository source in Flux.
Prepare a values.yaml (optional customization).
Create a HelmRelease that references the HelmRepository.
Inspect how Flux source-controller stores index and chart artifacts.
Verify the HelmRelease and the deployed resources.

1) Create a HelmRepository source in Flux

Register the Helm repository URL (the GitHub Pages URL shown on Artifact Hub) using a HelmRepository resource. You can either write the manifest directly or use the flux CLI to create/export it. Example HelmRepository manifest:

---
apiVersion: source.toolkit.fluxcd.io/v1beta2
kind: HelmRepository
metadata:
  name: 6-demo-source-helm-bb-app
  namespace: flux-system
spec:
  interval: 1m0s
  url: https://sidd-harth.github.io/block-buster-helm-app

Create/export with the flux CLI:

cd block-buster/flux-clusters/dev-cluster/

flux create source helm 6-demo-source-helm-bb-app \
  --url https://sidd-harth.github.io/block-buster-helm-app \
  --interval 1m0s \
  --timeout 10s \
  --export > 6-demo-source-helm-bb-app.yml

This registers the Helm repository as a Flux source. The source-controller will periodically fetch the repository index.yaml and store a local artifact.

2) Prepare a values file for the release

Create a values file (for example 6-demo-values.yml) to override chart defaults. This demo sets two replicas, uses NodePort service on port 30006, and injects labels and namespace configuration. Example 6-demo-values.yml:

replicaCount: 2

service:
  type: NodePort
  nodePort: 30006

namespace:
  name: 6-demo

labels:
  app:
    name: block-buster
    version: 7.6.0
    env: dev

Remember to save the values file before running the flux create helmrelease command that references it — otherwise the CLI export won’t include the values.

3) Create a HelmRelease that uses the HelmRepository source

Declare which chart and version to install, the target namespace, and the values file with a HelmRelease. You can create/export it with the flux CLI:

flux create helmrelease 6-demo-helm-release-bb-app \
  --chart block-buster-helm-app \
  --interval 10s \
  --target-namespace 6-demo \
  --source HelmRepository/6-demo-source-helm-bb-app \
  --values ../../../6-demo-values.yml \
  --export > 6-demo-helm-release-bb-app.yml

Example exported HelmRelease manifest:

---
apiVersion: helm.toolkit.fluxcd.io/v2beta1
kind: HelmRelease
metadata:
  name: 6-demo-helm-release-bb-app
  namespace: flux-system
spec:
  chart:
    spec:
      chart: block-buster-helm-app
      reconcileStrategy: ChartVersion
      sourceRef:
        kind: HelmRepository
        name: 6-demo-source-helm-bb-app
  interval: 10s
  targetNamespace: 6-demo
  values:
    labels:
      app:
        env: dev
        name: block-buster
        version: 7.6.0
    namespace:
      name: 6-demo
    replicaCount: 2
    service:
      nodePort: 30006
      type: NodePort

Apply both the HelmRepository and HelmRelease manifests to your cluster (commit to the Git repo Flux watches or apply directly with kubectl).

4) How Flux source-controller fetches Helm artifacts (explanation)

The HelmRepository resource tells source-controller to fetch the repository index.yaml from the Helm repo URL. The index.yaml maps chart names and versions to artifact URLs (for example, a GitHub Releases tarball URL).
The HelmRepository artifact stored by source-controller contains index metadata and the URLs, but not the expanded chart contents.
When a HelmRelease references a chart from that HelmRepository, the Helm controller creates a HelmChart reference and source-controller fetches the chart tarball (.tgz) and stores it as a HelmChart artifact. That tarball contains Chart.yaml, values.yaml, templates/, README, etc. — the actual chart contents that Helm will render.

Inspecting what source-controller stores:

Check the registered Flux Helm sources and readiness:

flux get sources helm
# sample output:
# NAME                            REVISION              SUSPENDED   READY   MESSAGE
# 6-demo-source-helm-bb-app       sha256:09c7427d       False       True    stored artifact: revision 'sha256:09c7427d'

Exec into the source-controller pod to inspect on-disk artifacts:

kubectl -n flux-system exec -it deployment/source-controller -- sh

# inside the container
cd /data/helmrepository/flux-system/6-demo-source-helm-bb-app
cat index.yaml

Sample trimmed index.yaml entry (shows the tarball URL):

apiVersion: v1
entries:
  block-buster-helm-app:
  - apiVersion: v2
    created: "2023-02-05T00:08:28.841396167+05:30"
    description: A Helm chart for Block Buster App
    digest: 2834bc26665ebfe199facd19fb0211565b003c8f2f0b13d77a9000c68abbe4f7
    name: block-buster-helm-app
    urls:
    - https://github.com/sidd-harth/block-buster-helm-app/releases/download/7.6.0/block-buster-helm-app-7.6.0.tgz
    version: 7.6.0

generated: "2023-02-05T00:08:28.840851262+05:30"

When the chart is fetched for the HelmRelease, the helmchart directory contains the downloaded artifact. You can list and inspect the tarball:

cd /data/helmchart/flux-system/flux-system-6-demo-helm-release-bb-app
ls -ltr
# latest.tar.gz -> .../block-buster-helm-app-7.6.0.tgz
tar -tf latest.tar.gz

Sample tar listing:

block-buster-helm-app/Chart.yaml
block-buster-helm-app/values.yaml
block-buster-helm-app/templates/NOTES.txt
block-buster-helm-app/templates/_helpers.tpl
block-buster-helm-app/templates/deployment.yaml
block-buster-helm-app/templates/namespace.yaml
block-buster-helm-app/templates/service.yaml
block-buster-helm-app/README.md

Summary of the difference:

Flux resource	What it stores	Purpose in this flow
`HelmRepository`	Helm repository index metadata (`index.yaml`) and chart URLs	Registers a remote Helm repo so Flux can discover charts
`HelmChart` (artifact created for a chart/version)	The downloaded chart package (`.tgz`) containing `Chart.yaml`, `values.yaml`, templates	The actual chart contents used by Helm to render templates
`HelmRelease`	Desired chart/version + values + reconcile strategy	Declares the intended release to be installed into the cluster

5) Verify the HelmRelease and deployed resources

After committing/applying the manifests, Flux will reconcile and install the release. Check HelmReleases:

flux get helmreleases
# sample output:
# NAME                                REVISION  SUSPENDED  READY  MESSAGE
# 6-demo-helm-release-bb-app          7.6.0     False      True   Release reconciliation succeeded

Verify the namespace and resources — the HelmRelease targeted targetNamespace: 6-demo, replicaCount=2, and nodePort=30006:

kubectl get namespaces
kubectl -n 6-demo get all
# sample output:
# NAME                                        READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
# pod/block-buster-helm-app-xxxxx             1/1     Running   0          5m
# pod/block-buster-helm-app-yyyyy             1/1     Running   0          5m
#
# NAME                        TYPE       CLUSTER-IP       EXTERNAL-IP   PORT(S)           AGE
# service/block-buster-helm-app NodePort   10.108.248.3    <none>        80:30006/TCP      5m
#
# NAME                                  READY   UP-TO-DATE   AVAILABLE   AGE
# deployment.apps/block-buster-helm-app 2/2     2            2           5m

Access the application in the browser at http://localhost:30006 (or the appropriate node IP and nodePort) to confirm the running app and version. The application UI (Block Buster demo) is accessible and interactive:

A colorful "BLOCK BUSTER" arcade-style Breakout screen showing rows of colored bricks, a paddle and a ball. The top panel displays pod/app info (Pod Name, Pod IP, Namespace, K8S Node, App Version) with level, score and lives, and a "START GAME" button at the bottom.

Using NodePort exposes the application on cluster nodes — ensure this is acceptable for your environment. For production, consider LoadBalancer services or an Ingress controller with authentication and TLS.

Summary

Registered a Helm repository in Flux using a HelmRepository source.
Prepared a values file and created a HelmRelease that points to the HelmRepository.
The source-controller fetched the repository index.yaml (which contains chart URLs). When the HelmRelease reconciled, Flux fetched the .tgz chart package and installed it into the cluster.
Deployed application version 7.6.0 is running in namespace 6-demo with two replicas and NodePort 30006.

Links and references

Flux CLI and docs: https://fluxcd.io/docs/flux-cli/
Flux source-controller: https://fluxcd.io/docs/components/source/
Flux Helm controller (HelmRelease): https://fluxcd.io/docs/components/helm/helmrelease/
Artifact Hub: https://artifacthub.io/
GitHub Releases: https://docs.github.com/en/repositories/releasing-projects-on-github/about-releases

That’s it for this lesson — deploying a packaged Helm chart from a Helm repository using Flux’s HelmRepository and HelmRelease.

GitOps Overview

Flux Overview

Source and Kustomize Controller

Helm Controller and OCI Registry

Image Automation Controller

Secret Management & Sign Verification

Notification Controller

Monitoring & User Interface

Demo Helm Controller with Helm Repository as Source

Overview of the steps

1) Create a HelmRepository source in Flux

2) Prepare a values file for the release

3) Create a HelmRelease that uses the HelmRepository source

4) How Flux source-controller fetches Helm artifacts (explanation)

5) Verify the HelmRelease and deployed resources

Summary

Links and references

Watch Video

Practice Lab

​Overview of the steps

​1) Create a HelmRepository source in Flux

​2) Prepare a values file for the release

​3) Create a HelmRelease that uses the HelmRepository source

​4) How Flux source-controller fetches Helm artifacts (explanation)

​5) Verify the HelmRelease and deployed resources

​Summary

​Links and references

Watch Video

Practice Lab

Overview of the steps

1) Create a HelmRepository source in Flux

2) Prepare a values file for the release

3) Create a HelmRelease that uses the HelmRepository source

4) How Flux source-controller fetches Helm artifacts (explanation)

5) Verify the HelmRelease and deployed resources

Summary

Links and references