Skip to main content
In this lesson we cover how to install Cilium using Helm: adding the chart repository, customizing the installation with a values file, applying any required CRDs, and verifying the deployed resources.
A blue-green gradient slide with the title "Installing Cilium With Helm" centered. A small "© Copyright KodeKloud" notice appears in the bottom-left corner.

​
Quick workflow

  1. Add the Cilium Helm repository to your local Helm configuration.
  2. (Optional) Dump and edit the chart defaults into a values.yaml to customize behavior.
  3. Ensure CRDs required by the chart are installed (some chart versions separate CRDs).
  4. Install the Cilium chart into the target namespace (create it or use —create-namespace).
  5. Inspect the rendered manifests and verify Kubernetes resources are running.

​
Prerequisites

  • Helm v3 installed and configured.
  • kubectl configured for the target cluster.
  • Sufficient cluster privileges (cluster-admin or equivalent) to create cluster-scoped resources and CRDs.

​
Add the Cilium Helm repository and prepare values

Run these commands to add the official Cilium chart repo and fetch the default values for editing:
  • Edit values.yaml to customize things like operator settings, IPAM mode, enabling Hubble, kube-proxy replacement, node init settings, or image overrides.
  • If you want the chart defaults, skip creating or editing values.yaml and install directly.

​
CRDs: important note

Some Cilium chart versions separate CRDs from the main chart. If the chart requires CRDs to be installed separately, apply the CRD manifests or install the cilium-crds chart before installing the main cilium chart. Helm’s automatic CRD handling can vary by chart version.
If the chart provides a cilium-crds chart or CRD manifests, install/apply them first. Example (if provided by the chart):

​
Install the Cilium chart

Install Cilium into the kube-system namespace (or your preferred namespace). Create the namespace first or use —create-namespace:
You can omit -f values.yaml to use the chart defaults.

​
Inspect the generated manifests and verify resources

To review what Helm rendered and applied:
To examine live Kubernetes resources created by the chart:

​
Common commands reference

You can skip creating a values.yaml to use all chart defaults, or generate and edit the values.yaml to apply non-default configuration changes before installing.
Ensure you have appropriate cluster permissions (cluster-admin or equivalent) when installing Cilium, since it creates cluster-wide resources and CRDs.

Watch Video