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Configuring custom Helm chart repositories

You can install Helm charts on an OKD cluster using the following methods:

  • The CLI.

  • The Developer perspective of the web console.

The Developer Catalog, in the Developer perspective of the web console, displays the Helm charts available in the cluster. By default, it lists the Helm charts from the Red Hat OpenShift Helm chart repository. For a list of the charts, see the Red Hat Helm index file.

As a cluster administrator, you can add multiple Helm chart repositories, apart from the default one, and display the Helm charts from these repositories in the Developer Catalog.

Installing a Helm chart on an OKD cluster

Prerequisites

  • You have a running OKD cluster and you have logged into it.

  • You have installed Helm.

Procedure

  1. Create a new project:

    $ oc new-project mysql

  2. Add a repository of Helm charts to your local Helm client:

    $ helm repo add stable https://kubernetes-charts.storage.googleapis.com/
    Example output
    "stable" has been added to your repositories

  3. Update the repository:

    $ helm repo update

  4. Install an example MySQL chart:

    $ helm install example-mysql stable/mysql

  5. Verify that the chart has installed successfully:

    $ helm list
    Example output
    NAME NAMESPACE REVISION UPDATED STATUS CHART APP VERSION
example-mysql mysql 1 2019-12-05 15:06:51.379134163 -0500 EST deployed mysql-1.5.0 5.7.27

Installing Helm charts using the Developer perspective

You can use either the Developer perspective in the web console or the CLI to select and install a chart from the Helm charts listed in the Developer Catalog. You can create Helm releases by installing Helm charts and see them in the Developer perspective of the web console.

Prerequisites
Procedure

To create Helm releases from the Helm charts provided in the Developer Catalog:

  1. In the Developer perspective, navigate to the +Add view and select a project. Then click Helm Chart option to see all the Helm Charts in the Developer Catalog.

  2. Select a chart and read the description, README, and other details about the chart.

  3. Click Install Helm Chart.

    odc helm chart devcatalog
    Figure 1. Helm charts in developer catalog

  4. In the Install Helm Chart page:

    1. Enter a unique name for the release in the Release Name field.

    2. Select the required chart version from the Chart Version drop-down list.

    3. Configure your Helm chart by using the Form View or the YAML View.

      Where available, you can switch between the YAML View and Form View. The data is persisted when switching between the views.

    4. Click Install to create a Helm release. You will be redirected to the Topology view where the release is displayed. If the Helm chart has release notes, the chart is pre-selected and the right panel displays the release notes for that release.

You can upgrade, rollback, or uninstall a Helm release by using the Actions button on the side panel or by right-clicking a Helm release.

Using Helm in the web terminal

You can use Helm by initializing the web terminal in the Developer perspective of the web console. For more information, see Using the web terminal.

Creating a custom Helm chart on OKD

Procedure

  1. Create a new project:

    $ oc new-project nodejs-ex-k

  2. Download an example Node.js chart that contains OKD objects:

    $ git clone https://github.com/redhat-developer/redhat-helm-charts

  3. Go to the directory with the sample chart:

    $ cd redhat-helm-charts/alpha/nodejs-ex-k/

  4. Edit the Chart.yaml file and add a description of your chart:

    apiVersion: v2 (1)
name: nodejs-ex-k (2)
description: A Helm chart for OpenShift (3)
icon: https://static.redhat.com/libs/redhat/brand-assets/latest/corp/logo.svg (4)
    1 The chart API version. It should be v2 for Helm charts that require at least Helm 3.
    2 The name of your chart.
    3 The description of your chart.
    4 The URL to an image to be used as an icon.

  5. Verify that the chart is formatted properly:

    $ helm lint
    Example output
    [INFO] Chart.yaml: icon is recommended

1 chart(s) linted, 0 chart(s) failed

  6. Navigate to the previous directory level:

    $ cd ..

  7. Install the chart:

    $ helm install nodejs-chart nodejs-ex-k

  8. Verify that the chart has installed successfully:

    $ helm list
    Example output
    NAME NAMESPACE REVISION UPDATED STATUS CHART APP VERSION
nodejs-chart nodejs-ex-k 1 2019-12-05 15:06:51.379134163 -0500 EST deployed nodejs-0.1.0  1.16.0

Adding custom Helm chart repositories

As a cluster administrator, you can add custom Helm chart repositories to your cluster and enable access to the Helm charts from these repositories in the Developer Catalog.

Procedure

  1. To add a new Helm Chart Repository, you must add the Helm Chart Repository custom resource (CR) to your cluster.

    Sample Helm Chart Repository CR
    apiVersion: helm.openshift.io/v1beta1
kind: HelmChartRepository
metadata:
  name: <name>
spec:
 # optional name that might be used by console
 # name: <chart-display-name>
  connectionConfig:
    url: <helm-chart-repository-url>

    For example, to add an Azure sample chart repository, run:

    $ cat <<EOF | oc apply -f -
apiVersion: helm.openshift.io/v1beta1
kind: HelmChartRepository
metadata:
  name: azure-sample-repo
spec:
  name: azure-sample-repo
  connectionConfig:
    url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Azure-Samples/helm-charts/master/docs
EOF

  2. Navigate to the Developer Catalog in the web console to verify that the Helm charts from the chart repository are displayed.

    For example, use the Chart repositories filter to search for a Helm chart from the repository.