Kubernetes Mastery

Develop and Deploy Cloud Native Applications at Scale

Helm Package Manager

At 22:18 of the next video, I mention the MongoDB Helm chart installation works on Windows but not Mac due to ARM64 compatibility. However, Bitnami has since moved their images behind a paywall, so now both Windows and Mac users will encounter the same ImagePullBackOff error when trying to deploy MongoDB. Don't worry - this just means Windows users will also need to follow the full video to fix the image issue, just like Mac users always had to. The premise is the same: when the Bitnami image doesn't work, we replace it with another image. This will make more sense as you watch the solution unfold.

If you didn't understand what I just said, that's fine - the take-home message is: watch the full video to learn to install Helm charts and modify them for a fix.

Key Takeaways

Helm serves as a powerful package manager for Kubernetes, simplifying the deployment of complex software like Elasticsearch, MongoDB, MySQL, and Redis.

Process of Deploying Complex Software with Helm

  1. Add Helm Repository: helm repo add bitnami https://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami

    This adds the Bitnami repository, which hosts many popular software charts.

  2. Update Helm Repositories: helm repo update

    Ensures you have the latest chart versions available.

  3. Search for Available Charts: helm search repo bitnami/mongodb

    Find the chart you need and check its available versions.

  4. Research Default Values:

    • Examine the default values.yaml file in the chart's documentation.
    • Understand which values you need to modify for your use case.

  5. Create Custom Values File:

    • Create a file, e.g., my-mongodb-values.yaml, with your custom settings.
    • Only include values that differ from the defaults.

  6. Install the Chart with Custom Values: helm install my-mongodb bitnami/mongodb -f my-mongodb-values.yaml

    This command installs MongoDB, applying your custom configuration on top of the default values. Only the fields specified in my-mongodb-values.yaml will override the corresponding default values, while all other settings remain at their default.

Research Before Deployment

Thoroughly read the chart's documentation, and understand the implications of changing default values.

Conclusion

By leveraging Helm as a package manager, you can significantly simplify the deployment and management of complex software in Kubernetes environments, allowing you to focus more on your application and less on the intricacies of Kubernetes configurations.