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Room 42

HELM CHARTS

The Package Forge

  • Helm is the package manager for Kubernetes. Charts are templates for deploying complex apps.
  • Install a chart, inspect its templates, and find the password.

📜 Mission Briefing

  1. Add the bitnami repo: helm repo add bitnami https://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami.
  2. Search for charts: helm search repo nginx.
  3. Install nginx: helm install my-nginx bitnami/nginx --set service.type=ClusterIP.
  4. List releases: helm list.
  5. Get the release notes: helm get notes my-nginx.
  6. The chart’s values contain an escape annotation. Use helm get values my-nginx or check the deployed ConfigMap.
  7. Create your own chart: helm create escape-chart. Inspect the templates.
  8. The password is helmchar.
Key Commands
Command Purpose
helm repo add NAME URL Add chart repo
helm search repo TERM Search for charts
helm install RELEASE CHART Install a chart
helm upgrade RELEASE CHART Upgrade release
helm rollback RELEASE REVISION Rollback
helm list List installed releases
helm uninstall RELEASE Remove release
helm create NAME Scaffold a new chart
helm template CHART Render templates locally
How Helm Works
# Helm architecture:
# Chart:   Package of K8s manifests + templates
# Release: Installed instance of a chart
# Values:  Configuration parameters (values.yaml)

# Repo management
helm repo add bitnami https://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami
helm repo update
helm search repo nginx

# Install with custom values
helm install my-app bitnami/nginx \
  --set replicaCount=3 \
  --set service.type=ClusterIP \
  --namespace web --create-namespace

# Install with values file
helm install my-app bitnami/nginx -f custom-values.yaml

# Upgrade
helm upgrade my-app bitnami/nginx --set replicaCount=5

# Rollback
helm history my-app
helm rollback my-app 1

# Create your own chart
helm create my-chart
# my-chart/
#   Chart.yaml          # Chart metadata
#   values.yaml         # Default values
#   templates/          # K8s manifest templates
#     deployment.yaml
#     service.yaml
#     _helpers.tpl      # Template helpers
#   charts/             # Dependencies

# Template rendering
helm template my-chart ./my-chart
helm template my-chart ./my-chart --set key=value
Hints

Hint 1

helm repo add bitnami https://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami
helm install my-nginx bitnami/nginx --set service.type=ClusterIP

Hint 2

Create and explore a chart: 

helm create escape-chart
ls escape-chart/templates/

Hint 3

The password is helmchar.

🔓 Unlock Room 43

openssl enc -aes-256-cbc -d -a -pbkdf2 \
        -in ../room_43/README -out ../room_43/README.txt -pass pass:PASSWORD
cat ../room_43/README.txt