What is a Helm Subchart and How to Use It

What is a Helm Subchart and How to Use It When you start using Helm to manage applications in Kubernetes, you’ll quickly discover that not everything should live in a single chart. Sometimes, an application depends on other components — like a database, cache, or monitoring tool. This is where subcharts come into play. What is a Subchart? A subchart is simply another Helm chart that lives inside the charts/ directory of your main chart. It’s a way to define dependencies. For example, your app may need Redis. Instead of reinventing the wheel, you include the Redis Helm chart as a subchart. ...

October 2, 2025 · 2 min · 289 words · John Cena

Helm Error: UPGRADE FAILED - Another Operation in Progress

Helm Error: UPGRADE FAILED - Another Operation in Progress When working with Helm in Kubernetes, you might encounter the following error: Error: UPGRADE FAILED: another operation (install/upgrade/rollback) is in progress This usually happens when a Helm release is already in the middle of an action, but another upgrade or rollback is triggered. Common Pending States Helm releases can get stuck in several states: pending-install — Helm started installing, but something went wrong before it finished. pending-upgrade — Helm tried to upgrade, but the process didn’t complete. pending-rollback — A rollback started but got stuck in the middle. These states prevent you from running another helm upgrade or helm rollback. ...

September 26, 2025 · 2 min · 258 words · John Cena

Helm vs Kustomize: Which One Should You Choose?

Helm vs Kustomize: Which One Should You Choose? When deploying applications in Kubernetes, two of the most popular tools for managing configuration are Helm and Kustomize. Both aim to make deploying manifests more manageable, but they follow different philosophies and offer distinct features. Table of Contents What is Helm? What is Kustomize? Key Differences Pros and Cons Use Cases and Recommendations Example Configurations Conclusion 1. What is Helm? Helm is a package manager for Kubernetes. It lets you define, install, and upgrade even the most complex Kubernetes applications using Helm charts. ...

August 19, 2025 · 2 min · 322 words · John Cena

What is Helm in Kubernetes and How to Use It?

Introduction: What is Helm? Imagine if you had a package manager for Kubernetes, just like apt or yum for Linux. That’s Helm. Helm helps you manage Kubernetes applications — think of it as the Yum/Apt for Kubernetes. With Helm, you don’t have to manually write all the YAML manifests. Instead, you use or create a Chart (a packaged app), and Helm will take care of the rest. Why Use Helm? 💡 Simplifies complex deployments ⚙️ Helps manage versions and rollbacks 🔁 Enables reproducible builds and upgrades 📦 Reuses templates to avoid duplication How Helm Works Helm uses: ...

June 16, 2025 · 2 min · 302 words · John Cena