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Understanding <strong>helm</strong> - Working with <strong>helm</strong> charts | Building applications | OKD 5
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Understanding helm

helm is a software package manager that simplifies deployment of applications and services to OKD clusters.

helm uses a packaging format called charts. A helm chart is a collection of files that describes the OKD resources.

Installing a chart in a cluster creates a running instance of the chart, called a release.

Each time you install a chart, or upgrade or roll back a release, helm creates a revision of the release.

OKD supports the following ways to work with helm:

  • The helm CLI, a Red Hat build of the helm command-line tool that you install on your workstation.

  • The web console, where you can browse, install, and manage helm charts and releases from your web browser.

Key features

With helm, you can:

  • Search for charts in chart repositories.

  • Install a chart to create a release.

  • Upgrade a release, roll it back to an earlier revision, or delete it.

  • Create your own charts with OKD or Kubernetes resources, and package and share them.

Red Hat Certification of helm charts for OpenShift

You can have Red Hat certify your helm charts for all components you deploy on OKD. Charts go through an automated Red Hat OpenShift certification workflow that checks security compliance and integration with the platform. Certification assures chart integrity and confirms that your helm chart works on Red Hat OpenShift clusters.

Additional resources