Action | Command to Run |
To list your releases | helm list |
To install a Release | helm install [release] [chart] |
Upgrade a Release revision | helm upgrade [release] [chart] |
Rollback to a Release revision | helm rollback [release] [revision] |
Display Release history | helm history [release] |
Display Release status | helm status [release] |
Display details of a Release | helm get all [release] |
Uninstall a Release | helm uninstall [release] |
Display the manifest of the release | helm get manifest [release] |
I’ve added some examples below with context.
Couple of things to remember:-
What is a Chart?
A chart is the definition of your application.
What is a helm release?
A release is when you deploy your application using helm and it creates an instance of your chart running in the k8s cluster.
What is a Release revision?
A revision is when you make an update to one or more of your templates and redeploy it to the existing instance of your application. This is not a new release, it’s just a revision of your existing Release. If you were to add additional templates, this would not be a Release revision. This would be considered a Chart version change.
When do I change the Chart version ?
Carrying on from the previous question about a Release revision. Just updating an existing template with a change would not require you to change the Chart Version, it would only be a revision of the existing chart. However, if you needed to add a volume to the templates, or an additional service, etc.. then that would trigger you to change the Chart version.
Examples
Helm list – show all deployed charts
Command and Example: Helm list

Helm install – install a chart
Command: helm install release chart
Example: helm install derek run-test

To help understand this one. The release is the name you give it so in this case I called the release derek and the chart I’m deploying is called run-test, so that means the folder the chart is in is called run-tests. This is a little application I run to… yep, you guessed it, it runs tests!
Helm upgrade – upgrades/updates an existing deploy chart
Command: helm upgrade release chart
Example: helm upgrade derek run-tests

I’ve added an additional configmap to the chart and then upgraded to that revision. You can see that the revision number has increased.
Helm history – shows you the history of the release
Command: helm history release
Example: helm history derek

Helm status – shows the release status
Command: helm status release
Example: helm status derek

Helm get all – shows all the information for the release
Command: helm get all release
Example: helm get all derek

Helm uninstall – removes the release from the cluster
Command: helm uninstall release
Example: helm uninstall derek

and the release is removed.
Helm get manifest – gets the manifest that has been deployed.
Command: helm get manifest release
Example: helm get manifest derek

This command will show you the deployment with all the templates displayed.