Save helm chart state to yaml

[kozikow]

I wrote a HN comment about this feature request (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13716835), but I realized maybe bug would be better.
I personally would find it useful if helm would provide way of saving the template to yaml. E.g. only install helm "locally", but when deploying to prod just use plain yaml files based on config created via helm.

Why I would want it:

• Easier to do minor tweaks on top of the helm config, if variables exported by helm do not support it
• I find it elegant that all state required to restore state of the cluster are in yaml files. Helm require installation of apps for each cluster
• IIUC if app installed via helm changes between I install it on local cluster and prod cluster I may end up with different versions of the app

I know I can do "kubectl get pod/my-pod -o yaml". Firstly, I would have to figure our which variables are permanent (state variable like "nodeName" are mixed with permanent variables like "restartPolicy"). Secondly, I would also have to figure out all k8s objects that were created by helm.

[technosophos]

The helm-template plugin does this. We're talking about rolling that feature into Helm.

Importantly, though, rendering templates client-side has disadvantages. Helm charts often have logic that is dependent on the cluster itself ({{.Capabilities}} objects, {{.Release.IsInstalled}}, PV setup, and naming). Rendering these client-side will produce lower-fidelity results.

[technosophos]

@kozikow Can you verify for me that this issue is basically what you'd like to see in Helm core? #1887

[jascott1]

@kozikow Closing due to inactivity. Please re-open if the helm-template solution does not solve your issue.