Helmister

This is a small bash utility which can help to install and uninstall multiple helm charts in one go. The idea is inspired by helmfile.

Motive

• In some of the air-gapped environments it is sometimes a bit difficult to use the tools/utilities available because moving things inside an air-gapped environment is a challenge.
• Some of the environments are so secure that one may need to follow a whole process of getting all the security clearances and approval before using a tool/utility, which is all together a nightmare.
• I chose bash, the reason being it is pretty common among engineers and it is easily understandable.
• The source code can be found here: https://github.com/sunnybhambhani/helmister
• You can copy it, and tweak it based on your requirements.

Dependencies

• yq (required)
• cowsay (optional)

Usage

$0 [OPTIONS] [ARGUMENTS - Optional]

Options

install

Install multiple helm charts in one go. Just need to have config.yaml file with what all charts needs to be installed. For more information around config.yaml, sample file is a part of base folder.

uninstall

Uninstall multiple helm charts in one go, this command too will consume the same config.yaml.

help

Display help.

Arguments

-f | --file

Helps you to mention explicit/specific config.yaml. If not provided it will consider the default one which is placed in the base folder.

Sample config.yaml

dry_run: false
create_namespace: true
wait: false
timeout: false # If true, defaults to 20 mins
charts:
  - release_name: nginx
    chart_name: nginx
    chart_repo: oci://registry-1.docker.io/bitnamicharts
    values_file: values/nginx-values.yaml
  - release_name: argocd
    chart_name: argo-cd
    chart_repo: https://argoproj.github.io/argo-helm
    values_file: values/argo-cd.yaml
    version: 6.4.0
    namespace: argo-cd

Note

• Charts is an array, it can contain as many releases as you want.
• It also support both oci:// and https:// registries.
• All the key value pairs under charts are mandatory except version and namespace,
  • If not provided it will consider latest chart and default namespace respectively.
• You can mention explicit/specific config.yaml as well using -f | --file flag.
  • If not provided it will consider the default one which is placed in the base folder.
  • If config.yaml is placed in /tmp directory, it might not work correctly. Ref: mikefarah/yq#1305.
• Initial messages are printed using cowsay (It is not necessary though if required, get this installed using apt/yum/brew/dpkg based on your distribution).

Example

$ ./helmister install -f /opt/app/config-dev.yaml

Timeline

• Version 1.0.0 was released on April 7, 2024.
• Version 1.0.1 was released on August 15, 2024.
  • Fixed issue #1, allowing users to specify a custom path for config.yaml.
  • Log entry: [2024-08-15 12:30:06] [INFO] Generic/common values based on /home/sunny/config.yaml file.