Helm Integration¶

• ArgoCD natively supports deploying Helm charts as Applications.
• You can override values inline, reference multiple value files, and use post-renderers for additional customization.
• ArgoCD tracks the Helm chart version in Git, not just the rendered manifests.

What will we learn?¶

• How to create an ArgoCD Application from a Helm chart
• How to override Helm values in the Application spec
• How to reference multiple value files per environment
• How to use a Helm post-renderer
• How ArgoCD and Helm lifecycle interact

Prerequisites¶

• Complete Lab 003

01. Deploy a Helm Chart via ArgoCD CLI¶

# Deploy the nginx Helm chart from Bitnami
argocd app create nginx-helm \
  --repo https://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami \
  --helm-chart nginx \
  --revision 15.0.0 \
  --dest-server https://kubernetes.default.svc \
  --dest-namespace nginx-helm \
  --helm-set replicaCount=2 \
  --helm-set service.type=ClusterIP \
  --sync-option CreateNamespace=true

argocd app sync nginx-helm
argocd app wait nginx-helm --health --timeout 180

02. Helm Chart Application via YAML¶

apiVersion: argoproj.io/v1alpha1
kind: Application
metadata:
  name: nginx-helm-yaml
  namespace: argocd
spec:
  project: default
  source:
    repoURL: https://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami
    chart: nginx
    targetRevision: 15.0.0
    helm:
      releaseName: nginx-helm-yaml
      values: |
        replicaCount: 2
        service:
          type: ClusterIP
        resources:
          requests:
            cpu: 100m
            memory: 128Mi
  destination:
    server: https://kubernetes.default.svc
    namespace: nginx-helm-yaml
  syncPolicy:
    syncOptions:
      - CreateNamespace=true

03. Multiple Value Files¶

Reference environment-specific value files from a Git repository:

spec:
  source:
    repoURL: https://github.com/your-org/helm-values.git
    targetRevision: HEAD
    path: charts/nginx
    helm:
      releaseName: nginx
      valueFiles:
        - values.yaml # Base values
        - values-production.yaml # Production overrides

04. Inline Value Overrides¶

Mix valueFiles with inline values overrides:

argocd app set nginx-helm \
  --helm-set replicaCount=3 \
  --helm-set-string image.tag=latest

# Show rendered Helm templates without applying
argocd app manifests nginx-helm

05. Inspect Rendered Manifests¶

# Show what ArgoCD will deploy (rendered Helm templates)
argocd app manifests nginx-helm

# Show diff between rendered and live
argocd app diff nginx-helm

# List Helm release info
kubectl get secret -n nginx-helm -l "owner=helm"

06. Helm Post-Renderer¶

A post-renderer is a binary that transforms Helm output before applying to the cluster. In ArgoCD, this is typically done via Kustomize (Lab 010) layered on top of a Helm chart.

spec:
  source:
    repoURL: https://github.com/your-org/apps.git
    path: nginx-with-kustomize
    helm:
      releaseName: nginx
    # Kustomize post-renderer is enabled by having a kustomization.yaml
    # in the same path alongside the Helm chart

07. Hands-on¶

1. Create an ArgoCD Application using the Bitnami nginx Helm chart with replicaCount=2:

??? success “Solution”

argocd app create nginx-helm \
  --repo https://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami \
  --helm-chart nginx \
  --revision 15.0.0 \
  --dest-server https://kubernetes.default.svc \
  --dest-namespace nginx-helm \
  --helm-set replicaCount=2 \
  --helm-set service.type=ClusterIP \
  --sync-option CreateNamespace=true
argocd app sync nginx-helm
argocd app wait nginx-helm --health --timeout 180

1. Update the replicaCount to 3 using argocd app set --helm-set and verify the deployment scales:

??? success “Solution”

argocd app set nginx-helm --helm-set replicaCount=3
argocd app sync nginx-helm
kubectl get deployment -n nginx-helm
# Should show 3/3 replicas

1. Print the rendered Helm manifests for the nginx-helm application:

??? success “Solution”

argocd app manifests nginx-helm

08. Summary¶

• ArgoCD treats Helm charts as a source type - specify chart and targetRevision instead of path
• helm.values in the Application spec allows inline value overrides without modifying the chart
• helm.valueFiles references value files inside a Git repository - ideal for per-environment customization
• argocd app manifests <name> shows the rendered Kubernetes manifests ArgoCD would apply
• ArgoCD does not use helm install directly - it renders the templates and applies them with kubectl apply