Helm 3.3: OCI-Powered Charts and Safer Releases

Introduction

Helm 3.3, released on August 13, 2020, keeps the momentum after Helm 3 GA. OCI registry support, atomic install flags, and repo deprecation guidance reshape how teams package and ship Kubernetes applications.

OCI Registry Support (Experimental)

• helm registry login and helm chart push let teams publish charts to Docker-compatible registries like Harbor, ECR, and GCR.
• OCI artifacts include provenance metadata, making supply chain verification simpler.
• Chart pulling respects registry authentication and caching, aligning charts with container workflows.

Safer Deployments

1. --atomic flag now applies to helm install and helm upgrade, rolling back automatically on failure.
2. --timeout defaults improved accuracy, preventing hung releases during slow hooks.
3. Release histories gain revision digests, helping auditors verify which chart rendered a given release.

Repository Modernization

• The project officially deprecates the stable/ and incubator/ repos, encouraging teams to host curated charts elsewhere.
• helm repo add emits warnings with links to the Artifact Hub directory for discovery.
• New helm search hub command surfaces both official and community charts with metadata.

Getting Started

helm registry login ghcr.io -u USERNAME
helm chart save ./charts/api ghcr.io/org/api-chart:1.2.0
helm chart push ghcr.io/org/api-chart:1.2.0

Install with atomic safety:

helm upgrade --install api ghcr.io/org/api-chart:1.2.0 --atomic --wait

Summary

Helm 3.3 helps platform teams standardize chart distribution, reducing friction between app developers and release engineers.