Helm 3.8: Chart Management and OCI Registry
K8s Guru
2 min read
Table of Contents
Introduction
Helm 3.8 — Chart Management and OCI Registry — was released on September 28, 2021.
Developer tooling matters when it shortens the feedback loop: faster troubleshooting, clearer visibility, fewer context switches.
In this release: Helm 3.8 delivers OCI registry GA support, improved chart security, and enhanced dependency management for Kubernetes package management.
OCI Registry GA
- OCI registry support graduates to stable, enabling charts to be stored and distributed like container images.
- Chart provenance provides cryptographic verification of chart authenticity and integrity.
- Registry authentication improvements simplify credential management for private registries.
- Chart caching optimizations reduce download times and bandwidth usage.
Security Enhancements
- Chart signing enables cryptographic signing of charts for supply chain security.
- Vulnerability scanning integration provides automated security scanning of chart dependencies.
- RBAC improvements enable fine-grained access control for chart repositories.
- Secret management enhancements simplify handling of sensitive chart values.
Dependency Management
- Dependency resolution improvements provide better handling of complex chart dependency graphs.
- Version constraints enable more flexible version requirements for chart dependencies.
- Dependency updates simplify upgrading dependencies across chart versions.
- Lock file support ensures reproducible deployments with pinned dependency versions.
Performance & Reliability
- Chart installation optimizations reduce time required for deploying complex charts.
- Upgrade reliability improvements ensure smooth upgrades with better rollback capabilities.
- Error handling enhancements provide clearer error messages and recovery guidance.
- Resource management optimizations reduce memory usage during chart operations.
Getting Started
helm repo add stable https://charts.helm.sh/stable
helm install my-release stable/nginx
Use OCI registry:
helm chart save ./my-chart myregistry.com/charts/my-chart:1.0.0
helm chart push myregistry.com/charts/my-chart:1.0.0
Summary
| Aspect | Details |
|---|---|
| Release Date | September 28, 2021 |
| Headline Features | OCI registry GA, security enhancements, improved dependency management |
| Why it Matters | Modernizes chart distribution and security while improving package management workflows |
Helm 3.8 continues to evolve as the standard for Kubernetes package management, providing teams with secure, efficient chart distribution and management.