Helm 3.13: Chart Management and Security Enhancements

Introduction

Helm 3.13, released on November 5, 2024, advances Kubernetes package management with improved chart management, enhanced security features, better OCI support, and expanded integration capabilities. This release makes Helm more powerful and secure for managing Kubernetes applications.

Chart Management

• Chart repository improvements provide better management of chart repositories.
• Chart dependencies enhancements enable better handling of chart dependencies.
• Chart versioning improvements enable better management of chart versions.
• Chart testing enhancements provide better validation of charts.

Security Features

1. Chart signing improvements provide better verification of chart integrity.
2. OCI registry support enables secure chart distribution through OCI registries.
3. RBAC enhancements provide better access control for chart operations.
4. Audit logging tracks all chart operations for compliance.

OCI Support

• OCI artifact support enables distribution of charts through OCI registries.
• Helm OCI improvements provide better integration with OCI registries.
• Authentication enhancements enable secure access to OCI registries.
• Pulling improvements enable efficient chart pulling from OCI registries.

Integration Capabilities

• Kubernetes integration improvements provide seamless integration with Kubernetes.
• CI/CD integration enables integration with CI/CD pipelines.
• GitOps integration enables integration with GitOps workflows.
• API improvements enable better programmatic access to Helm capabilities.

Getting Started

# Install Helm
curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/helm/helm/main/scripts/get-helm-3 | bash

# Add a chart repository
helm repo add stable https://charts.helm.sh/stable
helm repo update

# Install a chart
helm install my-release stable/nginx

Example Chart.yaml:

apiVersion: v2
name: myapp
description: A Helm chart for myapp
type: application
version: 0.1.0
appVersion: "1.0"
dependencies:
- name: postgresql
  version: "12.0.0"
  repository: "https://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami"

Summary

Helm 3.13 continues to be the standard for Kubernetes package management, providing teams with powerful and secure chart management capabilities.