helm-chart-boilerplate

Universal Helm Chart Boilerplate for Kubernetes

Helm Chart Kubernetes License

Production-Ready Universal Kubernetes Helm Chart Template

Deploy any application to Kubernetes with a single values file using this universal Helm chart boilerplate from Cogito Group Ltd. Eliminate the need to write custom Helm charts for every microservice.

Copyright [2024] [Cogito Group Ltd]

Why Use This Helm Chart Boilerplate?

This Universal Helm Chart Boilerplate provides a comprehensive, reusable Helm chart template for deploying any application to Kubernetes:

Repository: https://github.com/cogitogroupltd/helm-chart-boilerplate Helm Repository: https://cogitogroupltd.github.io/helm-chart-boilerplate

Quick Start - Deploy Applications with Helm Boilerplate

# Add the Helm Chart Boilerplate repository
helm repo add helm-boilerplate https://cogitogroupltd.github.io/helm-chart-boilerplate
helm repo update helm-boilerplate

# Deploy your application using the common chart
helm install my-app helm-boilerplate/app --values your-values.yaml

Table of Contents

1. Key Features of Universal Helm Chart Boilerplate

This Kubernetes Helm chart boilerplate provides everything needed for production deployments:

Configuration Management

Kubernetes Resources

Advanced Features

Security Features

See values.yaml for complete configuration options.

2. Platform Compatibility - Tested Kubernetes Environments

This Universal Helm Chart Boilerplate has been successfully tested on:

3. Helm Chart Boilerplate Features

This universal Helm chart boilerplate eliminates the need to write custom charts for each application. Instead, define everything in a values.yaml file:

# Example values.yaml for deploying any application
replicaCount: 3

image:
  repository: myregistry/myapp
  tag: "1.0.0"
  pullPolicy: IfNotPresent

# Environment variables from ConfigMap
configenv:
  LOG_LEVEL: "info"
  API_URL: "https://api.example.com"

# Secret environment variables
secenv:
  DATABASE_PASSWORD: "mysecretpassword"
  API_KEY: "secretapikey"

# Service configuration
service:
  type: ClusterIP
  port: 80
  targetPort: 8080

# Horizontal Pod Autoscaler
hpa:
  enabled: true
  minReplicas: 2
  maxReplicas: 10
  targetCPUUtilizationPercentage: 70

# Persistent storage
persistence:
  enabled: true
  size: 10Gi
  mountPath: /data

4. Installation Examples - Helm Chart Boilerplate Deployments

4.1. Example - SSH Bastion Server Deployment

Deploy an SSH bastion server for secure cluster access using the Helm chart boilerplate.

See README.md for more information.

cd helm-chart-boilerplate
helm upgrade --install sshd ./charts/common \
  --values ./examples/common-sshd/values-override.yaml

4.2. Example - Autoscaling Backend Service

Deploy a backend microservice with horizontal pod autoscaling using the Helm boilerplate.

See README.md for more information.

cd helm-chart-boilerplate
helm upgrade --install myrelease ./charts/common \
  --values ./examples/common-backend-autoscaling/values-override.yaml

4.3. Example - Complete Feature Demonstration

This example demonstrates all features of the Helm chart boilerplate:

Prerequisites: Configure AWS credentials and ECR access

export AWS_ACCOUNT=123456789012
export AWS_REGION=us-east-1

kubectl delete secret regcred --ignore-not-found && \
kubectl create secret docker-registry regcred \
  --docker-server=${AWS_ACCOUNT}.dkr.ecr.${AWS_REGION}.amazonaws.com \
  --docker-username=AWS \
  --docker-password=$(aws ecr get-login-password) \
  --namespace=app

Deploy application:

cd helm-chart-boilerplate
helm upgrade --install myrelease ./charts/common \
  --values ./examples/common-complete/values-override.yaml \
  --namespace app

Advanced deployment with runtime variables:

export AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=<your-secret-key>
export RABBIT_PASSWD=<rabbitmq-password>

helm upgrade --install myrelease ./charts/common \
  --values ./examples/common-complete/values-override.yaml \
  --namespace app \
  --set secenv.RABBIT_PASSWD=${RABBIT_PASSWD} \
  --set image.pullPolicy=Always \
  --set "initContainers[0].env[1].value=${AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY}"

4.4. Example - NodeJS Express Application

Deploy a NodeJS Express server with rawYAML injection using the Helm boilerplate.

See README.md for more information.

cd helm-chart-boilerplate
export DB_PASSWORD=pass123

helm upgrade --install node-express ./charts/common \
  --values ./examples/common-node-express/values-override.yaml \
  --set secenv.DB_PASSWORD=${DB_PASSWORD}

4.5. Example - Orleans Kubernetes Application

Deploy Microsoft Orleans applications with RBAC using the Helm chart boilerplate.

See README.md for more information.

cd helm-chart-boilerplate
export DB_PASSWORD=pass123

helm upgrade --install orleans-app ./charts/common \
  --values ./examples/common-orleans/values-override.yaml \
  --set secenv.DB_PASSWORD=${DB_PASSWORD}

4.6. Example - Static Nginx File Server

Deploy Nginx with static file mounts using the Helm boilerplate.

cd helm-chart-boilerplate
helm upgrade --install common-nginx ./charts/common \
  --values ./examples/common-nginx-static/values-override.yaml

5. Configuration

Helm Values Configuration

See values.yaml for all available configuration options.

Key Configuration Sections

Basic Deployment:

replicaCount: 3
image:
  repository: myregistry/myapp
  tag: "1.0.0"

ConfigMap and Secrets:

configenv:
  MY_VAR: "value"
secenv:
  MY_SECRET: "secretvalue"

Autoscaling:

hpa:
  enabled: true
  minReplicas: 2
  maxReplicas: 10

Storage:

persistence:
  enabled: true
  size: 10Gi
  mountPath: /data

6. Contributing & Support

How to Contribute to Helm Chart Boilerplate

We welcome contributions! To contribute:

  1. Fork the repository
  2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
  3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')
  4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
  5. Open a Pull Request

Get Help

Stay Updated

7. Related Projects & Resources

License

This Universal Helm Chart Boilerplate is licensed under the terms specified in the LICENSE file.

Copyright [2024] [Cogito Group Ltd]

Keywords: Helm Chart, Kubernetes, Helm Boilerplate, Universal Helm Chart, Kubernetes Deployment, Cloud Native, DevOps, Microservices, ConfigMap, Secrets, HPA, Autoscaling, PersistentVolume, Kubernetes Template, Helm Template, Generic Helm Chart