Helmfile: An upgraded flow to Helm Deployment

Helmfile official

Deployment in Kubernetes is a huge part of how applications can be stable and available. There are wrong ways of deploying to Kubernetes which can lead to application downtime during the deployment process. Ensuring deployments are done as efficiently as possible is crucial to the availability of applications running in the Kubernetes cluster.

A proper Kubernetes deployment comprises YAML files also called manifest files. These files form the deployment package of an application which is made up of different components for application/compute, network, and security configurations. There are various ways these files can be deployed into a Kubernetes cluster. The three major options are:

• Using kubectl — This is the native Kubernetes CLI tool for administering a Kubernetes cluster. Deployment is done using the kubectl apply -f command in the directory where the YAML files exist.
• Using Kustomize — This is the direct elder brother to kubectl that allows some structure into the file arrangement and some room for dynamic value change using the overlay technique to interpose a file into another file.
• Using Helm- One of the most advanced methods of deploying into Kubernetes. Helm is a templating engine with functions, variables, and other features that make it very flexible and versatile for various…