Helm Chart Language
5 exercises — Practice the vocabulary for Chart.yaml fields, values documentation, Helm release statuses, and breaking change communication.
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Quick reference: Helm vocabulary
- version vs appVersion — chart package version vs. the deployed application's version (e.g. image tag)
- superseded — a past release revision replaced by a newer upgrade; still in history for rollback
- --install flag — makes helm upgrade idempotent; creates the release if it doesn't yet exist
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A new team member is reviewing a Helm chart's Chart.yaml and asks about the difference between version and appVersion. Which explanation is correct?
version and appVersion serve completely different purposes: version versions the chart package; appVersion versions the application it deploys.
You can bump appVersion (e.g., from 2.1.0 to 2.2.0) when shipping a new application release without changing the chart's structure — version stays the same. Conversely, if you refactor the chart templates but the application version is unchanged, you increment version but leave appVersion alone. The type field (application vs. library) is a separate concern: library charts cannot be deployed directly and are only used as dependencies by application charts.
Key vocabulary:
• version — SemVer of the chart package itself; must be incremented on every chart change
• appVersion — informational; typically mirrors the container image tag being deployed
• type: library — chart that cannot be installed directly; provides shared templates only
You can bump appVersion (e.g., from 2.1.0 to 2.2.0) when shipping a new application release without changing the chart's structure — version stays the same. Conversely, if you refactor the chart templates but the application version is unchanged, you increment version but leave appVersion alone. The type field (application vs. library) is a separate concern: library charts cannot be deployed directly and are only used as dependencies by application charts.
Key vocabulary:
• version — SemVer of the chart package itself; must be incremented on every chart change
• appVersion — informational; typically mirrors the container image tag being deployed
• type: library — chart that cannot be installed directly; provides shared templates only