Helmsman automates the deployment and management of Kubernetes Helm charts using declarative version-controlled code.
Helm Charts as Code
Helmsman is designed for DevOps and cloud security professionals who want to manage Kubernetes applications as code, enabling automated, repeatable, and auditable deployments of Helm charts. It simplifies continuous delivery workflows by allowing users to define desired states for their Kubernetes applications and safely apply changes across clusters.
Helmsman requires Helm and kubectl to be installed and properly configured before use. For Helm versions prior to 3.0.0, use Helmsman v1.x. When managing private Helm repositories, appropriate plugins or authentication methods must be configured. Helmsman is designed to be idempotent and safe for use in continuous delivery pipelines, but users should carefully define protected namespaces/releases to avoid accidental disruptions.
Ensure kubectl is installed
Ensure Helm is installed (helm >= v2.10.0 for Helmsman >= 1.6.0, helm >= v3.0.0 for Helmsman >= 3.0.0)
Install helm-diff plugin (required for Helmsman >= 1.6.0)
If using private Helm repositories, install helm-gcs or helm-s3 plugin or configure basic auth
Download Helmsman binary or use the Helmsman Docker imagehelmsman -f example.toml
Plan the deployment based on the desired state file without executing changes
helmsman --apply -f example.toml
Plan and execute the deployment to achieve the desired state
helmsman --debug --apply -f example.toml
Run deployment with detailed debugging output
helmsman --debug --dry-run -f example.toml
Perform a dry-run with debug information, showing what would be done without applying changes
helmsman --debug --dry-run --target artifactory -f example.toml
Run a dry-run limited to a specific application target