Helm Releases

What is a Helm Chart?

A Helm Chart is a package for Kubernetes. It bundles all the resources needed for a deployment — Deployments, Services, ConfigMaps, Volumes — into a versioned, reusable package. Instead of managing dozens of YAML files manually, you configure a chart through a single values.yaml.

Helm Charts are available for nearly every popular service: databases like PostgreSQL and Redis, monitoring tools, CI/CD pipelines, workflow engines, and much more. They are distributed through Chart Registries — public or private repositories that host charts for download.

What is a Helm Release?

A Helm Release is a concrete instance of a Helm Chart running in your cluster. The difference:

• Helm Chart = the template (e.g. "PostgreSQL Chart by Cloud Pirates")
• Helm Release = the actual deployment with your configuration (e.g. "my PostgreSQL instance with user myapp and 10Gi storage")

In lowcloud, you create Helm Releases directly through the Dashboard — no helm install or CLI access required.

How does the workflow work?

1. Specify the Chart Registry — Enter the chart registry URL (e.g. oci://registry-1.docker.io/cloudpirates/postgres)
2. Select a version — Choose the desired chart version
3. Configure Values — Adjust the configuration via values to match your requirements
4. Deploy — lowcloud installs the chart as a release in your cluster

Features

Helm Release Dependencies

Many services depend on other services to function — for example, n8n requires a PostgreSQL database. With Helm Release Dependencies, you link releases together. lowcloud ensures that dependencies are started in the correct order and that services can discover each other.

Versioning

Each Helm Release is tied to a specific chart version. You can upgrade to a newer version at any time or roll back to a previous version if issues arise.

Values

All configuration for a Helm Release is done through Values. These are YAML parameters that control the chart's behavior — from database credentials and resource limits to persistence settings.

Tutorials

The following guides walk you through deploying popular services as Helm Releases step by step: