Latest Helm Chart Enhancements from JFrog

Google introduced Kubernetes (k8s) as an open-source container-orchestration system for automating deployment, scaling, and management of containerized applications less than four years ago. Since then it has been gaining rapid popularity. Today, it is being used in a number of vendor solutions including Microsoft for its Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), Mesosphere for its DC/OS, Pivotal for its PKS and many more. Despite the popularity, there are still some inherent challenges with k8s.

One of the main challenges related to adopting Kubernetes is the complexity involved in getting Kubernetes clusters up and running. As part of JFrog’s ongoing support for Helm Charts, we focus on accelerating and simplifying your Helm Chart deployment. Our latest two enhancements include supporting authentication to JFrog Artifactory using the Helm client and the option to select any tool of your choice (as long as it’s supported by the Helm client) to custom pack your Helm Charts.

Authenticated access to Artifactory supported by the Helm client

To use all features of Artifactory Helm Chart repositories including resolution of Helm charts, the Helm Client has been customized to support basic authenticated access to Artifactory. Note that the JFrog Helm client we created as a workaround is no longer necessary.

Get your Helm client!

Before you can use your Helm client to resolve Helm Charts from Artifactory, do the following:

1. Download the Latest Helm client (Version 2.9.0 and higher).
2. Configure the Helm client for authenticated access with your Artifactory user and password by adding the virtual Helm chart repository to be used for resolution.
   

   helm repo add <REPO_KEY> 
   https://<ARTIFACTORY_HOST>:<ARTIFACTORY_PORT>/artifactory/<REPO_KEY> 
   --username <USERNAME> --password <PASSWORD
   
   

3. For example:

   helm repo add helm-virtual

   https://10.1.16.114:32775/artifactory/helm-virtual 

   --username admin --password password
   
   

   Note: We recommend using an encrypted password instead of clear-text. For details, please refer to Centrally Secure Passwords.

Packing your Helm Charts is now easier than ever!

Artifactory now supports Helm Charts custom packed by other applications as long as the charts are supported by the Helm client.
In previous versions, Artifactory required Helm Charts to be packed only using the helm package command. The automated flows that used other tools to pack the helm chart archive (such as tar) were not supported by Artifactory.

Now it’s time to take your Helm Charts to another level.  To learn more, click here!