Deploying Helm Charts

OpenPrime includes a curated library of production-ready Helm charts for common Kubernetes applications.

Available Charts

Ingress Controllers

Chart	Description	Default
nginx-ingress	NGINX Ingress Controller	✅
traefik	Traefik Proxy	-
istio	Istio Service Mesh	-

Monitoring & Observability

Chart	Description	Default
prometheus-stack	Prometheus + Grafana + Alertmanager	✅
loki	Log aggregation	-
tempo	Distributed tracing	-
datadog	Datadog agent	-

Security

Chart	Description	Default
cert-manager	TLS certificate automation	✅
external-secrets	External secrets management	-
vault	HashiCorp Vault	-

Databases

Chart	Description	Default
postgresql	PostgreSQL database	-
redis	Redis cache	-
mongodb	MongoDB database	-

Enabling Charts

Basic Enable

helmCharts:
  nginx-ingress:
    enabled: true
  cert-manager:
    enabled: true
  prometheus-stack:
    enabled: true

With Custom Values

helmCharts:
  nginx-ingress:
    enabled: true
    customValues: true
    values: |
      controller:
        replicaCount: 3
        service:
          type: LoadBalancer
          annotations:
            service.beta.kubernetes.io/aws-load-balancer-type: nlb

Chart Configuration

nginx-ingress

nginx-ingress:
  enabled: true
  values: |
    controller:
      replicaCount: 2
      resources:
        requests:
          cpu: 100m
          memory: 128Mi
        limits:
          cpu: 500m
          memory: 512Mi
      service:
        type: LoadBalancer
      metrics:
        enabled: true

cert-manager

cert-manager:
  enabled: true
  values: |
    installCRDs: true
    prometheus:
      enabled: true
    # ClusterIssuer for Let's Encrypt
    # Applied after installation

Post-install ClusterIssuer:

apiVersion: cert-manager.io/v1
kind: ClusterIssuer
metadata:
  name: letsencrypt-prod
spec:
  acme:
    server: https://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/directory
    email: admin@example.com
    privateKeySecretRef:
      name: letsencrypt-prod
    solvers:
      - http01:
          ingress:
            class: nginx

prometheus-stack

prometheus-stack:
  enabled: true
  values: |
    grafana:
      adminPassword: "change-me"
      persistence:
        enabled: true
        size: 10Gi
    prometheus:
      prometheusSpec:
        retention: 15d
        storageSpec:
          volumeClaimTemplate:
            spec:
              resources:
                requests:
                  storage: 50Gi
    alertmanager:
      alertmanagerSpec:
        storage:
          volumeClaimTemplate:
            spec:
              resources:
                requests:
                  storage: 10Gi

external-secrets

external-secrets:
  enabled: true
  values: |
    installCRDs: true
    # Configure for AWS Secrets Manager
    # or HashiCorp Vault

Generated Output

When you save an environment with Helm charts, OpenPrime generates:

Values Files

helm/
└── my-environment/
    ├── nginx-ingress-values.yaml
    ├── cert-manager-values.yaml
    └── prometheus-stack-values.yaml

ArgoCD Applications (if enabled)

apiVersion: argoproj.io/v1alpha1
kind: Application
metadata:
  name: nginx-ingress
  namespace: argocd
spec:
  project: my-environment
  source:
    repoURL: https://kubernetes.github.io/ingress-nginx
    chart: ingress-nginx
    targetRevision: 4.8.3
    helm:
      valueFiles:
        - values.yaml
  destination:
    server: https://kubernetes.default.svc
    namespace: ingress-nginx
  syncPolicy:
    automated:
      prune: true
      selfHeal: true

Deployment Order

OpenPrime handles chart dependencies:

1. cert-manager (CRDs needed first)
2. external-secrets
3. nginx-ingress
4. prometheus-stack
5. Application charts

Adding Custom Charts

In the UI

1. Select Add Custom Chart
2. Enter:
   • Chart name
   • Repository URL
   • Chart version
   • Values (YAML)

In Configuration

helmCharts:
  my-custom-chart:
    enabled: true
    repository: https://charts.example.com
    chart: my-app
    version: "1.2.3"
    namespace: my-app
    values: |
      replicaCount: 3

Best Practices

1. Pin versions - Always specify chart versions
2. Test in staging - Validate values before production
3. Use GitOps - Let ArgoCD manage deployments
4. Monitor resources - Set appropriate resource limits
5. Secure secrets - Use external-secrets for sensitive data