Helm Basic Deploy
Run helm upgrade --install against the target cluster and wait for all workloads to reach steady state.
The Helm Basic Deploy step runs helm upgrade --install against the target cluster and waits for all workloads to reach steady state. Use this step as the single execution step in a basic stage, or as the promotion step at the end of a canary stage after the canary release is removed.
Before you begin
Before you configure the step, make sure you have the following in place:
A Helm service: Go to Helm services to set up a service with a chart source and values files.
A Helm infrastructure: Go to Helm infrastructure to connect a cluster and namespace.
A Harness delegate in the target cluster: The delegate runs deployment steps in the cluster.
Runtime configuration: Every Helm stage requires a
runtimeblock specifying a connector and namespace. Go to Helm runtime configuration to understand the required fields.
Configure the step
The following parameters are available on the Helm Basic Deploy step.
Name
Display name for this step in the stage canvas. Default: Helm Basic Deploy.
Required
Ignore Failed Release History
When enabled, proceeds with deployment even if the previous Helm release has a failed status. Use this to recover from a broken release without manual cleanup. Default: false.
Optional
Skip Steady State Check
When enabled, skips waiting for all deployed workloads to reach ready status after helm upgrade --install. Default: false.
Optional
Run Chart Tests
When enabled, runs helm test against the release after a successful deployment. Default: false.
Optional
Skip Cleanup
When enabled, skips cleanup of a failed first release. Use this to inspect resources left behind after a failed initial install. Default: false.
Optional
Print Manifests
When enabled, logs the full rendered chart manifest to the step output with secrets redacted. Default: false.
Optional
Server-Side Rendering
When enabled, passes --server to helm template so manifests are rendered against the live cluster rather than locally. Default: false.
Optional
Environment Variables
Additional environment variables to pass into the Helm plugin execution.
Optional
Command Flags
Additional flags to append to the helm upgrade command, for example --atomic or --cleanup-on-fail.
Optional
How the step works
When the step runs, it performs the following actions in order:
Input validation: Resolves and prints all input parameters, including the release name, chart path, values files, Helm flags, namespace, and credentials. Prints
PARAM VALIDATION: All looks goodbefore proceeding.Release history check: Runs
helm historyto inspect the current state of the release. If no release exists, Harness proceeds with a fresh install. If Ignore Failed Release History is enabled and the last release has a failed status, Harness clears it before upgrading.Helm upgrade: Runs
helm upgrade --install <release-name> <chart-path>with all resolved values files and command flags. Helm creates a new revision on the release.Steady state check: Polls the cluster until all Deployment, StatefulSet, and DaemonSet workloads in the release reach ready status. Skipped if Skip Steady State Check is enabled.
Advanced settings
Timeout duration: Maximum time the step is allowed to run before being terminated.
On failure: Define what happens if the step fails, such as retry, mark as success, or abort.
Strategy: Configure a looping strategy to run this step over a list of values.
Conditional execution: Run this step only when a specified condition is true.
Next steps
Go to Helm basic deployment to understand the full basic deployment flow.
Go to Helm Rollback to configure the rollback step for this strategy.
Go to Helm Delete to review release cleanup settings.
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