https://DevOpsCloud.io -- Cloud Monk Losang Jinpa, Ph.D., MCSE/MCT, GitOps DevOps Engineer

The Helm Operator, now superseded by the Flux Helm Controller, was a Kubernetes operator that streamlined the management of Helm charts. It allowed for declarative installation and upgrades of Helm releases directly within Kubernetes, promoting a GitOps approach to managing Helm-based applications.

• **Declarative Helm Releases:** The Helm Operator introduced a `HelmRelease` Custom Resource Definition (CRD), enabling you to define and manage Helm releases using declarative YAML manifests.
• **Automated Reconciliation:** It continuously monitored the desired state of HelmReleases and ensured that the actual state in the cluster matched the desired state, automating Helm installs, upgrades, and rollbacks.
• **GitOps Integration:** The Helm Operator could be easily integrated into GitOps workflows, where changes to HelmRelease manifests in a Git repository triggered automated deployments.
• **Dependency Management:** It handled dependencies between Helm releases, ensuring that they were installed and upgraded in the correct order.
• **Customization:** The Helm Operator offered flexibility in configuring Helm releases, allowing you to specify values, overrides, and other options.

• **Simplified Helm Management:** The Helm Operator made it easier to manage Helm releases in a declarative and Kubernetes-native way.
• **Automation:** It automated the installation, upgrades, and rollbacks of Helm releases, reducing manual effort and improving efficiency.
• **GitOps Compatibility:** The declarative approach aligned well with GitOps practices, promoting consistency and traceability.
• **Dependency Management:** It handled dependencies between Helm releases, ensuring proper installation and upgrade order.

The Helm Operator has been succeeded by the **Flux Helm Controller**, which offers similar functionality but with improved integration with the Flux CD project and enhanced features. The Flux Helm Controller is the recommended tool for declarative Helm management in Kubernetes.

• **Flux Helm Controller GitHub Repository:** s://github.com/fluxcd/helm-controller(https://github.com/fluxcd/helm-controller)
• **Flux Helm Controller Documentation:** [invalid URL removed]