12_02 Helm Custom Values - Retail Store UI with Ingress (HTTP)¶

Step-01: Introduction¶

In this demo, we extend our Helm knowledge by deploying the Retail Store UI with a custom values-ui.yaml file.
- Enable Ingress with AWS Load Balancer Controller (ALB)
- Set App theme to green

Step-02: Helm Values — What, Why, and How (Deep Dive)¶

Where do values come from? - Chart defaults: values.yaml inside the chart (what the author ships) - Your overrides: -f <file.yaml> (recommended) and/or --set key=value (quick tweaks)

Precedence (highest → lowest): 1. --set (and --set-string) 2. Multiple -f files in order (the last file wins for the same key) 3. Chart’s default values.yaml

Best practices: - Prefer -f values-<env>.yaml for most overrides; use --set for small, one-off changes. - Keep environment files (values-dev.yaml, values-stg.yaml, values-prod.yaml) to avoid accidental drift. - Avoid putting secrets in values files. Use External Secrets or Kubernetes Secrets + IRSA.

Inspect & preview:

# See chart default values (great for discovering knobs)
helm show values oci://public.ecr.aws/aws-containers/retail-store-sample-ui-chart --version 1.3.0

# Dry-run to preview what will be applied
cd retailstore-apps
helm install ui oci://public.ecr.aws/aws-containers/retail-store-sample-ui-chart --version 1.3.0 -f values-ui.yaml --dry-run --debug | less

Upgrades & reuse:

helm upgrade ui ... -f values-ui.yaml applies changes from your file.
--reuse-values merges prior overrides with new ones (handy, but can carry stale flags—use thoughtfully).

Kubernetes rollout nuance:

If a value only changes a ConfigMap/env, pods might not auto‑restart.
Use: kubectl rollout restart deployment/ui to pick up changes.

ALB Ingress prerequisites (recap):

AWS Load Balancer Controller (installed & IAM/IRSA configured)
Subnets tagged for ALB (usually already done in cluster networking)
An IngressClass in the cluster (default or explicitly referenced via className)

Step-03: UI App — Review Custom Values File¶

Create values-ui.yaml with the following content (HTTP‑only Ingress):

# Application Settings
app:
  theme: teal # Other options: orange, default, teal, green


# Ingress for load balancer
ingress:
  enabled: true
  className: alb
  annotations: 
    alb.ingress.kubernetes.io/scheme: internet-facing
    alb.ingress.kubernetes.io/target-type: ip
    alb.ingress.kubernetes.io/healthcheck-path: /actuator/health/liveness
  tls: []
  hosts: []

Step-04: Install Helm Release with Custom Values¶

# Verify if AWS Load Balancer Controller installed
kubectl get deploy  -n kube-system aws-load-balancer-controller
kubectl get pods -n kube-system

# Verify Default Ingressclass configured
kubectl get ingressclass
Observation: "alb" should be default ingressclass

# Change Directory (adjust to your repo layout)
cd 12-02-Helm-Custom-Values/retailstore-apps

# Helm Install
cd retailstore-apps
helm install ui oci://public.ecr.aws/aws-containers/retail-store-sample-ui-chart \
  --version 1.3.0 \
  -f values-ui.yaml

Step-05: Verify Ingress and ALB¶

# List Helm Release
helm list

# This gives a nice summary of resources created by the release.
helm status ui --show-resources

# After install/upgrade, see effective values
helm get values ui --all

# Shows all Kubernetes manifests (raw YAML) rendered and applied by Helm:
helm get manifest ui

# Pods created by the release
kubectl get pods

# Services (expect ClusterIP for internal communication)
kubectl get svc

# Ingress (ALB will be created by the controller)
kubectl get ingress

# Describe the Ingress to view ALB details and events
kubectl describe ingress ui

Observation:

AWS Load Balancer Controller provisions an internet‑facing ALB
The app is accessible over HTTP (port 80) using the ALB’s DNS name

Step-06: Access Application¶

# Get the ALB DNS name
kubectl get ingress ui

Open in your browser:

# Access Application
http://<ALB-DNS-NAME>
http://<ALB-DNS-NAME>/topology

Step-07: Uninstall Helm Release¶

# Uninstall Helm Release
helm uninstall ui

Helm Chart Reference¶

Retail Store Helm Chart - UI App