github.com/y-taka-23/helm@v2.8.0+incompatible/docs/chart_best_practices/values.md (about) 1 # Values 2 3 This part of the best practices guide covers using values. In this part of the 4 guide, we provide recommendations on how you should structure and use your 5 values, with focus on designing a chart's `values.yaml` file. 6 7 ## Naming Conventions 8 9 Variables names should begin with a lowercase letter, and words should be 10 separated with camelcase: 11 12 Correct: 13 14 ```yaml 15 chicken: true 16 chickenNoodleSoup: true 17 ``` 18 19 Incorrect: 20 21 ```yaml 22 Chicken: true # initial caps may conflict with built-ins 23 chicken-noodle-soup: true # do not use hyphens in the name 24 ``` 25 26 Note that all of Helm's built-in variables begin with an uppercase letter to 27 easily distinguish them from user-defined values: `.Release.Name`, 28 `.Capabilities.KubeVersion`. 29 30 ## Flat or Nested Values 31 32 YAML is a flexible format, and values may be nested deeply or flattened. 33 34 Nested: 35 36 ```yaml 37 server: 38 name: nginx 39 port: 80 40 ``` 41 42 Flat: 43 44 ```yaml 45 serverName: nginx 46 serverPort: 80 47 ``` 48 49 In most cases, flat should be favored over nested. The reason for this is that 50 it is simpler for template developers and users. 51 52 53 For optimal safety, a nested value must be checked at every level: 54 55 ``` 56 {{ if .Values.server }} 57 {{ default "none" .Values.server.name }} 58 {{ end }} 59 ``` 60 61 For every layer of nesting, an existence check must be done. But for flat 62 configuration, such checks can be skipped, making the template easier to read 63 and use. 64 65 ``` 66 {{ default "none" .Values.serverName }} 67 ``` 68 69 When there are a large number of related variables, and at least one of them 70 is non-optional, nested values may be used to improve readability. 71 72 ## Make Types Clear 73 74 YAML's type coercion rules are sometimes counterintuitive. For example, 75 `foo: false` is not the same as `foo: "false"`. Large integers like `foo: 12345678` 76 will get converted to scientific notation in some cases. 77 78 The easiest way to avoid type conversion errors is to be explicit about strings, 79 and implicit about everything else. Or, in short, _quote all strings_. 80 81 Often, to avoid the integer casting issues, it is advantageous to store your 82 integers as strings as well, and use `{{ int $value }}` in the template to convert 83 from a string back to an integer. 84 85 In most cases, explicit type tags are respected, so `foo: !!string 1234` should 86 treat `1234` as a string. _However_, the YAML parser consumes tags, so the type 87 data is lost after one parse. 88 89 ## Consider How Users Will Use Your Values 90 91 There are three potential sources of values: 92 93 - A chart's `values.yaml` file 94 - A values file supplied by `helm install -f` or `helm upgrade -f` 95 - The values passed to a `--set` flag on `helm install` or `helm upgrade` 96 97 When designing the structure of your values, keep in mind that users of your 98 chart may want to override them via either the `-f` flag or with the `--set` 99 option. 100 101 Since `--set` is more limited in expressiveness, the first guidelines for writing 102 your `values.yaml` file is _make it easy to override from `--set`_. 103 104 For this reason, it's often better to structure your values file using maps. 105 106 Difficult to use with `--set`: 107 108 ```yaml 109 servers: 110 - name: foo 111 port: 80 112 - name: bar 113 port: 81 114 ``` 115 116 The above cannot be expressed with `--set` in Helm `<=2.4`. In Helm 2.5, the 117 accessing the port on foo is `--set servers[0].port=80`. Not only is it harder 118 for the user to figure out, but it is prone to errors if at some later time the 119 order of the `servers` is changed. 120 121 Easy to use: 122 123 ```yaml 124 servers: 125 foo: 126 port: 80 127 bar: 128 port: 81 129 ``` 130 131 Accessing foo's port is much more obvious: `--set servers.foo.port=80`. 132 133 ## Document 'values.yaml' 134 135 Every defined property in 'values.yaml' should be documented. The documentation string should begin with the name of the property that it describes, and then give at least a one-sentence description. 136 137 Incorrect: 138 139 ``` 140 # the host name for the webserver 141 serverHost = example 142 serverPort = 9191 143 ``` 144 145 Correct: 146 147 ``` 148 # serverHost is the host name for the webserver 149 serverHost = example 150 # serverPort is the HTTP listener port for the webserver 151 serverPort = 9191 152 153 ``` 154 155 Beginning each comment with the name of the parameter it documents makes it easy to grep out documentation, and will enable documentation tools to reliably correlate doc strings with the parameters they describe.