Install Helm

Set up your environment

In this section you’ll prepare a SUSE Linux Arm64 VM to work with Helm by installing Docker, kubectl, Helm, and KinD. After installation, you create and verify a local Kubernetes cluster for validating Helm workflows.

Prepare the system

Update the system packages and install dependencies:

    

        
        
sudo zypper refresh
sudo zypper update -y
sudo zypper install -y curl git tar gzip

    

Enable the SUSE Containers module

Enable the SUSE Containers Module to ensure that Docker and container-related tools are fully supported.

    

        
        
sudo SUSEConnect -p sle-module-containers/15.5/arm64
sudo SUSEConnect --list-extensions | grep Containers

    

Verify that the output shows the Containers module as Activated.

Install Docker

Docker is required to run KinD and the Kubernetes control plane components. Install Docker, start the service, and add your user to the docker group:

    

        
        
sudo zypper refresh
sudo zypper install -y docker
sudo systemctl enable --now docker
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
exit

    

Exit the current shell and reconnect to the virtual machine so that the group membership change takes effect. Then verify that Docker is running:

    

        
        
docker ps

    

Output similar to the following indicates that Docker is installed and accessible:

    

        
        CONTAINER ID   IMAGE     COMMAND   CREATED   STATUS    PORTS     NAMES

        
    

Install kubectl

Install the kubectl command-line tool for interacting with Kubernetes clusters:

    

        
        
curl -LO https://dl.k8s.io/release/v1.30.1/bin/linux/arm64/kubectl
chmod +x kubectl
sudo mv kubectl /usr/local/bin/

    

Verify kubectl

Confirm that kubectl is installed and accessible from the command line:

    

        
        
kubectl version --client

    

Output similar to the following indicates that kubectl is installed correctly:

    

        
        Client Version: v1.30.1
Kustomize Version: v5.0.4-0.20230601165947-6ce0bf390ce3

        
    

Install Helm

Install Helm using the official Helm installation script to get a verified and up-to-date release.

    

        
        
curl -sSfL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/helm/helm/master/scripts/get-helm-3 > get_helm.sh
chmod 755 ./get_helm.sh
./get_helm.sh

    

Verify Helm

Confirm that Helm is installed correctly and ready to use.

    

        
        
helm version

    

You should see an output similar to:

    

        
        version.BuildInfo{Version:"v3.19.4", GitCommit:"7cfb6e486dac026202556836bb910c37d847793e", GitTreeState:"clean", GoVersion:"go1.24.11"}

        
    

Install KinD

Install KinD (Kubernetes-in-Docker) to run a lightweight Kubernetes cluster locally:

    

        
        
curl -Lo kind https://kind.sigs.k8s.io/dl/v0.30.0/kind-linux-arm64
chmod +x kind
sudo mv kind /usr/local/bin/

    

Create a local Kubernetes cluster

Create a cluster named helm-lab:

    

        
        
kind create cluster --name helm-lab

    

Verify cluster status

Verify that the Kubernetes cluster is running correctly:

    

        
        
kubectl get nodes

    

You should see an output similar to:

    

        
        NAME                     STATUS   ROLES           AGE   VERSION
helm-lab-control-plane   Ready    control-plane   23h   v1.34.0

        
    

The node should be in Ready state. If not, wait 30 seconds for the cluster to initialize and retry the command.

Your local Kubernetes cluster is now running on your Arm64 VM.

What you’ve accomplished and what’s next

You’ve successfully set up your development environment by:

• Installing Docker, kubectl, and Helm on your Arm64 SUSE VM
• Creating a local Kubernetes cluster using KinD
• Verifying that all components are working correctly

Next, you’ll validate Helm functionality by performing install, upgrade, and uninstall workflows on your Arm64 Kubernetes cluster.