helm repo update: Command Reference for CI/CD

Refresh local repo indexes so Helm sees the latest charts.

helm repo update fetches the latest index for your registered repositories so install and dependency resolution pick up new chart versions. This reference covers it and where it belongs in a CI sequence.

Common flags and usage

• repo update: refresh the index for all registered repos
• repo update <name> [<name>...]: refresh only named repos
• --fail-on-repo-update-fail: fail if any repo refresh fails
• Run after repo add and before install or dependency update
• repo list shows what is currently registered

Example

helm repo add bitnami https://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami --force-update
helm repo update bitnami
helm dependency update ./charts/web

In CI

A stale index resolves an old chart version; run repo update after adding repos and before any install or dependency build. Pass --fail-on-repo-update-fail so a transient repo outage fails the step loudly instead of silently using a cached index.

Key takeaways

• A stale index pins old chart versions; update before install.
• --fail-on-repo-update-fail surfaces a repo outage instead of hiding it.
• You can refresh a single repo by name for speed.

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