"How to fix 'Error: must either provide a name or specify --generate-name' in Helm"

Question

How to fix Error: must either provide a name or specify --generate-name in Helm

Created sample helm chart name as mychart and written the deployment.yaml, service.yaml, ingress.yaml with nginx service. After that running the command like $ helm install mychart

service.yaml

apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
  name: nginx
spec:
  ports:
  - name: main
    port: 80
    protocol: TCP
    targetPort: 80
  selector:
    app: nginx

deployment.yaml

apiVersion: extensions/v1beta2
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: nginx
spec:
  replicas: 3
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: nginx
    spec:
      containers:
        - name: nginx
          image: nginx:1.13
          ports:
              containerPort: 80

ingress.yaml

apiVersion: extensions/v1beta1
kind: Ingress
metadata:
  name: nginx
  annotations:
    http.port: "443"
spec:
    backend:
        serviceName: nginx
        servicePort: 80

Expected output: ..... status: DEPLOYED

Could you show us your chart too? There should be a `Chart.yaml` in the root of your directory. — Todai, Aug 02 '19 at 08:56
Also, show the exact layout of files you have—if you are running `helm install mychart`, there should be directory `mychart` (under the current working directory), `mychart/Chart.yaml` and the files you quote should be in `mychart/templates`. Do you have it laid out like that? — Jan Hudec, Aug 02 '19 at 08:58
chart.yaml -------------- apiVersion: v1 name: mychart description: A Helm chart for Kubernetes type: application version: 0.1.0 appVersion: 1.16.0 — praveen, Aug 02 '19 at 09:02
Yes Jan Hudec, 1st run the helm create mychart command, after that it's created the the Helm directory structure and after that modified the nginx service code in the deployment.yaml,service.yaml and ingress.yaml and run the helm install mychart, then facing the above issue. — praveen, Aug 02 '19 at 09:10
What version of Helm are you using? This sounds like [one of the changes in Helm 3.0.0](https://v3.helm.sh/docs/faq/#name-or-generate-name-is-now-required-on-install); if you're just getting started with Helm I might use v2 until v3 is fully released. — David Maze, Aug 03 '19 at 13:15
Ran into this. A simple helm install --help will give you the right command argument format. See my response below. — eco, Oct 07 '19 at 23:00

score 45 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 04 '19 at 13:47

45

just to add --generate-name at the end of helm command

answered Aug 04 '19 at 13:47

Chen Wang

771
6
8

46

What does --generate-name do for us? – jgifford25 Dec 16 '19 at 19:41
I think it generates a random number as the release name for your helm deployment. https://helm.sh/docs/faq/#name-or---generate-name-is-now-required-on-install – aaruja Feb 16 '21 at 06:22

eco · Answer 2 · 2019-10-07T22:59:45.300

According to the helm documentation for v3.x

helm install --help
Usage:
helm install [NAME] [CHART] [flags]

you want to use:
helm install "your release name" chart

For example:

# helm repo add stable https://kubernetes-charts.storage.googleapis.com/
# helm install wordpress-helm-testing stable/wordpress 
NAME: wordpress-helm-testing
LAST DEPLOYED: 2019-10-07 15:56:21.205156 -0700 PDT m=+1.763748029
NAMESPACE: default
STATUS: deployed
NOTES:
1. Get the WordPress URL:

  NOTE: It may take a few minutes for the LoadBalancer IP to be available.
        Watch the status with: 'kubectl get svc --namespace default -w wordpress-helm-testing'
  export SERVICE_IP=$(kubectl get svc --namespace default wordpress-helm-testing --template "{{ range (index .status.loadBalancer.ingress 0) }}{{.}}{{ end }}")
  echo "WordPress URL: http://$SERVICE_IP/"
  echo "WordPress Admin URL: http://$SERVICE_IP/admin"

2. Login with the following credentials to see your blog

  echo Username: user
  echo Password: $(kubectl get secret --namespace default wordpress-helm-testing -o jsonpath="{.data.wordpress-password}" | base64 --decode)


#helm list
NAME                    NAMESPACE   REVISION    UPDATED                                 STATUS      CHART          
wordpress-helm-testing  default     1           2019-10-07 15:56:21.205156 -0700 PDT    deployed    wordpress-7.3.9

This is a better operational approach since it eliminates randomness in your release names. You might want to use something like a user name or anything that makes it unique and adds meaning to the release other than the GUID the --generate-name option will give you.

I believe the repo part solved an issue I was having with a helm deployment causing issues with TLS timeout. +1 to you. — canadiancreed, Dec 18 '19 at 02:43
Why do I need a name after the `install` option when the name is declared in `Chart.yaml`? — QkiZ, Oct 15 '21 at 18:01

score 30 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 15 '20 at 08:19

30

In helm v3 you can use either:

helm install [NAME] [CHART]

or:

helm install [CHART] --generate-name

Examples:

helm install reloader stakater/reloader
helm install stakater/reloader --generate-name

From the help manual:

helm install --help
Usage:
  helm install [NAME] [CHART] [flags]
Flags:
  -g, --generate-name            generate the name (and omit the NAME parameter)

answered Jan 15 '20 at 08:19

Matthias

591
5
4

This is a nice, simple explanation. Thanks. – Dallas Oct 05 '21 at 16:24

score 3 · Answer 4 · answered Jan 05 '20 at 20:03

3

Assuming the chart is in the current directory:

helm install some-name .

Output:

NAME: some-name
LAST DEPLOYED: Sun Jan  5 21:03:25 2020
NAMESPACE: default
STATUS: deployed
REVISION: 1
TEST SUITE: None

answered Jan 05 '20 at 20:03

Siri

1,117
6
13

score 1 · Answer 5 · answered Jan 23 '23 at 07:46

1

Add release name

helm install test --dry-run --debug .\mychart\

test is the release name.

answered Jan 23 '23 at 07:46

ngg

1,493
19
14

score 0 · Answer 6 · answered Mar 22 '21 at 05:53

0

The best/easiest way to fix this would be to append "--generate-name" in the command used to install helm chart.

answered Mar 22 '21 at 05:53

Deb

587
4
12

"How to fix 'Error: must either provide a name or specify --generate-name' in Helm"

service.yaml

deployment.yaml

ingress.yaml

6 Answers6