Use helm template + kubectl apply for CRD charts by caseydavenport · Pull Request #2636 · tigera/docs

caseydavenport · 2026-04-11T13:58:12Z

The CRD Helm charts have grown large enough to exceed the 1MB Kubernetes Secret size limit that Helm uses for release tracking. Since CRDs don't actually need Helm release management, this switches to helm template piped to kubectl apply --server-side instead.

Also moves --create-namespace to the operator helm install step in the enterprise docs, since the CRD step no longer needs a namespace.

Fixes CORE-12633

The CRD Helm charts have grown large enough to exceed the 1MB Kubernetes Secret size limit that Helm uses for release tracking. Since CRDs don't need Helm release management, use helm template piped to kubectl apply --server-side instead. Fixes CORE-12633

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Pull request overview

Updates Calico and Calico Enterprise installation docs to avoid Helm release tracking for CRD-only charts (which can exceed Helm’s 1MB Secret limit) by switching to rendering manifests with helm template and applying them via kubectl apply --server-side.

Changes:

Replace helm install for CRD charts with helm template ... | kubectl apply --server-side -f -.
Move --create-namespace from the CRD step to the operator helm install step in Calico Enterprise docs.
Adjust step wording from “Create” CRDs to “Install” CRDs.

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 6 out of 6 changed files in this pull request and generated 8 comments.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
calico/operations/native-v3-crds.mdx	Switch v3 CRD installation to `helm template` + server-side apply.
calico/getting-started/kubernetes/helm.mdx	Switch v1/v3 CRD installation to `helm template` + server-side apply; wording update.
calico-enterprise/operations/native-v3-crds.mdx	Switch v3 CRD installation to `helm template` + server-side apply.
calico-enterprise/multicluster/.../create-a-management-cluster-helm.mdx	Switch CRD install to templating+apply; move namespace creation to operator install.
calico-enterprise/multicluster/.../create-a-managed-cluster-helm.mdx	Switch CRD install to templating+apply; move namespace creation to operator install.
calico-enterprise/getting-started/install-on-clusters/kubernetes/helm.mdx	Switch CRD install to templating+apply; add `--create-namespace` to operator install.

Copilot · 2026-04-11T14:01:37Z

calico/operations/native-v3-crds.mdx


   ```bash
-   helm install calico-crds projectcalico/projectcalico.org.v3 --version $[releaseTitle] --namespace tigera-operator
+   helm template calico-crds projectcalico/projectcalico.org.v3 --version $[releaseTitle] | kubectl apply --server-side -f -


helm template does not render resources from a chart’s crds/ directory unless --include-crds is specified. Since this step is intended to install CRDs, add --include-crds to the helm template command to ensure the CRDs are actually output (regardless of whether the chart stores CRDs under templates/ or crds/).

Suggested change

helm template calico-crds projectcalico/projectcalico.org.v3 --version $[releaseTitle] | kubectl apply --server-side -f -

helm template calico-crds projectcalico/projectcalico.org.v3 --version $[releaseTitle] --include-crds | kubectl apply --server-side -f -

Copilot · 2026-04-11T14:01:38Z

calico/getting-started/kubernetes/helm.mdx


   ```bash
-   helm install calico-crds projectcalico/crd.projectcalico.org.v1 --version $[releaseTitle] --namespace tigera-operator
+   helm template calico-crds projectcalico/crd.projectcalico.org.v1 --version $[releaseTitle] | kubectl apply --server-side -f -


helm template does not render resources from a chart’s crds/ directory unless --include-crds is specified. Since this step is intended to install CRDs, add --include-crds to the helm template command to ensure the CRDs are actually output.

Copilot · 2026-04-11T14:01:38Z

calico/getting-started/kubernetes/helm.mdx


   ```bash
-   helm install calico-crds projectcalico/projectcalico.org.v3 --version $[releaseTitle] --namespace tigera-operator
+   helm template calico-crds projectcalico/projectcalico.org.v3 --version $[releaseTitle] | kubectl apply --server-side -f -


helm template does not render resources from a chart’s crds/ directory unless --include-crds is specified. Since this step is intended to install CRDs, add --include-crds to the helm template command to ensure the CRDs are actually output.

Copilot · 2026-04-11T14:01:38Z

calico-enterprise/operations/native-v3-crds.mdx


   ```bash
-   helm install calico-crds projectcalico/projectcalico.org.v3 --version $[releaseTitle] --namespace tigera-operator
+   helm template calico-crds projectcalico/projectcalico.org.v3 --version $[releaseTitle] | kubectl apply --server-side -f -


helm template does not render resources from a chart’s crds/ directory unless --include-crds is specified. Since this step is intended to install CRDs, add --include-crds to the helm template command to ensure the CRDs are actually output.

Suggested change

helm template calico-crds projectcalico/projectcalico.org.v3 --version $[releaseTitle] | kubectl apply --server-side -f -

helm template calico-crds projectcalico/projectcalico.org.v3 --version $[releaseTitle] --include-crds | kubectl apply --server-side -f -

Copilot · 2026-04-11T14:01:38Z

...lticluster/set-up-multi-cluster-management/helm-install/create-a-management-cluster-helm.mdx


  ```bash
-  helm install calico-crds crd.projectcalico.org.v1-$[chart_version_name].tgz --namespace tigera-operator --create-namespace
+  helm template calico-crds crd.projectcalico.org.v1-$[chart_version_name].tgz | kubectl apply --server-side -f -


helm template does not render resources from a chart’s crds/ directory unless --include-crds is specified. Since this step is intended to install CRDs, add --include-crds to the helm template command to ensure the CRDs are actually output.

Suggested change

helm template calico-crds crd.projectcalico.org.v1-$[chart_version_name].tgz | kubectl apply --server-side -f -

helm template --include-crds calico-crds crd.projectcalico.org.v1-$[chart_version_name].tgz | kubectl apply --server-side -f -

Copilot · 2026-04-11T14:01:38Z

...lticluster/set-up-multi-cluster-management/helm-install/create-a-management-cluster-helm.mdx


  ```bash
-  helm install calico-crds crd.projectcalico.org.v1-$[chart_version_name].tgz --namespace tigera-operator --create-namespace
+  helm template calico-crds crd.projectcalico.org.v1-$[chart_version_name].tgz | kubectl apply --server-side -f -


helm template does not render resources from a chart’s crds/ directory unless --include-crds is specified. Since this step is intended to install CRDs, add --include-crds to the helm template command to ensure the CRDs are actually output.

Suggested change

helm template calico-crds crd.projectcalico.org.v1-$[chart_version_name].tgz | kubectl apply --server-side -f -

helm template calico-crds crd.projectcalico.org.v1-$[chart_version_name].tgz --include-crds | kubectl apply --server-side -f -

Copilot · 2026-04-11T14:01:39Z

.../multicluster/set-up-multi-cluster-management/helm-install/create-a-managed-cluster-helm.mdx


  ```bash
-  helm install calico-crds crd.projectcalico.org.v1-$[chart_version_name].tgz --namespace tigera-operator --create-namespace
+  helm template calico-crds crd.projectcalico.org.v1-$[chart_version_name].tgz | kubectl apply --server-side -f -


helm template does not render resources from a chart’s crds/ directory unless --include-crds is specified. Since this step is intended to install CRDs, add --include-crds to the helm template command to ensure the CRDs are actually output.

Suggested change

helm template calico-crds crd.projectcalico.org.v1-$[chart_version_name].tgz | kubectl apply --server-side -f -

helm template --include-crds calico-crds crd.projectcalico.org.v1-$[chart_version_name].tgz | kubectl apply --server-side -f -

Copilot · 2026-04-11T14:01:39Z

calico-enterprise/getting-started/install-on-clusters/kubernetes/helm.mdx


   ```bash
-   helm install calico-crds crd.projectcalico.org.v1-$[chart_version_name].tgz --namespace tigera-operator --create-namespace
+   helm template calico-crds crd.projectcalico.org.v1-$[chart_version_name].tgz | kubectl apply --server-side -f -


helm template does not render resources from a chart’s crds/ directory unless --include-crds is specified. Since this step is intended to install CRDs, add --include-crds to the helm template command to ensure the CRDs are actually output.

Suggested change

helm template calico-crds crd.projectcalico.org.v1-$[chart_version_name].tgz | kubectl apply --server-side -f -

helm template --include-crds calico-crds crd.projectcalico.org.v1-$[chart_version_name].tgz | kubectl apply --server-side -f -

caseydavenport requested a review from a team as a code owner April 11, 2026 13:58

Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings April 11, 2026 13:58

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of caseydavenport April 11, 2026 13:58 View session

Copilot AI reviewed Apr 11, 2026

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caseydavenport mentioned this pull request Apr 11, 2026

Bring back CRD description fields projectcalico/calico#12442

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Use helm template + kubectl apply for CRD charts#2636

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	helm template calico-crds projectcalico/projectcalico.org.v3 --version $[releaseTitle] \| kubectl apply --server-side -f -
	helm template calico-crds projectcalico/projectcalico.org.v3 --version $[releaseTitle] --include-crds \| kubectl apply --server-side -f -

	helm template calico-crds crd.projectcalico.org.v1-$[chart_version_name].tgz \| kubectl apply --server-side -f -
	helm template --include-crds calico-crds crd.projectcalico.org.v1-$[chart_version_name].tgz \| kubectl apply --server-side -f -

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