Updating Container Images in Flux HelmReleases via GitOps

Overview

Updating container images for applications deployed via HelmRelease. This covers checking for updates and applying them through GitOps.

Before You Begin

Prerequisites

Flux CD Kubernetes GitOps completed
At least one application deployed via HelmRelease

Check for Updates

Docker Hub

Most images are on Docker Hub¹. Check available tags:

# Plex
curl -s "https://hub.docker.com/v2/repositories/plexinc/pms-docker/tags?page_size=5" | jq -r '.results[].name'

# Factorio
curl -s "https://hub.docker.com/v2/repositories/factoriotools/factorio/tags?page_size=5" | jq -r '.results[].name'

# Minecraft (itzg)
curl -s "https://hub.docker.com/v2/repositories/itzg/minecraft-server/tags?page_size=5" | jq -r '.results[].name'

Or browse directly:

GitHub Releases

Some projects publish releases on GitHub:

Plex Helm Chart Releases

Update Image Tag

HelmRelease Config

Add or update image.tag in your HelmRelease² values:

spec:
  values:
    image:
      tag: "1.42.2.10156-f737b826c"  # New version

Commit Update

git add k8s/apps/<app>/helmrelease.yaml
git commit -m "chore(<app>): update to <version>"
git push
flux reconcile kustomization sync

Verify Update

Watch Pods

kubectl get pods -n <namespace> -w

Check Image

kubectl get pod -n <namespace> <pod-name> -o jsonpath='{.spec.containers[0].image}'

Roll Back Update

Revert Commit

If an update causes issues, revert the image tag in Git:

git revert HEAD
git push
flux reconcile kustomization sync

Or edit the HelmRelease with the previous working tag and push.

Resources

Docker Hub, "Docker Hub Container Image Library," hub.docker.com. Accessed: Dec. 22, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://hub.docker.com/ ↩
Flux, "HelmRelease API Reference," fluxcd.io. Accessed: Dec. 22, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://fluxcd.io/flux/components/helm/helmreleases/ ↩