failed to parse values.yaml

[bobloblian]

Hi,
I have been playing at getting stepcertificates installed and keep running into this error when following the instructions for installing via helm:
Error: INSTALLATION FAILED: failed to parse values.yaml: error converting YAML to JSON: yaml: line 11: did not find expected node content

Line 11 of the values file is:
crt: /home/step/certs/intermediate_ca.crt

This is really most likely a me-problem. I am new to kubernetes and I have found much of the documentation expects an understanding I don't have (yet), and this is my first experience with helm that involved more than pasting some commands. That said, the instruction would have me believe I shouldn't be getting that error, so seems appropriate to say something.

I was able to work around the issue by getting helm to output everything into manifest files, and I was able to apply them, but either I missed something in that procedure or it didn't convert all the data, for example the dnsNames from the values.yaml didn't show up in any of the manifest files.

#217 is also describing this same issue, but I am not really understanding what it is I am supposed to be changing. After applying the manifests, I chased some errors that resulted in creating an nfs-pvc volume, and the pvc and pv showed up as bound after I applied the manifests and the NFS volume did end up with data in it, but I am not sure how to pass/translate this information to helm.

#31 seems to describe the same issue, but it referenced outdated documentation, seems to be specific to RAs, and in the end there was no solution listed.

I am hoping that someone can perhaps explain how to work around this issue?

[bobloblian]

So, I have upped my game to include level 1 helm user. Turns out if you use helm pull, you can get all the files of the chart, and in there are instructions for setting up a standalone CA. Followed those and everything installed without error.

[hslatman]

Hey @bobloblian,

Thank you for opening the issue. It sounds like you were able to unblock yourself, which is great 😄 Is there something that we could do to improve things? I'm not well-versed in Helm myself, but if there's something we can improve, then one of my colleagues might be able to help.

[bobloblian]

@hslatman , thanks for your response, and apologies for the delayed reply.

I agree that it was good that I got unblocked, but sadly I am not familiar enough to suggest improvements at this time. In thinking through the instructions I found on the web vs the instructions in the helm chart files, the major difference seems to be how the passwords are passed to the helm chart. If I am understanding the intent correctly, the instructions on the web are better designed to secure the necessary passwords, and so should probably be the ones that people follow. however they did not work for me, even by setting all the passwords to password and pasting the instructions directly from the web page. I suspect (probably incorrectly) that the issue lies with the chart not mounting the secrets and/or other volumes correctly, but I have not yet worked on how to fix it.