How to run a Helm chart without a cluster (convert it to Docker Compose)

kubernetes2simple converts a Helm chart for you: the chart stays the source of truth, the Compose file is a generated artifact. There's no cluster in the loop — dekube renders the chart with helm template and converts the output, so a Helm chart runs under plain Docker Compose.

New here? Getting started covers install, the post-conversion checklist, and re-running. This guide walks a full chart end to end. (For raw Kubernetes YAML rather than a chart — the direct reverse of Kompose — see the manifests guide.)

A worked example: rustfs on your homelab

rustfs is an S3-compatible object store — think a lighter MinIO. It ships only a Helm chart, and it's in the TrueNAS app catalogue, so it's a realistic homelab target.

A Helm chart is not self-contained: rustfs refuses to render without credentials, and defaults to a 4-node distributed cluster. For a homelab you want one node and your own keys. Grab the chart and give it a minimal values.yaml:

helm repo add rustfs https://charts.rustfs.com
helm pull rustfs/rustfs --version 0.8.0 --untar
cd rustfs

Edit values.yaml in place (k2s renders the chart with the chart's own values.yaml, not a custom -f), setting single-node mode, your keys, and the Ingress host. Note that rustfs's Ingress takes a hosts: list, not a single host: string:

mode:
  standalone: { enabled: true }
  distributed: { enabled: false }
replicaCount: 1
secret:
  rustfs:
    access_key: homelab
    secret_key: change-me-please
ingress:
  enabled: true
  className: nginx
  hosts:
    - host: rustfs.localhost
      paths:
        - path: /
          pathType: Prefix

Convert and run:

curl -fsSL k2s.dekube.io/get | bash
docker compose up -d

k2s renders the chart with helm template release . — the release name (release) prefixes every resource it creates — then converts the result. So the chart's rustfs deployment comes out as a release-rustfs service in compose.yml, next to a release-rustfs-init-init-step init job (the doubled name is the chart's own, copied verbatim) and a release-rustfs-test-connection probe carried over from the chart's Helm test hook, plus the fix-permissions and caddy helper services k2s adds on its own. Data and logs land in bind mounts at ./data/release-rustfs-data and ./data/release-rustfs-logs.

The Ingress is converted: k2s writes a Caddyfile with a rustfs.localhost block reverse-proxying to the console port inside the compose network:

rustfs.localhost {
    reverse_proxy release-rustfs-svc.default.svc.cluster.local:9001
}

Caddy publishes 80 and 443 on the host, so once rustfs.localhost resolves (most systems resolve *.localhost to 127.0.0.1 automatically; otherwise add a /etc/hosts entry), open http://rustfs.localhost and log in with the keys from values.yaml above.

Want more control?

kubernetes2simple decides everything for you. If you need to choose which extensions to load, exclude specific services, or embed the conversion in CI, helmfile2compose is the distribution for maintainers. For how providers, rewriters, and extensions fit together, see the full dekube documentation.

FAQ

Can I run a Helm chart without a cluster?

Yes. kubernetes2simple renders the chart with helm template and converts the manifests to a Docker Compose file. No cluster or control plane is needed.

Why won't my Helm chart render on its own?

Charts are not self-contained: many require values such as credentials or a hostname, and some default to multi-node modes. Supply a minimal values.yaml, as shown with rustfs above.

Is this the opposite of Kompose?

Yes, in the opposite direction. This page covers Helm charts; for raw Kubernetes manifests, the manifests guide handles the same conversion. Either way the output is a Docker Compose file, not a cluster.

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"The scribe who copied the great hymns into the lesser tongue believed himself a translator. He was, in truth, the first heretic — for to render the sacred in the mundane is to declare that the mundane was always sufficient."

— Necronomicon, On the Heresy of Helm Template (unconfirmed)