Query regarding helm release functionality

[SamarSidharth]

I intend to install a helm chart for an application on a different cluster by providing the config value in helmRelease kubeConfig field and the namespace in the targetNamespace.
I got the below error in helmRelease:

Events:
  Type     Reason  Age   From             Message
  ----     ------  ----  ----             -------
  Normal   info    10m   helm-controller  HelmChart 'nrf/nrf-nrf' is not ready
  Normal   info    10m   helm-controller  Helm install has started
  Warning  error   10m   helm-controller  Helm install failed: create: failed to create: namespaces "nrf" not found

I am not sure why I get the error for nampspace in which my helmrelease is i.e nrf whereas my target namespcae is nrf-test and I assume that the target namespace will get created if not found

HelmRelease:

apiVersion: helm.toolkit.fluxcd.io/v2beta1
  kind: HelmRelease
  metadata:
    annotations:
      internal.kpt.dev/upstream-identifier: helm.toolkit.fluxcd.io|HelmRelease|nrf|nrf
    creationTimestamp: "2024-01-03T10:14:54Z"
    finalizers:
    - finalizers.fluxcd.io
    generation: 1
    labels:
      kustomize.toolkit.fluxcd.io/name: nrf
      kustomize.toolkit.fluxcd.io/namespace: flux-system
    name: nrf
    namespace: nrf
    resourceVersion: "7737132"
    uid: 8b3aa108-b4bc-40a9-8931-f917504cfb0e
  spec:
    chart:
      spec:
        chart: free5gc-nrf
        interval: 5m
        reconcileStrategy: ChartVersion
        sourceRef:
          kind: HelmRepository
          name: nrf-test
          namespace: nrf
        version: 0.2.6
    install:
      crds: CreateReplace
      remediation:
        retries: -1
    interval: 5m
    kubeConfig:
      secretRef:
        name: cluster2-kubeconfig
    releaseName: nrf
    targetNamespace: nrf-test
    upgrade:
      crds: CreateReplace
      remediation:
        retries: -1
    valuesFrom:
    - kind: ConfigMap
      name: nrf-overrides
      optional: true
      valuesKey: nrf-values.yaml
  status:
    conditions:
    - lastTransitionTime: "2024-01-03T10:14:56Z"
      message: |+
        Helm uninstall failed: uninstall: Release not loaded: nrf: release: not found

        Last Helm logs:

      reason: UninstallFailed
      status: "False"
      type: Ready
    - lastTransitionTime: "2024-01-03T10:14:56Z"
      message: |+
        Helm install failed: create: failed to create: namespaces "nrf" not found

        Last Helm logs:

      reason: InstallFailed
      status: "False"
      type: Released
    - lastTransitionTime: "2024-01-03T10:14:56Z"
      message: |+
        Helm uninstall failed: uninstall: Release not loaded: nrf: release: not found

        Last Helm logs:

      reason: UninstallFailed
      status: "False"
      type: Remediated
    failures: 12
    helmChart: nrf/nrf-nrf
    installFailures: 1
    lastAttemptedRevision: 0.2.6
    lastAttemptedValuesChecksum: 746f5069da8268df96a3de43d9d77842ed8f9ee2
    observedGeneration: 1

[SamarSidharth]

I read the doc again was able to create the namespace in the downstream cluster with createNamespace option but the reconcilation still fails

► annotating HelmRelease nrf in nrf namespace
✔ HelmRelease annotated
◎ waiting for HelmRelease reconciliation
✗ HelmRelease reconciliation failed: Helm uninstall failed: uninstall: Release not loaded: nrf: release: not found

Last Helm logs:

[SamarSidharth]

If I put the same value in releaseName and targetNamespace it works.
what is releaseName used for and how is it related to targetNamespace?

[webwurst]

Only the targetNamespace is created when you choose createNamespace. When the namespace of the HelmRelease differs you need to create that on your own, I think. In general you should be fine by just not setting releaseName and targetNamespace in your HelmRelease. The reason the set the relaseName is probably aesthetics. Changing any of the those or the kubeConfig fields after the HelmRelase is already deployed might lead to troubles. Maybe try again after deleting the failing HelmRelease and cleaning up those namespaces on the clusters.