KCNA Cloud Native Application Delivery Practice Question
What is the purpose of values.yaml in a Helm chart?
⚠ Common exam trap
KCNA often tests the confusion between Chart.yaml (metadata) and values.yaml (configuration defaults), so candidates who skim the options may pick 'chart metadata' simply because both files live at the chart root.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
To store default configuration values for the chart
values.yaml in a Helm chart is the default configuration file that supplies values to the chart's templates. When you run helm install or helm upgrade, Helm merges these defaults with any user-supplied overrides (via --set, -f, or a parent chart's values) and then renders the templates. This separation of configuration from template logic is what makes charts reusable across environments without editing the templates themselves.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
To specify the chart metadata
Why it's wrong here
Chart metadata such as name, version and description belongs in Chart.yaml, which Helm reads to identify and version the chart. values.yaml holds configurable defaults passed into templates at render time, so it cannot supply the metadata fields Helm requires.
- ✗
To define the Kubernetes resources to create
Why it's wrong here
Kubernetes resource manifests live in the chart's templates/ directory, which Helm renders with values; values.yaml only supplies the parameters those templates consume. It is tempting because values do parameterise resource definitions, but the definitions themselves are not stored there.
- ✗
To define the release name
Why it's wrong here
The release name is supplied at install time via helm install or --generate-name, not stored in values.yaml. Values files only provide template parameters, so nothing in them sets the release identifier Helm uses to track the deployment.
- ✓
To store default configuration values for the chart
Why this is correct
Helm reads values.yaml to supply the chart's built-in defaults, which templates reference during rendering. Any value a user omits at install time falls back to these entries, so the file defines the chart's baseline configuration rather than per-release overrides.
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Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official CNCF exam blueprint
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