Cluster Chart : NMState

Configure the NMState network operator for declarative node-level network interface configuration.

This chart is part of the cluster-xxx startx helm chart series that doesn’t necessarily deploy pods but rather represent a cluster configuration state orchestrated by gitops tools like ArgoCD.

Requirements and guidelines

Read the startx helm-repository homepage for more information on how to use these resources.

Deploy this helm chart on openshift

1. Connect to your Openshift cluster

oc login -t <token> <cluster-url>

2. Install the repository

helm repo add startx https://helm-repository.readthedocs.io/en/latest/repos/stable/

3. Get information about this chart

helm show chart startx/cluster-nmstate

4. Install this chart

Default values

Complete deployment of a project with the following characteristics:

Deploy the NMState CR (nmstate/nmstate) to activate the operator daemonset on all nodes
The operator subscription and namespace are managed separately via the operator and project sub-charts (both disabled by default)

# base configuration running default configuration
helm install cluster-nmstate startx/cluster-nmstate

Full deployment with operator and project

Enable the operator subscription and project namespace alongside the NMState CR:

helm install cluster-nmstate startx/cluster-nmstate \
  --set project.enabled=true \
  --set operator.enabled=true

Other available values

startx : NMState operator with full STARTX context (see values-startx.yaml)

helm install cluster-nmstate startx/cluster-nmstate -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/startxfr/helm-repository/master/charts/cluster-nmstate/values-startx.yaml

ArgoCD deployment

Deploy via ArgoCD Application

Deploy cluster-nmstate using three dedicated ArgoCD Applications — one per concern — all sharing the same AppProject:

apiVersion: argoproj.io/v1alpha1
kind: AppProject
metadata:
  name: cluster-nmstate
  namespace: openshift-gitops
spec:
  description: Deploy the NMState network operator on OpenShift
  sourceRepos:
    - 'http://sx-helm-repository-prod.s3-website.eu-west-3.amazonaws.com/*'
  destinations:
    - server: https://kubernetes.default.svc
      namespace: openshift-nmstate
    - server: https://kubernetes.default.svc
      namespace: '*'
  clusterResourceWhitelist:
    - group: ''
      kind: Namespace
    - group: operators.coreos.com
      kind: OperatorGroup
    - group: operators.coreos.com
      kind: Subscription
    - group: nmstate.io
      kind: NMState
---
apiVersion: argoproj.io/v1alpha1
kind: Application
metadata:
  name: cluster-nmstate-project
  namespace: openshift-gitops
  finalizers:
    - resources-finalizer.argocd.argoproj.io
spec:
  destination:
    namespace: openshift-nmstate
    server: https://kubernetes.default.svc
  project: cluster-nmstate
  source:
    chart: cluster-nmstate
    helm:
      values: |
        project:
          enabled: true
    repoURL: http://sx-helm-repository-prod.s3-website.eu-west-3.amazonaws.com/stable
    targetRevision: 21.3.11
  syncPolicy:
    automated:
      prune: true
      selfHeal: true
    syncOptions:
      - CreateNamespace=true
---
apiVersion: argoproj.io/v1alpha1
kind: Application
metadata:
  name: cluster-nmstate-operator
  namespace: openshift-gitops
  finalizers:
    - resources-finalizer.argocd.argoproj.io
spec:
  destination:
    namespace: openshift-nmstate
    server: https://kubernetes.default.svc
  project: cluster-nmstate
  source:
    chart: cluster-nmstate
    helm:
      values: |
        operator:
          enabled: true
    repoURL: http://sx-helm-repository-prod.s3-website.eu-west-3.amazonaws.com/stable
    targetRevision: 21.3.11
  syncPolicy:
    automated:
      prune: true
      selfHeal: true
---
apiVersion: argoproj.io/v1alpha1
kind: Application
metadata:
  name: cluster-nmstate-app
  namespace: openshift-gitops
  finalizers:
    - resources-finalizer.argocd.argoproj.io
spec:
  destination:
    namespace: openshift-nmstate
    server: https://kubernetes.default.svc
  project: cluster-nmstate
  source:
    chart: cluster-nmstate
    helm:
      values: |
        nmstate:
          enabled: true
    repoURL: http://sx-helm-repository-prod.s3-website.eu-west-3.amazonaws.com/stable
    targetRevision: 21.3.11
  syncPolicy:
    automated:
      prune: true
      selfHeal: true

Apply with:

kubectl apply -f cluster-nmstate-argocd.yaml -n openshift-gitops

The automated sync policy ensures ArgoCD reconciles each concern independently whenever the chart or values drift from the desired state.

Values dictionary

context values dictionary

Key	Default	Description
context.scope	`myscope`	Name of the global scope for this application
context.cluster	`default`	Name of the cluster running this application
context.environment	`myenv`	Name of the environment (dev, factory, preprod, prod)
context.component	`mycomponent`	Component name of this application
context.app	`default-nmstate`	Application name
context.version	`4.21.0`	Version name of this application

nmstate values dictionary

Key	Default	Description
nmstate.enabled	`true`	Enable the creation of the NMState CR to activate the operator
nmstate.hooked	`false`	Deploy as a Helm/ArgoCD post-sync hook
nmstate.name	`nmstate`	Name of the NMState instance (must be `nmstate` for the operator to reconcile)

nncp values dictionary

Key	Default	Description
nncp.enabled	`false`	Enable the deployment of a NodeNetworkConfigurationPolicy
nncp.hooked	`false`	Deploy as a Helm/ArgoCD post-sync hook
nncp.name	`default-network-policy`	Name of the NodeNetworkConfigurationPolicy
nncp.nodeSelector	`{}`	Node selector to target specific nodes (empty = all)
nncp.desiredState	`interfaces: []`	Desired network state in NMState YAML format

History

Release	Date	Description
21.3.3	2026-06-16	Initial chart creation for NMState operator on OCP 4.21
21.3.4	2026-06-17	Improve cluster-nmstate options
21.3.11	2026-06-17	publish stable update for the full repository