[discourse] Helm: nil pointer evaluating interface {}.serviceName

[markphelps]

Originally posted by jeppe on Discourse

Hi there! So I’m trying to deploy Flipt to our kubernetes cluster with Argo. I’ve created a helm chart in our repo and created a new app in Argo. However, I’m getting this error:

Unable to create application: 
  application spec for flipt is invalid: 
    InvalidSpecError: 
      Unable to generate manifests in flipt: 
        rpc error: 
          code = Unknown desc = `helm template . --name-template flipt --namespace coana-api --kube-version 1.29 --values <path to cached source>/flipt/values.yaml <api versions removed> --include-crds` failed exit status 1: 
            Error: 
              template: 
                flipt/charts/flipt/templates/ingress.yaml:52:51: 
                  executing "flipt/charts/flipt/templates/ingress.yaml" at <.backend.serviceName>: nil pointer evaluating interface {}.serviceName Use --debug flag to render out invalid YAML

As far as I can tell it’s not our values.yaml that’s the reason, but I could be mistaken. This is it:

(we’ve created a new chart with Flipt as a dependency, hence the extra level of indentation)

flipt:
  nodeSelector:
    "kubernetes.azure.com/agentpool": gpurhcpu

  ingress:
    enabled: true
    annotations:
      cert-manager.io/cluster-issuer: "letsencrypt-prod"
    className: nginx
    hosts:
      - host: flipt.coana.tech
        paths:
          - path: /
            pathType: Prefix
    tls:
      - hosts:
          - flipt.coana.tech
        secretName: flipt-prod-tls

  flipt:
    config:
      log:
        level: WARN
      cache:
        enabled: true
        backend: memory

I’ve tried with fullnameOverride too, but it didn’t help.

[dosubot[bot]]

The error you're seeing (nil pointer evaluating interface {}.serviceName) usually means a required value for the Ingress backend service is missing or not set correctly in your values.yaml. This often happens in Helm charts when the template expects a value like serviceName or service.name, but it isn't provided—sometimes due to differences in Kubernetes API versions or how the chart is structured.

Based on what you've shared, your values.yaml looks reasonable, but since you're using Flipt as a dependency in a parent chart, make sure that the nested structure matches what the Flipt chart expects. For example, if the Flipt chart expects ingress.service.port or similar fields, and they're missing, you'll get this error. Also, double-check that your chart version matches your Kubernetes version, as the Ingress API changed from using serviceName (pre v1.19) to service.name (v1.19+).

If you have access to the chart's ingress.yaml, look for any references to .backend.serviceName and see if they're guarded by if statements or provided with defaults. If not, you may need to add those values explicitly in your values.yaml or adjust the template logic.

If you can, try running helm template with the --debug flag locally to see exactly which value is missing. This often points directly to the problematic field.

One more thing: there is no flipt/charts/flipt/templates/ingress.yaml in the current upstream Flipt repo, so this might be from a fork, an older version, or a custom chart. If that's the case, check the template logic in your chart for missing or unguarded references to serviceName or service.name.

Let me know if you want help reviewing a specific section of your chart or values!

To reply, just mention @dosu.

---

^{How did I do? Good | Irrelevant | Incorrect | Verbose | Hallucination | Report 🐛 | Other}   

[markphelps]

Reply from mark on Discourse:

Hey @jeppe

can you try these values?

flipt:
  ingress:
    enabled: true
    annotations:
      cert-manager.io/cluster-issuer: "letsencrypt-prod"
    className: nginx
    hosts:
      - host: flipt.coana.tech
        paths:
          - path: /
            pathType: Prefix
            backend:
              servicePort: http  # This was missing
              serviceName: ""    # This was missing

    tls:
      - hosts:
          - flipt.coana.tech
        secretName: flipt-prod-tls

  flipt:
    config:
      log:
        level: WARN
      cache:
        enabled: true
        backend: memory

I think the issue was that backend was nil