How to fix UPGRADE FAILED: has no deployed releases in Kubernetes

KubernetesINTERMEDIATEMEDIUM

You are trying to upgrade a Helm release, but no previous deployed version exists to upgrade from.

What this error means

This error occurs when trying to upgrade a release that is either in FAILED or SUPERSEDED state, or when the release was never successfully deployed. Helm cannot upgrade a release without a successful deployment baseline.

Typical symptoms

helm upgrade fails with "no deployed releases"
Previous installation failed or is stuck
Release shows FAILED status in helm list
Cannot proceed with upgrade until issue is fixed
Release has revisions but none in DEPLOYED state
Manual intervention needed

Common causes

Initial install failed (release never deployed)
All previous revisions are in FAILED state
Previous release was rolled back too many times
Release state is corrupted
Attempting upgrade on non-existent release
Release was deleted externally

How to fix "UPGRADE FAILED: has no deployed releases"

1Check release history

View all revisions:

bash

helm history RELEASE_NAME -n NAMESPACE

Look for revisions with DEPLOYED status.

2Identify the last successful deployment

Find the most recent DEPLOYED revision:

bash

helm history RELEASE_NAME -n NAMESPACE --output json | jq '.[] | select(.status=="DEPLOYED")'

3Rollback to last good state

If there's a previous DEPLOYED version:

bash

helm rollback RELEASE_NAME REVISION_NUMBER -n NAMESPACE

Then proceed with upgrade.

4Delete and reinstall if no good state

If no good revision exists, start fresh:

bash

helm delete RELEASE_NAME -n NAMESPACE
helm install RELEASE_NAME CHART_NAME -n NAMESPACE --create-namespace

Advanced notes

Prevent this by always testing Helm installs with --dry-run first. Use Helm hooks for pre-install validation. Keep deployment procedures documented and tested. Monitor release status continuously. For production, use a GitOps tool (ArgoCD, Flux) that manages release state automatically. Always have a clear rollback plan.

Related errors

Official resources & further reading

📚Kubernetes Official Documentation
📖
Helm: helm history(Official Docs)
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Helm: helm rollback(Official Docs)
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Helm: Release glossary(Official Docs)