Docs: update Helm Chart page to show usage without cloning Polaris github repo

Makefile

@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ SHELL = /usr/bin/env bash -o pipefail
 BUILD_IMAGE ?= true
 DOCKER ?= docker
 MINIKUBE_PROFILE ?= minikube
-DEPENDENCIES ?= ct helm helm-docs java21 git
+DEPENDENCIES ?= ct helm helm-docs java21 git yamllint
 OPTIONAL_DEPENDENCIES := jq kubectl minikube
 VENV_DIR := .venv
 PYTHON_CLIENT_DIR := client/python
@@ -217,7 +217,7 @@ helm-unittest: check-dependencies ## Run Helm chart unittest
 	@helm unittest helm/polaris
 	@echo "--- Helm chart unittest complete ---"
 
-helm-lint: DEPENDENCIES := ct
+helm-lint: DEPENDENCIES := ct yamllint
 .PHONY: helm-lint
 helm-lint: check-dependencies ## Run Helm chart lint check
 	@echo "--- Running Helm chart linting ---"

helm/polaris/README.md

@@ -42,11 +42,80 @@ A Helm chart for Apache Polaris (incubating).
 
 ## Installation
 
-### Running locally with a Minikube cluster
+The instructions below are for the local Minikube cluster. They assume Minikube and Helm are installed.
 
-The below instructions assume Minikube and Helm are installed.
+### Installing from the official repository (recommended)
 
-Start the Minikube cluster, build and load image into the Minikube cluster:
+Start the Minikube cluster, add the official Polaris Helm repository, create the target namespace, and install the chart:
+```bash
+minikube start
+helm repo add polaris https://downloads.apache.org/incubator/polaris/helm-chart
+helm repo update
+kubectl create namespace polaris
+helm install polaris polaris/polaris --namespace polaris --devel
+```
+
+> [!NOTE]
+> The --devel flag is required while Polaris is in the incubation phase.
+> Helm treats the -incubating suffix as a pre‑release by SemVer rules, and will skip charts that are not in a stable versioning scheme by default.
+
+Now the cluster should be up and running. You can run the built-in connection test to verify:
+```bash
+helm test polaris --namespace polaris
+```
+
+Default Polaris Helm chart values are for a non-persistent backend. To use a persistent backend, you will need to override default values and create required resources.
+Polaris Helm chart package includes a number of files that can be used as a starting point for such configuration. To use them, download the chart into a local directory:
+```bash
+helm pull polaris \
+  --repo https://downloads.apache.org/incubator/polaris/helm-chart \
+  --devel \
+  --untar \
+  --untardir ./helm
+```
+
+> [!WARNING]
+> The examples below use values files located in the `helm/polaris/ci` directory.
+> **These files are intended for testing purposes primarily, and may not be suitable for production use**.
+> For production deployments, create your own values files based on the provided examples.
+
+Create required resources:
+```bash
+kubectl apply --namespace polaris -f helm/polaris/ci/fixtures/
+kubectl wait --namespace polaris --for=condition=ready pod --selector=app.kubernetes.io/name=postgres --timeout=120s
+```
+
+> [!WARNING]
+> The Postgres deployment set up in the fixtures directory is intended for testing purposes only and is not suitable for production use. For production deployments, use a managed Postgres service or a properly configured and secured Postgres instance.
+
+Install the chart with a persistent backend:
+```bash
+helm upgrade --install --namespace polaris \
+  --values helm/polaris/ci/persistence-values.yaml \
+  polaris helm/polaris
+kubectl wait --namespace polaris --for=condition=ready pod --selector=app.kubernetes.io/name=polaris --timeout=120s
+```
+
+Run the catalog bootstrap using the Polaris admin tool to initialize the catalog with the required configuration.
+For example, to run it as a new pod in the Minikube cluster (the polaris-admin-tool image will be pulled automatically from Docker Hub):
+```bash
+kubectl run polaris-bootstrap \
+  -n polaris \
+  --image=apache/polaris-admin-tool:latest \
+  --restart=Never \
+  --rm -it \
+  --env="quarkus.datasource.username=$(kubectl get secret polaris-persistence -n polaris -o jsonpath='{.data.username}' | base64 --decode)" \
+  --env="quarkus.datasource.password=$(kubectl get secret polaris-persistence -n polaris -o jsonpath='{.data.password}' | base64 --decode)" \
+  --env="quarkus.datasource.jdbc.url=$(kubectl get secret polaris-persistence -n polaris -o jsonpath='{.data.jdbcUrl}' | base64 --decode)" \
+  -- \
+  bootstrap -r POLARIS -c POLARIS,root,pass -p
+```
+
+### Build and install from source (advanced)
+
+Here it is assumed that you have cloned the Polaris Git repository and set up prerequisites to build the project (see [Quickstart Guide](https://polaris.apache.org/in-dev/unreleased/getting-started/install-dependencies/) for details).
+
+Start the Minikube cluster, then build and load the image into the Minikube cluster:
 
 ```bash
 minikube start
@@ -60,12 +129,6 @@ eval $(minikube docker-env)
   -Dquarkus.container-image.build=true
 ```
 
-### Installing the chart locally
-
-The below instructions assume a local Kubernetes cluster is running and Helm is installed.
-
-#### Common setup
-
 Create the target namespace:
 ```bash
 kubectl create namespace polaris
@@ -75,7 +138,11 @@ Create all the required resources in the `polaris` namespace. This usually inclu
 database, Kubernetes secrets, and service accounts. The Polaris chart does not create
 these resources automatically, as they are not required for all Polaris deployments. The chart will
 fail if these resources are not created beforehand. You can find some examples in the
-`helm/polaris/ci/fixtures` directory, but beware that these are primarily intended for tests.
+`helm/polaris/ci/fixtures` directory, but beware that these are primarily intended for tests. For example, you can run the following commands:
+```bash
+kubectl apply --namespace polaris -f helm/polaris/ci/fixtures/
+kubectl wait --namespace polaris --for=condition=ready pod --selector=app.kubernetes.io/name=postgres --timeout=120s
+```
 
 Below are two sample deployment models for installing the chart: one with a non-persistent backend and another with a persistent backend.
 
@@ -86,7 +153,7 @@ Below are two sample deployment models for installing the chart: one with a non-
 
 #### Non-persistent backend
 
-Install the chart with a non-persistent backend. From Polaris repo root:
+Install the chart with a non-persistent backend. From the Polaris repo root:
 ```bash
 helm upgrade --install --namespace polaris \
   polaris helm/polaris
@@ -97,19 +164,19 @@ helm upgrade --install --namespace polaris \
 > [!WARNING]
 > The Postgres deployment set up in the fixtures directory is intended for testing purposes only and is not suitable for production use. For production deployments, use a managed Postgres service or a properly configured and secured Postgres instance.
 
-Install the chart with a persistent backend. From Polaris repo root:
+Install the chart with a persistent backend. From the Polaris repo root:
 ```bash
 helm upgrade --install --namespace polaris \
   --values helm/polaris/ci/persistence-values.yaml \
   polaris helm/polaris
 kubectl wait --namespace polaris --for=condition=ready pod --selector=app.kubernetes.io/name=polaris --timeout=120s
 ```
 
-To access Polaris and Postgres locally, set up port forwarding for both services (This is needed for bootstrap processes):
+To access Polaris and Postgres locally, set up port forwarding for both services (this is needed for bootstrap processes):
 ```bash
-kubectl port-forward -n polaris $(kubectl get pod -n polaris -l app.kubernetes.io/name=polaris -o jsonpath='{.items[0].metadata.name}') 8181:8181
+kubectl port-forward -n polaris $(kubectl get pod -n polaris -l app.kubernetes.io/name=polaris -o jsonpath='{.items[0].metadata.name}') 8181:8181 &
 
-kubectl port-forward -n polaris $(kubectl get pod -n polaris -l app.kubernetes.io/name=postgres -o jsonpath='{.items[0].metadata.name}') 5432:5432
+kubectl port-forward -n polaris $(kubectl get pod -n polaris -l app.kubernetes.io/name=postgres -o jsonpath='{.items[0].metadata.name}') 5432:5432 &
 ```
 
 Run the catalog bootstrap using the Polaris admin tool. This step initializes the catalog with the required configuration:
@@ -142,11 +209,13 @@ The following tools are required to run the tests:
 
 * [Helm Unit Test](https://github.com/helm-unittest/helm-unittest)
 * [Chart Testing](https://github.com/helm/chart-testing)
+* [yamllint](https://github.com/adrienverge/yamllint)
 
 Quick installation instructions for these tools:
 ```bash
 helm plugin install https://github.com/helm-unittest/helm-unittest.git
 brew install chart-testing
+brew install yamllint
 ```
 
 The integration tests also require some fixtures to be deployed. The `ci/fixtures` directory
@@ -156,7 +225,7 @@ kubectl apply --namespace polaris -f helm/polaris/ci/fixtures/
 kubectl wait --namespace polaris --for=condition=ready pod --selector=app.kubernetes.io/name=postgres --timeout=120s
 ```
 
-The `helm/polaris/ci` contains a number of values files that will be used to install the chart with
+The `helm/polaris/ci` directory contains a number of values files that will be used to install the chart with
 different configurations.
 
 ### Running the unit tests

helm/polaris/README.md.gotmpl

@@ -44,11 +44,81 @@ weight: 675
 
 ## Installation
 
-### Running locally with a Minikube cluster
+The instructions below are for the local Minikube cluster. They assume Minikube and Helm are installed.
 
-The below instructions assume Minikube and Helm are installed.
+### Installing from the official repository (recommended)
 
-Start the Minikube cluster, build and load image into the Minikube cluster:
+Start the Minikube cluster, add the official Polaris Helm repository, create the target namespace, and install the chart:
+```bash
+minikube start
+helm repo add polaris https://downloads.apache.org/incubator/polaris/helm-chart
+helm repo update
+kubectl create namespace polaris
+helm install polaris polaris/polaris --namespace polaris --devel
+```
+
+> [!NOTE]
+> The --devel flag is required while Polaris is in the incubation phase.
+> Helm treats the -incubating suffix as a pre‑release by SemVer rules, and will skip charts that are not in a stable versioning scheme by default.
+
+Now the cluster should be up and running. You can run the built-in connection test to verify:
+```bash
+helm test polaris --namespace polaris
+```
+
+Default Polaris Helm chart values are for a non-persistent backend. To use a persistent backend, you will need to override default values and create required resources.
+Polaris Helm chart package includes a number of files that can be used as a starting point for such configuration. To use them, download the chart into a local directory:
+```bash
+helm pull polaris \
+  --repo https://downloads.apache.org/incubator/polaris/helm-chart \
+  --devel \
+  --untar \
+  --untardir ./helm
+```
+
+> [!WARNING]
+> The examples below use values files located in the `helm/polaris/ci` directory.
+> **These files are intended for testing purposes primarily, and may not be suitable for production use**.
+> For production deployments, create your own values files based on the provided examples.
+
+Create required resources:
+```bash
+kubectl apply --namespace polaris -f helm/polaris/ci/fixtures/
+kubectl wait --namespace polaris --for=condition=ready pod --selector=app.kubernetes.io/name=postgres --timeout=120s
+```
+
+> [!WARNING]
+> The Postgres deployment set up in the fixtures directory is intended for testing purposes only and is not suitable for production use. For production deployments, use a managed Postgres service or a properly configured and secured Postgres instance.
+
+Install the chart with a persistent backend:
+```bash
+helm upgrade --install --namespace polaris \
+  --values helm/polaris/ci/persistence-values.yaml \
+  polaris helm/polaris
+kubectl wait --namespace polaris --for=condition=ready pod --selector=app.kubernetes.io/name=polaris --timeout=120s
+```
+
+Run the catalog bootstrap using the Polaris admin tool to initialize the catalog with the required configuration.
+For example, to run it as a new pod in the Minikube cluster (the polaris-admin-tool image will be pulled automatically from Docker Hub):
+```bash
+kubectl run polaris-bootstrap \
+  -n polaris \
+  --image=apache/polaris-admin-tool:latest \
+  --restart=Never \
+  --rm -it \
+  --env="quarkus.datasource.username=$(kubectl get secret polaris-persistence -n polaris -o jsonpath='{.data.username}' | base64 --decode)" \
+  --env="quarkus.datasource.password=$(kubectl get secret polaris-persistence -n polaris -o jsonpath='{.data.password}' | base64 --decode)" \
+  --env="quarkus.datasource.jdbc.url=$(kubectl get secret polaris-persistence -n polaris -o jsonpath='{.data.jdbcUrl}' | base64 --decode)" \
+  -- \
+  bootstrap -r POLARIS -c POLARIS,root,pass -p
+```
+
+
+### Build and install from source (advanced)
+
+Here it is assumed that you have cloned the Polaris Git repository and set up prerequisites to build the project (see [Quickstart Guide](https://polaris.apache.org/in-dev/unreleased/getting-started/install-dependencies/) for details).
+
+Start the Minikube cluster, then build and load the image into the Minikube cluster:
 
 ```bash
 minikube start
@@ -62,12 +132,6 @@ eval $(minikube docker-env)
   -Dquarkus.container-image.build=true
 ```
 
-### Installing the chart locally
-
-The below instructions assume a local Kubernetes cluster is running and Helm is installed.
-
-#### Common setup
-
 Create the target namespace:
 ```bash
 kubectl create namespace polaris
@@ -76,8 +140,12 @@ kubectl create namespace polaris
 Create all the required resources in the `polaris` namespace. This usually includes a Postgres
 database, Kubernetes secrets, and service accounts. The Polaris chart does not create
 these resources automatically, as they are not required for all Polaris deployments. The chart will
-fail if these resources are not created beforehand. You can find some examples in the 
-`helm/polaris/ci/fixtures` directory, but beware that these are primarily intended for tests.
+fail if these resources are not created beforehand. You can find some examples in the
+`helm/polaris/ci/fixtures` directory, but beware that these are primarily intended for tests. For example, you can run the following commands:
+```bash
+kubectl apply --namespace polaris -f helm/polaris/ci/fixtures/
+kubectl wait --namespace polaris --for=condition=ready pod --selector=app.kubernetes.io/name=postgres --timeout=120s
+```
 
 Below are two sample deployment models for installing the chart: one with a non-persistent backend and another with a persistent backend.
 
@@ -88,7 +156,7 @@ Below are two sample deployment models for installing the chart: one with a non-
 
 #### Non-persistent backend
 
-Install the chart with a non-persistent backend. From Polaris repo root:
+Install the chart with a non-persistent backend. From the Polaris repo root:
 ```bash
 helm upgrade --install --namespace polaris \
   polaris helm/polaris
@@ -99,19 +167,19 @@ helm upgrade --install --namespace polaris \
 > [!WARNING]
 > The Postgres deployment set up in the fixtures directory is intended for testing purposes only and is not suitable for production use. For production deployments, use a managed Postgres service or a properly configured and secured Postgres instance.
 
-Install the chart with a persistent backend. From Polaris repo root:
+Install the chart with a persistent backend. From the Polaris repo root:
 ```bash
 helm upgrade --install --namespace polaris \
   --values helm/polaris/ci/persistence-values.yaml \
   polaris helm/polaris
 kubectl wait --namespace polaris --for=condition=ready pod --selector=app.kubernetes.io/name=polaris --timeout=120s
 ```
 
-To access Polaris and Postgres locally, set up port forwarding for both services (This is needed for bootstrap processes):
+To access Polaris and Postgres locally, set up port forwarding for both services (this is needed for bootstrap processes):
 ```bash
-kubectl port-forward -n polaris $(kubectl get pod -n polaris -l app.kubernetes.io/name=polaris -o jsonpath='{.items[0].metadata.name}') 8181:8181
+kubectl port-forward -n polaris $(kubectl get pod -n polaris -l app.kubernetes.io/name=polaris -o jsonpath='{.items[0].metadata.name}') 8181:8181 &
 
-kubectl port-forward -n polaris $(kubectl get pod -n polaris -l app.kubernetes.io/name=postgres -o jsonpath='{.items[0].metadata.name}') 5432:5432
+kubectl port-forward -n polaris $(kubectl get pod -n polaris -l app.kubernetes.io/name=postgres -o jsonpath='{.items[0].metadata.name}') 5432:5432 &
 ```
 
 Run the catalog bootstrap using the Polaris admin tool. This step initializes the catalog with the required configuration:
@@ -144,11 +212,13 @@ The following tools are required to run the tests:
 
 * [Helm Unit Test](https://github.com/helm-unittest/helm-unittest)
 * [Chart Testing](https://github.com/helm/chart-testing)
+* [yamllint](https://github.com/adrienverge/yamllint)
 
 Quick installation instructions for these tools:
 ```bash
 helm plugin install https://github.com/helm-unittest/helm-unittest.git
 brew install chart-testing
+brew install yamllint
 ```
 
 The integration tests also require some fixtures to be deployed. The `ci/fixtures` directory
@@ -158,7 +228,7 @@ kubectl apply --namespace polaris -f helm/polaris/ci/fixtures/
 kubectl wait --namespace polaris --for=condition=ready pod --selector=app.kubernetes.io/name=postgres --timeout=120s
 ```
 
-The `helm/polaris/ci` contains a number of values files that will be used to install the chart with
+The `helm/polaris/ci` directory contains a number of values files that will be used to install the chart with
 different configurations.
 
 ### Running the unit tests