NextronSystems · marius-benthin · Jun 3, 2026
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 # Deploy Thunderstorm as a Container
 
-[THOR Thunderstorm](https://www.nextron-systems.com/thor-thunderstorm/) is a web service that lets you scan files with our compromise assessment tool THOR through a Web-API. This guide provides a base [container image](https://github.com/NextronSystems/thunderstorm-deployment/pkgs/container/thunderstorm-deployment) and a [Docker Compose template](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NextronSystems/thunderstorm-deployment/master/docker-compose.yml) so you can run Thunderstorm as a container with just providing your contract token.
+[THOR Thunderstorm](https://www.nextron-systems.com/thor-thunderstorm/) is a web service that lets you scan files with our compromise assessment tool THOR through a Web-API. This guide provides a base [container image](https://github.com/NextronSystems/thunderstorm-deployment/pkgs/container/thunderstorm-deployment), a [Docker Compose template](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NextronSystems/thunderstorm-deployment/master/docker-compose.yml), and a [Helm chart](charts/thunderstorm) so you can run Thunderstorm as a container with just providing your contract token.
 
 
-## Quick-Start
+## Quick-Start (Docker Compose)
 
 1. Download the [Docker Compose](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NextronSystems/thunderstorm-deployment/master/docker-compose.yml) file
 
@@ -21,6 +21,63 @@ CONTRACT_TOKEN=<CONTRACT_TOKEN> docker compose up -d
 
 Thunderstorm is exposed on port **8080** by default.
 
+## Quick-Start (Kubernetes / Helm)
+
+A Helm chart is provided in [charts/thunderstorm](charts/thunderstorm). Requires `kubectl` connected to a cluster and `helm` 3.x.
+
+1. Get a contract token (see [Contract-Token](#contract-token))
+
+2. Install the chart
+
+```
+helm install thunderstorm ./charts/thunderstorm \
+  --namespace thunderstorm --create-namespace \
+  --set contractToken.value=<CONTRACT_TOKEN>
+```
+
+To avoid putting the token on the command line, create the Secret yourself and reference it via `--set contractToken.existingSecret=<secret-name>`.
+
+3. Reach the API (default service type is ClusterIP)
+
+```
+kubectl -n thunderstorm port-forward svc/thunderstorm 8080:8080
+curl http://localhost:8080/api/status
+```
+
+### Common overrides
+
+All settings live in [charts/thunderstorm/values.yaml](charts/thunderstorm/values.yaml). Frequently-tuned knobs:
+
+- `env.TECHPREVIEW=true` — opt into the THOR 11 techpreview channel
+- `env.SIGNATURE_UPDATE_INTERVAL=24` — recurring signature refresh (hours)
+- `persistence.size`, `persistence.storageClass` — PVC for THOR binaries and signatures
+- `resources.requests` / `resources.limits` — set generous memory limits; THOR can be memory-hungry
+- `service.type=LoadBalancer` or `ingress.enabled=true` — expose externally
+
+### Expose via Cilium Gateway
+
+If your cluster uses Cilium as the Gateway API implementation and you already have a shared `Gateway` resource, attach an `HTTPRoute` by enabling the chart's `gateway` block. The chart only creates the `HTTPRoute`; the `Gateway` is expected to already exist.
+
+```
+helm upgrade thunderstorm ./charts/thunderstorm -n thunderstorm --reuse-values \
+  --set gateway.enabled=true \
+  --set gateway.parentRef.name=cilium-gateway \
+  --set gateway.parentRef.namespace=tooling \
+  --set gateway.parentRef.sectionName=https-standard \
+  --set gateway.hostnames[0]=thunderstorm.example.com
+```
+
+### Upgrade and uninstall
+
+```
+helm upgrade thunderstorm ./charts/thunderstorm -n thunderstorm -f my-values.yaml
+helm uninstall thunderstorm -n thunderstorm
+# The THOR binaries PVC is retained by default; delete it manually to wipe state:
+# kubectl -n thunderstorm delete pvc -l app.kubernetes.io/name=thunderstorm
+```
+
+When upgrading after the chart introduces new value defaults, prefer `--reset-then-reuse-values` (Helm 3.14+) over `--reuse-values` — the latter silently drops any new defaults shipped by the chart.
+
 ## Contract-Token
 
 Deploying Thunderstorm as a container requires a **non-host-based** Thunderstorm contract with at least one issued license.

diff --git a/charts/thunderstorm/.helmignore b/charts/thunderstorm/.helmignore
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+.DS_Store
+.git/
+.gitignore
+.idea/
+.vscode/
+*.swp
+*.bak
+*.tmp
+*.orig
+*~
diff --git a/charts/thunderstorm/Chart.yaml b/charts/thunderstorm/Chart.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+apiVersion: v1
+name: thunderstorm
+description: THOR Thunderstorm - Nextron's web service for scanning files via the compromise-assessment API
+version: 0.1.0
+appVersion: "latest"
+home: https://github.com/NextronSystems/thunderstorm-deployment
+sources:
+  - https://github.com/NextronSystems/thunderstorm-deployment
+maintainers:
+  - name: Marius Benthin
+    email: marius.benthin@nextron-systems.com
+keywords:
+  - thor
+  - thunderstorm
+  - nextron
+  - security
+  - scanner
diff --git a/charts/thunderstorm/templates/NOTES.txt b/charts/thunderstorm/templates/NOTES.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+Thunderstorm has been deployed as release {{ .Release.Name }} in namespace {{ .Release.Namespace }}.
+
+{{- if not (or .Values.contractToken.value .Values.contractToken.existingSecret) }}
+
+WARNING: No CONTRACT_TOKEN configured. On initial install set either:
+  --set contractToken.value=<token>
+  --set contractToken.existingSecret=<existing-secret-name>
+{{- end }}
+
+To reach the Thunderstorm API:
+{{- if .Values.gateway.enabled }}
+{{- $section := .Values.gateway.parentRef.sectionName | default "" }}
+{{- $scheme := ternary "https" "http" (contains "https" $section) }}
+{{- range .Values.gateway.hostnames }}
+  {{ $scheme }}://{{ . }}
+{{- end }}
+
+  Attached to Gateway {{ .Values.gateway.parentRef.namespace | default .Release.Namespace }}/{{ .Values.gateway.parentRef.name }}{{ with .Values.gateway.parentRef.sectionName }} (listener {{ . }}){{ end }}.
+  Check route status:
+  kubectl --namespace {{ .Release.Namespace }} get httproute {{ include "thunderstorm.fullname" . }} -o yaml
+{{- else if .Values.ingress.enabled }}
+{{- range .Values.ingress.hosts }}
+  http{{ if $.Values.ingress.tls }}s{{ end }}://{{ .host }}
+{{- end }}
+{{- else if eq .Values.service.type "ClusterIP" }}
+  kubectl --namespace {{ .Release.Namespace }} port-forward svc/{{ include "thunderstorm.fullname" . }} 8080:{{ .Values.service.port }}
+  curl http://localhost:8080/api/status
+{{- else if eq .Values.service.type "LoadBalancer" }}
+  kubectl --namespace {{ .Release.Namespace }} get svc {{ include "thunderstorm.fullname" . }}
+{{- else if eq .Values.service.type "NodePort" }}
+  export NODE_PORT=$(kubectl --namespace {{ .Release.Namespace }} get svc {{ include "thunderstorm.fullname" . }} -o jsonpath='{.spec.ports[0].nodePort}')
+  export NODE_IP=$(kubectl --namespace {{ .Release.Namespace }} get nodes -o jsonpath='{.items[0].status.addresses[0].address}')
+  curl http://$NODE_IP:$NODE_PORT/api/status
+{{- end }}
diff --git a/charts/thunderstorm/templates/_helpers.tpl b/charts/thunderstorm/templates/_helpers.tpl
@@ -0,0 +1,82 @@
+{{/*
+Expand the name of the chart.
+*/}}
+{{- define "thunderstorm.name" -}}
+{{- default .Chart.Name .Values.nameOverride | trunc 63 | trimSuffix "-" }}
+{{- end }}
+
+{{/*
+Create a default fully qualified app name.
+*/}}
+{{- define "thunderstorm.fullname" -}}
+{{- if .Values.fullnameOverride }}
+{{- .Values.fullnameOverride | trunc 63 | trimSuffix "-" }}
+{{- else }}
+{{- $name := default .Chart.Name .Values.nameOverride }}
+{{- if contains $name .Release.Name }}
+{{- .Release.Name | trunc 63 | trimSuffix "-" }}
+{{- else }}
+{{- printf "%s-%s" .Release.Name $name | trunc 63 | trimSuffix "-" }}
+{{- end }}
+{{- end }}
+{{- end }}
+
+{{/*
+Chart label.
+*/}}
+{{- define "thunderstorm.chart" -}}
+{{- printf "%s-%s" .Chart.Name .Chart.Version | replace "+" "_" | trunc 63 | trimSuffix "-" }}
+{{- end }}
+
+{{/*
+Common labels.
+*/}}
+{{- define "thunderstorm.labels" -}}
+helm.sh/chart: {{ include "thunderstorm.chart" . }}
+{{ include "thunderstorm.selectorLabels" . }}
+{{- if .Chart.AppVersion }}
+app.kubernetes.io/version: {{ .Chart.AppVersion | quote }}
+{{- end }}
+app.kubernetes.io/managed-by: {{ .Release.Service }}
+{{- end }}
+
+{{/*
+Selector labels.
+*/}}
+{{- define "thunderstorm.selectorLabels" -}}
+app.kubernetes.io/name: {{ include "thunderstorm.name" . }}
+app.kubernetes.io/instance: {{ .Release.Name }}
+{{- end }}
+
+{{/*
+Service account name.
+*/}}
+{{- define "thunderstorm.serviceAccountName" -}}
+{{- if .Values.serviceAccount.create }}
+{{- default (include "thunderstorm.fullname" .) .Values.serviceAccount.name }}
+{{- else }}
+{{- default "default" .Values.serviceAccount.name }}
+{{- end }}
+{{- end }}
+
+{{/*
+Contract token secret name.
+*/}}
+{{- define "thunderstorm.contractTokenSecretName" -}}
+{{- if .Values.contractToken.existingSecret }}
+{{- .Values.contractToken.existingSecret }}
+{{- else }}
+{{- printf "%s-contract-token" (include "thunderstorm.fullname" .) }}
+{{- end }}
+{{- end }}
+
+{{/*
+TLS secret name.
+*/}}
+{{- define "thunderstorm.tlsSecretName" -}}
+{{- if .Values.tls.existingSecret }}
+{{- .Values.tls.existingSecret }}
+{{- else }}
+{{- printf "%s-tls" (include "thunderstorm.fullname" .) }}
+{{- end }}
+{{- end }}
diff --git a/charts/thunderstorm/templates/deployment.yaml b/charts/thunderstorm/templates/deployment.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,123 @@
+apiVersion: apps/v1
+kind: Deployment
+metadata:
+  name: {{ include "thunderstorm.fullname" . }}
+  labels:
+    {{- include "thunderstorm.labels" . | nindent 4 }}
+spec:
+  replicas: 1
+  strategy:
+    type: Recreate
+  selector:
+    matchLabels:
+      {{- include "thunderstorm.selectorLabels" . | nindent 6 }}
+  template:
+    metadata:
+      {{- with .Values.podAnnotations }}
+      annotations:
+        {{- toYaml . | nindent 8 }}
+      {{- end }}
+      labels:
+        {{- include "thunderstorm.selectorLabels" . | nindent 8 }}
+        {{- with .Values.podLabels }}
+        {{- toYaml . | nindent 8 }}
+        {{- end }}
+    spec:
+      serviceAccountName: {{ include "thunderstorm.serviceAccountName" . }}
+      {{- with .Values.imagePullSecrets }}
+      imagePullSecrets:
+        {{- toYaml . | nindent 8 }}
+      {{- end }}
+      {{- with .Values.podSecurityContext }}
+      securityContext:
+        {{- toYaml . | nindent 8 }}
+      {{- end }}
+      containers:
+        - name: thunderstorm
+          image: "{{ .Values.image.repository }}:{{ .Values.image.tag | default .Chart.AppVersion }}"
+          imagePullPolicy: {{ .Values.image.pullPolicy }}
+          {{- with .Values.securityContext }}
+          securityContext:
+            {{- toYaml . | nindent 12 }}
+          {{- end }}
+          ports:
+            - name: http
+              containerPort: 8080
+              protocol: TCP
+          env:
+            - name: CONTRACT_TOKEN
+              valueFrom:
+                secretKeyRef:
+                  name: {{ include "thunderstorm.contractTokenSecretName" . }}
+                  key: {{ .Values.contractToken.existingSecretKey | default "CONTRACT_TOKEN" }}
+                  optional: true
+            {{- if .Values.tls.enabled }}
+            - name: TLS_CERT
+              value: /run/secrets/tls/tls.crt
+            - name: TLS_KEY
+              value: /run/secrets/tls/tls.key
+            {{- end }}
+            {{- range $key, $value := .Values.env }}
+            {{- if $value }}
+            - name: {{ $key }}
+              value: {{ $value | quote }}
+            {{- end }}
+            {{- end }}
+          volumeMounts:
+            - name: data
+              mountPath: /opt/nextron/thunderstorm
+            {{- if .Values.tls.enabled }}
+            - name: tls
+              mountPath: /run/secrets/tls
+              readOnly: true
+            {{- end }}
+          {{- if .Values.livenessProbe.enabled }}
+          livenessProbe:
+            exec:
+              command:
+                - /bin/sh
+                - -c
+                - '[ -n "$TECHPREVIEW" ] || [ "${SIGNATURE_UPDATE_INTERVAL:-0}" = "0" ] || [ $(($(date +%s) - $(stat -c %Y /proc/1))) -lt $(( ${SIGNATURE_UPDATE_INTERVAL} * 3600 )) ]'
+            initialDelaySeconds: {{ .Values.livenessProbe.initialDelaySeconds }}
+            periodSeconds: {{ .Values.livenessProbe.periodSeconds }}
+            timeoutSeconds: {{ .Values.livenessProbe.timeoutSeconds }}
+            failureThreshold: {{ .Values.livenessProbe.failureThreshold }}
+          {{- end }}
+          {{- if .Values.readinessProbe.enabled }}
+          readinessProbe:
+            tcpSocket:
+              port: http
+            initialDelaySeconds: {{ .Values.readinessProbe.initialDelaySeconds }}
+            periodSeconds: {{ .Values.readinessProbe.periodSeconds }}
+            timeoutSeconds: {{ .Values.readinessProbe.timeoutSeconds }}
+            failureThreshold: {{ .Values.readinessProbe.failureThreshold }}
+          {{- end }}
+          {{- with .Values.resources }}
+          resources:
+            {{- toYaml . | nindent 12 }}
+          {{- end }}
+      volumes:
+        - name: data
+          {{- if .Values.persistence.enabled }}
+          persistentVolumeClaim:
+            claimName: {{ .Values.persistence.existingClaim | default (include "thunderstorm.fullname" .) }}
+          {{- else }}
+          emptyDir: {}
+          {{- end }}
+        {{- if .Values.tls.enabled }}
+        - name: tls
+          secret:
+            secretName: {{ include "thunderstorm.tlsSecretName" . }}
+        {{- end }}
+      {{- with .Values.nodeSelector }}
+      nodeSelector:
+        {{- toYaml . | nindent 8 }}
+      {{- end }}
+      {{- with .Values.affinity }}
+      affinity:
+        {{- toYaml . | nindent 8 }}
+      {{- end }}
+      {{- with .Values.tolerations }}
+      tolerations:
+        {{- toYaml . | nindent 8 }}
+      {{- end }}
diff --git a/charts/thunderstorm/templates/httproute.yaml b/charts/thunderstorm/templates/httproute.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+{{- if .Values.gateway.enabled }}
+apiVersion: gateway.networking.k8s.io/v1
+kind: HTTPRoute
+metadata:
+  name: {{ include "thunderstorm.fullname" . }}
+  labels:
+    {{- include "thunderstorm.labels" . | nindent 4 }}
+  {{- with .Values.gateway.annotations }}
+  annotations:
+    {{- toYaml . | nindent 4 }}
+  {{- end }}
+spec:
+  parentRefs:
+    - group: gateway.networking.k8s.io
+      kind: Gateway
+      name: {{ required "gateway.parentRef.name is required when gateway.enabled is true" .Values.gateway.parentRef.name }}
+      {{- with .Values.gateway.parentRef.namespace }}
+      namespace: {{ . }}
+      {{- end }}
+      {{- with .Values.gateway.parentRef.sectionName }}
+      sectionName: {{ . }}
+      {{- end }}
+  {{- with .Values.gateway.hostnames }}
+  hostnames:
+    {{- toYaml . | nindent 4 }}
+  {{- end }}
+  rules:
+    - matches:
+        - path:
+            type: PathPrefix
+            value: /
+      backendRefs:
+        - group: ""
+          kind: Service
+          name: {{ include "thunderstorm.fullname" . }}
+          port: {{ .Values.service.port }}
+          weight: 1
+{{- end }}