feat(#1943): migrating from 4.x medic/helm-charts to 5.x cht-core helm-charts

content/en/hosting/cht/migration/helm-charts-4x-to-5x-migration.md

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+# CHT 4.x to 5.x Helm Charts Migration Guide
+
+This guide covers the migration from CHT 4.x deployments using the legacy Helm charts in the [medic/helm-charts](https://github.com/medic/helm-charts) repository to the new charts introduced in CHT 5.x within the [medic/cht-core](https://github.com/medic/cht-core) repository.
+
+## Overview
+
+The Community Health Toolkit (CHT) has moved its Helm charts from a separate repository (`medic/helm-charts`) to the main CHT Core repository (`medic/cht-core`).
+
+### Key Differences
+
+#### Chart Naming
+- **Old**: `medic/cht-chart-4x`
+- **New**: `cht-chart` (local chart from cht-core repository)
+
+## Breaking Changes Summary
+
+**IMPORTANT**: The following breaking changes require updates to your existing `values.yaml` files.
+
+### Critical Breaking Changes (Must Fix)
+
+#### 1. Field Name Changes
+
+| Old (4.x) | New (5.x) | Impact |
+|-----------|-----------|---------|
+| `clusteredCouch_enabled` | `couchdb.clusteredCouchEnabled` | **CRITICAL** - Must be updated |
+| `local.diskPath` | `local_storage.preExistingDiskPath-1` | **CRITICAL** - Must be updated |
+
+#### 2. New Required Fields
+
+| Field | Value | Impact |
+|-------|-------|---------|
+| `api.service.type` | `ClusterIP` | **CRITICAL** - Must be added to values file |
+| `preExistingDataAvailable` | `"true"` | **CRITICAL** - Must be set for existing deployments |
+
+#### 3. Storage Configuration Changes
+
+| Change | Impact |
+|--------|---------|
+| **Removed default storage sizes** | **CRITICAL** - Must explicitly set `couchdb.couchdb_node_storage_size` |
+| **No default persistent volume sizes** | **CRITICAL** - Must set platform-specific storage sizes |
+
+#### 4. Values File Structure Changes
+
+| Change | Impact |
+|--------|---------|
+| **Hierarchical structure** | **MEDIUM** - May need to restructure flat values files |
+| **Nested couchdb configuration** | **MEDIUM** - CouchDB settings now under `couchdb:` section |
+
+### Platform-Specific Storage Changes
+
+#### GKE (Google Kubernetes Engine)
+- **Required**: `couchdb.persistent_disk.size` (no default)
+
+#### EKS (Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service)
+- **Required**: `ebs.preExistingEBSVolumeSize` (no default)
+
+### Minor Changes
+
+#### Storage Class Changes
+- **K3s-K3d Storage Class**: `local-storage` (4.x) → `local-path` (5.x) - **MINOR CHANGE**
+  - **Action Required**: Update K3s-K3d storage class if using defaults
+
+### Getting Help
+
+If you encounter issues during migration:
+
+1. Check the [CHT Documentation](https://docs.communityhealthtoolkit.org/)
+2. Review the [CHT Forum](https://forum.communityhealthtoolkit.org/)
+3. Open an issue in the [CHT Core Repository](https://github.com/medic/cht-core/issues)
+
+## Migration Steps
+
+### Step 1: Prepare Migration Values File
+
+1. **Get current values** from your existing 4.x deployment:
+   ```bash
+   helm get values <your-release-name> -n <your-namespace> > migration-5x-values.yaml
+   ```
+
+2. **Apply breaking changes** to your values file:
+
+   #### Critical Changes (Must Apply)
+   ```yaml
+   # Change field names
+   couchdb:
+     clusteredCouchEnabled: false  # was: clusteredCouch_enabled: false
+
+   # Set pre-existing data flag in the case this is a migration
+   preExistingDataAvailable: "true"  
+
+   # Add required API service configuration
+   api:
+     service:
+       type: ClusterIP
+
+   # Update image versions to 5.x
+   chtversion: "5.0.0"  # or "master" for latest development
+   cht_image_tag: "5.0.0"  # or "master" for latest development
+   ```
+
+   #### Platform-Specific Storage Configuration
+
+   **For GKE:**
+   ```yaml
+   couchdb:
+     persistent_disk:
+       size: "<size>"  # Set appropriate size for your needs
+   ```
+
+   **For EKS:**
+   ```yaml
+   ebs:
+     preExistingEBSVolumeSize: "<size>"  # Set appropriate size for your needs
+   ```
+
+   **For K3s-K3d:**
+   ```yaml
+   couchdb:
+     storage_class: "local-path"  # was: "local-storage"
+   ```
+
+### Step 2: Perform the Migration
+
+1. **Navigate to your 4.x helm chart directory**:
+   ```bash
+   cd /path/to/your/4x/helm/charts
+   ```
+
+2. **Run the migration upgrade**:
+   ```bash
+   helm upgrade <your-release-name> /path/to/cht-core/scripts/build/helm \
+     -f migration-5x-values.yaml \
+     --namespace <your-namespace>
+   ```
+
+3. **Monitor the upgrade**:
+   ```bash
+   helm status <your-release-name> --namespace <your-namespace>
+   kubectl get pods -n <your-namespace>
+   ```
+
+### Step 3: Verify Migration Success
+
+1. **Check pod status**:
+   ```bash
+   kubectl get pods -n <your-namespace>
+   ```
+
+2. **Verify new 5.x components**:
+   ```bash
+   # Look for the new couchdb-nouveau component
+   kubectl get pods -n <your-namespace> | grep nouveau
+   ```
+
+3. **Test data integrity**
+
+4. **Test application access**
+
+## Best Practices
+
+> **⚠️ WARNING**:
+1. **Test First**: Always test migrations in a non-production environment
+2. **Backup Data**: Ensure complete data backup before migration
+3. **Monitor Closely**: Watch deployment logs and metrics during migration
+4. **Document Changes**: Keep track of any custom configurations
+5. **Plan Downtime**: Schedule migrations during maintenance windows
+