diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..48f8698
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+# local chart repo dir used when building the http-accessible repo
+chart_repo
+
+# lockfiles for requirements.yaml for dependent charts
+requirements.lock
+
+# sub charts directoies, created by helm dep ...
+charts
diff --git a/.gitreview b/.gitreview
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index 0000000..2b11b97
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitreview
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+[gerrit]
+host=gerrit.opencord.org
+port=29418
+project=voltha-helm-charts.git
+defaultremote=origin
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
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index 0000000..edfb844
--- /dev/null
+++ b/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+# voltha-helm-charts
+
+This repo contains charts used with helm to start VOLTHA 2.0 and later.
+
+## Testing
+
+On patchset submission, jobs are run in Jenkins that validate the correctness
+of the helm charts.
+
+The code for these jobs can be found in
+[helm-repo-tools](https://gerrit.opencord.org/gitweb?p=helm-repo-tools.git;a=tree)
+
+The two scripts that should be run to test are:
+
+ - `helm_lint.sh`
+ - `chart_version_check.sh`
+
diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
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index 0000000..340db23
--- /dev/null
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+2.0.0-dev0