KodeKloud Notes

Learn how to download, install, and verify Istio 1.9.0 on a Kubernetes cluster using the demo profile. You’ll also explore built-in add-ons like Kiali, Prometheus, Grafana, and Jaeger for full observability.

Prerequisites

A running Kubernetes cluster (version compatible with Istio 1.9.0)
kubectl configured to interact with your cluster

Step 1: Download and Install Istio

1.1 Download Istio 1.9.0

Fetch the installer script and extract the release:

curl -Ls https://istio.io/downloadIstio | ISTIO_VERSION=1.9.0 sh -
cd istio-1.9.0
export PATH=$PWD/bin:$PATH

1.2 Install the Demo Profile

Note

The demo profile is preconfigured with observability add-ons for testing and learning. It is not recommended for production environments.

Install Istio’s control plane and sample add-ons:

istioctl install --set profile=demo -y
kubectl apply -f samples/addons

1.3 Verify Installation Output

After installation, you should see messages similar to:

namespace "istio-system" created
configmap "istio-sidecar-injector" created
customresourcedefinition "virtualservices.networking.istio.io" configured
customresourcedefinition "destinationrules.networking.istio.io" configured
deployment "grafana" created
deployment "kiali" created
service "grafana" created
service "kiali" created

Step 2: Istio Components Overview

Once installed, Istio deploys core control-plane components and add-ons. Here’s what you get:

Component	Purpose
Namespace `istio-system`	Isolates the service mesh control plane
ConfigMap `istio-sidecar-injector`	Automates Envoy sidecar injection
CRDs (`VirtualService`, `DestinationRule`)	Define traffic management policies
Control Plane (`istiod`, gateways)	Manages configuration and proxies
Jaeger	Distributed tracing
Prometheus	Metrics collection and alerting
Grafana	Visualize time-series data
Kiali	Service mesh observability and topology maps

The image showcases four tools: Jaeger, Grafana, Prometheus, and Kiali, each used for monitoring and visualizing microservices and infrastructure data. It includes brief descriptions and screenshots of their interfaces.

Step 3: Verify the Control Plane and Add-ons

3.1 List All Istio Resources

Run:

kubectl -n istio-system get all

Expected output:

NAME                                    READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
pod/istiod-xxxxxx-xxxxx                1/1     Running   0          1m
pod/istio-ingressgateway-xxxxx-xxxxx   1/1     Running   0          1m
pod/istio-egressgateway-xxxxx-xxxxx    1/1     Running   0          1m
pod/prometheus-xxxxx-xxxxx             1/2     Running   0          1m
pod/grafana-xxxxx-xxxxx                1/1     Running   0          1m
pod/jaeger-xxxxx-xxxxx                 1/1     Running   0          1m
pod/kiali-xxxxx-xxxxx                  1/1     Running   0          1m

NAME                         TYPE           CLUSTER-IP        EXTERNAL-IP   PORT(S)
service/istiod               ClusterIP      10.0.0.123        <none>        15012/TCP,443/TCP
service/istio-ingressgateway LoadBalancer   10.0.0.124        <pending>     80:31500/TCP,443:31501/TCP
service/prometheus           ClusterIP      10.0.0.125        <none>        9090/TCP
service/grafana              ClusterIP      10.0.0.126        <none>        3000/TCP
service/jaeger-collector     ClusterIP      10.0.0.127        <none>        14250/TCP,14268/TCP
service/kiali                ClusterIP      10.0.0.128        <none>        20001/TCP

Step 4: Enable Automatic Sidecar Injection

Label your application namespace to inject Envoy sidecars automatically:

kubectl label namespace default istio-injection=enabled

Warning

Enabling sidecar injection will add an Envoy proxy to every pod in the default namespace. Ensure your workloads are compatible.

Step 5: Access the Kiali Dashboard

By default, Kiali’s service is ClusterIP. To expose it on a NodePort:

5.1 Change Service Type

kubectl edit service kiali -n istio-system

In the editor, update:

spec:
  type: NodePort

Save and exit.

5.2 Retrieve and Use the NodePort

kubectl get service kiali -n istio-system

Sample output:

NAME    TYPE       CLUSTER-IP     EXTERNAL-IP   PORT(S)                         AGE
kiali   NodePort   10.0.0.128     <none>        20001:32001/TCP,9090:32002/TCP   2m

Point your browser to:

http://<NODE_IP>:32001

to open the Kiali UI.

The image shows a Kiali dashboard interface displaying an overview of namespaces, including "default" and "istio-system," with details about applications and traffic. The browser tabs and taskbar are visible, indicating a Windows operating system.

Links and References

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