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This guide demonstrates how to deploy the Bookinfo application with Istio to explore its service mesh capabilities. The Bookinfo sample application is available in the Samples folder you downloaded.

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Step 1: Deploy the Bookinfo Application

Run the following command from the directory containing your Istio samples. Adjust the directory path if your Istio samples are located elsewhere on your computer:
After executing the command, several deployments and services are created. To verify the installation, check the status of the pods. You should see pods for the ProductPage, Details, Ratings microservices, and three versions of the Reviews microservice—all deployed in the default namespace.

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Step 2: Verify Istio Sidecar Injection

At this point, with Istio installed, you might expect every pod to include an additional Envoy proxy container. However, the output under the “READY” column indicates that each pod has only a single container. This suggests that the Envoy sidecar is not present. The issue lies in the namespace configuration. Execute the following command for a detailed analysis:
The analysis reveals that sidecar injection is not active for the default namespace. In Kubernetes environments with multiple namespaces (e.g., kube-system for core services and default for user applications), you must explicitly enable Istio sidecar injection where required.

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Step 3: Enable Istio Sidecar Injection

To activate sidecar injection in the default namespace, execute:

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Step 4: Re-deploy the Application

Before re-deploying the application, delete the existing deployment:
Now, deploy the Bookinfo application again:
Once re-deployed, verify that the Envoy sidecar proxies have been successfully injected by checking the pods:

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Step 5: Confirm All Pods

For further confirmation, list all the pods to see that each contains both the main application container and its corresponding Envoy sidecar:
This output confirms that Istio has successfully injected the Envoy proxies into every pod.
In upcoming lessons, you’ll explore how these Envoy sidecar proxies manage traffic, enforce policies, and enhance the overall security within the Istio service mesh.
That’s it for now—happy exploring, and see you in the demo!

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