{"id":1383,"date":"2023-07-05T05:05:15","date_gmt":"2023-07-05T05:05:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/imesh.ai\/blog\/?p=1383"},"modified":"2023-10-19T10:29:36","modified_gmt":"2023-10-19T10:29:36","slug":"how-to-install-istio-using-helm-chart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/imesh.ai\/blog\/how-to-install-istio-using-helm-chart\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Install Istio Using Helm Chart?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Istio service mesh<\/a> helps DevOps engineers and architects manage the network and security of distributed applications, without touching the application code.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a previous blog, we explained How to get started with Istio in Kubernetes in 5 steps<\/a>, where Istio\u2019s command line tool, Istioctl, is used to install Istio. Here, let us see the steps to install Istio using Helm chats.<\/p>\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Prerequisites<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  1. Kubectl – Kubernetes command-line tool.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Helm – Package manager for Kubernetes.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Steps to install Istio using Helm charts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    There are three steps involved in the process, which should be done in the following order:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    1. Add Istio repository to Helm<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    2. Install Istio base chart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    3. Install Istio control plane<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      After completing the above steps, we will see how to verify if they are installed properly.<\/p>\n\n\n

      \"Enroll<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

      Step #1: Add Istio repository to Helm<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

      Istio repository contains the necessary configurations and Istio charts for installing Istio. The first step is to add it to Helm by running the command below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      helm repo add istio https:\/\/istio-release.storage.googleapis.com\/charts<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
      Now, update Helm repository to get the latest charts:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
      helm repo update<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
      \"adding<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
      Step #2: Install Istio base chart<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
      Enter the following command to install the Istio base chart, which contains cluster-wide Custom Resource Definitions (CRDs). (Note that this is a requirement for installing the Istio control plane.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
      helm install istio-base istio\/base -n istio-system --create-namespace --set defaultRevision=default<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
        \n
      • In the above command, `istio-base` and `istio\/base` represent the chart name and the chart path, respectively.
        <\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • The chart will be installed in `istio-system` namespace. Since the namespace does not exist already, we passed the argument `–create-namespace` to create it. The namespace will set up the validator required for Istio.
        <\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • defaultRevision: As the Istio base chart sets up a `ValidatingWebhookConfiguration` to perform resource validation, it is necessary to select a default revision that will be used for validation. We will use the `default` revision here.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
        You will see the below output if the installation is successful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
        \"installing<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

        Step #3: Install Istio control plane<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
        The below command will install the Istio control plane component, Istiod, into the `istio-system` namespace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
        helm install istiod istio\/istiod -n istio-system --wait<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
        Upon successful installation, it will return the following output:
        <\/p>\n\n\n\n
        \"installing<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
        Verify Istio base and Istiod deployment status<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
        By running the following command, we can see the deployment status of istio-base and istiod.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
        helm ls -n istio-system<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
        We can see that the status is `deployed` for both of them in the output.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
        \"verifying<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
        Also, run the following command to verify if it is actually running:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
        kubectl get deployments -n istio-system -o wide<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
        We can see that the `istiod` service\u2019s pod is running.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
        \"verifying<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
        Video: Install Istio using Helm charts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
        Watch the following video to see all the above steps in action. There is an additional step in the video where istioctl command is used to do a pre-check while installing istio-base. However, note that this step is completely optional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
        \n