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logoTetrate Istio SubscriptionVersion: Next

Install a Tetrate Istio distribution using helm

Helm is the best way to deploy a Tetrate Istio distribution in a standard, automatable manner. Helm manages upgrades and installation cleanly.

For quick experiments, you could install using istioctl.

New Versioning Format

TID has adopted a new versioning format. See Versioning System Update for more details. We recommend familiarizing yourself with this new format and gradually transitioning to it.

Post the TID 1.24.0 release, the old versioning scheme and its associated repository will be phased out, consolidating all users on the updated format in the new repository.

Before you begin​

You need a Kubernetes cluster, and the kubectl command-line tool must be configured to communicate with your cluster. Istio has a number of platform and networking/application requirements.

You also need the helm tool (version 3.6 or later) to install using this method.

You will need credentials from Tetrate to access Tetrate's private repository. Set your credential as env variable:

export TIS_USER="<tis-username>"
export TIS_PASS="<tis-password>"

Installation Steps​

  1. Add the Tetrate Helm Repo​

    Add Tetrate's Helm repo, and verify you can see the Tetrate Istio distribution releases:

    helm repo add tetratelabs https://tis.tetrate.io/charts
    helm repo update tetratelabs

    helm search repo tetratelabs

  2. Determine the Install Version​

    Tetrate provide support for a number of Istio releases.

    You can get the latest release by using following command:

    helm search repo tetratelabs/base

    Or you can list all available releases:

    helm search repo tetratelabs/base --versions

    Set $VERSION using Helm version that you want to install, for example 1.25.1+tetrate3.

    Set $TAG using App version from above helm search command.

    export VERSION=1.25.1+tetrate3
    export TAG=1.25.1-tetrate3

  3. Install a new kubernetes pull secret with your credentials​

    We'll create a secret named TIS utility. By default the secret is created in istio-system namespace with name tetrate-tis-creds.

    kubectl create namespace istio-system

    kubectl create secret docker-registry tetrate-tis-creds \
        --docker-server="addon-containers.istio.tetratelabs.com" \
        --docker-username=${TIS_USER} \
        --docker-password=${TIS_PASS} \
        --docker-email="${USER}@" \
        -n istio-system

  4. Install the Istio Control Plane​

    Install Tetrate's Istio base and istiod charts. These contains the CRDs (custom resource definitions) required for the Istio install, and the istiod service:

    helm install istio-base tetratelabs/base -n istio-system \
        --set global.tag=${TAG} \
        --set global.hub="addon-containers.istio.tetratelabs.com" \
        --set "global.imagePullSecrets[0]=tetrate-tis-creds" \
        --version ${VERSION}

    helm install istiod tetratelabs/istiod -n istio-system \
        --set global.tag=${TAG} \
        --set global.hub="addon-containers.istio.tetratelabs.com" \
        --set "global.imagePullSecrets[0]=tetrate-tis-creds" \
        --version ${VERSION} \
        --wait

    After a few seconds, verify that the istio-base and istiod releases are installed and that the istiod pod is running:

    helm ls -n istio-system
    kubectl get pods -n istio-system

  5. Install Istio Gateway​

    Install Istio Gateway into the istio-ingress namespace. Similar to previous Istio installation, you need to create image pull secret first.

    kubectl create namespace istio-ingress

    kubectl create secret docker-registry tetrate-tis-creds \
        --docker-server="addon-containers.istio.tetratelabs.com" \
        --docker-username=${TIS_USER} \
        --docker-password=${TIS_PASS} \
        --docker-email="${USER}@" \
        -n istio-ingress

    helm install istio-ingress tetratelabs/gateway -n istio-ingress \
        --set global.tag=${TAG} \
        --set global.hub="addon-containers.istio.tetratelabs.com" \
        --set "global.imagePullSecrets[0].name=tetrate-tis-creds" \
        --version ${VERSION} \
        --wait

    Verify that the istio-ingress pod is running and the istio-ingress release is installed:

    helm ls -n istio-ingress
    kubectl get pods -n istio-ingress

Uninstalling Istio​

Before removing a Tetrate Istio distribution deployment, all the applications and gateways should be off-boarded.

Use helm uninstall for each chart:

helm uninstall istio-ingress -n istio-ingress
kubectl delete namespace istio-ingress

helm uninstall istiod --namespace istio-system
helm uninstall istio-base --namespace istio-system
kubectl delete namespace istio-system

Operating in an Air-Gapped Environment​

If your target installation cluster does not have access to the Tetrate repository, you can first copy the images to a local, private docker repository.

To copy the images​

  1. Login with your username and password​

    Use the username and password provided by Tetrate:

    docker login addon-containers.istio.tetratelabs.com
    Username: <username>
    Password: <password>

  2. Pull each image to the local machine​

    Make sure to set TAG to the build and version you plan to install:

    export TAG=1.25.1-tetrate3
    export TETRATE_HUB=addon-containers.istio.tetratelabs.com
    export YOUR_HUB=registry.example.com
    export IMAGES=(install-cni istioctl pilot proxyv2) 

    for image in $IMAGES; do docker pull $TETRATE_HUB/$image:$TAG; done

  3. Re-tag with your registry hostname​

    for image in $IMAGES; do docker tag $TETRATE_HUB/$image:$TAG $YOUR_HUB/$image:$TAG; done

  4. Push to your private registry​

    docker login <customer private registry>
    Username: <username>
    Password: <password>

    for image in $IMAGES; do docker push $YOUR_HUB/$image:$TAG; done

Once you have copied the images to a local repository, you can use any of the methods described above, replacing the address of the Tetrate repository with your own repository.

Next Steps​

Once you have installed and validated your Tetrate Istio distribution install, you can proceed to the Istio good practices guide.