Guides / Service Mesh & Networking

How to Install & Set Up Istio

Install Istio with istioctl to add a full-featured service mesh — traffic management and mTLS — to your Kubernetes cluster.

Updated 20263-step setupDownload Istio →

Prerequisites

  • ✓A Kubernetes cluster (v1.28+) and kubectl configured

Download Istio and istioctl

terminal
curl -L https://istio.io/downloadIstio | sh -
cd istio-*
export PATH=$PWD/bin:$PATH

Install the mesh and enable sidecar injection

terminal
istioctl install --set profile=demo -y
kubectl label namespace default istio-injection=enabled

Verify

terminal
istioctl verify-install
kubectl get pods -n istio-system
!

The download script and istioctl both work identically on RHEL and Ubuntu — Istio deploys into the cluster, it doesn't touch host packages.

Documentation & Knowledge Base

Official DocumentationIstio Documentation →Knowledge Base & CommunityIstio Community Forum →
Download Istio— all versions & official links→

Related Guides

LinkerdInstall guide →EnvoyInstall guide →KubernetesInstall guide →

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