Introduction to Istio

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This course is a practical introduction to Istio, designed for anyone who wishes to build on their knowledge of Linux, Docker, and Kubernetes to learn how to install and configure a service mesh and to understand the benefits of deploying and running distributed applications in a service mesh environment. LFS144x is intended for application developers, systems operators, and security professionals who already have familiarity and experience with Kubernetes and who wish to take their first steps towards learning and understanding Istio.

This course begins with an overview of service meshes in general and Istio in particular. We describe what problems service meshes solve, and explain Istio's architecture, how Istio functions, and how the environment around a deployed application is configured to allow the application to join the mesh. Through the course's lessons and labs, you will experience and learn how Istio facilitates system observability by collecting and publishing metrics and allows you to control how traffic is routed to your application. Learn how Istio supports canary deployments and other scenarios and makes your distributed applications more resilient through retries, timeouts, and circuit breakers. The final chapter covers more advanced topics, including onboarding workloads running on VMs (outside of Kubernetes) and how Istio provides for extensibility through WebAssembly plugins.

This course will prepare you for working with Istio as a developer whose applications are deployed to an Istio service mesh or as a service mesh operator with responsibilities for installing, upgrading, and configuring Istio as a security professional responsible for defining ingress, egress, authentication and authorization policies with Istio. You will develop an understanding of the concepts and, through the labs, have the chance to practice common scenarios, including installing Istio, deploying applications to the mesh, monitoring applications, configuring traffic management, including ingress, and applying security policies.

What you will learn

After completing this course, you will gain an understanding of the architecture and components of the Istio service mesh, and be able to do the following:

• Install Istio on a Kubernetes cluster

• Configure Ingress

• Understand how sidecar injection works

• Monitor your services using Grafana, Zipkin, and Kiali

• Route traffic between multiple service versions

• Perform blue-green and canary deployments

• Inject failures and use resiliency features

• Understand the concept of workload identity and “zero trust” architectures

• Control access to your workloads

• Extend the Istio mesh functionality using WebAssembly

Skills you learn

• Docker (Software)
• Circuit Breakers
• Authorization (Computing)
• Istio
• Linux
• Resilience
• Kubernetes
• Application Deployment
• Microservices
• Authentications
• WebAssembly

Syllabus

• Welcome to LFS144x!

• Chapter 1. Overview of Service Mesh and Istio

• Chapter 2. Installing Istio

• Chapter 3. Observability

• Chapter 4. Traffic Management

• Chapter 5. Security

• Chapter 6. Extending the Mesh

• Chapter 7. Advanced Topics

• Chapter 8. Istio Community

• Final Exam (Verified Certificate track only)

Auto Summary

"Introduction to Istio" is an immersive course designed to enhance your expertise in Linux, Docker, and Kubernetes by diving into the world of Istio and service meshes. Perfect for application developers, system operators, and security professionals with prior Kubernetes knowledge, this course will help you master the installation, configuration, and management of Istio within a service mesh environment. Throughout nine weeks of engaging lessons and hands-on labs, you'll explore the core concepts and architecture of service meshes, focusing on Istio's capabilities in system observability, traffic management, and application resilience. The curriculum covers essential topics like canary deployments, retries, timeouts, and circuit breakers, ensuring your distributed applications are robust and efficient. You'll also delve into advanced scenarios, such as integrating workloads running on virtual machines and extending Istio with WebAssembly plugins. By the end of the course, you'll be equipped to handle responsibilities ranging from deploying applications in an Istio service mesh to configuring security policies and managing ingress and egress traffic. Offered by edX, this professional-level course provides a comprehensive learning experience for those aiming to become proficient in Istio. Whether you're looking to develop, deploy, or secure applications within a service mesh, this course will set you on the path to success.