istioctl

Install Istio with default profile

$ istioctl install

$ istioctl install --set profile=[demo]

$ istioctl proxy-status

$ istioctl analyze

$ istioctl proxy-config cluster [pod-name].[namespace]

$ istioctl dashboard kiali

$ istioctl manifest generate

$ istioctl uninstall --purge

istioctl command [options]

istioctl is the CLI for Istio, a service mesh that provides traffic management, security, and observability for microservices. It manages Istio installation, configuration, and diagnostics.
The install command deploys the Istio control plane using profiles that bundle configuration presets. Use --set flags to customize individual settings or provide an IstioOperator YAML file with -f.
Diagnostics commands like analyze detect configuration issues, proxy-status shows Envoy synchronization state, and proxy-config inspects individual proxy configurations for debugging.
The dashboard command opens web interfaces for observability tools including Kiali (service mesh visualization), Grafana (metrics), Jaeger (tracing), and Prometheus.
For automatic sidecar injection, use kube-inject on pod manifests or enable namespace-level injection with labels.

--set key=value

Override installation settings.

Path to IstioOperator custom resource file.

Target specific Istio revision.

Kubernetes context to use.

Path to kubeconfig file.

Target namespace.

Istio system namespace. Default: istio-system.

Skip confirmation prompts.

Preview without applying changes.

install

Install Istio control plane.

Remove Istio from cluster.

Generate, diff, or apply manifests.

Manage installation profiles.

Analyze configuration for potential issues.

Show sync status of Envoy proxies.

Retrieve Envoy configuration (cluster, listener, route, endpoint).

Open web UI for Kiali, Grafana, Jaeger, etc.

Inject Envoy sidecar into pod spec.

Validate Istio policies and rules.

Show client and control plane versions.

Upgrade Istio control plane.

default

Production deployment with istiod and ingress gateway.

Full features for evaluation with high tracing/logging.

Only istiod control plane.

For multi-cluster remote configuration.

Base for custom configuration.

Version compatibility between istioctl and the control plane is important; use matching versions. Some commands require cluster admin privileges. Multi-cluster setups need additional configuration. Uninstall with --purge to remove all resources.

Istio was announced in May 2017 as a collaboration between Google, IBM, and Lyft. It quickly became the leading service mesh for Kubernetes. The project joined the CNCF as an incubating project in 2022 and graduated in 2023. istioctl has evolved to simplify installation and provide comprehensive diagnostic capabilities.

kubectl(1), linkerd(1), helm(1)