---
title: Getting Started with Ambient Mode
description: How to deploy and install Istio in ambient mode.
weight: 1
owner: istio/wg-networking-maintainers
test: no
---

This guide lets you quickly evaluate Istio's {{< gloss "ambient" >}}ambient mode{{< /gloss >}}. These steps require you to have a {{< gloss >}}cluster{{< /gloss >}} running a
[supported version](/docs/releases/supported-releases#support-status-of-istio-releases) of Kubernetes ({{< supported_kubernetes_versions >}}).
You can install Istio ambient mode on [any supported Kubernetes platform](/docs/setup/platform-setup/), but this guide will assume the use of [kind](https://kind.sigs.k8s.io/) for simplicity.

{{< tip >}}
Note that ambient mode currently requires the use of [istio-cni](/docs/setup/additional-setup/cni) to configure Kubernetes nodes, which must run as a privileged pod. Ambient mode is compatible with every major CNI that previously supported sidecar mode.
{{< /tip >}}

Follow these steps to get started with Istio's ambient mode:

1. [Download and install](#download)
1. [Deploy the sample application](#bookinfo)
1. [Adding your application to ambient](#addtoambient)
1. [Secure application access](#secure)
1. [Control traffic](#control)
1. [Uninstall](#uninstall)

## Download and install {#download}

1.  Install [kind](https://kind.sigs.k8s.io/)

1.  Download the [latest version of Istio](/docs/setup/getting-started/#download) (v1.21.0 or later) with Alpha support for ambient mode.

1.  Deploy a new local `kind` cluster:

    {{< text syntax=bash snip_id=none >}}
    $ kind create cluster --config=- <<EOF
    kind: Cluster
    apiVersion: kind.x-k8s.io/v1alpha4
    name: ambient
    nodes:
    - role: control-plane
    - role: worker
    - role: worker
    EOF
    {{< /text >}}

1.  Install the Kubernetes Gateway API CRDs, which don’t come installed by default on most Kubernetes clusters:

    {{< text bash >}}
    $ kubectl get crd gateways.gateway.networking.k8s.io &> /dev/null || \
      { kubectl kustomize "github.com/kubernetes-sigs/gateway-api/config/crd/experimental?ref={{< k8s_gateway_api_version >}}" | kubectl apply -f -; }
    {{< /text >}}

    {{< tip >}}
    {{< boilerplate gateway-api-future >}}
    {{< boilerplate gateway-api-choose >}}
    {{< /tip >}}

1.  Install Istio with the `ambient` profile on your Kubernetes cluster, using
    the version of `istioctl` downloaded above:

{{< tabset category-name="config-api" >}}

{{< tab name="Istio APIs" category-value="istio-apis" >}}

{{< text bash >}}
$ istioctl install --set profile=ambient --set "components.ingressGateways[0].enabled=true" --set "components.ingressGateways[0].name=istio-ingressgateway" --skip-confirmation
{{< /text >}}

After running the above command, you’ll get the following output that indicates
five components (including {{< gloss "ztunnel" >}}ztunnel{{< /gloss >}}) have been installed successfully!

{{< text syntax=plain snip_id=none >}}
✔ Istio core installed
✔ Istiod installed
✔ CNI installed
✔ Ingress gateways installed
✔ Ztunnel installed
✔ Installation complete
{{< /text >}}

{{< /tab >}}

{{< tab name="Gateway API" category-value="gateway-api" >}}

{{< text bash >}}
$ istioctl install --set profile=ambient --skip-confirmation
{{< /text >}}

After running the above command, you’ll get the following output that indicates
four components (including {{< gloss "ztunnel" >}}ztunnel{{< /gloss >}}) have been installed successfully!

{{< text syntax=plain snip_id=none >}}
✔ Istio core installed
✔ Istiod installed
✔ CNI installed
✔ Ztunnel installed
✔ Installation complete
{{< /text >}}

{{< /tab >}}

{{< /tabset >}}

6)  Verify the installed components using the following commands:

{{< tabset category-name="config-api" >}}

{{< tab name="Istio APIs" category-value="istio-apis" >}}

{{< text bash >}}
$ kubectl get pods -n istio-system
NAME                                    READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
istio-cni-node-zq94l                    1/1     Running   0          2m7s
istio-ingressgateway-56b9cb5485-ksnvc   1/1     Running   0          2m7s
istiod-56d848857c-mhr5w                 1/1     Running   0          2m9s
ztunnel-srrnm                           1/1     Running   0          2m5s
{{< /text >}}

{{< text bash >}}
$ kubectl get daemonset -n istio-system
NAME             DESIRED   CURRENT   READY   UP-TO-DATE   AVAILABLE   NODE SELECTOR            AGE
istio-cni-node   1         1         1       1            1           kubernetes.io/os=linux   2m16s
ztunnel          1         1         1       1            1           kubernetes.io/os=linux   2m10s
{{< /text >}}

{{< /tab >}}

{{< tab name="Gateway API" category-value="gateway-api" >}}

{{< text bash >}}
$ kubectl get pods -n istio-system
NAME                      READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
istio-cni-node-d9rdt      1/1     Running   0          2m15s
istiod-56d848857c-pwsd6   1/1     Running   0          2m23s
ztunnel-wp7hk             1/1     Running   0          2m9s
{{< /text >}}

{{< text bash >}}
$ kubectl get daemonset -n istio-system
NAME             DESIRED   CURRENT   READY   UP-TO-DATE   AVAILABLE   NODE SELECTOR            AGE
istio-cni-node   1         1         1       1            1           kubernetes.io/os=linux   2m16s
ztunnel          1         1         1       1            1           kubernetes.io/os=linux   2m10s
{{< /text >}}

{{< /tab >}}

{{< /tabset >}}

## Deploy the sample application {#bookinfo}

You’ll use the sample [bookinfo application](/docs/examples/bookinfo/), which is part of
the Istio distribution that you downloaded above. In ambient mode, you deploy applications to
your Kubernetes cluster exactly the same way you would
without Istio. This means that you can have your applications running in your cluster before
you enable ambient mode, and have them join the mesh without needing to restart or
reconfigure them.

{{< warning >}}
Make sure the default namespace does not include the label `istio-injection=enabled` when using ambient mode, because you do not need Istio to inject sidecars into application pods.
{{< /warning >}}

1. Start the sample services:

    {{< text bash >}}
    $ kubectl apply -f @samples/bookinfo/platform/kube/bookinfo.yaml@
    {{< /text >}}

    {{< text bash >}}
    $ kubectl apply -f @samples/sleep/sleep.yaml@
    $ kubectl apply -f @samples/sleep/notsleep.yaml@
    {{< /text >}}

    `sleep` and `notsleep` are two simple applications that can serve as curl clients.

1. Deploy an ingress gateway so you can access the bookinfo app from outside the cluster:

    {{< tip >}}
    To get IP address assignment for `Loadbalancer` service types in `kind`, you may need to install a tool like [MetalLB](https://metallb.universe.tf/). Please consult [this guide](https://kind.sigs.k8s.io/docs/user/loadbalancer/) for more information.
    {{</ tip >}}

{{< tabset category-name="config-api" >}}

{{< tab name="Istio APIs" category-value="istio-apis" >}}

Create an Istio [Gateway](/docs/reference/config/networking/gateway/) and
[VirtualService](/docs/reference/config/networking/virtual-service/):

{{< text bash >}}
$ kubectl apply -f @samples/bookinfo/networking/bookinfo-gateway.yaml@
{{< /text >}}

Set the environment variables for the Istio ingress gateway:

{{< text bash >}}
$ export GATEWAY_HOST=istio-ingressgateway.istio-system
$ export GATEWAY_SERVICE_ACCOUNT=ns/istio-system/sa/istio-ingressgateway-service-account
{{< /text >}}

{{< /tab >}}

{{< tab name="Gateway API" category-value="gateway-api" >}}

Create a [Kubernetes Gateway](https://gateway-api.sigs.k8s.io/references/spec/#gateway.networking.k8s.io/v1.Gateway)
and [HTTPRoute](https://gateway-api.sigs.k8s.io/references/spec/#gateway.networking.k8s.io/v1.HTTPRoute):

{{< text bash >}}
$ sed -e 's/from: Same/from: All/'\
      -e '/^  name: bookinfo-gateway/a\
  namespace: istio-system\
'     -e '/^  - name: bookinfo-gateway/a\
    namespace: istio-system\
' @samples/bookinfo/gateway-api/bookinfo-gateway.yaml@ | kubectl apply -f -
{{< /text >}}

Set the environment variables for the Kubernetes gateway:

{{< text bash >}}
$ kubectl wait --for=condition=programmed gtw/bookinfo-gateway -n istio-system
$ export GATEWAY_HOST=bookinfo-gateway-istio.istio-system
$ export GATEWAY_SERVICE_ACCOUNT=ns/istio-system/sa/bookinfo-gateway-istio
{{< /text >}}

{{< /tab >}}

{{< /tabset >}}

3) Test your bookinfo application. It should work with or without the gateway:

    {{< text syntax=bash snip_id=verify_traffic_sleep_to_ingress >}}
    $ kubectl exec deploy/sleep -- curl -s "http://$GATEWAY_HOST/productpage" | grep -o "<title>.*</title>"
    <title>Simple Bookstore App</title>
    {{< /text >}}

    {{< text syntax=bash snip_id=verify_traffic_sleep_to_productpage >}}
    $ kubectl exec deploy/sleep -- curl -s http://productpage:9080/ | grep -o "<title>.*</title>"
    <title>Simple Bookstore App</title>
    {{< /text >}}

    {{< text syntax=bash snip_id=verify_traffic_notsleep_to_productpage >}}
    $ kubectl exec deploy/notsleep -- curl -s http://productpage:9080/ | grep -o "<title>.*</title>"
    <title>Simple Bookstore App</title>
    {{< /text >}}

## Adding your application to the ambient mesh {#addtoambient}

When an application pod is part of an ambient mesh, you can check the ztunnel proxy logs to confirm the mesh is redirecting traffic.
Before we label the namespace to be part of an ambient mesh, check the ztunnel logs related to `inpod` which indicate that in-pod redirection mode is enabled:

{{< text bash >}}
$ kubectl logs ds/ztunnel -n istio-system  | grep inpod_enabled
inpod_enabled: true
{{< /text >}}

Now you can enable all pods in a given namespace to be part of an ambient mesh
by simply labeling the namespace:

{{< text bash >}}
$ kubectl label namespace default istio.io/dataplane-mode=ambient
{{< /text >}}

Congratulations! You have successfully added all pods in the default namespace
to the mesh. Note that you did not have to restart or redeploy anything!

Check once again the ztunnel logs for the proxy has received the network namespace (netns) information about an ambient application pod, and has started proxying for it:

{{< text bash >}}
$ kubectl logs ds/ztunnel -n istio-system | grep -o ".*starting proxy"
... received netns, starting proxy
{{< /text >}}

Now, send some test traffic:

{{< text bash >}}
$ kubectl exec deploy/sleep -- curl -s "http://$GATEWAY_HOST/productpage" | grep -o "<title>.*</title>"
<title>Simple Bookstore App</title>
{{< /text >}}

{{< text bash >}}
$ kubectl exec deploy/sleep -- curl -s http://productpage:9080/ | grep -o "<title>.*</title>"
<title>Simple Bookstore App</title>
{{< /text >}}

{{< text bash >}}
$ kubectl exec deploy/notsleep -- curl -s http://productpage:9080/ | grep -o "<title>.*</title>"
<title>Simple Bookstore App</title>
{{< /text >}}

You’ll immediately gain mTLS communication and L4 telemetry among the applications in the ambient mesh.
If you follow the instructions to install [Prometheus](/docs/ops/integrations/prometheus/#installation)
and [Kiali](/docs/ops/integrations/kiali/#installation), you’ll be able to visualize your application
in Kiali’s dashboard:

{{< image link="./kiali-ambient-bookinfo.png" caption="Kiali dashboard" >}}

## Secure application access {#secure}

After you have added your application to an ambient mode mesh, you can secure application access using Layer 4
authorization policies. This feature lets you control access to and from a service based on client workload
identities, but not at the Layer 7 level, such as HTTP methods like `GET` and `POST`.

### Layer 4 authorization policy

Explicitly allow the `sleep` and gateway service accounts to call the `productpage` service:

{{< text bash >}}
$ kubectl apply -f - <<EOF
apiVersion: security.istio.io/v1beta1
kind: AuthorizationPolicy
metadata:
  name: productpage-viewer
  namespace: default
spec:
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: productpage
  action: ALLOW
  rules:
  - from:
    - source:
        principals:
        - cluster.local/ns/default/sa/sleep
        - cluster.local/$GATEWAY_SERVICE_ACCOUNT
EOF
{{< /text >}}

Confirm the above authorization policy is working:

{{< text bash >}}
$ # this should succeed
$ kubectl exec deploy/sleep -- curl -s "http://$GATEWAY_HOST/productpage" | grep -o "<title>.*</title>"
<title>Simple Bookstore App</title>
{{< /text >}}

{{< text bash >}}
$ # this should succeed
$ kubectl exec deploy/sleep -- curl -s http://productpage:9080/ | grep -o "<title>.*</title>"
<title>Simple Bookstore App</title>
{{< /text >}}

{{< text bash >}}
$ # this should fail with a connection reset error code 56
$ kubectl exec deploy/notsleep -- curl -s http://productpage:9080/ | grep -o "<title>.*</title>"
command terminated with exit code 56
{{< /text >}}

### Layer 7 authorization policy

Using the Kubernetes Gateway API, you can deploy a {{< gloss "waypoint" >}}waypoint proxy{{< /gloss >}} for the `productpage` service that uses the `bookinfo-productpage` service account. Any traffic going to the `productpage` service will be mediated, enforced and observed by the Layer 7 (L7) proxy.

Deploy a waypoint proxy for the `productpage` service:

{{< text bash >}}
$ istioctl x waypoint apply --service-account bookinfo-productpage --wait
waypoint default/bookinfo-productpage applied
{{< /text >}}

View the `productpage` waypoint proxy status; you should see the details of the gateway
resource with `Programmed` status:

{{< text bash >}}
$ kubectl get gtw bookinfo-productpage -o yaml
...
status:
  conditions:
  - lastTransitionTime: "2023-02-24T03:22:43Z"
    message: Resource programmed, assigned to service(s) bookinfo-productpage-istio-waypoint.default.svc.cluster.local:15008
    observedGeneration: 1
    reason: Programmed
    status: "True"
    type: Programmed
{{< /text >}}

Update your `AuthorizationPolicy` to explicitly allow the `sleep` and gateway service accounts to `GET` the `productpage` service, but perform no other operations:

{{< text bash >}}
$ kubectl apply -f - <<EOF
apiVersion: security.istio.io/v1beta1
kind: AuthorizationPolicy
metadata:
  name: productpage-viewer
  namespace: default
spec:
  targetRef:
    kind: Gateway
    group: gateway.networking.k8s.io
    name: bookinfo-productpage
  action: ALLOW
  rules:
  - from:
    - source:
        principals:
        - cluster.local/ns/default/sa/sleep
        - cluster.local/$GATEWAY_SERVICE_ACCOUNT
    to:
    - operation:
        methods: ["GET"]
EOF
{{< /text >}}

{{< text bash >}}
$ # this should fail with an RBAC error because it is not a GET operation
$ kubectl exec deploy/sleep -- curl -s "http://$GATEWAY_HOST/productpage" -X DELETE
RBAC: access denied
{{< /text >}}

{{< text bash >}}
$ # this should fail with an RBAC error because the identity is not allowed
$ kubectl exec deploy/notsleep -- curl -s http://productpage:9080/
RBAC: access denied
{{< /text >}}

{{< text bash >}}
$ # this should continue to work
$ kubectl exec deploy/sleep -- curl -s http://productpage:9080/ | grep -o "<title>.*</title>"
<title>Simple Bookstore App</title>
{{< /text >}}

## Control traffic {#control}

Deploy a waypoint proxy for the `review` service, using the `bookinfo-review` service account, so that any traffic going to the `review` service will be mediated by the waypoint proxy.

{{< text bash >}}
$ istioctl x waypoint apply --service-account bookinfo-reviews --wait
waypoint default/bookinfo-reviews applied
{{< /text >}}

Configure traffic routing to send 90% of requests to `reviews` v1 and 10% to `reviews` v2:

{{< tabset category-name="config-api" >}}

{{< tab name="Istio APIs" category-value="istio-apis" >}}

{{< text bash >}}
$ kubectl apply -f @samples/bookinfo/networking/virtual-service-reviews-90-10.yaml@
$ kubectl apply -f @samples/bookinfo/networking/destination-rule-reviews.yaml@
{{< /text >}}

{{< /tab >}}

{{< tab name="Gateway API" category-value="gateway-api" >}}

{{< text bash >}}
$ kubectl apply -f @samples/bookinfo/platform/kube/bookinfo-versions.yaml@
$ kubectl apply -f @samples/bookinfo/gateway-api/route-reviews-90-10.yaml@
{{< /text >}}

{{< /tab >}}

{{< /tabset >}}

Confirm that roughly 10% of the traffic from 100 requests goes to reviews-v2:

{{< text bash >}}
$ kubectl exec deploy/sleep -- sh -c "for i in \$(seq 1 100); do curl -s http://$GATEWAY_HOST/productpage | grep reviews-v.-; done"
{{< /text >}}

## Uninstall {#uninstall}

The label to instruct Istio to automatically include applications in the `default` namespace to an ambient mesh is not removed by default. If no longer needed, use the following command to remove it:

{{< text bash >}}
$ kubectl label namespace default istio.io/dataplane-mode-
{{< /text >}}

With the label removed, we can check the logs once again to verify the proxy removal:

{{< text bash >}}
$ kubectl logs ds/ztunnel -n istio-system  | grep inpod
Found 3 pods, using pod/ztunnel-jrxln
inpod_enabled: true
inpod_uds: /var/run/ztunnel/ztunnel.sock
inpod_port_reuse: true
inpod_mark: 1337
2024-03-26T00:02:06.161802Z  INFO ztunnel::inpod::workloadmanager: handling new stream
2024-03-26T00:02:06.162099Z  INFO ztunnel::inpod::statemanager: pod received snapshot sent
2024-03-26T00:41:05.518194Z  INFO ztunnel::inpod::statemanager: pod WorkloadUid("7ef61e18-725a-4726-84fa-05fc2a440879") received netns, starting proxy
2024-03-26T00:50:14.856284Z  INFO ztunnel::inpod::statemanager: pod delete request, draining proxy
{{< /text >}}

To remove waypoint proxies, installed policies, and uninstall Istio:

{{< text bash >}}
$ istioctl x waypoint delete --all
$ istioctl uninstall -y --purge
$ kubectl delete namespace istio-system
{{< /text >}}

To delete the Bookinfo sample application and its configuration, see [Bookinfo cleanup](/docs/examples/bookinfo/#cleanup).

To remove the `sleep` and `notsleep` applications:

{{< text bash >}}
$ kubectl delete -f @samples/sleep/sleep.yaml@
$ kubectl delete -f @samples/sleep/notsleep.yaml@
{{< /text >}}

If you installed the Gateway API CRDs, remove them:

{{< text bash >}}
$ kubectl kustomize "github.com/kubernetes-sigs/gateway-api/config/crd/experimental?ref={{< k8s_gateway_api_version >}}" | kubectl delete -f -
{{< /text >}}