---
id: istio
title: Istio
sidebar_label: Istio
description: This Sumo Logic App for Istio provides visibility into the health and performance of Istio and its control plane components, including Mixer, Galley, Citadel, Pilot and Envoy.
slug: /help/docs/integrations/saas-cloud/istio/
canonical: https://www.sumologic.com/help/docs/integrations/saas-cloud/istio/
---

import useBaseUrl from '@docusaurus/useBaseUrl';

<img src={useBaseUrl('img/integrations/saas-cloud/istio.png')} alt="Istio icon" width="100"/>

[Istio](https://istio.io/) reduces the complexity of managing Kubernetes deployments by providing a uniform platform for securing, connecting, and monitoring microservices.

The Sumo Logic App for Istio provides visibility into the health and performance of Istio and its control plane components, including Mixer, Galley, Citadel, Pilot and Envoy. App dashboards also allow you to monitor how services and applications are performing in Istio Mesh, providing insights into service latency, errors, network traffic, and request workloads.

This app supports Istio versions 1.8.x and 1.9.x+.

## Log and Metrics Types

* Access logs - Refer to [this page](https://istio.io/latest/docs/tasks/observability/logs/access-log/#default-access-log-format) for Istio Access log format.
* Istio Metrics - Refer to [this page](https://istio.io/latest/docs/concepts/observability/#service-level-metrics) for detailed Istio Metrics

### Sample queries

Query Sample from Dashboard "Istio - Logs" > Panel "Non 200 Response Codes":

```sumo
namespace=istio-system cluster={{cluster}}
| json field=_raw "log" as log_message
| parse regex field=log_message "\[(?<start_time>.+)\] \"(?<req>.+?)\" (?<response_code>.+?) (?<response_flags>.+?) (?<response_code_details>.+?) (?<con_term_details>.+?) \"(?<upstream_fail_reason>.+?)\" (?<bytes_recvd>.+?) (?<bytessent>.+?) (?<duration>.+?) (?<resp>.+?) \"(?<req_fwd_for>.+?)\" \"(?<user_agent>.+?)\" \"(?<request_id>.+?)\" \"(?<request_authority>.+?)\" \"(?<upstream_host>.+?)\" (?<upstream_cluster>.+?) (?<upstream_loacl_address>.+?) (?<downstream_local_address>.+?) (?<downstream_remote_address>.+?) (?<requested_server_name>.+?) (?<route_name>.+?)"
| where response_code != "200"
| timeslice 1h
| count by response_code, _timeslice
| transpose row _timeslice column response_code
```

## Collecting logs and metrics for the Istio App

This section provides instructions for collecting logs and metrics for the Sumo App for Istio. Logs and metrics are collected with the [Sumo Logic Kubernetes Collection Helm Chart](https://github.com/SumoLogic/sumologic-kubernetes-collection).
If you've not yet set up Kubernetes Collection, visit our [Kubernetes](/docs/observability/kubernetes) and [Kubernetes Quickstart](/docs/observability/kubernetes/quickstart) docs to learn how to install.

This app supports Istio versions 1.8.x and 1.9.x+. Configure log and metrics collection with the Sumo Logic Helm chart, using one of the following options:

Log Collection:

1. Enable [Access Logging](https://istio.io/latest/docs/tasks/observability/logs/access-log/#enable-envoy-s-access-logging) to write logs to stdout.

  The [Sumo Logic Kubernetes Collection Helm Chart](https://github.com/SumoLogic/sumologic-kubernetes-collection) will automatically capture the logs from stdout and will send the logs to Sumologic.

Metrics Collection:

1. If you did install using the [Sumo Logic Kubernetes Helm Chart](https://github.com/SumoLogic/sumologic-kubernetes-collection), update the Helm Chart values file with the following config:

   ```yml
   kube-prometheus-stack:
     prometheus:
       prometheusSpec:
         additionalScrapeConfigs:
           ...
           - job_name: 'istiod'
             kubernetes_sd_configs:
             - role: endpoints
               namespaces:
                 names:
                 - istio-system
             relabel_configs:
             - source_labels: [__meta_kubernetes_service_name, __meta_kubernetes_endpoint_port_name]
               action: keep
               regex: istiod;http-monitoring
           - job_name: 'envoy-stats'
             metrics_path: /stats/prometheus
             kubernetes_sd_configs:
             - role: pod
             relabel_configs:
             - source_labels: [__meta_kubernetes_pod_container_port_name]
               action: keep
               regex: '.*-envoy-prom'
   ```

   You can read more about the above scrape configs [here](https://istio.io/latest/docs/ops/integrations/prometheus/#option-2-customized-scraping-configurations)

1. Add following configuration to **additionalRemoteWrite**. These remote write configs make sure only metrics used by Sumo Logic Istio App are forwarded to Sumo Logic by Sumo Logic Kubernetes Helm Chart.

   ```yml
   kube-prometheus-stack:
     prometheus:
       prometheusSpec:
         additionalRemoteWrite:
           ...
           - url: http://$(METADATA_METRICS_SVC).$(NAMESPACE).svc.cluster.local:9888/prometheus.metrics.istio
             remoteTimeout: 5s
             writeRelabelConfigs:
               - action: keep
                 regex: (?:galley_validation_(passed|failed|config_updates|config_update_error))
                 sourceLabels: [__name__]
           - url: http://$(METADATA_METRICS_SVC).$(NAMESPACE).svc.cluster.local:9888/prometheus.metrics.istio
             remoteTimeout: 5s
             writeRelabelConfigs:
               - action: keep
                 regex: (?:istio_(response_(bytes_sum|bytes_bucket)|requests_total|request_(duration_milliseconds_sum|duration_milliseconds_bucket|bytes_sum|bytes_bucket)|build|agent_(process_virtual_memory_bytes|process_max_fds|pilot_xds_pushes|pilot_xds_expired_nonce|pilot_xds|pilot_virt_services|pilot_proxy_queue_time_sum|pilot_endpoint_not_ready|num_outgoing_requests|num_failed_outgoing_requests|go_threads|go_memstats_heap_inuse_bytes|go_memstats_heap_alloc_bytes|go_memstats_gc_cpu_fraction|go_memstats_alloc_bytes_total|go_memstats_alloc_bytes|go_gc_duration_seconds)))
                 sourceLabels: [__name__]

   ```

1. Upgrade the sumo logic helm chart by running the following:

   ```bash
   helm upgrade --install <my-release-name> sumologic/sumologic -f sumologic-istio.yaml
   ```

#### Validation Steps

1. Do port forward via your terminal (`my-release` is my release I used while setting up [Sumo Logic Kubernetes Collection Helm Chart](https://github.com/SumoLogic/sumologic-kubernetes-collection):

   ```bash
   kubectl port-forward prometheus-my-release-kube-prometheus-prometheus-0 9090
   ```

1. Open [http://127.0.0.1:9090/config](http://127.0.0.1:9090/config) in a web browser and make sure the following remotewrite configs are present:

   ```yml
   - url: http://my-release-sumologic-remote-write-proxy.sumologic.svc.cluster.local:9888/prometheus.metrics.istio
     remote_timeout: 5s
     write_relabel_configs:
     - source_labels: [__name__]
       separator: ;
       regex: (?:galley_validation_(passed|failed|config_updates|config_update_error))
       replacement: $1
       action: keep
     queue_config:
       capacity: 2500
       max_shards: 200
       min_shards: 1
       max_samples_per_send: 500
       batch_send_deadline: 5s
       min_backoff: 30ms
       max_backoff: 100ms
   - url: http://my-release-sumologic-remote-write-proxy.sumologic.svc.cluster.local:9888/prometheus.metrics.istio
     remote_timeout: 5s
     write_relabel_configs:
     - source_labels: [__name__]
       separator: ;
       regex: (?:istio_(response_(bytes_sum|bytes_bucket)|requests_total|request_(duration_milliseconds_sum|duration_milliseconds_bucket|bytes_sum|bytes_bucket)|build|agent_(process_virtual_memory_bytes|process_max_fds|pilot_xds_pushes|pilot_xds_expired_nonce|pilot_xds|pilot_virt_services|pilot_proxy_queue_time_sum|pilot_endpoint_not_ready|num_outgoing_requests|num_failed_outgoing_requests|go_threads|go_memstats_heap_inuse_bytes|go_memstats_heap_alloc_bytes|go_memstats_gc_cpu_fraction|go_memstats_alloc_bytes_total|go_memstats_alloc_bytes|go_gc_duration_seconds)))
       replacement: $1
       action: keep
     queue_config:
       capacity: 2500
       max_shards: 200
       min_shards: 1
       max_samples_per_send: 500
       batch_send_deadline: 5s
       min_backoff: 30ms
       max_backoff: 100ms
   ```

   Above remotewrite configs make sure only metrics used by Sumo Logic Istio App are forwarded to Sumo Logic by Sumo Helm Chart.

1. Open [http://127.0.0.1:9090/config](http://127.0.0.1:9090/config) in a web browser and make sure the following scrape configs are present:

   ```yml
   - job_name: istiod
     honor_timestamps: true
     scrape_interval: 30s
     scrape_timeout: 10s
     metrics_path: /metrics
     scheme: http
     follow_redirects: true
     enable_http2: true
     relabel_configs:
     - source_labels: [__meta_kubernetes_service_name, __meta_kubernetes_endpoint_port_name]
       separator: ;
       regex: istiod;http-monitoring
       replacement: $1
       action: keep
     kubernetes_sd_configs:
     - role: endpoints
       kubeconfig_file: ""
       follow_redirects: true
       enable_http2: true
       namespaces:
         own_namespace: false
         names:
         - istio-system
   - job_name: envoy-stats
     honor_timestamps: true
     scrape_interval: 30s
     scrape_timeout: 10s
     metrics_path: /stats/prometheus
     scheme: http
     follow_redirects: true
     enable_http2: true
     relabel_configs:
     - source_labels: [__meta_kubernetes_pod_container_port_name]
       separator: ;
       regex: .*-envoy-prom
       replacement: $1
       action: keep
     kubernetes_sd_configs:
     - role: pod
       kubeconfig_file: ""
       follow_redirects: true
       enable_http2: true
   ```

## Installing the Istio App

This section provides instructions for installing the Istio App, as well as descriptions and examples for each of the dashboards.

Now that you have set up metric and log collection for Istio, install the Sumo Logic App for Istio and access the pre-configured dashboards that provide visibility into your Istio environment.

import AppInstall from '../../reuse/apps/app-install.md';

<AppInstall/>

## Viewing Istio Dashboards

:::tip Filter with template variables    
Template variables provide dynamic dashboards that can rescope data on the fly. As you apply variables to troubleshoot through your dashboard, you view dynamic changes to the data for a quicker resolution to the root cause. You can use template variables to drill down and examine the data on a granular level. For more information, see [Filter with template variables](/docs/dashboards/filter-template-variables.md).
:::

### Overview

The **Istio Overview** dashboard provides a high-level view of the number of applications in your environment, the average requests and responses, and the average duration of requests.

Use this dashboard to:
* Monitor application activity by requests, bytes transferred, and latency.

<img src={useBaseUrl('img/integrations/saas-cloud/Istio-Overview.png')} alt="Istio dashboards" />


### Mesh Throughput

The **Istio Mesh** dashboard provides insights into the network of microservices in your environment, service success response rate, 4XX/5XX responses, latency, requests count, and request/response statistics.

Use this dashboard to:
* Monitor mesh performance and latency
* Monitor Errors and request/response size.

<img src={useBaseUrl('img/integrations/saas-cloud/Istio-Mesh-Throughput.png')} alt="Istio dashboards" />

### Workload

The **Istio Workload** dashboard allows you to monitor the overall workloads in Istio and provides detailed breakdowns on inbound and outbound services.

Use this dashboard to:
* Monitor requests and responses for individual workloads.
* Analyze inbound and outbound services for workloads.

<img src={useBaseUrl('img/integrations/saas-cloud/Istio-Workload.png')} alt="Istio dashboards" />


### Galley

The **Istio - Galley** Dashboard allows you to monitor the Istio Galley.

Use this dashboard to:
* Monitor resource validation passed/failed events and config updates errors.

<img src={useBaseUrl('img/integrations/saas-cloud/Istio-Galley.png')} alt="Istio dashboards" />


### Resource Usage

The **Istio - Resource Usage** dashboard allows you to monitor the overall performance of Istio from a single dashboard.

Use this dashboard to:
* Monitor number of OS threads, GC duration,  File descriptors CPU, and Memory.
* Analyze the number of outgoing failed requests.

<img src={useBaseUrl('img/integrations/saas-cloud/Istio-Resource-Usage.png')} alt="Istio dashboards" />


### Pilot Traffic Dashboard

The Istio - Pilot Traffic dashboard assists in monitoring the Istio Pilot component

Use this dashboard to:
* Monitor Pilot queue time, endpoints connected to Pilot, endpoints not in ready state, and virtual service known to Pilot.

<img src={useBaseUrl('img/integrations/saas-cloud/Istio-Pilot-Traffic.png')} alt="Istio dashboards" />