This topic lists common Istio FAQ and their corresponding solutions.

What do I do if the services in the cluster cannot access external URLs?

Symptom

The services in the cluster cannot access external URLs.

Cause

By default, this is because the pod in the Istio service mesh uses iptables to transparently forward all outbound traffic to the sidecar. The sidecar can only handle the traffic destined for addresses within the cluster.

Solutions

  • Define ServiceEntry to call external services.
  • Configure Istio to allow access to a specific range of IP addresses.

For more information, see Control Egress Traffic.

What do I do if Tiller is in an earlier version?

Symptom

The following message is displayed during the installation process: 
Can't install release with errors: rpc error: code = Unknown desc = Chart incompatible with Tiller v2.7.0

Cause

Your current version of Tiller needs to be upgraded.

Solution

Run one of the following two commands to upgrade the Tiller version.
Note You must upgrade Tiller to V2.10.0 or later.
Run the following command to upgrade Tiller to V2.11.0: 
helm init --tiller-image registry.cn-hangzhou.aliyuncs.com/acs/tiller:v2.11.0 --upgrade
Run the following command to upgrade Tiller to V2.10.0: 
helm init --tiller-image registry.cn-hangzhou.aliyuncs.com/acs/tiller:v2.10.0 --upgrade
Note After you upgrade Tiller to a new version, we recommend that you upgrade the client to the corresponding version. For more information, see Install a client.

What do I do if Custom Resource Definitions (CRDs) are in an invalid version?

Symptom

The following message is displayed when you create Istio for the first time or upgrade from Istio 1.0: 
Can't install release with errors: rpc error: code = Unknown desc = apiVersion "networking.istio.io/v1alpha3" in ack-istio/charts/pilot/templates/gateway.yaml is not available

Cause

CRDs do not exist or are of an earlier version.
Note This problem occurs only in Helm 2.10.0 and earlier versions. For Helm later than V2.10.0, the system automatically upgrades CRDs.

Solution

  1. Download the latest Istio. For more information, see Download the release.
  2. Run the following command to install the latest CRDs: 
    $ kubectl apply -f install/kubernetes/helm/istio/templates/crds.yaml -n istio-system
  3. If you have enabled certmanager, you must run the following command to install the relevant CRDs: 
    $ kubectl apply -f install/kubernetes/helm/istio/charts/certmanager/templates/crds.yaml

What do I do if Istio cannot be installed when I log on as a RAM user?

Symptom

The following message or a similar one is displayed during the installation process: 
Error from server (Forbidden): error when retrieving current configuration of:
Resource: "apiextensions.k8s.io/v1beta1, Resource=customresourcedefinitions", GroupVersionKind: "apiextensions.k8s.io/v1beta1, Kind=CustomResourceDefinition"

Cause

The RAM user does not have permission to install Istio.

Solutions

  • Log on to Alibaba Cloud by using the primary account.
  • Grant the RAM user the required permissions. For example, you can grant the RAM user the cluster-admin custom role. For more information, see Grant RBAC permissions to a RAM user.

What do I do if CRDs are not removed after Istio is uninstalled?

Symptom

CRDs are not removed after Istio is uninstalled.

Cause

The system does not remove CRDs when you uninstall Istio.

Solution

  1. If you use Helm later than V2.9.0, perform step 2 directly. If you use Helm 2.9.0 or earlier, you must first run the following command to delete Job resources: 
    $ kubectl -n istio-system delete job --all
  2. Run the following command to delete CRDs: 
    $ kubectl delete -f install/kubernetes/helm/istio/templates/crds.yaml -n istio-system

What do I do if a custom resource is retained after I delete Istio?

Symptom

After Istio is deleted from a Kubernetes cluster, a custom resource is retained.

Cause

You only deleted the CRD.

Solution

  1. Run the kubectl edit istio -n istio-system istio-config command.

  2. Delete - istio-operator.finializer.alibabacloud.com in the finalizers parameter.