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docs: update GKE ambient guide to remove manual ResourceQuota step (Fix istio/istio#56376) #16660

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docs: update GKE ambient guide to remove manual ResourceQuota step (Fix istio/istio#56376) #16660

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4bc4815
docs: update GKE ambient guide to remove manual ResourceQuota step (F…
parv18050212 Jul 13, 2025
26baa00
Update content/en/docs/ambient/install/platform-prerequisites/index.md
parv18050212 Jul 14, 2025
bd30dac
Update content/en/docs/ambient/install/platform-prerequisites/index.md
parv18050212 Jul 14, 2025
65bd2df
Update content/en/docs/ambient/install/platform-prerequisites/index.md
parv18050212 Jul 14, 2025
4a9b3a6
Merge branch 'istio:master' into fix/gke-resourcequota-56376
parv18050212 Jul 14, 2025
911fa08
docs: move GKE Namespace restrictions below Platform profile
parv18050212 Jul 14, 2025
12cedb2
final updated
parv18050212 Jul 14, 2025
7cb276f
fixed lint error
parv18050212 Jul 14, 2025
8dd2737
docs: corrected lint issues
parv18050212 Jul 16, 2025
cbf32dc
docs: fix code block formatting for lint compliance in GKE section
parv18050212 Jul 16, 2025
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docs: prepend $ to bash code blocks to fix Hugo lint errors
parv18050212 Jul 16, 2025
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49 changes: 22 additions & 27 deletions content/en/docs/ambient/install/platform-prerequisites/index.md
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Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -17,12 +17,29 @@ Certain Kubernetes environments require you to set various Istio configuration o

### Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE)

#### Platform profile

When using GKE you must append the correct `platform` value to your installation commands, as GKE uses nonstandard locations for CNI binaries which requires Helm overrides.

#### istioctl ambient

{{< text syntax=bash >}}
$ istioctl install --set profile=ambient --set values.cni.platform=gke
{{< /text >}}

#### Helm ambient

{{< text syntax=bash >}}
$ helm install istio-cni charts/cni --set profile=ambient --set values.cni.platform=gke
{{< /text >}}

#### Namespace restrictions

On GKE, any pods with the [system-node-critical](https://kubernetes.io/docs/tasks/administer-cluster/guaranteed-scheduling-critical-addon-pods/) `priorityClassName` can only be installed in namespaces that have a [ResourceQuota](https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/policy/resource-quotas/) defined. By default in GKE, only `kube-system` has a defined ResourceQuota for the `node-critical` class. The Istio CNI node agent and `ztunnel` both require the `node-critical` class, and so in GKE, both components must either:
On GKE, any pods with the [system-node-critical](https://kubernetes.io/docs/tasks/administer-cluster/guaranteed-scheduling-critical-addon-pods/) `priorityClassName` can only be installed in namespaces that have a [ResourceQuota](https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/policy/resource-quotas/) defined. The Istio CNI node agent and `ztunnel` both require the `node-critical` class.

By default in GKE, only `kube-system` has a defined ResourceQuota for the `node-critical` class. Installing Istio with the `ambient` profile creates a ResourceQuota in the `istio-system` namespace.

- Be installed into `kube-system` (_not_ `istio-system`)
- Be installed into another namespace (such as `istio-system`) in which a ResourceQuota has been manually created, for example:
To install Istio in any other namespace, you must manually create a ResourceQuota:

{{< text syntax=yaml >}}
apiVersion: v1
Expand All @@ -41,30 +58,6 @@ spec:
- system-node-critical
{{< /text >}}

#### Platform profile

When using GKE you must append the correct `platform` value to your installation commands, as GKE uses nonstandard locations for CNI binaries which requires Helm overrides.

{{< tabset category-name="install-method" >}}

{{< tab name="Helm" category-value="helm" >}}

{{< text syntax=bash >}}
$ helm install istio-cni istio/cni -n istio-system --set profile=ambient --set global.platform=gke --wait
{{< /text >}}

{{< /tab >}}

{{< tab name="istioctl" category-value="istioctl" >}}

{{< text syntax=bash >}}
$ istioctl install --set profile=ambient --set values.global.platform=gke
{{< /text >}}

{{< /tab >}}

{{< /tabset >}}

### Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS)

If you are using EKS:
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -265,7 +258,9 @@ The following configurations apply to all platforms, when certain {{< gloss "CNI

1. Cilium currently defaults to proactively deleting other CNI plugins and their config, and must be configured with
`cni.exclusive = false` to properly support chaining. See [the Cilium documentation](https://docs.cilium.io/en/stable/helm-reference/) for more details.

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Are these newlines important?

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No it's not

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And I havent changed anything in those lines

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You might have some formatter that did, because it's in your commit.

1. Cilium's BPF masquerading is currently disabled by default, and has issues with Istio's use of link-local IPs for Kubernetes health checking. Enabling BPF masquerading via `bpf.masquerade=true` is not currently supported, and results in non-functional pod health checks in Istio ambient. Cilium's default iptables masquerading implementation should continue to function correctly.

1. Due to how Cilium manages node identity and internally allow-lists node-level health probes to pods,
applying any default-DENY `NetworkPolicy` in a Cilium CNI install underlying Istio in ambient mode will cause `kubelet` health probes (which are by-default silently exempted from all policy enforcement by Cilium) to be blocked. This is because Istio uses a link-local SNAT address for kubelet health probes, which Cilium is not aware of, and Cilium does not have an option to exempt link-local addresses from policy enforcement.

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