Visualizing Metrics with Grafana

    The Bookinfo sample application is used as the example application throughout this task.

    1. Verify that the service is running in your cluster.

      In Kubernetes environments, execute the following command:

    2. Verify that the Grafana service is running in your cluster.

      In Kubernetes environments, execute the following command:

    3. Open the Istio Dashboard via the Grafana UI.

      In Kubernetes environments, execute the following command:

      Visit http://localhost:3000/dashboard/db/istio-mesh-dashboard in your web browser.

      The Istio Dashboard will look similar to:

      Istio Dashboard

    4. Send traffic to the mesh.

      For the Bookinfo sample, visit in your web browser or issue the following command:

      To see trace data, you must send requests to your service. The number of requests depends on Istio’s sampling rate. You set this rate when you install Istio. The default sampling rate is 1%. You need to send at least 100 requests before the first trace is visible. To send a 100 requests to the service, use the following command:

      is the value set in the Bookinfo example.

      Refresh the page a few times (or send the command a few times) to generate a small amount of traffic.

      Istio Dashboard With Traffic

      This gives the global view of the Mesh along with services and workloads in the mesh. You can get more details about services and workloads by navigating to their specific dashboards as explained below.

    5. Visualize Workload Dashboards.

      From the Grafana dashboard’s left hand corner navigation menu, you can navigate to Istio Workload Dashboard or visit http://localhost:3000/dashboard/db/istio-workload-dashboard in your web browser.

      The Istio Workload Dashboard will look similar to:

      Istio Workload Dashboard

      This gives details about metrics for each workload and then inbound workloads (workloads that are sending request to this workload) and outbound services (services to which this workload send requests) for that workload.

    1. A Mesh Summary View. This section provides Global Summary view of the Mesh and shows HTTP/gRPC and TCP workloads in the Mesh.

    2. Individual Services View. This section provides metrics about requests and responses for each individual service within the mesh (HTTP/gRPC and TCP). This also provides metrics about client and service workloads for this service.

    3. Individual Workloads View: This section provides metrics about requests and responses for each individual workload within the mesh (HTTP/gRPC and TCP). This also provides metrics about inbound workloads and outbound services for this workload.

    For more on how to create, configure, and edit dashboards, please see the Grafana documentation.

    • Remove any processes that may be running:

    • If you are not planning to explore any follow-on tasks, refer to the instructions to shutdown the application.

    Visualizing Your Mesh

    This task shows you how to visualize your services within an Istio mesh.

    A new way to manage installation of telemetry addons.

    Mixer and the SPOF Myth

    Improving availability and reducing latency.

    Provides an overview of Mixer’s plug-in architecture.

    Classifying Metrics Based on Request or Response (Experimental)

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    This task shows you how to configure Istio to collect metrics for TCP services.