Istio-Certified-Associate-excercises

see https://training.linuxfoundation.org/certification/istio-certified-associate-ica/

Logistics

• Duration: 2hrs/ Cost: $250/ Passing Score : 75%/ Get a free retake

Curriculums

see https://github.com/cncf/curriculum/blob/master/ICA_Curriculum.pdf

A. Istio Installation, Upgrade & Configuration (7%)

• Using the Istio CLI to install a basic cluster
• Customizing the Istio installation with the IstioOperator API
• Using overlays to manage Istio component settings

B. Traffic Management(40%)

• Controlling network traffic flows within a service mesh
• Configuring sidecar injection
• Using the Gateway resource to configure ingress and egress traffic
• Understanding how to use ServiceEntry resources for adding entries to internal service registry
• Define traffic policies using DestinationRule
• Configure traffic mirroring capabilities

C. Resilience and Fault Injection (20%)

• Configuring circuit breakers(with or without outlier detection)
• Using resilience features
• Creating fault injection

D. Securing Workloads(20%)

• Understand Istio security features
• Set up Istio authorization for HTTP/TCP traffic in the mesh
• Configure mutual TLS at mesh, namespace, and workload levels

E. Advanced Scenarios (13%)

• Understand how to onboard non-kubernetes workloads to the mesh
• Troubleshoot configuration issues

Topics not covered:

• Istio Ambient Mode
• Observability tools integrated with Istio such as Kiali, Grafana, and Prometheus

How to study?

documentation

• istio.io/latest/docs

slack

• cloud-native.slack.com > istio-exam-study-group
• istio.slack.com

some resources

• https://www.udemy.com/course/pe-lf-ica
• https://github.com/isaac88/istio-certified-associate-ica-exam
• https://killercoda.com/ica

References

• https://www.udemy.com/course/istio-hands-on-for-kubernetes/
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0GjtrCVSdI
• https://docs.linuxfoundation.org/tc-docs/certification/frequently-asked-questions-ica
• https://medium.com/@arivermar/exploring-the-basics-of-istio-traffic-management-cee13f0817c2
• https://medium.com/@arivermar/demistifying-istio-gateways-762d37070431

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tips

1. ⏱️ Time Management

• For parts that require searching, prepare keywords or references in advance to find things quickly.
• Bookmark frequently used Istio documentation and use Ctrl + F to locate sections quickly.
• e.g.) VirtualService Reference
  https://istio.io/latest/docs/reference/config/networking/virtual-service/
  → Use Ctrl + F to search for keywords like version: v1

2. 🛠️ kubectl Usage Tips

• Always create resources by writing YAML manifests and applying them.
• Use VS Code for easier YAML editing and validation.

3. 📦 Istio Resource Versions and Specs

• Current Istio version: 1.18.2
• It's generally fine to refer to the latest documentation for spec fields.
• However, note that apiVersion often differs:
  • Latest Documentation may use: networking.istio.io/v1
  • In practice: you often need to use networking.istio.io/v1beta1 depending on the problem requirements.

4. ⚠️ Easy-to-Miss Resources

Make sure you're familiar with the concept of:

• Sidecar
• WorkloadGroup
• WorkloadEntry

5. 🌐 Cluster Context & Namespace Switching

• Each problem might involve switching Kubernetes cluster context, so don't overlook this.
• Namespace may vary between problems — always double-check the namespace before applying or analyzing resources.

6. 🧠 Use Fully Qualified Domain Names (FQDN)

• When writing the host field, use full Kubernetes DNS-based FQDN whenever possible.
• ❌ sleep.default ✅ sleep.default.svc.cluster.local

7. Useful commands

✔️ Analyze Istio config in a namespace

istioctl analyze -n default

✔️ Validate resource syntax

istioctl validate -f a.yaml

8. 📸 Exam Environment Setup

• Prepare a high-quality webcam, neat workspace, and valid passport or ID.
• Proctors can be strict, so test your exam environment ahead of time if possible.