Install Open Service Mesh (OSM) on Kubernetes Easily

How to Install Open Service Mesh (OSM) on Kubernetes

Open Service Mesh (OSM) is a lightweight, open-source, cloud-native service mesh that is designed to enhance microservices management with secure communication capabilities, traffic management, and observability. This tutorial will guide you through the installation of OSM on a Kubernetes cluster.

Prerequisites

A Kubernetes cluster up and running. You can use Minikube (Official site) or a managed service like GKE, EKS, or AKS.
OSM CLI (Official site) installed on your local machine.
kubectl configured to interact with your cluster.

Step-by-Step Installation

Step 1: Install the OSM CLI

The OSM CLI is required to bootstrap the control plane and manage mesh resources. Follow the OSM documentation (Official site) to download and install the CLI for your operating system.

curl -L https://github.com/openservicemesh/osm/releases/latest/download/osm-cli-linux-amd64.tar.gz | tar -vxzf -

Move it to a directory included in your PATH or follow similar steps for your OS.

Step 2: Deploy OSM in Your Cluster

With the OSM CLI in place, you can install OSM in your Kubernetes cluster.

osm install

This installs the OSM control plane components in the osm-system namespace.

Step 3: Verify the Installation

Ensure that all OSM pods are running:

kubectl get pods -n osm-system

All pods should be in the Running status.

Step 4: Deploy a Sample Application

To see OSM in action, deploy a sample application. OSM provides sample YAML files that can help you visualize traffic flow between microservices.

osm namespace add default
osm inject -f sample-app.yaml | kubectl apply -f -

Troubleshooting

If the OSM pods are not running, check the logs:

kubectl logs -n osm-system osm-controller-

Examine the logs for any errors or warnings.

Ensure all prerequisites are met and that networking policies in your Kubernetes cluster permit OSM’s operation.

Summary Checklist

Install the OSM CLI.
Deploy OSM in your Kubernetes cluster.
Verify that all components are running successfully.
Deploy a sample application to validate the mesh functionality.

With these steps, you have successfully installed and tested Open Service Mesh on your Kubernetes cluster, making your microservices more robust and secure. For more insights, consider checking our article on using Kuma Service Mesh. (Kuma Service Mesh Guide)