ztunnel

Infra

Updated 4 days ago

Ztunnel Overview

Secure your stack with a hardened Ztunnel image freshly-built by Minimus. Minimus images always include the most up-to-date package version for all packages and dependencies contained in the image.

Ztunnel (zero trust tunnel) is a purpose-built per-node proxy for Istio ambient mesh. It is responsible for securely connecting and authenticating workloads within ambient mesh.

Try It Out

Prerequisites

A running Kubernetes cluster (v1.21 or higher is recommended)
Helm v3.8 or higher for OCI support (Installation instructions)
kubectl installed and configured

Step 1: Start Cluster

If you have a cluster to work with, skip this step. Otherwise, start a Minikube cluster. Deployment instructions

Step 2: Add Repository to your Local Client

Add the Helm chart to your local Helm client.

helm repo add istio https://istio-release.storage.googleapis.com/charts
helm repo update

Step 3: Install base CRDs

helm install istio-base istio/base \
  --namespace istio-system \
  --create-namespace

Step 4: Install Istiod (control plane)

helm install istiod istio/istiod \
  --namespace istio-system \
  --set meshConfig.mode=ambient \
  --set pilot.env.PILOT_ENABLE_AMBIENT=true  \
  --set image=reg.mini.dev/istio-pilot

Step 5: Install Istio CNI

Istio CNI is needed for ambient.

helm install istio-cni istio/cni \
  --namespace kube-system \
  --set ambient.enabled=true \
  --set image=reg.mini.dev/istio-install-cni

Step 6: Install Ztunnel

helm install ztunnel istio/ztunnel \
  --namespace istio-system \
  --set profile=ambient \
  --set image=reg.mini.dev/ztunnel

Wait a minute and check that the Pods are up and running:

kubectl -n istio-system get po

Confirm that Minimus images were deployed:

kubectl -n istio-system describe po | grep -i "Image"

Step 7: Enable ambient for a namespace

kubectl create namespace demo
kubectl label namespace demo istio.io/dataplane-mode=ambient

Step 8: Deploy sleep and httpbin

kubectl apply -n demo -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/istio/istio/release-1.28/samples/sleep/sleep.yaml
kubectl apply -n demo -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/istio/istio/release-1.28/samples/httpbin/httpbin.yaml

Step 9: Basic connectivity test

Run a basic connectivity test:

kubectl -n demo exec deploy/sleep -- curl -v http://httpbin:8000/get

You should see a JSON response from httpbin containing the message Established connection to httpbin.

Step 10: Clean Up

Uninstall the charts to delete the namespace and its resources, including Pods, Deployments, Services, Secrets, ConfigMaps, etc.:

helm uninstall istio-cni -n kube-system
helm uninstall istio-base istiod ztunnel -n istio-system
kubectl delete ns demo

Technical Considerations

The Ztunnel image provided by Minimus is a slim, security-hardened alternative to the public image from Docker Hub. The images are largely interchangeable, with a few differences as noted below.

Ztunnel built by Minimus:

Runs as non-root by default for a security-first approach that protects against privilege escalation attacks.
Drill down on the version specification tab to see the default user, listening ports, entrypoint, volumes, environment variables, etc.

The Payoff

A hardened, minimal image that will remain more secure for the long run and accrue vulnerabilities at a slower rate.

See the risk reduction dashboard for a detailed CVE comparison over the past 30 days.
Review the compliance report to see the default hardening and security configurations for the image.

Terms & Info

Trademark

This catalog is published by Minimus. All product names, logos, and marks, other than those belonging to Minimus, shown are owned by their respective rights holders and appear here only to identify the open source software each image contains. Minimus claims no ownership of those marks and implies no affiliation with, endorsement by, certification by, or sponsorship by any rights holder.

Disclaimer

Images are provided "as-is" without warranty of any kind. "Hardened" refers to the security configuration applied at the time of build and does not constitute a guarantee of ongoing security or absence of vulnerabilities. The free tier is provided without support, SLA, or guaranteed patching timelines. Security updates may be applied to paid subscriptions before or instead of free tier images. By pulling or using any image you agree to our Terms of Use.