Deploy Envoy on Google Axion C4A Arm virtual machine

content/learning-paths/servers-and-cloud-computing/envoy-gcp/_index.md

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+---
+title: Deploy Envoy on Google Axion processors
+
+draft: true
+cascade:
+    draft: true
+
+minutes_to_complete: 30
+
+who_is_this_for: This introductory topic is for software developers interested in migrating their Envoy workloads from x86_64 platforms to Arm-based platforms, specifically on Google Axion–based C4A virtual machines.  
+
+learning_objectives:
+  - Start an Arm virtual machine on Google Cloud Platform (GCP) using the C4A Google Axion instance family with RHEL 9 as the base image
+  - Install and configure Envoy on Arm-based GCP C4A instances
+  - Validate Envoy functionality through baseline testing
+  - Benchmark Envoy performance on Arm
+
+prerequisites:
+  - A [Google Cloud Platform (GCP)](https://cloud.google.com/free?utm_source=google&hl=en) account with billing enabled
+  - Familiarity with networking concepts and the [Envoy architecture](https://www.envoyproxy.io/docs/envoy/latest/).
+
+author: Pareena Verma
+
+##### Tags
+skilllevels: Advanced
+subjects: Web
+cloud_service_providers: Google Cloud
+
+armips:
+  - Neoverse
+
+tools_software_languages:
+  - Envoy
+  - Siege 
+
+operatingsystems:
+  - Linux
+
+# ================================================================================
+#       FIXED, DO NOT MODIFY
+# ================================================================================
+further_reading:
+  - resource:
+      title: Google Cloud official documentation
+      link: https://cloud.google.com/docs
+      type: documentation
+
+  - resource:
+      title: Envoy documentation
+      link: https://www.envoyproxy.io/docs/envoy/latest/about_docs
+      type: documentation
+
+  - resource:
+      title: The official documentation for Siege
+      link: https://www.joedog.org/siege-manual/
+      type: documentation
+
+weight: 1                       # _index.md always has weight of 1 to order correctly
+layout: "learningpathall"       # All files under learning paths have this same wrapper
+learning_path_main_page: "yes"  # Indicates this should be surfaced when looking for related content. Only set for _index.md of learning path content.
+---

content/learning-paths/servers-and-cloud-computing/envoy-gcp/_next-steps.md

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+---
+# ================================================================================
+#       FIXED, DO NOT MODIFY THIS FILE
+# ================================================================================
+weight: 21                  # Set to always be larger than the content in this path to be at the end of the navigation.
+title: "Next Steps"         # Always the same, html page title.
+layout: "learningpathall"   # All files under learning paths have this same wrapper for Hugo processing.
+---

content/learning-paths/servers-and-cloud-computing/envoy-gcp/background.md

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+---
+title: Getting started with Envoy on Google Axion C4A (Arm Neoverse-V2)
+
+weight: 2
+
+layout: "learningpathall"
+---
+
+## Google Axion C4A Arm instances in Google Cloud
+
+Google Axion C4A is a family of Arm-based virtual machines built on Google’s custom Axion CPU, which is based on Arm Neoverse-V2 cores. Designed for high-performance and energy-efficient computing, these virtual machines offer strong performance for modern cloud workloads such as CI/CD pipelines, microservices, media processing, and general-purpose applications.
+
+The C4A series provides a cost-effective alternative to x86 virtual machines while leveraging the scalability and performance benefits of the Arm architecture in Google Cloud.
+
+To learn more about Google Axion, refer to the [Introducing Google Axion Processors, our new Arm-based CPUs](https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/compute/introducing-googles-new-arm-based-cpu) blog.
+
+## Envoy for service proxying and traffic management on Arm
+
+Envoy is an open-source, high-performance edge and service proxy designed for cloud-native applications.
+
+It handles service-to-service communication, traffic routing, load balancing, and observability, making microservices more reliable and secure.
+
+Envoy is widely used in service meshes, API gateways, and modern cloud environments. Learn more from the [Envoy official website](https://www.envoyproxy.io/) and its [official documentation](https://www.envoyproxy.io/docs/envoy/latest/).

content/learning-paths/servers-and-cloud-computing/envoy-gcp/baseline-testing.md

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+---
+title: Envoy baseline testing on Google Axion C4A Arm Virtual machine
+weight: 5
+
+### FIXED, DO NOT MODIFY
+layout: learningpathall
+---
+
+
+Since Envoy is installed successfully on your GCP C4A Arm virtual machine, follow these steps to validate that the Envoy is running.
+
+## Validate Envoy installation with a baseline test
+
+In this section, we covered how to create a minimal Envoy config, start Envoy with it, and verify functionality using `curl`. 
+The test confirmed that Envoy listens on port **10000**, forwards requests to `httpbin.org`, and returns a successful **200 OK** response.
+
+### Create a Minimal Configuration File
+
+Using a file editor of your choice, create a file named `envoy_config.yaml`, and add the below content to it. This file configures Envoy to listen on port **10000** and forward all traffic to `http://httpbin.org`. The host_rewrite_literal is essential to prevent 404 Not Found errors from the upstream server.
+
+```YAML
+static_resources:
+  listeners:
+  - name: listener_0
+    address:
+      socket_address:
+        protocol: TCP
+        address: 0.0.0.0
+        port_value: 10000
+    filter_chains:
+    - filters:
+      - name: envoy.filters.network.http_connection_manager
+        typed_config:
+          "@type": type.googleapis.com/envoy.extensions.filters.network.http_connection_manager.v3.HttpConnectionManager
+          stat_prefix: ingress_http
+          route_config:
+            name: local_route
+            virtual_hosts:
+            - name: backend
+              domains: ["*"]
+              routes:
+              - match:
+                  prefix: "/"
+                route:
+                  cluster: service_httpbin
+                  host_rewrite_literal: httpbin.org
+          http_filters:
+          - name: envoy.filters.http.router
+            typed_config:
+              "@type": type.googleapis.com/envoy.extensions.filters.http.router.v3.Router
+  clusters:
+  - name: service_httpbin
+    connect_timeout: 0.5s
+    type: LOGICAL_DNS
+    dns_lookup_family: V4_ONLY
+    lb_policy: ROUND_ROBIN
+    load_assignment:
+      cluster_name: service_httpbin
+      endpoints:
+      - lb_endpoints:
+        - endpoint:
+            address:
+              socket_address:
+                address: httpbin.org
+                port_value: 80
+```
+- **Listeners:** Envoy is configured to accept incoming HTTP requests on port **10000** of your VM.
+- **HTTP Connection Manager:** A filter processes the incoming requests, directing them to the appropriate backend.
+- **Routing:** All traffic is routed to the `service_httpbin` cluster, with the `Host` header rewritten to  `httpbin.org`.
+- **Clusters:** The `service_httpbin` cluster defines the upstream service as `httpbin.org` on port **80**, which is where requests are ultimately forwarded.
+
+### Run and Test Envoy
+
+This is the final phase of functional validation, confirming that the proxy is operational.
+Start the Envoy proxy using your configuration file. This command will keep the terminal occupied, so you will need a new terminal for the next step.
+
+```console
+ envoy -c envoy_config.yaml --base-id 1
+```
+The output should look similar to:
+
+```output
+[2025-08-21 11:53:51.597][67137][info][config] [source/server/configuration_impl.cc:138] loading 1 listener(s)
+[2025-08-21 11:53:51.597][67137][info][config] [source/server/configuration_impl.cc:154] loading stats configuration
+[2025-08-21 11:53:51.598][67137][warning][main] [source/server/server.cc:928] There is no configured limit to the number of allowed active downstream connections. Configure a limit in `envoy.resource_monitors.downstream_connections` resource monitor.
+[2025-08-21 11:53:51.598][67137][info][main] [source/server/server.cc:969] starting main dispatch loop
+[2025-08-21 11:53:51.599][67137][info][runtime] [source/common/runtime/runtime_impl.cc:614] RTDS has finished initialization
+[2025-08-21 11:53:51.599][67137][info][upstream] [source/common/upstream/cluster_manager_impl.cc:240] cm init: all clusters initialized
+[2025-08-21 11:53:51.599][67137][info][main] [source/server/server.cc:950] all clusters initialized. initializing init manager
+[2025-08-21 11:53:51.599][67137][info][config] [source/common/listener_manager/listener_manager_impl.cc:930] all dependencies initialized. starting workers
+```
+
+Now, **Send a test request** from another terminal window to the Envoy listener using `curl`.
+
+```console
+curl -v http://localhost:10000/get
+```
+The `-v` flag provides verbose output, showing the full request and response headers. A successful test will show a **HTTP/1.1 200 OK** response with a JSON body from httpbin.org.
+
+The output should look similar to:
+
+```output
+*   Trying 127.0.0.1:10000...
+* Connected to 127.0.0.1 (127.0.0.1) port 10000 (#0)
+> GET /get HTTP/1.1
+> Host: 127.0.0.1:10000
+> User-Agent: curl/7.76.1
+> Accept: */*
+>
+* Mark bundle as not supporting multiuse
+< HTTP/1.1 200 OK
+< date: Fri, 22 Aug 2025 11:20:35 GMT
+< content-type: application/json
+< content-length: 301
+< server: envoy
+< access-control-allow-origin: *
+< access-control-allow-credentials: true
+< x-envoy-upstream-service-time: 1042
+<
+{
+  "args": {},
+  "headers": {
+    "Accept": "*/*",
+    "Host": "httpbin.org",
+    "User-Agent": "curl/7.76.1",
+    "X-Amzn-Trace-Id": "Root=1-68a85282-10af9cfe0385774600509ddd",
+    "X-Envoy-Expected-Rq-Timeout-Ms": "15000"
+  },
+  "origin": "34.63.220.63",
+  "url": "http://httpbin.org/get"
+}
+* Connection #0 to host 127.0.0.1 left intact
+```
+#### Summary of the curl Output
+
+- **Successful Connection:** The **curl** command successfully connected to the Envoy proxy on **localhost:10000**.
+- **Correct Status Code:** Envoy successfully forwarded the request and received a healthy **200 OK** response from the upstream server.
+- **Host Header Rewrite:** The **Host** header was correctly rewritten from **localhost:10000** to **httpbin.org** as defined in the configuration.
+- **End-to-End Success:** The proxy is fully operational, proving that requests are correctly received, processed, and forwarded to the intended backend.
+
+This confirms the end-to-end flow is working correctly.