diff --git a/config/Makefile b/config/Makefile
index 595050382..0de74465d 100644
--- a/config/Makefile
+++ b/config/Makefile
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ detect-change: materialize
 		echo "Please review the diffs below:\n\n"; \
 		echo "$$diff_output"; \
 		echo "\n\n===================================================="; \
-		echo "\n\nOnce you reviewed the changes and consider them meaningful, commit them."; \
+		echo "\n\nOnce you reviewed the changes and consider them meaningful, commit them by running "make -C config/ materialize"."; \
 		echo "\n\n===================================================="; \
 		exit 1; \
 	else \
diff --git a/config/config.msft.yaml b/config/config.msft.yaml
index ed3bb89b2..5dee3c9d5 100644
--- a/config/config.msft.yaml
+++ b/config/config.msft.yaml
@@ -30,6 +30,12 @@ defaults:
     etcd:
       kvName: arohcp-etcd-{{ .ctx.regionShort }}
       kvSoftDelete: true
+    istio:
+      url: "https://istio.io/downloadIstio"
+      istioctlVersion: "1.23.1"
+      tag: "prod-stable"
+      version: "asm-1-22"
+      newVersion: ""
 
   # MGMT cluster specifics
   mgmt:
diff --git a/config/config.schema.json b/config/config.schema.json
index 320b37062..fdb7efb50 100644
--- a/config/config.schema.json
+++ b/config/config.schema.json
@@ -620,7 +620,32 @@
           },
           "subscription": {
             "type": "string"
-          }
+          },
+          "istio": {
+            "type": "object",
+            "properties": {
+              "url": {
+                "description": "The download Url for istioctl",
+                "type": "string"
+              },
+              "istioctlVersion": {
+                "description": "Latest version of istioctl. This is used to download the istioctl",
+                "type": "string"
+              },
+              "tag": {
+                "description": "The revision tag used in istioctl",
+                "type": "string"
+              },
+              "version": {
+                "description": "The current istio version in the aks cluster",
+                "type": "string"
+              },
+              "newVersion": {
+                "description": "The istio version that will be updated to",
+                "type": "string"
+              }
+            }
+        }
         },
         "additionalProperties": false,
         "required": [
diff --git a/config/public-cloud-msft-int.json b/config/public-cloud-msft-int.json
index 8527659be..cdf1c7390 100644
--- a/config/public-cloud-msft-int.json
+++ b/config/public-cloud-msft-int.json
@@ -147,6 +147,13 @@
       "kvName": "arohcp-etcd-int",
       "kvSoftDelete": true
     },
+    "istio": {
+      "istioctlVersion": "1.23.1",
+      "newVersion": "",
+      "tag": "prod-stable",
+      "url": "https://istio.io/downloadIstio",
+      "version": "asm-1-22"
+    },
     "rg": "hcp-underlay-westus3-svc",
     "subscription": "hcp-westus3",
     "userAgentPool": {