Deploy an Enterprise License - Kong Gateway

Method	Supported deployment types
`/licenses` Admin API endpoint	• Traditional database-backed deployment • Hybrid mode deployment
File on the node filesystem (`license.json`)	• Traditional database-backed deployment • DB-less mode
Environment variable containing the full license (`KONG_LICENSE_DATA`)	• Traditional database-backed deployment • DB-less mode
Environment variable containing path to license file (`KONG_LICENSE_PATH`)	• Traditional database-backed deployment • DB-less mode

You can use the Kong Admin API to distribute the license in any database-backed or hybrid mode deployment. We recommend using this method in most deployments.

In hybrid mode, apply the license to the control plane. The control plane distributes the license to its data plane nodes. This is the only method that applies the license to data planes automatically.

The license data must contain straight quotes to be considered valid JSON (' and ", not ’ or “).

Note: The payload of the following license is only an example. You must use the following format, but provide your own content.

Add new license

Update existing license

To add a new license, POST the contents of the provided license.json license to your Kong Gateway instance:

curl -i -X POST http://localhost:8001/licenses \
  -d payload='{"license":{"payload":{"admin_seats":"1","customer":"Example Company, Inc","dataplanes":"1","license_creation_date":"2017-07-20","license_expiration_date":"2017-07-20","license_key":"00141000017ODj3AAG_a1V41000004wT0OEAU","product_subscription":"Konnect Enterprise","support_plan":"None"},"signature":"6985968131533a967fcc721244a979948b1066967f1e9cd65dbd8eeabe060fc32d894a2945f5e4a03c1cd2198c74e058ac63d28b045c2f1fcec95877bd790e1b","version":"1"}}'

Result:

{
  "created_at": 1500508800,
  "id": "30b4edb7-0847-4f65-af90-efbed8b0161f",
  "payload": "{\"license\":{\"payload\":{\"admin_seats\":\"1\",\"customer\":\"Example Company, Inc\",\"dataplanes\":\"1\",\"license_creation_date\":\"2017-07-20\",\"license_expiration_date\":\"2017-07-20\",\"license_key\":\"00141000017ODj3AAG_a1V41000004wT0OEAU\",\"product_subscription\":\"Konnect Enterprise\",\"support_plan\":\"None\"},\"signature\":\"6985968131533a967fcc721244a979948b1066967f1e9cd65dbd8eeabe060fc32d894a2945f5e4a03c1cd2198c74e058ac63d28b045c2f1fcec95877bd790e1b\",\"version\":\"1\"}}",
  "updated_at": 1500508800
}

Restart the Kong Gateway nodes after adding or updating a license.

For more detail and options, see the Admin API licenses endpoint reference.

You can provide a license file to Kong Gateway in any database-backed or DB-less deployment. This method is not recommended for use in hybrid mode, as you have to maintain the license on each node manually.

The license data must contain straight quotes to be considered valid JSON (' and ", not ’ or “).

Securely copy the license.json file to your home directory on the filesystem where you have installed Kong Gateway.
```
 $ scp license.json <system_username>@<server>:~
```
Then, copy the license file again, this time to the /etc/kong directory:
```
 $ scp license.json /etc/kong/license.json
```
Kong Gateway will look for a valid license in this location.

You can use the KONG_LICENSE_DATA environment variable to apply a license to Kong Gateway in any database-backed or DB-less deployment. This method is not recommended for use in hybrid mode, as you have to maintain the license on each node manually.

The license data must contain straight quotes to be considered valid JSON (' and ", not ’ or “).

Export the license key to a variable by running the following command, substituting your own license key.

Note: The following license is only an example. You must use the following format, but provide your own content.

 $ export KONG_LICENSE_DATA='{"license":{"signature":"LS0tLS1CRUdJTiBQR1AgTUVTU0FHRS0tLS0tClZlcnNpb246IEdudVBHIHYyCgpvd0did012TXdDSFdzMTVuUWw3dHhLK01wOTJTR0tLWVc3UU16WTBTVTVNc2toSVREWk1OTFEzVExJek1MY3dTCjA0ek1UVk1OREEwc2pRM04wOHpNalZKVHpOTE1EWk9TVTFLTXpRMVRVNHpTRXMzTjA0d056VXdUTytKWUdNUTQKR05oWW1VQ21NWEJ4Q3NDc3lMQmorTVBmOFhyWmZkNkNqVnJidmkyLzZ6THhzcitBclZtcFZWdnN1K1NiKzFhbgozcjNCeUxCZzdZOVdFL2FYQXJ0NG5lcmVpa2tZS1ozMlNlbGQvMm5iYkRzcmdlWFQzek1BQUE9PQo9b1VnSgotLS0tLUVORCBQR1AgTUVTU0FHRS0tLS0tCg=","payload":{"customer":"Test Company Inc","license_creation_date":"2017-11-08","product_subscription":"Kong Enterprise","admin_seats":"5","support_plan":"None","license_expiration_date":"2017-11-10","license_key":"00141000017ODj3AAG_a1V41000004wT0OEAU"},"version":1}}'

Include the license as part of the docker run command when starting a Kong Gateway container:

Note: This is only a snippet. For a full working example, see the instructions to Install Kong Gateway on Docker.
```
 docker run -d --name kong-gateway \
  --network=kong-net \
  ...
  -e KONG_LICENSE_DATA \
  kong/kong-gateway:-alpine
```

You can use the KONG_LICENSE_PATH environment variable to apply a license to Kong Gateway in any database-backed or DB-less deployment. This method is not recommended for use in hybrid mode, as you have to maintain the license on each node manually.

Include the license as part of the docker run command when starting a Kong Gateway container. Mount the path to the file on your local filesystem to a directory in the Docker container, making the file visible from the container:

Note: This is only a snippet. For a full working example, see the instructions to Install Kong Gateway on Docker.

docker run -d --name kong-gateway \
 --network=kong-net \
 ...
 -v "$(pwd)/kong-license/:/kong-license/" \
 -e "KONG_LICENSE_PATH=/kong-license/license.json" \
 kong/kong-gateway:-alpine