Skip to content
2023 API Summit Hackathon: Experiment with AI for APIs (August 28 - September 27) Learn More →
Kong Logo | Kong Docs Logo
search
  • We're Hiring!
  • Docs
    • Kong Gateway
      Lightweight, fast, and flexible cloud-native API gateway
      Kong Konnect
      Single platform for SaaS end-to-end connectivity
      Kong Mesh
      Enterprise service mesh based on Kuma and Envoy
      decK
      Helps manage Kong’s configuration in a declarative fashion
      Kong Ingress Controller
      Works inside a Kubernetes cluster and configures Kong to proxy traffic
      Insomnia
      Collaborative API development platform
      Kuma
      Open-source distributed control plane with a bundled Envoy Proxy integration
      Docs Contribution Guidelines
      Want to help out, or found an issue in the docs and want to let us know?
  • API Specs
  • Plugin Hub
    • Explore the Plugin Hub
      View all plugins View all plugins View all plugins arrow image
    • Functionality View all View all arrow image
      View all plugins
      Authentication's icon
      Authentication
      Protect your services with an authentication layer
      Security's icon
      Security
      Protect your services with additional security layer
      Traffic Control's icon
      Traffic Control
      Manage, throttle and restrict inbound and outbound API traffic
      Serverless's icon
      Serverless
      Invoke serverless functions in combination with other plugins
      Analytics & Monitoring's icon
      Analytics & Monitoring
      Visualize, inspect and monitor APIs and microservices traffic
      Transformations's icon
      Transformations
      Transform request and responses on the fly on Kong
      Logging's icon
      Logging
      Log request and response data using the best transport for your infrastructure
  • Support
  • Community
  • Kong Academy
Get a Demo Start Free Trial
Kong Gateway
2.8.x
  • Home icon
  • Kong Gateway
  • Plan And Deploy
  • Kong Gateway Licensing
github-edit-pageEdit this page
report-issueReport an issue
  • Kong Gateway
  • Kong Konnect
  • Kong Mesh
  • Plugin Hub
  • decK
  • Kong Ingress Controller
  • Insomnia
  • Kuma

  • Docs contribution guidelines
  • 3.4.x (latest)
  • 3.3.x
  • 3.2.x
  • 3.1.x
  • 3.0.x
  • 2.8.x
  • 2.7.x
  • 2.6.x
  • Archive (pre-2.6)
enterprise-switcher-icon Switch to OSS
On this pageOn this page
  • Deploying the license file
  • Examining the license data on a Kong Gateway node
  • License expiration
    • License expiration logs
  • Troubleshooting
You are browsing documentation for an outdated version. See the latest documentation here.

Kong Gateway Licensing

Kong Gateway can be used with or without a license. For Enterprise functionality, Kong Gateway enforces the presence and validity of a Kong Konnect license file.

Feature Free Mode Enterprise Subscription
Manager
Admin API
Vitals
Dev Portal
Enterprise plugins

Deploying the license file

  • Hybrid mode deployment: The license file only needs to be deployed to control plane nodes, which distribute the license to the data planes in their clusters.
  • Traditional deployment with no separate control plane: License files must be deployed to each node running Kong Gateway.

License file checking is done independently by each node as the Kong process starts; no network connectivity is necessary to execute the license validation process.

There are multiple ways to configure a license file on a Kong Gateway node. These are defined below, in the order in which they are checked by Kong:

  1. If present, the contents of the environmental variable KONG_LICENSE_DATA are used.
  2. Kong will search in the default location /etc/kong/license.json.
  3. If present, the contents of the file defined by the environment variable KONG_LICENSE_PATH is used.
  4. Directly deploy a license using the /licenses Admin API endpoint.

In this manner, the license file can be deployed either as a file on the node filesystem, as an environmental variable, or through the /licenses Admin API endpoint. The simplest method is using the Admin API.

Note that unlike most other KONG_* environmental variables, the KONG_LICENSE_DATA and KONG_LICENSE_PATH cannot be defined in-line as part of any kong CLI commands. License file environmental variables must be exported to the shell in which the Nginx process will run, ahead of the kong CLI tool.

For more information, see Deploy Your License.

Examining the license data on a Kong Gateway node

Retrieve license data using the Admin API’s /licenses endpoint, or through the Admin GUI in Kong Manager.

License expiration

When a license expires, you will still have access to your Kong Gateway and its configuration. Any Enterprise-specific features will be locked, and the Admin API will not be accessible until the license is either renewed or the subscription is downgraded to the free mode.

In the event of a downgrade, the Admin API will be unlocked, but Enterprise features such Dev Portal, Enterprise plugins, and others will no longer be accessible.

License expiration logs

Kong Gateway logs the license expiration date on the following schedule:

  • 90 days before: WARN log entry once a day
  • 30 days before: ERR log entry once a day
  • At and after expiration: CRIT log entry once a day

Troubleshooting

When a valid license file is properly deployed, license file validation is a transparent operation; no additional output or logging data is written or provided. If an error occurs when attempting to validate the license, or the license data is not valid, an error message will be written to the console and logged to the Kong error log, followed by the process quitting. Below are possible error messages and troubleshooting steps to take:

license path environment variable not set
Neither the KONG_LICENSE_DATA nor the KONG_LICENSE_PATH environmental variables were defined, and no license file could be opened at the default license location (/etc/kong/license.json)
internal error
An internal error has occurred while attempting to validate the license. Such cases are extremely unlikely; contact Kong support to further troubleshoot.
error opening license file
The license file defined either in the default location, or using the KONG_LICENSE_PATH env variable, could not be opened. Check that the user executing the Nginx process (e.g., the user executing the Kong CLI utility) has permissions to read this file.
error reading license file
The license file defined either in the default location, or using the KONG_LICENSE_PATH env variable, could be opened, but an error occurred while reading. Confirm that the file is not corrupt, that there are no kernel error messages reported (e.g., out of memory conditions, etc). This is a generic error and is extremely unlikely to occur if the file could be opened.
could not decode license json
The license file data could not be decoded as valid JSON. Confirm that the file is not corrupt and has not been altered since you received it from Kong Inc. Try re-downloading and installing your license file from Kong Inc.
If you still receive this error after reinstallation, contact Kong support.
invalid license format
The license file data is missing one or more key/value pairs. Confirm that the file is not corrupt and has not been altered since you received it from Kong Inc. Try re-downloading and installing your license file from Kong Inc.
If you still receive this error after reinstallation, contact Kong support.
validation failed
The attempt to verify the payload of the license with the license’s signature failed. Confirm that the file is not corrupt and has not been altered since you received it from Kong Inc. Try re-downloading and installing your license file from Kong Inc.
If you still receive this error after reinstallation, contact Kong support.
license expired
The system time is past the license’s license_expiration_date.
invalid license expiration date
The data in the license_expiration_date field is incorrectly formatted. Try re-downloading and installing your license file from Kong Inc.
If you still receive this error after reinstallation, contact Kong support.
Thank you for your feedback.
Was this page useful?
Too much on your plate? close cta icon
More features, less infrastructure with Kong Konnect. 1M requests per month for free.
Try it for Free
  • Kong
    THE CLOUD CONNECTIVITY COMPANY

    Kong powers reliable digital connections across APIs, hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

    • Company
    • Customers
    • Events
    • Investors
    • Careers Hiring!
    • Partners
    • Press
    • Contact
  • Products
    • Kong Konnect
    • Kong Gateway
    • Kong Mesh
    • Get Started
    • Pricing
  • Resources
    • eBooks
    • Webinars
    • Briefs
    • Blog
    • API Gateway
    • Microservices
  • Open Source
    • Install Kong Gateway
    • Kong Community
    • Kubernetes Ingress
    • Kuma
    • Insomnia
  • Solutions
    • Decentralize
    • Secure & Govern
    • Create a Dev Platform
    • API Gateway
    • Kubernetes
    • Service Mesh
Star
  • Terms•Privacy
© Kong Inc. 2023