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
3.0.x
  • Home icon
  • Kong Gateway
  • Kong Manager
  • Authentication and Authorization
  • Rbac
  • Enable RBAC in Kong Manager
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
You are browsing documentation for an outdated version. See the latest documentation here.

Enable RBAC in Kong Manager

Enable role-based access control (RBAC) to secure Kong Manager. When RBAC is enabled, Kong Manager will no longer be publicly accessible, and users will need to log in to Kong Manager.

To enable RBAC, you will need the initial KONG_PASSWORD that was used when you first installed Kong Gateway and ran migrations. This is also the default password for the Super Admin, and will be required once RBAC is on.

UNIX-based system or Windows
Docker
  1. Modify configuration settings below in your kong.conf file. Navigate to the file at /etc/kong/kong.conf:
     cd /etc/kong/
    
  2. Copy the kong.conf.default file so you know you have a working copy to fall back to.
     cp kong.conf.default kong.conf
    
  3. Now, edit the following settings in kong.conf:

     echo >> “enforce_rbac = on” >> /etc/kong/kong.conf
     echo >> “admin_gui_auth = basic-auth” >> /etc/kong.conf
     echo >> “admin_gui_session_conf = {"secret":"secret","storage":"kong","cookie_secure":false}”
    

    This turns on RBAC, tells Kong Gateway to use basic authentication (username/password), and tells the Sessions plugin how to create a session cookie.

    The cookie is used for all subsequent requests to authenticate the user until it expires. The session has a limited duration and renews at a configurable interval, which helps prevent an attacker from obtaining and using a stale cookie after the session has ended.

  4. Restart Kong Gateway and point to the new config file:
     kong restart -c /etc/kong/kong.conf
    

If you have a Docker installation, run the following command to set the needed environment variables and reload the gateway’s configuration.

Note: Make sure to replace {KONG-CONTAINER-ID} with the ID of your container.

echo "KONG_ENFORCE_RBAC=on
KONG_ADMIN_GUI_AUTH=basic-auth
KONG_ADMIN_GUI_SESSION_CONF='{\"secret\":\"secret\",\"storage\":\"kong\",\"cookie_secure\":false}'
kong reload exit" | docker exec -i {KONG_CONTAINER_ID} /bin/sh

This turns RBAC on, tells Kong Gateway to use basic authentication (username/password), and tells the Sessions plugin how to create a session cookie.

The cookie is used for all subsequent requests to authenticate the user, until it expires. The session has a limited duration and renews at a configurable interval, which helps prevent an attacker from obtaining and using a stale cookie after the session has ended.

Outside of this guide, you will likely want to modify these settings differently, depending on your installation. You can read more about these settings here: Basic Auth for Kong Manager.

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