Skip to content
Kong Logo | Kong Docs Logo
search
  • We're Hiring!
  • Docs
    • Kong Gateway
    • Kong Konnect
    • Kong Mesh
    • Plugin Hub
    • decK
    • Kubernetes Ingress Controller
    • Insomnia
    • Kuma

    • Docs contribution guidelines
  • Plugin Hub
  • Support
  • Community
  • Kong Academy
Get a Demo Start Free Trial
  • Kong Gateway
  • Kong Konnect
  • Kong Mesh
  • Plugin Hub
  • decK
  • Kubernetes Ingress Controller
  • Insomnia
  • Kuma

  • Docs contribution guidelines
  • 3.2.x (latest)
  • 3.1.x
  • 3.0.x
  • 2.8.x
  • 2.7.x
  • 2.6.x
  • Older Enterprise versions (2.1-2.5)
  • Older OSS versions (2.1-2.5)
  • Archive (pre-2.1)
    • Overview of Kong Gateway
      • Version Support Policy
      • Supported Installation Options
      • Supported Linux Distributions
    • Stability
    • Release Notes
      • Services
        • Overview
        • Configure Routes with Expressions
      • Upstreams
      • Plugins
      • Routing Traffic
      • Load Balancing
      • Health Checks and Circuit Breakers
      • Kong Performance Testing
    • Glossary
    • Get Kong
    • Services and Routes
    • Rate Limiting
    • Proxy Caching
    • Key Authentication
    • Load-Balancing
      • Overview
        • Overview
        • Deploy Kong Gateway in Hybrid mode
      • DB-less Deployment
      • Traditional
      • Overview
        • Helm
        • OpenShift with Helm
        • kubectl apply
        • Kubernetes Deployment Options
        • Using docker run
        • Build your own Docker images
        • Amazon Linux
        • Debian
        • Red Hat
        • Ubuntu
      • Running Kong as a non-root user
      • Securing the Admin API
      • Using systemd
      • Start Kong Gateway Securely
      • Programatically Creating Admins
      • Enabling RBAC
      • Overview
      • Download your License
      • Deploy Enterprise License
      • Using the License API
      • Monitor Licenses Usage
      • Default Ports
      • DNS Considerations
      • Network and Firewall
      • CP/DP Communication through a Forward Proxy
    • Kong Configuration File
    • Environment Variables
    • Serving a Website and APIs from Kong
      • Overview
      • Prometheus
      • StatsD
      • Datadog
      • Overview
      • Writing a Custom Trace Exporter
      • Tracing API Reference
    • Resource Sizing Guidelines
    • Security Update Process
    • Blue-Green Deployments
    • Canary Deployments
    • Clustering Reference
      • Log Reference
      • Dynamic log level updates
      • Customize Gateway Logs
      • Upgrade Kong Gateway 3.1.x
      • Migrate from OSS to Enterprise
    • Overview
      • Overview
      • Metrics
      • Analytics with InfluxDB
      • Analytics with Prometheus
      • Estimate Analytics Storage in PostgreSQL
      • Overview
      • Getting Started
      • Advanced Usage
        • Overview
        • Environment Variables
        • AWS Secrets Manager
        • Google Secrets Manager
        • Hashicorp Vault
        • Securing the Database with AWS Secrets Manager
      • Reference Format
      • Overview
      • Get Started with Dynamic Plugin Ordering
      • Overview
      • Enable the Dev Portal
      • Publish an OpenAPI Spec
      • Structure and File Types
      • Themes Files
      • Working with Templates
      • Using the Editor
        • Basic Auth
        • Key Auth
        • OIDC
        • Sessions
        • Adding Custom Registration Fields
        • Manage Developers
        • Developer Roles and Content Permissions
        • Authorization Provider Strategy
        • Enable Application Registration
        • Enable Key Authentication for Application Registration
          • External OAuth2 Support
          • Set up Okta and Kong for External Oauth
          • Set up Azure AD and Kong for External Authentication
        • Manage Applications
        • Theme Editing
        • Migrating Templates Between Workspaces
        • Markdown Rendering Module
        • Customizing Portal Emails
        • Adding and Using JavaScript Assets
        • Single Page App in Dev Portal
        • Alternate OpenAPI Renderer
      • SMTP
      • Workspaces
      • Helpers CLI
      • Portal API Documentation
    • Audit Logging
    • Keyring and Data Encryption
    • Workspaces
    • Consumer Groups
    • Event Hooks
    • FIPS 140-2
    • Overview
    • Enable Kong Manager
      • Services and Routes
      • Rate Limiting
      • Proxy Caching
      • Authentication with Consumers
      • Load Balancing
      • Overview
      • Create a Super Admin
      • Workspaces and Teams
      • Reset Passwords and RBAC Tokens
      • Basic Auth
        • Configure LDAP
        • LDAP Service Directory Mapping
        • Configure OIDC
        • OIDC Authenticated Group Mapping
      • Sessions
        • Overview
        • Enable RBAC
        • Add a Role and Permissions
        • Create a User
        • Create an Admin
    • Networking Configuration
    • Workspaces
    • Create Consumer Groups
    • Sending Email
    • Overview
    • File Structure
    • Implementing Custom Logic
    • Plugin Configuration
    • Accessing the Data Store
    • Storing Custom Entities
    • Caching Custom Entities
    • Extending the Admin API
    • Writing Tests
    • (un)Installing your Plugin
      • Overview
      • kong.client
      • kong.client.tls
      • kong.cluster
      • kong.ctx
      • kong.ip
      • kong.jwe
      • kong.log
      • kong.nginx
      • kong.node
      • kong.request
      • kong.response
      • kong.router
      • kong.service
      • kong.service.request
      • kong.service.response
      • kong.table
      • kong.tracing
      • kong.vault
      • kong.websocket.client
      • kong.websocket.upstream
      • Go
      • Javascript
      • Python
      • Running Plugins in Containers
      • External Plugin Performance
    • Overview
        • Overview
        • OpenID Connect with Curity
        • OpenID Connect with Azure AD
        • OpenID Connect with Google
        • OpenID Connect with Okta
        • OpenID Connect with Auth0
        • OpenID Connect with Cognito
      • Authentication Reference
      • Allow Multiple Authentication Plugins
    • Rate Limiting Plugin
      • Add a Body Value
    • GraphQL
      • gRPC Plugins
      • Configure a gRPC service
    • Overview
    • Information Routes
    • Health Routes
    • Tags
    • Debug Routes
    • Services
    • Routes
    • Consumers
    • Plugins
    • Certificates
    • CA Certificates
    • SNIs
    • Upstreams
    • Targets
    • Vaults
    • Keys
    • Licenses
    • Workspaces
    • RBAC
    • Admins
    • Developers
    • Consumer Groups
    • Event Hooks
    • Keyring and Data Encryption
    • Audit Logs
    • kong.conf
    • Injecting Nginx Directives
    • CLI
    • File Permissions Reference
    • Key Management
    • Performance Testing Framework
    • Router Expressions Language
    • FAQ

github-edit-pageEdit this page

report-issueReport an issue

enterprise-switcher-iconSwitch to OSS

On this page
  • Prerequisites
  • Deploy the license
Kong Gateway
3.1.x
  • Home
  • Kong Gateway
  • Licenses
  • Deploy an Enterprise License
You are browsing documentation for an outdated version. See the latest documentation here.

Deploy an Enterprise License

Deploy an enterprise license to a Kong Gateway installation to gain access to Enterprise-specific features.

You can deploy a license file in one of the following ways:

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
(KONG_LICENSE_DATA)
• Traditional database-backed deployment
• DB-less mode
Environment variable
(KONG_LICENSE_PATH)
• Traditional database-backed deployment
• DB-less mode

The recommended method is using the Admin API.

Prerequisites

  • You have received a license.json file from Kong.
  • Kong Gateway is installed.

Deploy the license

Admin API
Filesystem
Environment variable (JSON)
Environment variable (file path)

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 “).

POST the contents of the provided license.json license to your Kong Gateway instance:

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

cURL
HTTPie
$ curl -i -X POST http://<hostname>: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"}}'
$ http POST :8001/licenses \
  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
}

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 “).

  1. 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>:~
    
  2. 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 “).

  1. 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}}'
    
  2. 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
Thank you for your feedback.
Was this page useful?
  • 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