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CLI Reference
The provided CLI (Command Line Interface) allows you to start, stop, and manage your Kong instances. The CLI manages your local node (as in, on the current machine).
If you haven’t yet, we recommend you read the configuration reference.
Global flags
All commands take a set of special, optional flags as arguments:
-
-h,--help: print the command’s help message -
--v: enable verbose mode -
--vv: enable debug mode (noisy)
Available commands
kong check
Usage: kong check <conf>
Check the validity of a given Kong configuration file.
<conf> (default /etc/kong/kong.conf) configuration file
kong config
Usage: kong config COMMAND [OPTIONS]
Use declarative configuration files with Kong.
The available commands are:
init [<file>] Generate an example config file to
get you started. If a filename
is not given, ./kong.yml is used
by default.
db_import <file> Import a declarative config file into
the Kong database.
db_export [<file>] Export the Kong database into a
declarative config file. If a filename
is not given, ./kong.yml is used
by default.
parse <file> Parse a declarative config file (check
its syntax) but do not load it into Kong.
Options:
-c,--conf (optional string) Configuration file.
-p,--prefix (optional string) Override prefix directory.
Note:
db_exportis only supported with open-source Kong Gateway packages.
Kong Debug
Usage: kong debug COMMAND [OPTIONS]
Invoke various debugging features in Kong.
The available commands are:
For the endpoint in kong/api/routes/debug.lua,
profiling cpu <start|stop|status> Generate the raw data of Lua-land CPU
flamegraph.
--mode (optional string default "time")
The mode of CPU profiling, `time` means
time-based profiling, `instruction`
means instruction-counter-based
profiling.
--step (optional number) The initial value of the instruction
counter. A sample will be taken when the
counter goes to zero.
(only for mode=instruction)
--interval (optional number) Sampling interval in microseconds.
(only for mode=time)
--timeout (optional number) Profiling will be stopped automatically
after the timeout (in seconds).
default: 10
profiling memory <start|stop|status> Generating the Lua GC heap memory
tracing data (on-the-fly tracing).
--stack_depth (optional number) The maximum depth of the Lua stack.
--timeout (optional number) Profiling will be stopped automatically
after the timeout (in seconds).
default: 10
profiling gc-snapshot Generate a Lua GC heap snapshot.
--timeout (optional number) Profiling will be stopped automatically
after the timeout (in seconds).
default: 120
log_level set --level <log_level> Set the logging level.
It cannot work while not using a
database because it needs to be
protected by RBAC and RBAC is not
available in DB-less.
--level (optional string) It can be one of the following: debug,
info, notice, warn, error, crit, alert,
or emerg.
--timeout (optional number) The log level will be restored to the
original level after the timeout (in
seconds).
default: 60
log_level get Get the logging level.
Options:
--pid (optional number) The worker’s PID for profiling.
-f Follow mode for certain commands, such
as 'profiling {cpu|memory} status'.
It continuously checks the status until
it completes.
-c,--conf (optional string) Configuration file.
-p,--prefix (optional string) Override prefix directory.
EXIT CODES
Various error codes and their associated messages may be returned by this
command during error situations.
`0` - Success. The requested operation completed successfully.
`1` - Error. The requested operation failed. An error message is available in
the command output.
`2` - In progress. The profiling is still in progress.
The following commands make use of this return value:
- kong debug profiling cpu start
- kong debug profiling memory start
- kong debug profiling gc-snapshot
kong health
Usage: kong health [OPTIONS]
Check if the necessary services are running for this node.
Options:
-p,--prefix (optional string) prefix at which Kong should be running
kong hybrid
Usage: kong hybrid COMMAND [OPTIONS]
Hybrid mode utilities for Kong.
The available commands are:
gen_cert [<cert> <key>] Generate a certificate/key pair that is suitable
for use in hybrid mode deployment.
Cert and key will be written to
'./cluster.crt' and './cluster.key' inside
the current directory unless filenames are given.
Options:
-d,--days (optional number) Override certificate validity duration.
Default: 1095 days (3 years)
kong migrations
Usage: kong migrations COMMAND [OPTIONS]
Manage database schema migrations.
The available commands are:
bootstrap Bootstrap the database and run all
migrations.
up Run any new migrations.
finish Finish running any pending migrations after
'up'.
list List executed migrations.
reset Reset the database.
The `reset` command erases all of the data
in Kong's database and deletes all of the schemas.
migrate-community-to-enterprise Migrates Kong Community entities to
Kong Enterprise in the default
workspace.
upgrade-workspace-table Outputs a script to be run on the db to
upgrade the entity for 2.x workspaces
implementation.
reinitialize-workspace-entity-counters Resets the entity counters from the
database entities.
status Dump the database migration status in JSON format.
Options:
-y,--yes Assume "yes" to prompts and run
non-interactively.
-q,--quiet Suppress all output.
-f,--force Run migrations even if database reports
as already executed.
With 'migrate-community-to-enterprise' it
disables the workspace entities check.
--db-timeout (optional number) Timeout, in seconds, for all database
operations.
--lock-timeout (default 60) Timeout, in seconds, for nodes waiting on
the leader node to finish running
migrations.
-c,--conf (optional string) Configuration file.
-p,--prefix (optional string) Override prefix directory.
--v verbose
--vv debug
Caution: When adding new plugins to the existing installation (either manually or via the extension of
bundledplugins), thekong migrations finishorkong migrations upmust be run with the-fflag to forcefully upgrade the plugin schemas.
kong prepare
This command prepares the Kong prefix folder, with its sub-folders and files.
Usage: kong prepare [OPTIONS]
Prepare the Kong prefix in the configured prefix directory. This command can
be used to start Kong from the nginx binary without using the 'kong start'
command.
Example usage:
kong migrations up
kong prepare -p /usr/local/kong -c kong.conf
nginx -p /usr/local/kong -c /usr/local/kong/nginx.conf
Options:
-c,--conf (optional string) configuration file
-p,--prefix (optional string) override prefix directory
--nginx-conf (optional string) custom Nginx configuration template
kong quit
Usage: kong quit [OPTIONS]
Gracefully quit a running Kong node (Nginx and other
configured services) in given prefix directory.
This command sends a SIGQUIT signal to Nginx, meaning all
requests will finish processing before shutting down.
If the timeout delay is reached, the node will be forcefully
stopped (SIGTERM).
Options:
-p,--prefix (optional string) prefix Kong is running at
-t,--timeout (default 10) timeout before forced shutdown
-w,--wait (default 0) wait time before initiating the shutdown
kong reload
Usage: kong reload [OPTIONS]
Reload a Kong node (and start other configured services
if necessary) in given prefix directory.
This command sends a HUP signal to Nginx, which will spawn
new workers (taking configuration changes into account),
and stop the old ones when they have finished processing
current requests.
Options:
-c,--conf (optional string) configuration file
-p,--prefix (optional string) prefix Kong is running at
--nginx-conf (optional string) custom Nginx configuration template
--nginx-conf-flags (optional string) flags that can be used to control
how Nginx configuration templates are rendered
kong restart
Usage: kong restart [OPTIONS]
Restart a Kong node (and other configured services like Serf)
in the given prefix directory.
This command is equivalent to doing both 'kong stop' and
'kong start'.
Options:
-c,--conf (optional string) configuration file
-p,--prefix (optional string) prefix at which Kong should be running
--nginx-conf (optional string) custom Nginx configuration template
--run-migrations (optional boolean) optionally run migrations on the DB
--db-timeout (optional number)
--lock-timeout (default 60)
--nginx-conf-flags (optional string) flags that can be used to control
how Nginx configuration templates are rendered
kong runner
Usage: kong runner [file] [args]
Execute a lua file in a kong node. the `kong` variable is available to
reach the DAO, PDK, etc. The variable `args` can be used to access all
arguments (args[1] being the lua filename being run).
Example usage:
kong runner file.lua arg1 arg2
echo 'print("foo")' | kong runner
kong start
Usage: kong start [OPTIONS]
Start Kong (Nginx and other configured services) in the configured
prefix directory.
Options:
-c,--conf (optional string) Configuration file.
-p,--prefix (optional string) Override prefix directory.
--nginx-conf (optional string) Custom Nginx configuration template.
--run-migrations (optional boolean) Run migrations before starting.
--db-timeout (optional number) Timeout, in seconds, for all database
operations.
--lock-timeout (default 60) When --run-migrations is enabled, timeout,
in seconds, for nodes waiting on the
leader node to finish running migrations.
--nginx-conf-flags (optional string) Flags that can be used to control
how Nginx configuration templates are rendered
kong stop
Usage: kong stop [OPTIONS]
Stop a running Kong node (Nginx and other configured services) in given
prefix directory.
This command sends a SIGTERM signal to Nginx.
Options:
-p,--prefix (optional string) prefix Kong is running at
kong vault
Usage: kong vault COMMAND [OPTIONS]
Vault utilities for Kong.
Example usage:
TEST=hello kong vault get env/test
The available commands are:
get <reference> Retrieves a value for <reference>
Options:
-c,--conf (optional string) configuration file
-p,--prefix (optional string) override prefix directory
kong version
Usage: kong version [OPTIONS]
Print Kong's version. With the -a option, will print
the version of all underlying dependencies.
Options:
-a,--all get version of all dependencies
