Configure a Runtime

Set up your first runtime through the Konnect Runtime Manager.

At this time, the only runtime type available is a Kong Gateway data plane.

Kong Gateway data planes proxy service traffic. With Konnect SaaS working as the control plane, a runtime doesn’t need a database to store configuration data. Instead, configuration is stored in-memory on each node, and you can easily update multiple runtimes from one Konnect account with a few clicks.

Prerequisites

• You have a Kong Konnect account. Contact your sales representative for access.
• Tools and permissions:
  • All platforms: Docker and jq installed
  • Linux: User added to the docker group
  • Windows: Docker Desktop installed and integrated with a WSL 2 backend

Set up a New Runtime Instance

1. From the left navigation menu, open Runtimes.

   For the first runtime, the page opens to a Configure New Runtime form.

   Once configured, this page lists all runtimes associated with the Konnect SaaS account.

2. Click Copy Script.

   You can expand the codeblock by clicking Show to see the entire script.

3. Replace the placeholder for <your-password> with your own Konnect SaaS password.

4. Run the script on any host you choose.

   This script creates a Docker container running a simple Kong Gateway instance and connects it to your Konnect SaaS account.

5. Click Done to go to the Runtime Manager page.

Once the script has finished running, the Runtime Manager will include a new entry for your instance.

The default proxy URL for this runtime is http://localhost:8000. Take note of this URL, as you’ll need it later to access a Service implementation.

Summary and Next Steps

In this step, you ran a script which set up a Docker container with a Kong Gateway instance, adding your first runtime to the Runtime Manager.

Next, set up a your first Service through Konnect SaaS.