If you’re running Kong Gateway on-prem with a database (either in traditional or hybrid mode), you can enable Kong Gateway’s graphical user interface (GUI), Kong Manager.
Kong Manager configuration
Uses:
Kong Gateway
Related Documentation
Incompatible with
konnect
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Related Resources
Enable Kong Manager
To enable Kong Manager, set the following Kong Manager parameters in kong.conf, then restart Kong Gateway:
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
admin_gui_path
Default: /
|
Kong Manager base path This configuration parameter allows the user to customize
the path prefix where Kong Manager is served. When updating
this parameter, it’s recommended to update the path in Accepted format:
Examples:
|
admin_gui_url
|
Kong Manager URL Comma-separated list of addresses (the lookup or balancer) for Kong Manager. Accepted format (items in square brackets are optional):
Examples:
|
If you’re running Kong Gateway in Docker, you can use the following example, making sure to replace the KONG_CONTAINER_ID with your own container:
docker exec -i $KONG_CONTAINER_ID /bin/sh -c \
"export KONG_ADMIN_GUI_PATH='/'; \
export KONG_ADMIN_GUI_URL='http://localhost:8002/manager'; \
kong reload; \
exit"
This example uses the default Kong Manager path and URL.
Note: If you run the Kong Gateway quickstart script, Kong Manager is automatically enabled.
To verify that Kong Manager is running, access it on port 8002 at the default URL: http://localhost:8002/workspaces.
Multiple domains v3.9+
To configure Kong Manager to be accessible from multiple domains, you can list the domains as comma-separated values in the admin_gui_url parameter in your Kong configuration. For example:
admin_gui_url = http://localhost:8002, http://127.0.0.1:8002
If the admin_gui_path is also set, update the Kong configuration:
admin_gui_url = http://localhost:8002/manager, http://127.0.0.1:8002/manager
admin_gui_path = /manager
Make sure that each domain has proper DNS records and that the Kong Gateway instance is accessible from all specified domains.
If your setup involves multiple domains or subdomains, we recommend removing the cookie_domain setting in the admin_gui_session_conf or admin_gui_auth_conf.
When cookie_domain is not specified, cookies are set for the domain initiated in the request if admin_gui_api_url is not specified. This allows the browser to manage cookies correctly for each domain independently, avoiding conflicts or scope issues.
For example, a request to gui.konghq.com and other-gui.example.com will produce cookies for gui.konghq.com and other-gui.example.com respectively, instead of the root-level konghq.com domain when cookie_domain isn’t specified:
admin_gui_url = http://gui.konghq.com, http://other-gui.example.com
admin_gui_session_conf = {"secret":"Y29vbGJlYW5z","storage":"kong","cookie_secure":false} # omitted `cookie_domain`
Or, both requests to gui.konghq.com and other-gui.konghq.com will receive cookies for konghq.com, which makes the cookie shared across all subdomains besides konghq.com itself. This increases the cookie’s scope, which may lead to unintended side effects or security risks:
admin_gui_url = http://gui.konghq.com, http://other-gui.konghq.com
admin_gui_session_conf = {"secret":"Y29vbGJlYW5z","storage":"kong","cookie_secure":false,"cookie_domain":"konghq.com"}
Customize Kong Manager
You can customize various visual aspects of Kong Manager, like header and footer text and colors. Use the following kong.conf parameters to customize Kong Manager:
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
admin_gui_footer_bg_color
|
Sets the background color for the Kong Manager footer banner. Accepts CSS color keyword, #-hexadecimal, or RGB format. Invalid values are ignored by manager. |
admin_gui_footer_txt
|
Sets the text for the Kong Manager footer banner. Footer banner is not shown if this config is empty. |
admin_gui_footer_txt_color
|
Sets the text color for the Kong Manager footer banner. Accepts CSS color keyword, #-hexadecimal, or RGB format. Invalid values are ignored by Kong Manager. |
admin_gui_header_bg_color
|
Sets the background color for the Kong Manager header banner. Accepts CSS color keyword, #-hexadecimal, or RGB format. Invalid values are ignored by Manager. |
admin_gui_header_txt
|
Sets the text for the Kong Manager header banner. Header banner is not shown if this config is empty. |
admin_gui_header_txt_color
|
Sets the text color for the Kong Manager header banner. Accepts CSS color keyword, #-hexadecimal, or RGB format. Invalid values are ignored by Kong Manager. |
admin_gui_login_banner_body
|
Sets the body text for the Kong Manager login banner.
Login banner is not shown if both
|
admin_gui_login_banner_title
|
Sets the title text for the Kong Manager login banner.
Login banner is not shown if both
|
FAQs
I can’t access Kong Manager. How do I fix a Kong Manager URL that doesn’t resolve?
Most likely, the port wasn’t exposed during installation. Install a new instance and map port 8002 during installation.
For example, with a Docker install:
-p 127.0.0.1:8002:8002