Kong Mesh license

Uses: Kong Mesh

Configure the license

A valid license file can be passed to Kong Mesh in a variety of ways.

When installing the Kong Mesh Control Plane with kumactl install control-plane, provide a --license-path argument with a full path to a valid license file. For example:

kumactl install control-plane --license-path=./license.json

To install a valid license via Helm:

Create a secret named kong-mesh-license in the same namespace where Kong Mesh is being installed. For example:
```
kubectl create namespace kong-mesh-system
kubectl create secret generic kong-mesh-license -n kong-mesh-system --from-file=./license.json
```
Where:
- kong-mesh-system is the namespace where Kong Mesh Control Plane is installed
- ./license.json is the path to a valid license file. The filename should be license.json unless otherwise specified in values.yaml.

Modify the values.yaml file to point to the secret. For example:

kuma:
  controlPlane:
    secrets:
      - Env: "KMESH_LICENSE_INLINE"
        Secret: "kong-mesh-license"
        Key: "license.json"

In Universal mode, configure a valid license by using one of the following environment variables:

KMESH_LICENSE_PATH: The path to a valid license file
KMESH_LICENSE_INLINE: The actual contents of the license file

Update a license

Update the kong-mesh-license secret in kong-mesh-system namespace with a new license:
```
  kubectl edit secrets -n kong-mesh-system kong-mesh-license
```

Restart the Control Plane:

  kubectl rollout restart -n kong-mesh-system deployment kong-mesh-control-plane

Update the license by doing one of the following:
- If you used KMESH_LICENSE_PATH, update the content of the file.
- If you used KMESH_LICENSE_INLINE, update the value of the environment variable.
Restart the Control Plane.

In a multi-zone deployment of Kong Mesh, only the global Control Plane should be configured with a valid license. The global Control Plane automatically synchronizes the license to any remote Control Plane that is part of the cluster.

In a multi-zone deployment, the DPPs count includes the total aggregate of every Data Plane proxy in every zone. For example, with a limit of 5 DPPs and 2 zones, you can connect 3 DPPs in one zone and 2 in another, but not 5 DPPs for each zone.

Licensed metrics

The license encourages a pay-as-you-go model that delivers the best benefits to you, the end user, since the derived value of Kong Mesh is directly associated to the positive benefits of real service mesh usage. Licenses are based on:

The total number of connected Data Plane Proxies (DPPs), across all zones
The license expiration date

In the context of the metric, a Data Plane proxy (DPP) is a standard Data Plane proxy that is deployed next to your Services, either as a sidecar container or in a virtual machine. Gateway Data Plane proxies, zone ingresses, and zone egresses are not counted.

You can measure the number of Data Plane proxies needed in Kong Mesh by the number of Services you want to include in your service meshes. Use the following formula:

Number of DPPs = Number of Pods + Number of VMs.

License behaviors

With an expired license or invalid license, the Control Plane will fail to start. If the license expires while the control-plane is running it will keep running but a restart of the instance will fail. The Control Plane will issue a warning in the logs and the GUI when the license expires in less than 30 days.

With a valid issued license, a Data Plane proxy will always be able to join the service mesh, even if you go above the allowed limit to prevent service disruptions. If the number of DPPs does go above the limit, you will see a warning in the GUI and in the Control Plane logs.

With the pre-bundled license, if you go over the maximum allowed number of DPPs, the system will automatically refuse their connections.

Kong Mesh license

Configure the license

Update a license

Multi-zone

Licensed metrics

License behaviors

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