Start Kong Gateway

    One quick way to get Kong Gateway up and running is by using Docker with a PostgreSQL database. We recommend this method to test out basic Kong Gateway functionality.

    For a comprehensive list of installation options, see our .

    1. Create a Docker network:

    2. Run a PostGreSQL container:

      2.   --network=kong-net \
      3.   -p 5432:5432 \
      4.   -e "POSTGRES_USER=kong" \
      5.   -e "POSTGRES_DB=kong" \
      6.   -e "POSTGRES_PASSWORD=kong" \

    3. Prep your database:

    4. Start Kong:

      1. docker run -d --name kong \
      2.      --network=kong-net \
      3.      -e "KONG_DATABASE=postgres" \
      4.      -e "KONG_PG_HOST=kong-database" \
      6.      -e "KONG_PG_PASSWORD=kong" \
      7.      -e "KONG_CASSANDRA_CONTACT_POINTS=kong-database" \
      8.      -e "KONG_PROXY_ACCESS_LOG=/dev/stdout" \
      9.      -e "KONG_ADMIN_ACCESS_LOG=/dev/stdout" \
      10.      -e "KONG_PROXY_ERROR_LOG=/dev/stderr" \
      11.      -e "KONG_ADMIN_LISTEN=0.0.0.0:8001, 0.0.0.0:8444 ssl" \
      12.      -p 8000:8000 \
      13.      -p 8443:8443 \
      14.      -p 127.0.0.1:8001:8001 \
      16.      kong:latest

    5. Navigate to http://localhost:8001/.

    By default, Kong listens on the following ports:

    • 8000: listens for incoming HTTP traffic from your clients, and forwards it to your upstream services.
    • 8001: Admin API listens for calls from the command line over HTTP.
    • 8443: listens for incoming HTTPS traffic. This port has a similar behavior to 8000, except that it expects HTTPS traffic only. This port can be disabled via the configuration file.
    • 8444: listens for traffic.

    Stop Kong Gateway using the stop command:

    Reload Kong Gateway using the command:

    1. kong reload

    Start Kong Gateway using the start command:

    Now that you have Kong Gateway running, you can interact with the Admin API.