Kong is an open source Microservice API gateway and platform designed for managing microservices requests of high-availability, fault-tolerance, and distributed systems.

Overview of Kong

Trademarks: This software listing is packaged by Bitnami. The respective trademarks mentioned in the offering are owned by the respective companies, and use of them does not imply any affiliation or endorsement.

TL;DR

helm install my-release oci://REGISTRY_NAME/REPOSITORY_NAME/kong

Note: You need to substitute the placeholders REGISTRY_NAME and REPOSITORY_NAME with a reference to your Helm chart registry and repository.

Introduction

This chart bootstraps a kong deployment on a Kubernetes cluster using the Helm package manager. It also includes the kong-ingress-controller container for managing Ingress resources using Kong.

Extra functionalities beyond the Kong core are extended through plugins. Kong is built on top of reliable technologies like NGINX and provides an easy-to-use RESTful API to operate and configure the system.

Bitnami charts can be used with Kubeapps for deployment and management of Helm Charts in clusters.

Prerequisites

• Kubernetes 1.23+
• Helm 3.8.0+
• PV provisioner support in the underlying infrastructure

Installing the Chart

To install the chart with the release name my-release:

helm install my-release oci://REGISTRY_NAME/REPOSITORY_NAME/kong

Note: You need to substitute the placeholders REGISTRY_NAME and REPOSITORY_NAME with a reference to your Helm chart registry and repository. For example, in the case of Bitnami, you need to use REGISTRY_NAME=registry-1.docker.io and REPOSITORY_NAME=bitnamicharts.

These commands deploy kong on the Kubernetes cluster in the default configuration. The Parameters section lists the parameters that can be configured during installation.

Tip: List all releases using helm list

Configuration and installation details

Resource requests and limits

Bitnami charts allow setting resource requests and limits for all containers inside the chart deployment. These are inside the resources value (check parameter table). Setting requests is essential for production workloads and these should be adapted to your specific use case.

To make this process easier, the chart contains the resourcesPreset values, which automatically sets the resources section according to different presets. Check these presets in the bitnami/common chart. However, in production workloads using resourcesPreset is discouraged as it may not fully adapt to your specific needs. Find more information on container resource management in the official Kubernetes documentation.

Rolling VS Immutable tags

It is strongly recommended to use immutable tags in a production environment. This ensures your deployment does not change automatically if the same tag is updated with a different image.

Bitnami will release a new chart updating its containers if a new version of the main container, significant changes, or critical vulnerabilities exist.

Prometheus metrics

This chart can be integrated with Prometheus by setting metrics.enabled to true. This will enable Kong native prometheus port in all pods and a metrics service, which can be configured under the metrics.service section. This metrics service will have the necessary annotations to be automatically scraped by Prometheus.

Prometheus requirements

It is necessary to have a working installation of Prometheus or Prometheus Operator for the integration to work. Install the Bitnami Prometheus helm chart or the Bitnami Kube Prometheus helm chart to easily have a working Prometheus in your cluster.

Integration with Prometheus Operator

The chart can deploy ServiceMonitor objects for integration with Prometheus Operator installations. To do so, set the value metrics.serviceMonitor.enabled=true. Ensure that the Prometheus Operator CustomResourceDefinitions are installed in the cluster or it will fail with the following error:

no matches for kind "ServiceMonitor" in version "monitoring.coreos.com/v1"

Install the Bitnami Kube Prometheus helm chart for having the necessary CRDs and the Prometheus Operator.

Database backend

The Bitnami Kong chart allows setting two database backends: PostgreSQL or Cassandra. For each option, there are two extra possibilities: deploy a sub-chart with the database installation or use an existing one. The list below details the different options (replace the placeholders specified between UNDERSCORES):

• Deploy the PostgreSQL sub-chart (default)

helm install my-release oci://REGISTRY_NAME/REPOSITORY_NAME/kong

Note: You need to substitute the placeholders REGISTRY_NAME and REPOSITORY_NAME with a reference to your Helm chart registry and repository. For example, in the case of Bitnami, you need to use REGISTRY_NAME=registry-1.docker.io and REPOSITORY_NAME=bitnamicharts.

• Use an external PostgreSQL database

helm install my-release oci://REGISTRY_NAME/REPOSITORY_NAME/kong \
    --set postgresql.enabled=false \
    --set postgresql.external.host=_HOST_OF_YOUR_POSTGRESQL_INSTALLATION_ \
    --set postgresql.external.password=_PASSWORD_OF_YOUR_POSTGRESQL_INSTALLATION_ \
    --set postgresql.external.user=_USER_OF_YOUR_POSTGRESQL_INSTALLATION_

Note: You need to substitute the placeholders REGISTRY_NAME and REPOSITORY_NAME with a reference to your Helm chart registry and repository. For example, in the case of Bitnami, you need to use REGISTRY_NAME=registry-1.docker.io and REPOSITORY_NAME=bitnamicharts.

• Deploy the Cassandra sub-chart

helm install my-release oci://REGISTRY_NAME/REPOSITORY_NAME/kong \
    --set database=cassandra \
    --set postgresql.enabled=false \
    --set cassandra.enabled=true

Note: You need to substitute the placeholders REGISTRY_NAME and REPOSITORY_NAME with a reference to your Helm chart registry and repository. For example, in the case of Bitnami, you need to use REGISTRY_NAME=registry-1.docker.io and REPOSITORY_NAME=bitnamicharts.

• Use an existing Cassandra installation

helm install my-release oci://REGISTRY_NAME/REPOSITORY_NAME/kong \
    --set database=cassandra \
    --set postgresql.enabled=false \
    --set cassandra.enabled=false \
    --set cassandra.external.hosts[0]=_CONTACT_POINT_0_OF_YOUR_CASSANDRA_CLUSTER_ \
    --set cassandra.external.hosts[1]=_CONTACT_POINT_1_OF_YOUR_CASSANDRA_CLUSTER_ \
    ...
    --set cassandra.external.user=_USER_OF_YOUR_CASSANDRA_INSTALLATION_ \
    --set cassandra.external.password=_PASSWORD_OF_YOUR_CASSANDRA_INSTALLATION_

Note: You need to substitute the placeholders REGISTRY_NAME and REPOSITORY_NAME with a reference to your Helm chart registry and repository. For example, in the case of Bitnami, you need to use REGISTRY_NAME=registry-1.docker.io and REPOSITORY_NAME=bitnamicharts.

DB-less

Kong 1.1 added the capability to run Kong without a database, using only in-memory storage for entities: we call this DB-less mode. When running Kong DB-less, the configuration of entities is done in a second configuration file, in YAML or JSON, using declarative configuration (ref. Link). As is said in step 4 of kong official docker installation, just add the env variable “KONG_DATABASE=off”.

Backup and restore

To back up and restore Helm chart deployments on Kubernetes, you need to back up the persistent volumes from the source deployment and attach them to a new deployment using Velero, a Kubernetes backup/restore tool. Find the instructions for using Velero in this guide.

How to enable it

1. Set database value with any value other than “postgresql” or “cassandra”. For example database: "off"
2. Use kong.extraEnvVars value to set the KONG_DATABASE environment variable:

kong.extraEnvVars:
- name: KONG_DATABASE
  value: "off"

Sidecars and Init Containers

If you have a need for additional containers to run within the same pod as Kong (e.g. an additional metrics or logging exporter), you can do so via the sidecars config parameter. Simply define your container according to the Kubernetes container spec.

sidecars:
  - name: your-image-name
    image: your-image
    imagePullPolicy: Always
    ports:
      - name: portname
       containerPort: 1234

Similarly, you can add extra init containers using the initContainers parameter.

initContainers:
  - name: your-image-name
    image: your-image
    imagePullPolicy: Always
    ports:
      - name: portname
        containerPort: 1234

Adding extra environment variables

In case you want to add extra environment variables (useful for advanced operations like custom init scripts), you can use the kong.extraEnvVars property.

kong:
  extraEnvVars:
    - name: KONG_LOG_LEVEL
      value: error

Alternatively, you can use a ConfigMap or a Secret with the environment variables. To do so, use the kong.extraEnvVarsCM or the kong.extraEnvVarsSecret values.

The Kong Ingress Controller and the Kong Migration job also allow this kind of configuration via the ingressController.extraEnvVars, ingressController.extraEnvVarsCM, ingressController.extraEnvVarsSecret, migration.extraEnvVars, migration.extraEnvVarsCM and migration.extraEnvVarsSecret values.

Using custom init scripts

For advanced operations, the Bitnami Kong charts allows using custom init scripts that will be mounted in /docker-entrypoint.init-db. You can use a ConfigMap or a Secret (in case of sensitive data) for mounting these extra scripts. Then use the kong.initScriptsCM and kong.initScriptsSecret values.

elasticsearch.hosts[0]=elasticsearch-host
elasticsearch.port=9200
initScriptsCM=special-scripts
initScriptsSecret=special-scripts-sensitive

Deploying extra resources

There are cases where you may want to deploy extra objects, such as KongPlugins, KongConsumers, amongst others. For covering this case, the chart allows adding the full specification of other objects using the extraDeploy parameter. The following example would activate a plugin at deployment time.

## Extra objects to deploy (value evaluated as a template)
##
extraDeploy:
  - |
    apiVersion: configuration.konghq.com/v1
    kind: KongPlugin
    metadata:
      name: {{ include "common.names.fullname" . }}-plugin-correlation
      namespace: {{ .Release.Namespace }}
      labels: {{- include "common.labels.standard" ( dict "customLabels" .Values.commonLabels "context" $ ) | nindent 6 }}
    config:
      header_name: my-request-id
    plugin: correlation-id

Setting Pod’s affinity

This chart allows you to set your custom affinity using the affinity parameter. Find more information about Pod’s affinity in the kubernetes documentation.

As an alternative, you can use of the preset configurations for pod affinity, pod anti-affinity, and node affinity available at the bitnami/common chart. To do so, set the podAffinityPreset, podAntiAffinityPreset, or nodeAffinityPreset parameters.

Parameters

Global parameters

Name	Description	Value
global.imageRegistry	Global Docker image registry	""
global.imagePullSecrets	Global Docker registry secret names as an array	[]
global.defaultStorageClass	Global default StorageClass for Persistent Volume(s)	""
global.security.allowInsecureImages	Allows skipping image verification	false
global.compatibility.openshift.adaptSecurityContext	Adapt the securityContext sections of the deployment to make them compatible with Openshift restricted-v2 SCC: remove runAsUser, runAsGroup and fsGroup and let the platform use their allowed default IDs. Possible values: auto (apply if the detected running cluster is Openshift), force (perform the adaptation always), disabled (do not perform adaptation)	auto

Common parameters

Name	Description	Value
kubeVersion	Force target Kubernetes version (using Helm capabilities if not set)	""
apiVersions	Override Kubernetes API versions reported by .Capabilities	[]
nameOverride	String to partially override common.names.fullname template with a string (will prepend the release name)	""
fullnameOverride	String to fully override common.names.fullname template with a string	""
commonAnnotations	Common annotations to add to all Kong resources (sub-charts are not considered). Evaluated as a template	{}
commonLabels	Common labels to add to all Kong resources (sub-charts are not considered). Evaluated as a template	{}
clusterDomain	Kubernetes cluster domain	cluster.local
extraDeploy	Array of extra objects to deploy with the release (evaluated as a template).	[]
usePasswordFiles	Mount credentials as files instead of using environment variables	true
diagnosticMode.enabled	Enable diagnostic mode (all probes will be disabled and the command will be overridden)	false
diagnosticMode.command	Command to override all containers in the daemonset/deployment	["sleep"]
diagnosticMode.args	Args to override all containers in the daemonset/deployment	["infinity"]

Kong common parameters

Name	Description	Value
image.registry	kong image registry	REGISTRY_NAME
image.repository	kong image repository	REPOSITORY_NAME/kong
image.digest	kong image digest in the way sha256:aa…. Please note this parameter, if set, will override the tag	""
image.pullPolicy	kong image pull policy	IfNotPresent
image.pullSecrets	Specify docker-registry secret names as an array	[]
image.debug	Enable image debug mode	false
database	Select which database backend Kong will use. Can be ‘postgresql’, ‘cassandra’ or ‘off’	postgresql

Kong deployment / daemonset parameters

Name	Description	Value
useDaemonset	Use a daemonset instead of a deployment. replicaCount will not take effect.	false
replicaCount	Number of Kong replicas	2
containerSecurityContext.enabled	Enabled containers’ Security Context	true
containerSecurityContext.seLinuxOptions	Set SELinux options in container	{}
containerSecurityContext.runAsUser	Set containers’ Security Context runAsUser	1001
containerSecurityContext.runAsGroup	Set containers’ Security Context runAsGroup	1001
containerSecurityContext.runAsNonRoot	Set container’s Security Context runAsNonRoot	true
containerSecurityContext.privileged	Set container’s Security Context privileged	false
containerSecurityContext.readOnlyRootFilesystem	Set container’s Security Context readOnlyRootFilesystem	true
containerSecurityContext.allowPrivilegeEscalation	Set container’s Security Context allowPrivilegeEscalation	false
containerSecurityContext.capabilities.drop	List of capabilities to be dropped	["ALL"]
containerSecurityContext.seccompProfile.type	Set container’s Security Context seccomp profile	RuntimeDefault
podSecurityContext.enabled	Enabled Kong pods’ Security Context	true
podSecurityContext.fsGroupChangePolicy	Set filesystem group change policy	Always
podSecurityContext.sysctls	Set kernel settings using the sysctl interface	[]
podSecurityContext.supplementalGroups	Set filesystem extra groups	[]
podSecurityContext.fsGroup	Set Kong pod’s Security Context fsGroup	1001
updateStrategy.type	Kong update strategy	RollingUpdate
updateStrategy.rollingUpdate	Kong deployment rolling update configuration parameters	{}
automountServiceAccountToken	Mount Service Account token in pod	true
hostAliases	Add deployment host aliases	[]
topologySpreadConstraints	Topology Spread Constraints for pod assignment spread across your cluster among failure-domains. Evaluated as a template	[]
priorityClassName	Priority Class Name	""
schedulerName	Use an alternate scheduler, e.g. “stork”.	""
terminationGracePeriodSeconds	Seconds Kong pod needs to terminate gracefully	""
podAnnotations	Additional pod annotations	{}
podLabels	Additional pod labels	{}
podAffinityPreset	Pod affinity preset. Ignored if affinity is set. Allowed values: soft or hard	""
podAntiAffinityPreset	Pod anti-affinity preset. Ignored if affinity is set. Allowed values: soft or hard	soft
nodeAffinityPreset.type	Node affinity preset type. Ignored if affinity is set. Allowed values: soft or hard	""
nodeAffinityPreset.key	Node label key to match Ignored if affinity is set.	""
nodeAffinityPreset.values	Node label values to match. Ignored if affinity is set.	[]
affinity	Affinity for pod assignment	{}
nodeSelector	Node labels for pod assignment	{}
tolerations	Tolerations for pod assignment	[]
extraVolumes	Array of extra volumes to be added to the Kong deployment deployment (evaluated as template). Requires setting extraVolumeMounts	[]
initContainers	Add additional init containers to the Kong pods	[]
sidecars	Add additional sidecar containers to the Kong pods	[]
autoscaling.enabled	Deploy a HorizontalPodAutoscaler object for the Kong deployment	false
autoscaling.minReplicas	Minimum number of replicas to scale back	2
autoscaling.maxReplicas	Maximum number of replicas to scale out	5
autoscaling.metrics	Metrics to use when deciding to scale the deployment (evaluated as a template)	[]
pdb.create	Deploy a PodDisruptionBudget object for Kong deployment	true
pdb.minAvailable	Minimum available Kong replicas (expressed in percentage)	""
pdb.maxUnavailable	Maximum unavailable Kong replicas (expressed in percentage)	50%

Kong Container Parameters

Name	Description	Value
kong.command	Override default container command (useful when using custom images)	[]
kong.args	Override default container args (useful when using custom images)	[]
kong.initScriptsCM	Configmap with init scripts to execute	""
kong.initScriptsSecret	Configmap with init scripts to execute	""
kong.declarativeConfig	Declarative configuration to be loaded by Kong (evaluated as a template)	""
kong.declarativeConfigCM	Configmap with declarative configuration to be loaded by Kong (evaluated as a template)	""
kong.extraEnvVars	Array containing extra env vars to configure Kong	[]
kong.extraEnvVarsCM	ConfigMap containing extra env vars to configure Kong	""
kong.extraEnvVarsSecret	Secret containing extra env vars to configure Kong (in case of sensitive data)	""
kong.extraVolumeMounts	Array of extra volume mounts to be added to the Kong Container (evaluated as template). Normally used with extraVolumes.	[]
kong.containerPorts.proxyHttp	Kong proxy HTTP container port	8000
kong.containerPorts.proxyHttps	Kong proxy HTTPS container port	8443
kong.containerPorts.adminHttp	Kong admin HTTP container port	8001
kong.containerPorts.adminHttps	Kong admin HTTPS container port	8444
kong.resourcesPreset	Set container resources according to one common preset (allowed values: none, nano, micro, small, medium, large, xlarge, 2xlarge). This is ignored if kong.resources is set (kong.resources is recommended for production).	medium
kong.resources	Set container requests and limits for different resources like CPU or memory (essential for production workloads)	{}
kong.livenessProbe.enabled	Enable livenessProbe on Kong containers	true
kong.livenessProbe.initialDelaySeconds	Initial delay seconds for livenessProbe	120
kong.livenessProbe.periodSeconds	Period seconds for livenessProbe	10
kong.livenessProbe.timeoutSeconds	Timeout seconds for livenessProbe	5
kong.livenessProbe.failureThreshold	Failure threshold for livenessProbe	6
kong.livenessProbe.successThreshold	Success threshold for livenessProbe	1
kong.readinessProbe.enabled	Enable readinessProbe on Kong containers	true
kong.readinessProbe.initialDelaySeconds	Initial delay seconds for readinessProbe	30
kong.readinessProbe.periodSeconds	Period seconds for readinessProbe	10
kong.readinessProbe.timeoutSeconds	Timeout seconds for readinessProbe	5
kong.readinessProbe.failureThreshold	Failure threshold for readinessProbe	6
kong.readinessProbe.successThreshold	Success threshold for readinessProbe	1
kong.startupProbe.enabled	Enable startupProbe on Kong containers	false
kong.startupProbe.initialDelaySeconds	Initial delay seconds for startupProbe	10
kong.startupProbe.periodSeconds	Period seconds for startupProbe	15
kong.startupProbe.timeoutSeconds	Timeout seconds for startupProbe	3
kong.startupProbe.failureThreshold	Failure threshold for startupProbe	20
kong.startupProbe.successThreshold	Success threshold for startupProbe	1
kong.customLivenessProbe	Override default liveness probe (kong container)	{}
kong.customReadinessProbe	Override default readiness probe (kong container)	{}
kong.customStartupProbe	Override default startup probe (kong container)	{}
kong.lifecycleHooks	Lifecycle hooks (kong container)	{}

Traffic Exposure Parameters

Name	Description	Value
service.type	Kubernetes Service type	ClusterIP
service.exposeAdmin	Add the Kong Admin ports to the service	false
service.disableHttpPort	Disable Kong proxy HTTP and Kong admin HTTP ports	false
service.ports.proxyHttp	Kong proxy service HTTP port	80
service.ports.proxyHttps	Kong proxy service HTTPS port	443
service.ports.adminHttp	Kong admin service HTTP port (only if service.exposeAdmin=true)	8001
service.ports.adminHttps	Kong admin service HTTPS port (only if service.exposeAdmin=true)	8444
service.nodePorts.proxyHttp	NodePort for the Kong proxy HTTP endpoint	""
service.nodePorts.proxyHttps	NodePort for the Kong proxy HTTPS endpoint	""
service.nodePorts.adminHttp	NodePort for the Kong admin HTTP endpoint	""
service.nodePorts.adminHttps	NodePort for the Kong admin HTTPS endpoint	""
service.sessionAffinity	Control where client requests go, to the same pod or round-robin	None
service.sessionAffinityConfig	Additional settings for the sessionAffinity	{}
service.clusterIP	Cluster internal IP of the service	""
service.externalTrafficPolicy	external traffic policy managing client source IP preservation	""
service.loadBalancerIP	loadBalancerIP if kong service type is LoadBalancer	""
service.loadBalancerSourceRanges	Kong service Load Balancer sources	[]
service.annotations	Annotations for Kong service	{}
service.extraPorts	Extra ports to expose (normally used with the sidecar value)	[]
networkPolicy.enabled	Specifies whether a NetworkPolicy should be created	true
networkPolicy.allowExternal	Don’t require server label for connections	true
networkPolicy.allowExternalEgress	Allow the pod to access any range of port and all destinations.	true
networkPolicy.kubeAPIServerPorts	List of possible endpoints to kube-apiserver (limit to your cluster settings to increase security)	[]
networkPolicy.extraIngress	Add extra ingress rules to the NetworkPolicy	[]
networkPolicy.extraEgress	Add extra ingress rules to the NetworkPolicy	[]
networkPolicy.ingressNSMatchLabels	Labels to match to allow traffic from other namespaces	{}
networkPolicy.ingressNSPodMatchLabels	Pod labels to match to allow traffic from other namespaces	{}
ingress.enabled	Enable ingress controller resource	false
ingress.ingressClassName	IngressClass that will be be used to implement the Ingress (Kubernetes 1.18+)	""
ingress.pathType	Ingress path type	ImplementationSpecific
ingress.apiVersion	Force Ingress API version (automatically detected if not set)	""
ingress.hostname	Default host for the ingress resource	kong.local
ingress.path	Ingress path	/
ingress.annotations	Additional annotations for the Ingress resource. To enable certificate autogeneration, place here your cert-manager annotations.	{}
ingress.tls	Enable TLS configuration for the host defined at ingress.hostname parameter	false
ingress.selfSigned	Create a TLS secret for this ingress record using self-signed certificates generated by Helm	false
ingress.extraHosts	The list of additional hostnames to be covered with this ingress record.	[]
ingress.extraPaths	Additional arbitrary path/backend objects	[]
ingress.extraTls	The tls configuration for additional hostnames to be covered with this ingress record.	[]
ingress.secrets	If you’re providing your own certificates, please use this to add the certificates as secrets	[]
ingress.extraRules	Additional rules to be covered with this ingress record	[]

Kong Ingress Controller Container Parameters

Name	Description	Value
ingressController.enabled	Enable/disable the Kong Ingress Controller	true
ingressController.image.registry	Kong Ingress Controller image registry	REGISTRY_NAME
ingressController.image.repository	Kong Ingress Controller image name	REPOSITORY_NAME/kong-ingress-controller
ingressController.image.digest	Kong Ingress Controller image digest in the way sha256:aa…. Please note this parameter, if set, will override the tag	""
ingressController.image.pullPolicy	Kong Ingress Controller image pull policy	IfNotPresent
ingressController.image.pullSecrets	Specify docker-registry secret names as an array	[]
ingressController.proxyReadyTimeout	Maximum time (in seconds) to wait for the Kong container to be ready	300
ingressController.ingressClass	Name of the class to register Kong Ingress Controller (useful when having other Ingress Controllers in the cluster)	kong
ingressController.command	Override default container command (useful when using custom images)	[]
ingressController.args	Override default container args (useful when using custom images)	[]
ingressController.extraEnvVars	Array containing extra env vars to configure Kong	[]
ingressController.extraEnvVarsCM	ConfigMap containing extra env vars to configure Kong Ingress Controller	""
ingressController.extraEnvVarsSecret	Secret containing extra env vars to configure Kong Ingress Controller (in case of sensitive data)	""
ingressController.extraVolumeMounts	Array of extra volume mounts to be added to the Kong Ingress Controller container (evaluated as template). Normally used with extraVolumes.	[]
ingressController.containerPorts.health	Kong Ingress Controller health container port	10254
ingressController.resourcesPreset	Set container resources according to one common preset (allowed values: none, nano, micro, small, medium, large, xlarge, 2xlarge). This is ignored if ingressController.resources is set (ingressController.resources is recommended for production).	nano
ingressController.resources	Set container requests and limits for different resources like CPU or memory (essential for production workloads)	{}
ingressController.livenessProbe.enabled	Enable livenessProbe on Kong Ingress Controller containers	true
ingressController.livenessProbe.initialDelaySeconds	Initial delay seconds for livenessProbe	120
ingressController.livenessProbe.periodSeconds	Period seconds for livenessProbe	10
ingressController.livenessProbe.timeoutSeconds	Timeout seconds for livenessProbe	5
ingressController.livenessProbe.failureThreshold	Failure threshold for livenessProbe	6
ingressController.livenessProbe.successThreshold	Success threshold for livenessProbe	1
ingressController.readinessProbe.enabled	Enable readinessProbe on Kong Ingress Controller containers	true
ingressController.readinessProbe.initialDelaySeconds	Initial delay seconds for readinessProbe	30
ingressController.readinessProbe.periodSeconds	Period seconds for readinessProbe	10
ingressController.readinessProbe.timeoutSeconds	Timeout seconds for readinessProbe	5
ingressController.readinessProbe.failureThreshold	Failure threshold for readinessProbe	6
ingressController.readinessProbe.successThreshold	Success threshold for readinessProbe	1
ingressController.startupProbe.enabled	Enable startupProbe on Kong Ingress Controller containers	false
ingressController.startupProbe.initialDelaySeconds	Initial delay seconds for startupProbe	10
ingressController.startupProbe.periodSeconds	Period seconds for startupProbe	15
ingressController.startupProbe.timeoutSeconds	Timeout seconds for startupProbe	3
ingressController.startupProbe.failureThreshold	Failure threshold for startupProbe	20
ingressController.startupProbe.successThreshold	Success threshold for startupProbe	1
ingressController.customLivenessProbe	Override default liveness probe (Kong Ingress Controller container)	{}
ingressController.customReadinessProbe	Override default readiness probe (Kong Ingress Controller container)	{}
ingressController.customStartupProbe	Override default startup probe (Kong Ingress Controller container)	{}
ingressController.lifecycleHooks	Lifecycle hooks (Kong Ingress Controller container)	{}
ingressController.serviceAccount.create	Enable the creation of a ServiceAccount for Kong pods	true
ingressController.serviceAccount.name	Name of the created ServiceAccount (name generated using common.names.fullname template otherwise)	""
ingressController.serviceAccount.automountServiceAccountToken	Auto-mount the service account token in the pod	false
ingressController.serviceAccount.annotations	Additional custom annotations for the ServiceAccount	{}
ingressController.rbac.create	Create the necessary RBAC resources for the Ingress Controller to work	true
ingressController.rbac.rules	Custom RBAC rules	[]

Kong Migration job Parameters

Name	Description	Value
migration.command	Override default container command (useful when using custom images)	[]
migration.args	Override default container args (useful when using custom images)	[]
migration.extraEnvVars	Array containing extra env vars to configure the Kong migration job	[]
migration.extraEnvVarsCM	ConfigMap containing extra env vars to configure the Kong migration job	""
migration.extraEnvVarsSecret	Secret containing extra env vars to configure the Kong migration job (in case of sensitive data)	""
migration.extraVolumeMounts	Array of extra volume mounts to be added to the Kong Container (evaluated as template). Normally used with extraVolumes.	[]
migration.resourcesPreset	Set container resources according to one common preset (allowed values: none, nano, micro, small, medium, large, xlarge, 2xlarge). This is ignored if migration.resources is set (migration.resources is recommended for production).	nano
migration.resources	Set container requests and limits for different resources like CPU or memory (essential for production workloads)	{}
migration.automountServiceAccountToken	Mount Service Account token in pod	true
migration.hostAliases	Add deployment host aliases	[]
migration.annotations	Add annotations to the job	{}
migration.podLabels	Additional pod labels	{}
migration.podAnnotations	Additional pod annotations	{}

PostgreSQL Parameters

Name	Description	Value
postgresql.enabled	Switch to enable or disable the PostgreSQL helm chart	true
postgresql.auth.postgresPassword	Password for the “postgres” admin user	""
postgresql.auth.username	Name for a custom user to create	kong
postgresql.auth.password	Password for the custom user to create	""
postgresql.auth.database	Name for a custom database to create	kong
postgresql.auth.existingSecret	Name of existing secret to use for PostgreSQL credentials	""
postgresql.architecture	PostgreSQL architecture (standalone or replication)	standalone
postgresql.primary.resourcesPreset	Set container resources according to one common preset (allowed values: none, nano, small, medium, large, xlarge, 2xlarge). This is ignored if primary.resources is set (primary.resources is recommended for production).	nano
postgresql.primary.resources	Set container requests and limits for different resources like CPU or memory (essential for production workloads)	{}
postgresql.external.host	Database host	""
postgresql.external.port	Database port number	5432
postgresql.external.user	Non-root username for Kong	kong
postgresql.external.password	Password for the non-root username for Kong	""
postgresql.external.database	Kong database name	kong
postgresql.external.existingSecret	Name of an existing secret resource containing the database credentials	""
postgresql.external.existingSecretPasswordKey	Name of an existing secret key containing the database credentials	""

Cassandra Parameters

Name	Description	Value
cassandra.enabled	Switch to enable or disable the Cassandra helm chart	false
cassandra.dbUser.user	Cassandra admin user	kong
cassandra.dbUser.password	Password for cassandra.dbUser.user. Randomly generated if empty	""
cassandra.dbUser.existingSecret	Name of existing secret to use for Cassandra credentials	""
cassandra.replicaCount	Number of Cassandra replicas	1
cassandra.external.hosts	List of Cassandra hosts	[]
cassandra.external.port	Cassandra port number	9042
cassandra.external.user	Username of the external cassandra installation	""
cassandra.external.password	Password of the external cassandra installation	""
cassandra.external.existingSecret	Name of an existing secret resource containing the Cassandra credentials	""
cassandra.external.existingSecretPasswordKey	Name of an existing secret key containing the Cassandra credentials	""
cassandra.resourcesPreset	Set container resources according to one common preset (allowed values: none, nano, small, medium, large, xlarge, 2xlarge). This is ignored if resources is set (resources is recommended for production).	large
cassandra.resources	Set container requests and limits for different resources like CPU or memory (essential for production workloads)	{}

Metrics Parameters

Name	Description	Value
metrics.enabled	Enable the export of Prometheus metrics	false
metrics.containerPorts.http	Prometheus metrics HTTP container port	9119
metrics.service.sessionAffinity	Control where client requests go, to the same pod or round-robin	None
metrics.service.clusterIP	Cluster internal IP of the service	""
metrics.service.annotations	Annotations for Prometheus metrics service	{}
metrics.service.ports.http	Prometheus metrics service HTTP port	9119
metrics.serviceMonitor.enabled	Create ServiceMonitor Resource for scraping metrics using PrometheusOperator	false
metrics.serviceMonitor.namespace	Namespace which Prometheus is running in	""
metrics.serviceMonitor.interval	Interval at which metrics should be scraped	30s
metrics.serviceMonitor.scrapeTimeout	Specify the timeout after which the scrape is ended	""
metrics.serviceMonitor.labels	Additional labels that can be used so ServiceMonitor will be discovered by Prometheus	{}
metrics.serviceMonitor.selector	Prometheus instance selector labels	{}
metrics.serviceMonitor.relabelings	RelabelConfigs to apply to samples before scraping	[]
metrics.serviceMonitor.metricRelabelings	MetricRelabelConfigs to apply to samples before ingestion	[]
metrics.serviceMonitor.honorLabels	honorLabels chooses the metric’s labels on collisions with target labels	false
metrics.serviceMonitor.jobLabel	The name of the label on the target service to use as the job name in prometheus.	""
metrics.serviceMonitor.serviceAccount	Service account used by Prometheus Operator	""
metrics.serviceMonitor.rbac.create	Create the necessary RBAC resources so Prometheus Operator can reach Kong’s namespace	true

Specify each parameter using the --set key=value[,key=value] argument to helm install. For example,

helm install my-release \
  --set service.exposeAdmin=true oci://REGISTRY_NAME/REPOSITORY_NAME/kong

Note: You need to substitute the placeholders REGISTRY_NAME and REPOSITORY_NAME with a reference to your Helm chart registry and repository. For example, in the case of Bitnami, you need to use REGISTRY_NAME=registry-1.docker.io and REPOSITORY_NAME=bitnamicharts.

The above command exposes the Kong admin ports inside the Kong service.

Alternatively, a YAML file that specifies the values for the parameters can be provided while installing the chart. For example,

helm install my-release -f values.yaml oci://REGISTRY_NAME/REPOSITORY_NAME/kong

Note: You need to substitute the placeholders REGISTRY_NAME and REPOSITORY_NAME with a reference to your Helm chart registry and repository. For example, in the case of Bitnami, you need to use REGISTRY_NAME=registry-1.docker.io and REPOSITORY_NAME=bitnamicharts. Tip: You can use the default values.yaml

Troubleshooting

Find more information about how to deal with common errors related to Bitnami’s Helm charts in this troubleshooting guide.

Upgrading

To 15.1.0

This version introduces image verification for security purposes. To disable it, set global.security.allowInsecureImages to true. More details at GitHub issue.

It’s necessary to specify the existing passwords while performing a upgrade to ensure the secrets are not updated with invalid randomly generated passwords. Remember to specify the existing values of the postgresql.postgresqlPassword or cassandra.password parameters when upgrading the chart:

helm upgrade my-release oci://REGISTRY_NAME/REPOSITORY_NAME/kong \
    --set database=postgresql
    --set postgresql.enabled=true
    --set
    --set postgresql.postgresqlPassword=[POSTGRESQL_PASSWORD]

Note: You need to substitute the placeholders REGISTRY_NAME and REPOSITORY_NAME with a reference to your Helm chart registry and repository. For example, in the case of Bitnami, you need to use REGISTRY_NAME=registry-1.docker.io and REPOSITORY_NAME=bitnamicharts. Note: you need to substitute the placeholders [POSTGRESQL_PASSWORD] with the values obtained from instructions in the installation notes.

To 15.0.0

This major updates the PostgreSQL version from 14.x.x to 17.x.x. Instead of overwritting it in this chart values, it will automatically use the version defined in the postgresql subchart.

To 14.0.0

This major updates the PostgreSQL subchart to its newest major, 16.0.0, which uses PostgreSQL 17.x. Follow the official instructions to upgrade to 17.x.

To 13.0.0

This major updates the Cassandra subchart to its newest major, 12.0.0. Here you can find more information about the changes introduced in that version.

To 12.0.0

This major bump changes the following security defaults:

• runAsGroup is changed from 0 to 1001
• readOnlyRootFilesystem is set to true
• resourcesPreset is changed from none to the minimum size working in our test suites (NOTE: resourcesPreset is not meant for production usage, but resources adapted to your use case).
• global.compatibility.openshift.adaptSecurityContext is changed from disabled to auto.

This could potentially break any customization or init scripts used in your deployment. If this is the case, change the default values to the previous ones.

To 11.0.0

This major release bumps the PostgreSQL chart version to 14.x.x; no major issues are expected during the upgrade.

To 10.0.0

This major updates the PostgreSQL subchart to its newest major, 13.0.0. Here you can find more information about the changes introduced in that version.

To 9.0.0

This major updates the Cassandra subchart to its newest major, 10.0.0. Here you can find more information about the changes introduced in that version.

To 8.0.0

This major updates the PostgreSQL subchart to its newest major, 12.0.0. Here you can find more information about the changes introduced in that version.

To 6.0.0

The postgresql sub-chart was upgraded to 11.x.x. Several values of the sub-chart were changed, so please check the upgrade notes.

No issues are expected during the upgrade.

To 5.0.0

The cassandra sub-chart was upgraded to 9.x.x. Several values of the sub-chart were changed, so please check the upgrade notes.

No issues are expected during the upgrade.

To 3.1.0

Kong Ingress Controller version was bumped to new major version, 1.x.x. The associated CRDs were updated accordingly.

To 3.0.0

On November 13, 2020, Helm v2 support was formally finished, this major version is the result of the required changes applied to the Helm Chart to be able to incorporate the different features added in Helm v3 and to be consistent with the Helm project itself regarding the Helm v2 EOL.

What changes were introduced in this major version?

• Previous versions of this Helm Chart use apiVersion: v1 (installable by both Helm 2 and 3), this Helm Chart was updated to apiVersion: v2 (installable by Helm 3 only). Here you can find more information about the apiVersion field.
• Move dependency information from the requirements.yaml to the Chart.yaml
• After running helm dependency update, a Chart.lock file is generated containing the same structure used in the previous requirements.lock
• The different fields present in the Chart.yaml file has been ordered alphabetically in a homogeneous way for all the Bitnami Helm Charts
• This chart depends on the PostgreSQL 10 instead of PostgreSQL 9. Apart from the same changes that are described in this section, there are also other major changes due to the master/slave nomenclature was replaced by primary/readReplica. Here you can find more information about the changes introduced.

Considerations when upgrading to this version

• If you want to upgrade to this version using Helm v2, this scenario is not supported as this version doesn’t support Helm v2 anymore
• If you installed the previous version with Helm v2 and wants to upgrade to this version with Helm v3, please refer to the official Helm documentation about migrating from Helm v2 to v3
• If you want to upgrade to this version from a previous one installed with Helm v3, it should be done reusing the PVC used to hold the PostgreSQL data on your previous release. To do so, follow the instructions below (the following example assumes that the release name is kong):

NOTE: Please, create a backup of your database before running any of those actions.

Export secrets and required values to update

export POSTGRESQL_PASSWORD=$(kubectl get secret --namespace default kong-postgresql -o jsonpath="{.data.password}" | base64 -d)
export POSTGRESQL_PVC=$(kubectl get pvc -l app.kubernetes.io/instance=kong,app.kubernetes.io/name=postgresql,role=master -o jsonpath="{.items[0].metadata.name}")

Delete statefulsets

Delete PostgreSQL statefulset. Notice the option --cascade=false:

kubectl delete statefulsets.apps kong-postgresql --cascade=false

Upgrade the chart release

helm upgrade kong oci://REGISTRY_NAME/REPOSITORY_NAME/kong \
    --set postgresql.postgresqlPassword=$POSTGRESQL_PASSWORD \
    --set postgresql.persistence.existingClaim=$POSTGRESQL_PVC

Note: You need to substitute the placeholders REGISTRY_NAME and REPOSITORY_NAME with a reference to your Helm chart registry and repository. For example, in the case of Bitnami, you need to use REGISTRY_NAME=registry-1.docker.io and REPOSITORY_NAME=bitnamicharts.

Force new statefulset to create a new pod for postgresql

kubectl delete pod kong-postgresql-0

Finally, you should see the lines below in MariaDB container logs:

$ kubectl logs $(kubectl get pods -l app.kubernetes.io/instance=postgresql,app.kubernetes.io/name=postgresql,role=primary -o jsonpath="{.items[0].metadata.name}")
...
postgresql 08:05:12.59 INFO  ==> Deploying PostgreSQL with persisted data...
...

Useful links

• https://techdocs.broadcom.com/us/en/vmware-tanzu/application-catalog/tanzu-application-catalog/services/tac-doc/apps-tutorials-resolve-helm2-helm3-post-migration-issues-index.html
• https://helm.sh/docs/topics/v2_v3_migration/
• https://helm.sh/blog/migrate-from-helm-v2-to-helm-v3/

To 4.0.0

This major updates the Cassandra subchart to its newest major, 4.0.0. Here you can find more information about the changes introduced in those versions.

To 2.0.0

PostgreSQL and Cassandra dependencies versions were bumped to new major versions, 9.x.x and 6.x.x respectively. Both of these include breaking changes and hence backwards compatibility is no longer guaranteed.

In order to properly migrate your data to this new version:

• If you were using PostgreSQL as your database, please refer to the PostgreSQL Upgrade Notes.

• If you were using Cassandra as your database, please refer to the Cassandra Upgrade Notes.

License

Copyright © 2025 Broadcom. The term “Broadcom” refers to Broadcom Inc. and/or its subsidiaries.

Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the “License”); you may not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at

http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License is distributed on an “AS IS” BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License.