Get started with API Gateway in containers

6 minute read

How to deploy API Gateway in Docker containers

In API Gateway version 7.6.0 and later, you can deploy API Gateway in Docker containers and run it in externally managed topology (EMT) mode. This involves creating Docker images for the Admin Node Manager and API Gateway, and starting Docker containers from those images.

How container deployments differ from classic deployments

There are significant differences when deploying in containers and running in EMT mode, compared to deploying and running in non-containerized classic mode.

Frequently asked questions about container deployments

How do you deploy changes in configuration from Policy Studio

In a development environment only, you can set the EMT_DEPLOYMENT_ENABLED environment variable to true when starting an API Gateway Docker container. This enables you to deploy changes directly from Policy Studio to the container and to create Policy Studio projects from the running API Gateway container.

In a production environment, API Gateway configuration (.fed file) is baked into the API Gateway Docker image. To deploy changes in API Gateway configuration you must export a .fed file from Policy Studio, rebuild the API Gateway Docker image, and restart the API Gateway Docker container.

For more information, see Development and deployment with API Gateway containers.

How do you promote configuration through environments

The promotion flow in a container deployment is very similar to a classic deployment, however, because API Gateway configuration (.fed file) is baked into the API Gateway Docker image, you must export the policy package ( .pol file) and environment package (.env file) from Policy Studio, rebuild the API Gateway Docker image, and restart the API Gateway Docker container, at each stage in the promotion flow.

For more information, see Development and deployment with API Gateway containers.

How do you promote APIs through environments

In a container deployment, you can promote APIs registered in API Manager in the same way as in a classic environment. See Promote managed APIs between environments.

What API Gateway Manager functionality is not available

In a container deployment, you cannot perform the following in API Gateway Manager:

• You cannot create or delete API Gateway groups and instances
• You cannot start or stop API Gateways
• You cannot deploy configuration packages to a group of API Gateway instances

For more information, see Operate and monitor API Gateway containers.

How do you persist logs

To persist API Gateway logs to a directory on your host machine, you can use the docker run -v option to mount volumes for logs when running the API Gateway Docker container. For an example, see Mount volumes to persist logs outside the API Gateway container.

For more information on using volumes to persist data, see the Use volumes Docker documentation.

What license do you need to run

You must have an appropriate license to run API Gateway or API Manager in a Docker container. For more information, see Set up Docker environment.

How do you upgrade from 7.5.3 to 7.7

To upgrade from API Gateway 7.5.3 (classic deployment) to API Gateway 7.7 (container deployment), you must first upgrade to a 7.7 classic deployment, and then migrate to a 7.7 container deployment.

For information on upgrading to 7.7, see the API Gateway Upgrade Guide , and for more details on migrating to a container deployment, see Migrate to container deployment.

How do you create API Gateway Docker images with customized configuration

When building your API Gateway or Admin Node Manager Docker images, you can specify a merge directory containing custom configuration, JAR files, and so on, to add to the Docker image. For detailed examples, see:

• Create an ANM image using existing ANM fed and customized configuration
• Create an API Gateway image using existing fed and customized configuration

How do you manage API Gateway topology

In a classic deployment, topology is managed internally through an Admin Node Manager communicating with Node Managers in API Gateway nodes. In a container deployment, the topology is externally managed by a cluster manager, such as Docker Swarm or Kubernetes, and it manages the topology and communicates directly with each API Gateway.

This means that you cannot use the managedomain script or the API Gateway Manager web UI to manage your topology in a container deployment. Instead, you must use an orchestration tool. For more information on Docker Swarm, see the Getting started with swarm mode Docker documentation, or for more information on Kubernetes go to the Kubernetes website.

How do you run API Gateway administration tools or scripts

In a container deployment, you must connect to the running Admin Node Manager Docker container to run API Gateway administration tools, such as kpsadmin. For an example, see Manage KPS with kpsadmin.

How do you set up API Manager metrics

To set up API Manager metrics you must first create an Admin Node Manager Docker image with metrics processing enabled, and then run the Admin Node Manager and API Gateway Docker containers using the docker run -v option to mount a volume for the API Gateway events directory.

When starting the containers, you must also specify the connection details for the metrics database using environment variables. For an example, see Create a metrics-enabled ANM image.

How do you run API Gateway in Kubernetes

To run API Gateway in Kubernetes, you can use the API Gateway Helm charts on GitHub.

These Helm charts are not intended as a recommended setup, but something that you can use as a starting point and customize for your own environment.

How do you run API Gateway with a persisted volume

Deploy API Gateway in containers outlines how to create API Gateway images with fully baked configuration. Users may wish to make configuration updates in a more targeted manner, this is facilitated through the use of persisted volumes. The Docker volumes with API Gateway section outlines the basics for how this approach can be implemented.