Guide to Deploy Kong on Akash

Kong is a scalable, open-source API gateway and service mesh designed to manage, secure, and monitor APIs and microservices. It offers essential features like load balancing, authentication, rate limiting, caching, and logging, making it highly effective for modern applications such as containerized, cloud-native, and microservices architectures.

Deploying Kong on Akash enables you to take advantage of a decentralized cloud platform to lower hosting costs while ensuring high availability.

Step 1: Prepare Your Kong Deployment Files

To deploy Kong on Akash, you must create a Service Deployment Language (SDL) file that specifies how to deploy your application, including its resource requirements and container configuration.

Here’s a sample SDL file for deploying Kong on Akash.

Sample SDL File

version: "2.0"

services:
  kong:
    image: kong:latest
    expose:
      - port: 8000
        as: 80
        to:
          - global
      - port: 8443
        as: 443
        to:
          - global
    env:
      KONG_DATABASE: "off"
      KONG_PROXY_ACCESS_LOG: "/dev/stdout"
      KONG_PROXY_ERROR_LOG: "/dev/stderr"
      KONG_ADMIN_ACCESS_LOG: "/dev/stdout"
      KONG_ADMIN_ERROR_LOG: "/dev/stderr"
      KONG_PROXY_LISTEN: "0.0.0.0:8000, 0.0.0.0:8443 ssl"
      KONG_ADMIN_LISTEN: "0.0.0.0:8001, 0.0.0.0:8444 ssl"
    resources:
      cpu:
        units: 0.5
      memory:
        size: 512Mi
      storage:
        size: 1Gi

profiles:
  compute:
    kong-profile:
      resources:
        cpu:
          units: 0.5
        memory:
          size: 512Mi
        storage:
          size: 1Gi
  placement:
    kong-placement:
      attributes:
        region: us-west
      pricing:
        kong:
          denom: uakt
          amount: 5000

deployment:
  kong-deployment:
    profile:
      compute: kong-profile
      placement: kong-placement
    count: 1

Step 2: Validate the SDL File

Before you can deploy, make sure your SDL file is valid:

1. Save the SDL file as deploy.yaml.
2. Validate the SDL file using the Akash CLI:

   akash tx deployment validate deploy.yaml

Step 3: Deploy Kong on Akash

1. Submit the Deployment
   Deploy the SDL file with the Akash CLI:

   akash tx deployment create deploy.yaml --from <your-account>

2. Monitor Deployment Status
   To check the status of your deployment:

   akash query deployment list --owner <your-address>

3. Accept a Bid
   When a provider bids on your deployment, accept that bid:

   akash tx deployment lease create --from <your-account> --dseq <deployment-sequence> --oseq <order-sequence> --gseq <group-sequence> --provider <provider-address>

4. Access Kong
   After the deployment has been activated, retrieve the access details (IP and port) for your Kong API Gateway by querying the lease:

   akash query lease status --owner <your-address> --provider <provider-address> --dseq <deployment-sequence>

Step 4: Test Kong Deployment

To ensure Kong is operational:

1. Access the Kong API Gateway using the provided IP and port.
2. Test the default proxy at port 80 or 443.
3. Check the Kong Admin API, which is typically available on port 8001 or 8444.

Step 5: Manage and Update Deployment

• Update Deployment: Adjust your deploy.yaml file and redeploy using the same commands.
• Stop Deployment: To cancel your lease and stop the deployment:

  akash tx deployment close --from <your-account> --dseq <deployment-sequence>

By deploying Kong on Akash, you can enjoy the benefits of a decentralized, cost-effective network without sacrificing the powerful API management capabilities Kong offers.