REST API Management, Monitoring & Analytics using Kong 3 from Udemy

NOTE:

This is NOT a coding course. The focus is on API management tools using off-the-shelf (ready to use) softwares
You don't need any credit card or payment to use tools in this course. All softwares (including API manager itself) are available as free edition. Some might even open source their codes.

Update January 2024

Major Update

Use Kong 3, Elastic 8, and latest software version (as of 2024)
Improved audio for ALL lectures

Update November 2020

Major Update

Use Kong 2, Elastic 7, and latest software version (as of 2020)
Added : OAuth2
Added : Proxy Cache
Improved audio for ALL lectures

Before We Begin

If you want to learn, you simply need a web browser. For running tools and hands-on, specific hardware and software required. Please see requirements on Lecture One (with title Readme First : Hardware & Software Required).

Prerequisites

We will use Docker (which is container technology) to install tools required for this API management course. In this course, you will learn basic knowledge of Docker. To install docker, you need to be familiar with:

Windows : basic command prompt usage & command, administrator access
Mac / Linux : basic terminal usage & command, root / sudo access

I provide Docker installation instructions for Windows 10 Professional Edition. For any other operating system -including other version of Windows-, I provide reference to official documentation, but not the video. I'm sorry about this, since I don't have Mac / Linux machine.

Don't worry, the official documentation is complete and easy enough to follow.

Works with REST API

Your workplace adopt modern architecture and relies on REST API. Having REST API give benefits, but the benefits comes at cost. For most teams, the processes of setting and enforcing standards or policies across their APIs is entirely manual. Often that process involves multiple teams or team members and becomes even more painful as the number of APIs grows.

Now that you have provisioned your APIs, you also need to have visibility on your APIs. How is your API traffic trending over time? Which API used most? Which API has large error rate? Having this data will help you analyze and take correct decision for further API development.

Implementing policies, securities, or analytics can be done by writing additional logic on your APIs. You can even write your own analytics tools for monitoring & analyzing your APIs. But those process will be redundant and time-consuming. Why don't we find a more efficient way so developers can focus on business needs? That will ultimately maximize the productivity of the developers who build on the API, and in turn give benefits to company.

API Management Software

API management tools can be an answer. API manager tools in market likely provides common API capabilities, like:

API gateway, a single communication point for accessing API
Basic security for accessing API
Traffic control, like rate limiting or quota
Monitor API health (is API accessible or down?)
Load balancing
API Analytics (hit rate, error rate)
Logging your traffic
Developer portal, act as API documentation. A common API documentation format is swagger / Open API specification

Big players like Google, IBM, or Axway provides good features for API management -if you are willing to pay some amount of money-. But if you prefer open source, start-small approach (but still good), there are also several API manager tools in the market,one of it is Kong API Manager (which we use in this course).

In this course, we will learn API Management using several tools. All software available as free edition. Some comes with option to upgrade into premium edition with more features. The tools we will learn here are:

Kong API management
This is the main focus of this course.
Docker and docker compose
Popular container technology to speed up our installation and configuration. However, this course is NOT a docker course, so we will no go deep on docker.
Zipkin
An open source REST API tracing tools. Useful for distributed tracing on different services, even if the API services scattered on several machines.
Elasticsearch, Logstash & Kibana
A Popular search engine and it's visualization tools. This course is an introductory course on how to use these stacks to analyze your API traffic. But this course is not focusing on Elastic stack.
Prometheus & Grafana
Open source monitoring tools to gather performance metrics and display those metrics as time-series charts.

Benefit of API Management (for Engineering and Business)

Let's face it : we have time constraints. Business needs those API. And they need it fast.

Writing API that just functionally works but not secure, or technically flawed, will bring trouble sooner or later. Maybe somebody find a security hole in your API, and exploit them. Or you work on a place where API is used in many places by many people / systems? Without having transparency of API analytics (usage, error rate, etc), it is difficult to know whether your API works fine, or need improvement.

Writing codes for implementing API security, analytics, or some other technical aspects are nice. Either veteran programmer or new kids on the house will love the challenge to write such codes and solve complex problems.

But the time constraints speaks loud. Writing such codes can be time-consuming. It is a good thing to focus developers effort to delivering business logic, which in turns, keep the business stays ahead.

API management can be used to helps you solve common API aspects, like security, analytics, or who can access which API. And most of the time, you don't need to write any code. Put your API behind some API management, and configure it to works with your API.

That means, productivity increases. Whatever role you have in the company, productivity always a good thing, and API management (even the open-source) can helps you to boost it.

Kong API Management

Kong provides API gateway for REST APIs with plug-in architecture to enable users adding functionalities to the core Kong gateway. Kong's API management platform is attractively lean. It should appeal to users with basic

requirements who want to get an initial platform that they can then add as they go, either

with Kong-or-community-provided plug-ins, or with developments of their own (yes, it's possible to develop Kong plugin based on your own requirement, although we don't cover it in this course). Companies aim to use Kong API management platform can start fast as you can see in the course -less than 1 hour to setup and run-.

Users looking to execute digital strategies will find Kong useful for enabling their platforms.

API Monitoring & Analytics

In this course, we will learn to do analytics and monitoring not only using Kong API Manager, but also some other tools, and most importantly how to integrate them. One tools only is quite powerful, but integration will give us more benefits

API management tools usually comes with API analytics module. We can use the analytics to gain visibility of the entire API ecosystem. The analytics will automatically and continuously collect all API-traffic data, like performance time, hit rate (how many hits in second), error rate. By leverage the API analytics, we can know the data about which API has good value, and which one needs to be improved.

In operation side, we can use API monitoring tools to proactively detect API traffic and performance issues. Imagine if a service down at 10 AM, and nobody knows until one hour later, which means problems already arose and some business opportunity might already lost. With leveraging open source Kong API management (and several other free tools), we can get notification in less than 5 minutes after the service troubled.

What's inside

Learning objectives

Theory & best practices about api management & design
Managing api using open-source tools: kong
This is not a coding course. we will not learn how to create rest api here. we will learn how to manage them.
Api analytics with elasticsearch, logstash, and kibana (elk stack)

Monitor & notify your team real-time when your service is in trouble (e.g. down or high load)
Trace your api calls that scattered on different machines
Simple usage of docker container technology

Theory & best practices about api management & design
Managing api using open-source tools: kong
This is not a coding course. we will not learn how to create rest api here. we will learn how to manage them.
Api analytics with elasticsearch, logstash, and kibana (elk stack)
Monitor & notify your team real-time when your service is in trouble (e.g. down or high load)
Trace your api calls that scattered on different machines
Simple usage of docker container technology

Syllabus

[Kong 3] Introduction

Readme First : Hardware & Software Required

Welcome To This Course

Course Structure

Traffic lights

Read about what's good

what should give you pause

and possible dealbreakers

Focuses on API management using tools like Kong, Docker, and Elastic Stack, which are valuable for those managing modern architectures relying on REST APIs

Emphasizes practical application and configuration rather than coding, making it suitable for those looking to quickly implement API management solutions

Uses Kong 3, Elastic 8, and other updated software versions, ensuring relevance and compatibility with current technology stacks

Requires familiarity with basic command-line usage and Docker, which may pose a barrier for absolute beginners without prior experience

Covers API analytics using Elasticsearch, Logstash, and Kibana (ELK stack), which is beneficial for monitoring API traffic and performance

Includes instructions for Docker installation on Windows 10 Professional, but provides references to official documentation for other operating systems, which may require additional effort for some users

Reviews summary

Practical api management with kong 3

According to learners, this course provides a very good introduction to API management using Kong 3 and integrated tools. Students particularly appreciate the hands-on approach and the focus on practical setup and use cases. The course is highlighted for its coverage of not just Kong, but also its integration with tools like ELK Stack, Prometheus, and Grafana for analytics and monitoring. Recent updates to Kong 3 and improved audio have been well-received. While largely clear and concise, some students note that a basic understanding of Docker is beneficial for smooth setup, even though the course covers the essentials. It's seen as highly relevant for IT professionals and developers needing to manage REST APIs efficiently.

Concepts explained in an easy-to-understand manner.

"The instructor explains the concepts of API management and the tools clearly, making complex topics accessible."

"Everything was explained step-by-step, which made it easy to follow along with the practical exercises."

"I found the explanations of different Kong plugins and their use cases very clear and helpful."

Teaches managing APIs with tools, not coding.

"This course is perfect if you want to learn API management tools and best practices without needing to write code."

"I was looking for a course focused on using off-the-shelf API management software, and this delivered exactly that."

"Clearly explained how to use Kong and other tools to manage APIs, which is exactly what I needed for my job."

Course updated to use Kong 3 and latest software versions.

"It's great that the course has been updated to use Kong 3 and the latest versions of the other software."

"The recent updates make the course very current and relevant in today's technology landscape."

"Improved audio quality mentioned in the update notes is noticeable and appreciated."

Goes beyond Kong, includes ELK, Prometheus, Grafana.

"I appreciated the coverage of integrating Kong with Elastic Stack (ELK) for analytics and Prometheus/Grafana for monitoring."

"The inclusion of multiple relevant open-source tools makes this course a valuable resource for API management."

"Learning how to integrate Kong with other systems for monitoring and logging was a major plus for me."

Highly applicable skills for IT careers.

"The skills learned here are directly applicable to modern IT environments and API-driven architectures."

"This course is valuable for anyone working with REST APIs and needing to implement management and monitoring solutions."

"I can immediately apply what I learned about Kong and the other tools in my current role."

Excellent practical labs for learning by doing.

"The hands-on labs using Docker compose configurations for Kong and other tools were instrumental in understanding the concepts."

"I particularly enjoyed the practical setup of Kong with various plugins and the integration with monitoring and analytics tools."

"This course is highly practical, focusing on how to actually set up and use the tools rather than just theory."

Basic Docker knowledge recommended for smoother setup.

"Although the course touches on Docker basics, having some prior experience with Docker makes the setup process much smoother."

"Setting up the environment with Docker required a bit more troubleshooting than expected, especially if you're new to containers."

"The Docker part is crucial for the hands-on, so brush up on Docker basics if you're not familiar."

Activities

Be better prepared before your course. Deepen your understanding during and after it. Supplement your coursework and achieve mastery of the topics covered in REST API Management, Monitoring & Analytics using Kong 3 with these activities:

Review REST API Concepts

Show steps

Solidify your understanding of REST API principles before diving into API management. This will help you better grasp the purpose and functionality of Kong.

Browse courses on REST API

Show steps

Review the different HTTP methods (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE).
Understand the concept of resources and endpoints.
Familiarize yourself with common API response codes.

Practice Docker Fundamentals

Show steps

Gain hands-on experience with Docker to streamline the installation and configuration of Kong and related tools. This will make the course easier to follow and more practical.

Browse courses on Docker Compose

Show steps

Install Docker and Docker Compose on your machine.
Run a simple 'Hello World' container.
Create a Dockerfile for a basic application.

Read 'API Management: An Architect's Guide to Developing and Managing APIs for Your Organization'

Show steps

Expand your understanding of API management principles and strategies. This book will provide a broader context for the tools and techniques covered in the course.

View Putting Knowledge to Work on Amazon

Show steps

Read the chapters on API design and security.
Review the sections on API monetization and governance.
Compare the book's recommendations with the practices demonstrated in the course.

Four other activities

Expand to see all activities and additional details

Show all seven activities

Set up Kong with a Mock API

Show steps

Gain practical experience by configuring Kong to manage a simple mock API. This will reinforce your understanding of Kong's core concepts and features.

Show steps

Create a mock API using a tool like Mockoon or Postman Mock Server.
Configure Kong to route traffic to the mock API.
Apply basic authentication and rate limiting plugins to the API.
Monitor API traffic using Kong's built-in analytics.

Create a Kong Plugin Configuration Guide

Show steps

Deepen your knowledge of Kong plugins by creating a detailed configuration guide for a specific plugin. This will require you to thoroughly understand the plugin's functionality and configuration options.

Show steps

Choose a Kong plugin that interests you.
Research the plugin's functionality and configuration options.
Create a step-by-step guide on how to configure the plugin.
Include screenshots and examples to illustrate the configuration process.
Test your guide to ensure it is accurate and easy to follow.

Read 'Mastering API Architecture'

Show steps

Explore advanced API architecture concepts to enhance your understanding of API management in complex environments. This book will provide insights into designing scalable and resilient APIs.

View Putting Knowledge to Work on Amazon

Show steps

Read the chapters on microservices and event-driven architectures.
Review the sections on API gateways and security patterns.
Consider how these concepts relate to the Kong API gateway.

Contribute to Kong Documentation

Show steps

Deepen your understanding of Kong by contributing to its open-source documentation. This will require you to thoroughly understand Kong's features and functionality.

Show steps

Identify areas in the Kong documentation that need improvement.
Fork the Kong documentation repository on GitHub.
Make your changes and submit a pull request.
Respond to feedback from the Kong community.

Career center

Learners who complete REST API Management, Monitoring & Analytics using Kong 3 will develop knowledge and skills that may be useful to these careers:

API Gateway Engineer

An API Gateway Engineer specializes in designing, implementing, and maintaining API gateways, which are critical for managing and securing APIs. This role requires a deep understanding of API management principles and tools, specifically Kong API Manager. This course provides a strong foundation in using Kong to implement policies, security measures, and traffic control. Moreover, the exploration of other tools like Docker and Prometheus, as introduced in the course, helps the API Gateway Engineer manage and monitor API performance effectively. Hands-on experience with these tools, gained from the course, enables the engineer to build and maintain robust API infrastructures.

See salaries and explore the career path for API Gateway Engineer

Solutions Architect

A Solutions Architect designs and oversees the implementation of technology solutions that address specific business problems. The role involves understanding the broad architectural landscape and selecting appropriate technologies. API management is a critical aspect of modern solutions, and this course helps a Solutions Architect understand how to use Kong API Manager to effectively manage REST APIs. The course's coverage of API analytics using the ELK stack and monitoring with Prometheus and Grafana provides the architect with the knowledge to design solutions that are not only functional but also easily monitored and optimized. This course arms one with the capability to design scalable and secure architectures.

See salaries and explore the career path for Solutions Architect

DevOps Engineer

A DevOps Engineer automates and streamlines software development and deployment processes. This often includes managing APIs and ensuring their reliability and scalability. This course may be useful to learn how to use Kong API Management to manage APIs, implement security policies, and monitor API health. Knowledge of Docker, as introduced in the course, is invaluable for a DevOps Engineer, since containerization is fundamental to modern deployment strategies. The course's focus on API analytics with the ELK stack equips the DevOps Engineer with the ability to identify and resolve performance bottlenecks, streamline deployments, and ensure API uptime. The course helps one manage APIs, security, and monitoring.

See salaries and explore the career path for DevOps Engineer

API Security Specialist

An API Security Specialist focuses on protecting APIs from vulnerabilities and ensuring data privacy. This position requires expertise in security protocols, authentication mechanisms, and threat modeling. This course may be useful to learn how to use Kong to implement various security measures, such as authentication, IP restriction, and bot detection. The course directly addresses the security aspects of API management, and the hands-on examples using Kong provide practical experience in securing APIs against common threats. Such knowledge is essential for any professional looking to specialize in API security, as it provides a foundation in implementing robust security policies and practices.

See salaries and explore the career path for API Security Specialist

API Product Manager

An API Product Manager is responsible for the strategy, roadmap, and lifecycle of APIs as products. This involves understanding market needs, defining API features, and ensuring API quality. While this course focuses on the technical aspects of API management, it provides valuable insights into how APIs can be managed and monitored using tools like Kong API Manager, the ELK stack, and Prometheus. This may be useful to enhance an API Product Manager's understanding of the capabilities and limitations of API management tools, enabling better decision-making regarding API design, security, and analytics. The product manager can leverage this knowledge to prioritize features and improve the overall API product.

See salaries and explore the career path for API Product Manager

Cloud Architect

A Cloud Architect designs and manages an organization's cloud computing strategy. This includes the selection of cloud services, the design of cloud infrastructure, and the management of cloud resources. Given that APIs are fundamental to cloud-based applications and services, this course may be useful to enhance a Cloud Architect's understanding of API management principles and tools. Kong API Manager, Docker, and the ELK stack, as covered in the course, are all relevant technologies in the cloud computing landscape. The architect can use this knowledge to design cloud solutions that are secure, scalable, and easily managed.

See salaries and explore the career path for Cloud Architect

Systems Integrator

A Systems Integrator connects different computing systems and software applications to work together. The emphasis in this role is ensuring seamless data flow and communication between disparate systems. This course may be useful to build a knowledge base around REST API management and monitoring, topics directly relevant to integration projects. This course covers Kong API Management, a tool that manages API functionalities like security, traffic control, monitoring, and load balancing, all essential for handling complex system integrations. Furthermore, the course's exploration of tools like Zipkin, Elasticsearch, Logstash, and Kibana provides a thorough understanding of how to monitor and analyze API traffic across different systems, which is critical for ensuring efficient communication between systems.

See salaries and explore the career path for Systems Integrator

Technical Consultant

A Technical Consultant provides expert advice and guidance to clients on technology-related issues. These professionals often work with APIs to help businesses improve their digital infrastructure and streamline operations. This course may be useful to enhance a Technical Consultant's knowledge of API management, monitoring, and analytics, particularly using Kong API Management. Since the course focuses on tools that are open-source or available in free editions, the consultant could leverage this knowledge to recommend cost-effective API management solutions to clients. This will enable them to provide practical, actionable advice on API strategy and implementation.

See salaries and explore the career path for Technical Consultant

Data Analyst

A Data Analyst examines and interprets data to identify trends and insights that can inform business decisions. This course's may be useful, as it covers API analytics using the ELK stack (Elasticsearch, Logstash, and Kibana), which are powerful tools for analyzing API traffic data. By gaining hands-on experience with these tools through the course, a Data Analyst can extract valuable insights from API data, such as usage patterns, error rates, and performance metrics. This enables them to provide data-driven recommendations for optimizing API performance and improving the overall user experience. The analyst can leverage this knowledge to provide valuable insights to API product managers and development teams.

See salaries and explore the career path for Data Analyst

Network Engineer

A Network Engineer designs, implements, and manages computer networks. With the increasing reliance on APIs for communication between systems, understanding API management becomes relevant. This course may be useful to enhance a Network Engineer's understanding of how APIs are managed and secured using tools like Kong API Manager. Knowledge of traffic control, load balancing, and security measures, as covered in the course, is relevant to network design and management. The engineer could also leverage the course's coverage of monitoring tools like Prometheus and Grafana to monitor API traffic and identify network-related performance issues.

See salaries and explore the career path for Network Engineer

Information Security Analyst

An Information Security Analyst protects an organization's data and systems from cyber threats. This course may be helfpul, as API security is a critical aspect of modern security practices,. The course may help an aspiring Information Security Analyst learn how to use Kong to implement security measures, such as authentication, IP restriction, and bot detection. The course's hands-on examples using Kong provide practical experience in securing APIs against common threats. The analyst can leverage this knowledge to assess and improve the security posture of APIs within the organization.

See salaries and explore the career path for Information Security Analyst

Technical Support Engineer

A Technical Support Engineer provides technical assistance to customers or internal users, diagnosing and resolving technical issues related to software, hardware, and systems. This course may be useful for engineers needing to troubleshoot API-related problems. The skills learned in the course in monitoring tools like Prometheus and Grafana, and API analytics using Elasticsearch, Logstash, and Kibana, will help improve the engineer's ability to diagnose the root cause of API issues, and better understand API traffic. The engineer can leverage this knowledge to resolve issues more efficiently and provide better support.

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Site Reliability Engineer

A Site Reliability Engineer (SRE) focuses on ensuring the reliability, availability, and performance of software systems. This role often involves monitoring and troubleshooting APIs to maintain service levels. This course may provide exposure to API monitoring and analytics using tools like Kong API Manager, Prometheus, and the ELK stack, which helps the SRE monitor API health and performance. The SRE can leverage this knowledge during monitoring and incident response.

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Business Intelligence Analyst

A Business Intelligence Analyst analyzes business data to identify trends and insights that can improve business performance. This role involves extracting, transforming, and loading data from various sources, including APIs. While this course is not directly focused on business intelligence, it may improve the Analyst's understanding of API analytics using the ELK stack, which are powerful tools for analyzing API traffic data. The analyst can leverage extracted data to enhance their analyses and provide a more complete picture of overall business activity.

See salaries and explore the career path for Business Intelligence Analyst

IT Manager

An IT Manager oversees an organization's information technology infrastructure and resources. This includes managing APIs and ensuring their security and reliability. This course provides a background on API management tools like Kong API Manager, Docker, and the ELK stack, which may be useful to help an IT Manager make informed decisions about API strategy and infrastructure. The manager can leverage this knowledge to ensure that the organization's APIs are well-managed and aligned with business goals.

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REST API Management, Monitoring & Analytics using Kong 3

What's inside

Learning objectives

Syllabus

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Reviews summary

Practical api management with kong 3

Activities

Career center

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