# Use Manifests to install NGINX Gateway Fabric (experimental) with NGINX Plus

Type of document: How-to guide
Product: NGINX Gateway Fabric

---


This page describes how to use Manifests to install NGINX Gateway Fabric (experimental) with NGINX Plus.

It explains how to install the Gateway API resources and add authentication certificates, then deploy NGINX Gateway Fabric and its custom resource definitions.

Using experimental NGINX Gateway Fabric versions allows to test API resources from upcoming releases as outlined by the [Milestone Roadmap](https://github.com/orgs/nginx/projects/10/views/5).

By following these instructions, you will finish with a functional NGINX Gateway Fabric instance for your Kubernetes cluster.

**Note:**  

To learn which Gateway API resources NGINX Gateway Fabric currently supports, view the [Gateway API Compatibility](/ngf/overview/gateway-api-compatibility.md) topic.

## Before you begin

To complete this guide, you will need the following pre-requisites:

- An active NGINX Plus subscription (Purchased or trial)
- [A supported Kubernetes version](/ngf/overview/technical-specifications.md)
- A functional Kubernetes cluster

## Download your JSON web token

1. Log in to [MyF5](https://my.f5.com/manage/s/).
2. Go to **My Products & Plans > Subscriptions** to see your active subscriptions.
3. Find your NGINX products or services subscription, and select the **Subscription ID** for details.
4. Download the **JSON Web Token (JWT)** from the subscription page.

**Note:**  The Connectivity Stack for Kubernetes JWT does not work with NGINX Plus reporting. A regular NGINX Plus instance JWT must be used.

## Create license and registry secrets

First, create the _nginx-gateway_ namespace, which is used by the Manifest files by default:

```shell
kubectl create namespace nginx-gateway
```

**Note:** 

The commands in the rest of this document should be run in the same directory as your **license.jwt** file.

JWTs are sensitive information and should be stored securely. Delete them after use to prevent unauthorized access.

Once you have obtained your license JWT, create a Kubernetes secret using `kubectl create`:

```shell
kubectl create  -n nginx-gateway secret generic nplus-license --from-file license.jwt
```

Then create another Kubernetes secret to allow interactions with the F5 registry:

```shell
kubectl create -n nginx-gateway secret docker-registry nginx-plus-registry-secret \
  --docker-server=private-registry.nginx.com \
  --docker-username=$(cat license.jwt) \
  --docker-password=none
```

You can verify the creation of the secrets using `kubectl get`:

```shell
kubectl get -n nginx-gateway secrets
```

#### Example output

```text
NAME                         TYPE                             DATA   AGE
nginx-plus-registry-secret   kubernetes.io/dockerconfigjson   1      8s
nplus-license                Opaque                           1      21s
```

## Install the Gateway API resources

**Note:**  

If you have already installed Gateway API resources in your cluster, ensure they are a version [supported by NGINX Gateway Fabric](/ngf/overview/technical-specifications.md) 

To install API resources from the experimental channel, use `kubectl kustomize`:

```shell
kubectl kustomize "https://github.com/nginx/nginx-gateway-fabric/config/crd/gateway-api/experimental?ref=v" | kubectl apply --server-side -f -
```

#### Example output

```text
customresourcedefinition.apiextensions.k8s.io/backendtlspolicies.gateway.networking.k8s.io serverside-applied
customresourcedefinition.apiextensions.k8s.io/gatewayclasses.gateway.networking.k8s.io serverside-applied
customresourcedefinition.apiextensions.k8s.io/gateways.gateway.networking.k8s.io serverside-applied
customresourcedefinition.apiextensions.k8s.io/grpcroutes.gateway.networking.k8s.io serverside-applied
customresourcedefinition.apiextensions.k8s.io/httproutes.gateway.networking.k8s.io serverside-applied
customresourcedefinition.apiextensions.k8s.io/referencegrants.gateway.networking.k8s.io serverside-applied
customresourcedefinition.apiextensions.k8s.io/tcproutes.gateway.networking.k8s.io serverside-applied
customresourcedefinition.apiextensions.k8s.io/tlsroutes.gateway.networking.k8s.io serverside-applied
customresourcedefinition.apiextensions.k8s.io/udproutes.gateway.networking.k8s.io serverside-applied
customresourcedefinition.apiextensions.k8s.io/xbackendtrafficpolicies.gateway.networking.x-k8s.io serverside-applied
customresourcedefinition.apiextensions.k8s.io/xlistenersets.gateway.networking.x-k8s.io serverside-applied
```

## Install cert-manager

Install cert-manager onto the cluster using Helm with Gateway API features enabled.

- Add the Helm repository.

  ```shell
  helm repo add jetstack https://charts.jetstack.io
  helm repo update
  ```

- Install cert-manager, and enable the GatewayAPI feature gate:

  ```shell
  helm install \
    cert-manager jetstack/cert-manager \
    --namespace cert-manager \
    --create-namespace \
    --set config.apiVersion="controller.config.cert-manager.io/v1alpha1" \
    --set config.kind="ControllerConfiguration" \
    --set config.enableGatewayAPI=true \
    --set crds.enabled=true
  ```

## Add certificates for secure authentication

**Note:**  These steps use a self-signed issuer, which should not be used in production environments. For production environments, you should use a real [CA issuer](https://cert-manager.io/docs/configuration/ca/). 

First, create a CA (certificate authority) issuer:

```yaml
kubectl apply -f - <<EOF
apiVersion: cert-manager.io/v1
kind: Issuer
metadata:
  name: selfsigned-issuer
  namespace: nginx-gateway
spec:
  selfSigned: {}
---
apiVersion: cert-manager.io/v1
kind: Certificate
metadata:
  name: nginx-gateway-ca
  namespace: nginx-gateway
spec:
  isCA: true
  commonName: nginx-gateway
  secretName: nginx-gateway-ca
  privateKey:
    algorithm: RSA
    size: 2048
  issuerRef:
    name: selfsigned-issuer
    kind: Issuer
    group: cert-manager.io
---
apiVersion: cert-manager.io/v1
kind: Issuer
metadata:
  name: nginx-gateway-issuer
  namespace: nginx-gateway
spec:
  ca:
    secretName: nginx-gateway-ca
EOF
```

#### Example output

```text
issuer.cert-manager.io/selfsigned-issuer created
Warning: spec.privateKey.rotationPolicy: In cert-manager >= v1.18.0, the default value changed from `Never` to `Always`.
certificate.cert-manager.io/nginx-gateway-ca created
issuer.cert-manager.io/nginx-gateway-issuer created
```

You will then need to create a server certificate for the NGINX Gateway Fabric control plane (server):

**Note:** 

The default service name is _nginx-gateway_, and the namespace is _nginx-gateway_, so the `dnsNames` value should be `nginx-gateway.nginx-gateway.svc`.

This value becomes the name of the NGINX Gateway Fabric control plane service.

```yaml {hl_lines=[13]}
kubectl apply -f - <<EOF
apiVersion: cert-manager.io/v1
kind: Certificate
metadata:
  name: nginx-gateway
  namespace: nginx-gateway
spec:
  secretName: server-tls
  usages:
  - digital signature
  - key encipherment
  dnsNames:
  - ngf-nginx-gateway-fabric.nginx-gateway.svc
  issuerRef:
    name: nginx-gateway-issuer
EOF
```

Since the TLS Secrets are mounted into each pod that uses them, the NGINX agent (client) Secret is duplicated by the NGINX Gateway Fabric control plane into whichever namespace NGINX is deployed into.

All updates to the source Secret are propagated to the duplicate Secrets. 

Add the certificate for the NGINX agent (client):

```yaml
kubectl apply -f - <<EOF
apiVersion: cert-manager.io/v1
kind: Certificate
metadata:
  name: nginx
  namespace: nginx-gateway
spec:
  secretName: agent-tls
  usages:
  - "digital signature"
  - "key encipherment"
  dnsNames:
  - "*.cluster.local"
  issuerRef:
    name: nginx-gateway-issuer
EOF
```

`agent-tls` is the default name: if you use a different name, provide it when installing NGINX Gateway Fabric with the `agent-tls-secret` argument.

You should see the Secrets created in the `nginx-gateway` namespace:

```shell
kubectl -n nginx-gateway get secrets
```

#### Example output

```text
agent-tls          kubernetes.io/tls   3      3s
nginx-gateway-ca   kubernetes.io/tls   3      15s
server-tls         kubernetes.io/tls   3      8s
```

## Deploy the custom resource definitions

Deploy the NGINX Gateway Fabric CRDs using `kubectl apply`:

```shell
kubectl apply --server-side -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nginx/nginx-gateway-fabric/v/deploy/crds.yaml
```

#### Example output

```text
customresourcedefinition.apiextensions.k8s.io/authenticationfilters.gateway.nginx.org serverside-applied
customresourcedefinition.apiextensions.k8s.io/clientsettingspolicies.gateway.nginx.org serverside-applied
customresourcedefinition.apiextensions.k8s.io/nginxgateways.gateway.nginx.org serverside-applied
customresourcedefinition.apiextensions.k8s.io/nginxproxies.gateway.nginx.org serverside-applied
customresourcedefinition.apiextensions.k8s.io/observabilitypolicies.gateway.nginx.org serverside-applied
customresourcedefinition.apiextensions.k8s.io/proxysettingspolicies.gateway.nginx.org serverside-applied
customresourcedefinition.apiextensions.k8s.io/ratelimitpolicies.gateway.nginx.org serverside-applied
customresourcedefinition.apiextensions.k8s.io/snippetsfilters.gateway.nginx.org serverside-applied
customresourcedefinition.apiextensions.k8s.io/snippetspolicies.gateway.nginx.org serverside-applied
customresourcedefinition.apiextensions.k8s.io/upstreamsettingspolicies.gateway.nginx.org serverside-applied
```

## Deploy NGINX Gateway Fabric

By default, NGINX Gateway Fabric is installed in the **nginx-gateway** namespace.

If you want to deploy it in another namespace, you must modify the Manifest files.

**Note:**  By default, NGINX Gateway Fabric watches all namespaces. To limit the namespaces that it watches, add `--watch-namespaces=x,y,z` to the Deployment arguments, specifying the names of your namespaces. 

```shell
kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nginx/nginx-gateway-fabric/v/deploy/experimental-nginx-plus/deploy.yaml
```

#### Example output

```text
namespace/nginx-gateway configured
serviceaccount/nginx-gateway created
serviceaccount/nginx-gateway-cert-generator created
role.rbac.authorization.k8s.io/nginx-gateway-cert-generator created
clusterrole.rbac.authorization.k8s.io/nginx-gateway created
rolebinding.rbac.authorization.k8s.io/nginx-gateway-cert-generator created
clusterrolebinding.rbac.authorization.k8s.io/nginx-gateway created
service/nginx-gateway created
deployment.apps/nginx-gateway created
job.batch/nginx-gateway-cert-generator created
gatewayclass.gateway.networking.k8s.io/nginx created
nginxgateway.gateway.nginx.org/nginx-gateway-config created
nginxproxy.gateway.nginx.org/nginx-gateway-proxy-config created
```

## Verify the deployment

To confirm that NGINX Gateway Fabric is running, check the pods in the `nginx-gateway` namespace:

```shell
kubectl get pods -n nginx-gateway
```

The output should look similar to this (The pod name will include a unique string):

```text
NAME                             READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
nginx-gateway-694897c587-bbz62       1/1     Running     0          29s
```

## Access NGINX Gateway Fabric

When NGINX Gateway Fabric is installed, it provisions a ClusterIP Service used only for internal communication between the control plane and data planes. 

To deploy NGINX itself and get a LoadBalancer Service, you should follow the [Deploy a Gateway for data plane instances](/ngf/install/deploy-data-plane.md) instructions.

## Next steps

- [Deploy a Gateway for data plane instances](/ngf/install/deploy-data-plane.md)
- [Routing traffic to applications](/ngf/traffic-management/basic-routing.md)
- [Secure traffic using Let's Encrypt](/ngf/traffic-security/integrate-cert-manager.md)