# Lab 4: Config Sync Groups
Type of document: Tutorial
Product: NGINX One Console
---
## Introduction
In this lab, you'll create and manage Config Sync Groups in NGINX One Console. Config Sync Groups keep your NGINX instances in sync with a shared configuration. You'll create a group, add instances, apply a shared config, and fix sync errors.
---
## What you'll learn
By the end of this lab, you can:
- Create a Config Sync Group
- Add instances to a Config Sync Group
- Update the shared configuration for a Config Sync Group
---
## Before you begin
Make sure you have:
- All labs require an **F5 Distributed Cloud (XC) account** with NGINX One enabled. If you don’t have an account or need to verify access, follow the steps in [Lab 1: Before you begin](/nginx-one-console/workshops/lab1/getting-started-with-nginx-one-console.md#before-you-begin).
- Completed [Lab 2: Run workshop components with Docker](/nginx-one-console/workshops/lab2/run-workshop-components-with-docker.md)
- Docker and Docker Compose installed and running
- Set these environment variables:
- **TOKEN**: your data plane key, for example:
```shell
export TOKEN="your-data-plane-key"
```
- **JWT**: your NGINX Plus license JWT. Save it as `nginx-repo.jwt`, then run:
```shell
export JWT=$(cat path/to/nginx-repo.jwt)
```
- **NAME**: a unique ID for your workshop (for example, `s.jobs`):
```shell
export NAME="s.jobs"
```
- Basic familiarity with Linux command line and NGINX concepts
---
## Exercise 1: Create a Config Sync Group
A Config Sync Group lets you apply one configuration to multiple NGINX instances and keep them in sync.
1. In NGINX One Console, select **Manage > Config Sync Groups**.
2. In the **Config Sync Groups** pane, select **Add Config Sync Group**.
3. In the form, enter `$NAME-sync-group` in the **Name** field (for example, `s.jobs-sync-group`).
4. Select **Create**. The new group appears with **Details** and **Configuration** tabs.
- The **Details** tab shows:
- Object ID
- Last publication status and config version ID
- Config Sync Status (for example, Unknown)
- Instance status counts (In Sync, Out of Sync, Offline, Unavailable)
5. Switch to the **Configuration** tab to view your group's configuration files. It's empty for now. You'll add one in Exercise 2.
---
## Exercise 2: Add instances to the Config Sync Group
**Note:**
You can mix NGINX Open Source and NGINX Plus instances in one group. Any config feature you use must work on every instance. If you need NGINX Plus-only features, create a separate group.
When you create a Config Sync Group, it has no shared config. You can add one in two ways:
- **Define config manually**: Select your group, go to the **Configuration** tab, then select **Edit Configuration**. Add or paste your NGINX config, select **Next**, review the diff, and select **Save and Publish**.
- **Populate from first instance**: Add one NGINX instance. The console uses that instance's existing config as the group's shared config.
### Populate group config from first instance
1. Select **Manage > Config Sync Groups**.
2. Select your `$NAME-sync-group` (for example, `s.jobs-sync-group`).
3. On the **Details** tab, in the **Instances** pane, select **Add Instance to Config Sync Group**.
4. Select **Register a new instance with NGINX One then add to config sync group**, then select **Next**.
5. Select **Use existing key** and paste `$TOKEN` (or your actual data plane key) into the **Data Plane Key** box.
6. Select the **Docker Container** tab. The tab shows sample commands. Copy them and modify as follows.
7. **Log in to the private registry:**
```shell
echo "$JWT" \
| docker login private-registry.nginx.com \
--username "$JWT" --password-stdin
```
8. **Pull a Docker image** (replace version as needed). You can select a specific NGINX Plus version, OS type, and OS version. Here, use the R31 Alpine image:
```shell
docker pull private-registry.nginx.com/nginx-plus/agent:nginx-plus-r31-alpine-3.19-20240522
```
See [Pulling the image](nginx/admin-guide/installing-nginx/installing-nginx-docker.md#pull-the-image) for details.
9. **Run the container**. Copy the `docker run` command from the user interface and modify it:
- Replace `YOUR_JWT_HERE` in `--env NGINX_LICENSE_JWT` with `$JWT`
- Replace `YOUR_DATA_PLANE_KEY` in `--env NGINX_AGENT_SERVER_TOKEN` with `$TOKEN`
- Add `--hostname "$NAME-one-manual"` and `--name "$NAME-one-manual"`
- Ensure `--env NGINX_AGENT_INSTANCE_GROUP="$NAME-sync-group"` is set
```shell
docker run \
--hostname "$NAME-one-manual" \
--name "$NAME-one-manual" \
--env NGINX_LICENSE_JWT="$JWT" \
--env NGINX_AGENT_SERVER_GRPCPORT=443 \
--env NGINX_AGENT_SERVER_HOST=agent.connect.nginx.com \
--env NGINX_AGENT_SERVER_TOKEN="$TOKEN" \
--env NGINX_AGENT_INSTANCE_GROUP="$NAME-sync-group" \
--env NGINX_AGENT_TLS_ENABLE=true \
--restart always \
--runtime runc \
-d private-registry.nginx.com/nginx-plus/agent:nginx-plus-r31-alpine-3.19-20240522
```
10. In the **Config Sync Groups** pane, select **Refresh**. The new instance appears and the shared config populates. The first instance added becomes the default config source.
11. Select the **Configuration** tab to view the shared config.
### Add instances using Docker Compose
Instead of registering containers manually, you can set the sync group in your Compose file and restart all containers.
1. Stop the running containers:
```shell
docker compose down
```
2. Open `compose.yaml` in a text editor.
3. Uncomment the lines beginning with:
```yaml
NGINX_AGENT_INSTANCE_GROUP: $NAME-sync-group
```
4. Restart all containers:
```shell
docker compose up --force-recreate -d
```
5. In NGINX One Console, select **Refresh**. Instances with `NGINX_AGENT_INSTANCE_GROUP` set appear in the Config Sync Group.
6. Instances automatically sync the existing NGINX config. When sync finishes, the **Config Sync Status** shows `In Sync`.
---
## Exercise 3: Edit the group config and sync changes
Modify the shared configuration and apply the changes to all group members.
1. Select **Manage > Config Sync Groups**, then choose `$NAME-sync-group` (for example, `s.jobs-sync-group`).
2. Select the **Configuration** tab.
3. Select **Edit Configuration** (pencil icon).
4. In the file list, select `default.conf`.
5. In the editor pane, add these lines at 21–24:
```yaml
location /test_header {
add_header X-Test-App true;
return 200 'HTTP/1.1 200 OK\nContent-Type: text/html\n\nWelcome to Lab 4 of the NGINX One Console Workshop!';
}
```
The file is marked **modified** and the validator shows **NGINX Config OK**.
6. Select **Next**, review the diff, then select **Save and Publish**.
7. Select the **Details** tab and confirm **Last Publication Status** shows **Succeeded**.
8. In the **Instances** table, confirm each host shows **Config Sync Status = In Sync**.
9. Test your change by curling any instance's HTTP endpoint. Replace `` and `` with the values from the Instances table (for example, `localhost:80`):
```shell
curl http://localhost:80/test_header
```
You should see:
```text
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type: text/html
Welcome to Lab 4 of the NGINX One Console Workshop!
```
---
## Next steps
You're ready to install your NGINX Plus license (JWT) on each instance. This will let you upgrade them to NGINX R34.
Go to [Lab 5: Upgrade NGINX Plus to the latest version](/nginx-one-console/workshops/lab5/upgrade-nginx-plus-to-latest-version.md).
---
## References
- [NGINX One Console docs](/nginx-one-console/)