WSO2 API Manager Deployment Overview

WSO2 API Manager (WSO2 APIM) offers a flexible and componentized deployment architecture that supports diverse scalability, availability, and security requirements. The platform can be deployed in various patterns—from simple, all-in-one setups to fully distributed, production-grade environments—adapting seamlessly to organizational needs.

Note

From WSO2 API Manager 4.5.0 onwards, we no longer support API-M profiles such as, -Dprofile=control-plane, -Dprofile=gateway-worker and -Dprofile=traffic-manager. Instead, we now have separate distributions namely, WSO2 API Control Plane, WSO2 Universal Gateway and WSO2 Traffic Manager components which should be used for configuring a distributed deployment. For alternative deployment options, please refer the table below. See more information in Key Changes.

New Deployment Alternatives

Previous Deployment Pattern	New Deployment Alternative
	All-in-one	API Control Plane (ACP)	Universal Gateway	Traffic Manager	Key Manager of ACP
All-in-one	✓
Control Plane + Gateway	✓		✓
Control Plane + Gateway + Traffic Manager		✓	✓	✓
Control Plane + Gateway + Key Manager	✓		✓		✓
Control Plane + Gateway + Traffic Manager + Key Manager		✓	✓	✓	✓

Deployment Options

Deploy on VM

The WSO2 API Manager can be deployed on virtual machines (VMs) using the provided product packs. The deployment can be done in various patterns, depending on your requirements. For comprehensive instructions, refer to the VM Deployment Guide.

Deploy on Kubernetes

The Helm charts include cloud provider-specific configurations for:

• AWS (EKS, EFS, RDS, Secrets Manager)
• Azure (AKS, Azure Files, Azure Database, Key Vault)
• GCP (GKE, GCS, Cloud SQL, Secret Manager)

For comprehensive instructions, refer to the K8s Deployment Guide.

Deploy on OpenShift

• Note: Default Helm chart configurations are intended for Kubernetes deployment.
• If you are deploying on OpenShift, additional configurations are required for both Docker images and the deployment process. For comprehensive instructions, refer to the OpenShift Deployment Guide.

Available Deployment Patterns

Pattern 0: API-M Deployment with All-in-One Setup

• Description: Simple deployment with a single API Manager node handling all functionality
• Use Case: Suitable for development environments or small-scale deployments with low traffic; not recommended for production use.
• Components: Single API-M node with all functionality
• Guides:
  • Deploy on VM
  • Deploy on Kubernetes

Pattern 1: API-M Deployment with All-in-One HA Setup

• Description: High availability deployment with multiple API Manager nodes in active-active configuration
• Use Case: Production environments requiring high availability but with moderate traffic
• Components: Multiple API-M nodes with all functionality in each node
• Guides:
  • Deploy on VM
  • Deploy on Kubernetes

Pattern 2: API-M Deployment with Simple Scalable Setup

• Description: Deployment with separate gateway nodes and a control plane
• Use Case: Environments with higher API traffic needing gateway scalability
• Components: All-in-one, Universal Gateways
• Guides:
  • Deploy on Kubernetes

Pattern 3: Distributed API-M Deployment with Gateway and Traffic Manager Separated from the Control Plane (Recommended)

• Description: Distributed deployment with separate API Control Plane, Traffic Manager, and Gateway components
• Use Case: Production environments with high traffic needing component-level scalability
• Components: API Control Plane (ACP), Traffic Manager (TM), Universal Gateway (GW)
• Guides:
  • Deploy on VM
  • Deploy on Kubernetes

Pattern 4: API-M Deployment with Fully Distributed Setup

• Description: Fully distributed deployment with separate Key Manager component
• Use Case: Large-scale production environments with complex security requirements
• Components: API Control Plane (ACP), Traffic Manager (TM), Universal Gateway (GW), Key Manager (KM)
• Guides:
  • Deploy on VM
  • Deploy on Kubernetes

Pattern 5: API-M Deployment with Simple Scalable Setup with Key Manager Separated

• Description: Deployment with separate Gateway and Key Manager components
• Use Case: Environments focusing on API security with dedicated Key Manager component
• Components: All-in-one, Universal Gateway, Key Manager
• Guides:
  • Deploy on Kubernetes

Pattern 6: API-M Deployment with IS as Key Manager

• Description: Deployment with WSO2 Identity Server (IS) as the Key Manager
• Use Case: Using WSO2 Identity Server as third-party Key Manager for API Manager
• Components: All-in-one, WSO2 Identity Server
• Guides:
  • Deploy on VM
  • Deploy on Kubernetes