A Big Change for Ingress Is Here and Kong Has Your Back

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Hey there,

If you have been around for the last couple of weeks, you might have heard that Ingress NGINX is no longer going to be maintained, but what does that mean?

Well, for you and me who run Kubernetes, this means our favorite ingress controller will no longer receive updates, patches, or accept pull requests. In other words, it has been axed.

Despite being used everywhere, the project was maintained by a very small team working during their personal time, after hours, and on weekends. Then, earlier this year, a critical vulnerability called "IngressNightmare" allowed remote code execution and potential cluster takeovers. 

That was the wake-up call.

The Kubernetes community recognized that the old Ingress spec had fundamental limitations and has been pushing the Gateway API as the path forward. It’s more expressive, role-oriented, and actually designed for how we build cloud-native apps today.

In a nutshell, Gateway API provides a modular, expressive way to manage application traffic. It supports multiple workloads, including HTTP and RPC (like gRPC), and clearly separates roles between infrastructure, operations, and application teams. Features such as header matching, traffic splitting, and typed routes come built-in. 

Gateway API project represents the next generation of Kubernetes Ingress, Load Balancing, and Service Mesh APIs.

There are several resources that make up the Gateway API, and how you interact with Kubernetes determines how you interact with it. 

If you’ve been considering the migration, you’ll know that it isn’t as simple as changing a class name in your ingress specs, especially if you use custom annotations and complex configurations.

But fret not! 

Transitioning from Ingress NGINX doesn't have to be complex. Kong developed ingress2gateway, an open-source tool built specifically for this shift.​

It scans your existing Ingress NGINX resources from files or live clusters and produces equivalent Gateway API objects such as GatewayClass, Gateway, and HTTPRoute.

The conversion process covers both simple and advanced configurations, giving you ready-to-apply manifests that cut down on manual rewriting and lower the chances of errors.

This sets the stage for the next part of the migration experience.

Here at EverythingDevOps, we’ve been digging into ingress controllers that maintain a similar feel to Ingress NGINX. 

That's where Kong Gateway shines. It delivers the production features you expect: rate limiting, authentication, and advanced traffic policies, through a battle-tested plugin system that's been refined over the years.​

Built on the same NGINX foundation many teams already know, Kong bridges the gap between your current setup and Gateway API without forcing a complete rewrite. This familiarity, plus forward-looking Gateway API support, is why it tops our list.​ 

With Kong Operator, you can run your new Gateway API resources alongside existing Ingress deployments. Dual API support lets you test Gateway API traffic without disrupting services that still rely on Ingress.

You can migrate services gradually while staying aligned with Kubernetes API deprecation schedules, keeping security and stability intact throughout the transition.

Full lifecycle support with Kong Konnect

Kong Operator works seamlessly with Kong Konnect ( the APIs, LLMs, events, and microservices unifier) to bring Kubernetes native operations and full API lifecycle management together. 

You get clear visibility, an easy way to share APIs with developers, and simple tools to keep ownership and usage organized.

Kong’s focus on the Gateway API gives you a stable path forward while your existing Ingress setup stays fully supported.

Ingress NGINX enters best effort maintenance until March 2026, so it is a good time to start planning your move. Want to explore Kong Gateway for your team? Visit Kong to learn more about their migration tools and dual-support strategy.

A quick overview of notable updates across the Kubernetes networking and Ingress landscape.

Survey Surfaces Myriad Kubernetes Networking Challenges - Insights into the most common networking and security challenges teams face in Kubernetes environments.

Critical Ingress NGINX Controller Vulnerability Allows RCE Without Authentication - Emphasizes the risks for clusters still running vulnerable versions.

Ingress NGINX Retirement: What You Need to Know - Explore the end of Ingress NGINX, its challenges, and recommended migration paths.

Farewell Ingress NGINX: A Better Path Forward with Kong - See how Kong helps teams move from Ingress to Gateway API with minimal disruption.

And it’s a wrap!

See you Friday for the week’s news, upcoming events, and opportunities.

If you found this helpful, share this link with a colleague or fellow DevOps engineer.

Divine Odazie
Founder of EverythingDevOps