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The Tyk Identity Broker (TIB) is configured through two files: The configuration file tib.conf and the profiles file profiles.json. TIB can also be managed via the TIB REST API for automated configurations.

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The tib.conf file

{
 "Secret": "test-secret",
 "ProfileDir": "path-to-backup-directory",
 "HttpServerOptions": {
   "UseSSL": true,
   "CertFile": "./certs/server.pem",
   "KeyFile": "./certs/server.key"
 },
 "BackEnd": {
   "Name": "in_memory",
   "IdentityBackendSettings": {
     "Hosts" : {
         "localhost": "6379"
     },
     "Username": "",
     "Password": "",
     "Database": 0,
     "EnableCluster": false,
     "MaxIdle": 1000,
     "MaxActive": 2000,
 "UseSSL": false,
 "SSLInsecureSkipVerify": false
   }
 },
 "TykAPISettings": {
   "GatewayConfig": {
     "Endpoint": "http://{GATEWAY-DOMAIN}",
     "Port": "8080",
     "AdminSecret": "352d20ee67be67f6340b4c0605b044b7"
   },
     "DashboardConfig": {
       "Endpoint": "http://{DASHBOARD-DOMAIN}",
       "Port": "3000",
       "AdminSecret": "12345"
   }
 }
}

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Omitting the configuration file

From TIB v1.3.1, the environment variable TYK_IB_OMITCONFIGFILE is provided to allow the configuration file to be omitted (ignored) when configuring TIB. If set to TRUE, then TIB will ignore any provided configuration file and set its parameters according to environment variables. TIB will fall back to the default value for any parameters not set in an environment variable. This is particularly useful when using Docker, as this option will ensure that TIB will load the configuration via env vars and not expect a configuration file.

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Environment Variable Type Mapping

When configuring Tyk components using environment variables, it’s important to understand how different data types are represented. The type of each variable is based on its definition in the Go source code. This section provides a guide on how to format values for common data types.
Go TypeEnvironment Variable FormatExample
stringA regular string of text.TYK_GW_SECRET="mysecret"
int, int64A whole number.TYK_GW_LISTENPORT=8080
booltrue or false.TYK_GW_USEDBAPPCONFIG=true
[]stringA comma-separated list of strings.TYK_PMP_PUMPS_STDOUT_FILTERS_SKIPPEDAPIIDS="api1,api2,api3"
map[string]stringA comma-separated list of key:value pairs.TYK_GW_GLOBALHEADERS="X-Tyk-Test:true,X-Tyk-Version:1.0"
map[string]interface{}A JSON string representing the object.TYK_GW_POLICIES_POLICYSOURCE_CONFIG='{"connection_string": "..."}'
For complex types like map[string]interface{}, the value should be a valid JSON string. For []string and map[string]string, ensure there are no spaces around the commas unless they are part of the value itself.
The various options for tib.conf file are:

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Secret

ENV: TYK_IB_SECRET
Type: string
 The REST API secret to configure the Tyk Identity Broker remotely.

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ProfileDir

ENV: TYK_IB_PROFILEDIR
Type: string
 Directory where the backup files will be stored. Backups files are created each time that a create, update or delete action is performed over any profile (and profiles are being read from a file not from mongo, in which case it will create a new document in the profiles_backup collection).

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HttpServerOptions.UseSSL

ENV: TYK_IB_HTTPSERVEROPTIONS_USESSL
Type: bool
 Set this to true to turn on SSL for the server, this is highly recommended.

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HttpServerOptions.KeyFile

ENV: TYK_IB_HTTPSERVEROPTIONS_KEYFILE
Type: string
 The path to the key file for this server, required for SSL.

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HttpServerOptions.CertFile

ENV: TYK_IB_HTTPSERVEROPTIONS_CERTFILE
Type: string
 The path to the certificate file for this server, required for SSL.

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BackEnd

TIB is quite modular and different back-ends can be generated quite easily. By default, TIB will store profile configurations in memory, which does not require any new configuration. For Identity Handlers that provide token-based access, it is possible to enforce a “One token per provider, per user” policy, which keeps a cache of tokens assigned to identities in Redis, this is so that the broker can be scaled and share the cache across instances. Since profiles are unlikely to change often, profiles are kept in-memory, but can be added, removed and modified using an API for automated setups if required.

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BackEnd.IdentityBackendSettings.Database

ENV: TYK_IB_BACKEND_IDENTITYBACKENDSETTINGS_DATABASE
Type: int
 If you are using multiple databases (not supported in Redis cluster), let TIB know which DB to use for Identity caching.

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BackEnd.IdentityBackendSettings.Username

ENV: TYK_IB_BACKEND_IDENTITYBACKENDSETTINGS_USERNAME
Type: string
 The username for Redis AUTH, if used (recommended).

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BackEnd.IdentityBackendSettings.Password

ENV: TYK_IB_BACKEND_IDENTITYBACKENDSETTINGS_PASSWORD
Type: string
 The password for your Redis AUTH Username.

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BackEnd.IdentityBackendSettings.Hosts

ENV: TYK_IB_BACKEND_IDENTITYBACKENDSETTINGS_HOSTS
Type: map[string]string
 Add your Redis hosts here as a map of hostname:port. Since TIB uses the same cluster driver as Tyk, it is possible to have TIB interact with your existing Redis cluster if you enable it.
To set this value via env var you must follow the declaration syntax export TYK_IB_BACKEND_IDENTITYBACKENDSETTINGS_HOSTS="host1:port,host2:port"

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BackEnd.IdentityBackendSettings.MaxIdle

ENV: TYK_IB_BACKEND_IDENTITYBACKENDSETTINGS_MAXIDLE
Type: int
 Max idle connections to Redis.

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BackEnd.IdentityBackendSettings.MaxActive

ENV: TYK_IB_BACKEND_IDENTITYBACKENDSETTINGS_MAXACTIVE
Type: int
 Max active Redis connections.

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BackEnd.IdentityBackendSettings.EnableCluster

ENV: TYK_IB_BACKEND_IDENTITYBACKENDSETTINGS_ENABLECLUSTER
Type: bool
 If you are using Redis cluster, enable it here to enable the slots mode.

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BackEnd.IdentityBackendSettings.UseSSL

ENV: TYK_IB_BACKEND_IDENTITYBACKENDSETTINGS_USESSL
Type: bool
 If you are using a TLS protected Redis enable to connect.
This option is available from TIB v0.4.0

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BackEnd.IdentityBackendSettings.SSLInsecureSkipVerify

ENV: TYK_IB_BACKEND_IDENTITYBACKENDSETTINGS_SSLINSECURESKIPVERIFY
Type: bool
 Allows usage of self-signed certificates when connecting to an encrypted Redis database.
This option is available from TIB v0.4.0

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Storage

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Storage.storage_type

ENV: TYK_IB_STORAGE_STORAGE_TYPE
Type: string
 Configures the storage backend for TIB profiles. By default, profiles are loaded from the file specified by the -p flag. Set storage_type to mongo to load profiles from MongoDB instead. 
{
  "Storage": {
    "storage_type": "mongo",
    "mongo": {
      "mongo_url": "mongodb://localhost:27017",
      "db_name": "tib"
    }
  }
}

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Storage.mongo.mongo_url

ENV: TYK_IB_STORAGE_MONGO_MONGO_URL
Type: string
 The MongoDB connection string.

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Storage.mongo.db_name

ENV: TYK_IB_STORAGE_MONGO_DB_NAME
Type: string
 The MongoDB database name to use for profile storage.

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Storage.mongo.mongo_use_ssl

ENV: TYK_IB_STORAGE_MONGO_MONGO_USE_SSL
Type: bool
 Set to true to enable TLS for the MongoDB connection. TIB will verify the server certificate against system CAs.

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Storage.mongo.mongo_ssl_insecure_skip_verify

ENV: TYK_IB_STORAGE_MONGO_MONGO_SSL_INSECURE_SKIP_VERIFY
Type: bool
 Set to true to skip TLS certificate verification. Not recommended for production.

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Storage.mongo.driver

ENV: TYK_IB_STORAGE_MONGO_DRIVER
Type: string
 The MongoDB driver to use. Valid values: mongo-go (default) or mgo.

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Storage.mongo.session_consistency

ENV: TYK_IB_STORAGE_MONGO_SESSION_CONSISTENCY
Type: string
 The MongoDB session consistency level.

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Storage.mongo.direct_connection

ENV: TYK_IB_STORAGE_MONGO_DIRECT_CONNECTION
Type: bool
 Set to true to connect directly to a single MongoDB host, bypassing replica set discovery.

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TykAPISettings

This section enables you to configure the API credentials for the various Tyk Components TIB is interacting with.

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TykAPISettings.GatewayConfig.Endpoint

ENV: TYK_IB_TYKAPISETTINGS_GATEWAYCONFIG_ENDPOINT
Type: string
 The hostname of the Tyk Gateway (this is for token generation purposes).

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TykAPISettings.GatewayConfig.Port

ENV: TYK_IB_TYKAPISETTINGS_GATEWAYCONFIG_PORT
Type: string
 The port to use on the Tyk Gateway host.
For HTTP or HTTPS endpoints, you do not need to specify the default ports (80 and 443) for this setting. These two ports are handled automatically.

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TykAPISettings.GatewayConfig.AdminSecret

ENV: TYK_IB_TYKAPISETTINGS_GATEWAYCONFIG_ADMINSECRET
Type: string
 The API secret for the Tyk Gateway REST API.

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TykAPISettings.DashboardConfig.Endpoint

ENV: TYK_IB_TYKAPISETTINGS_DASHBOARDCONFIG_ENDPOINT
Type: string
 The hostname of your Dashboard (Advanced API).

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TykAPISettings.DashboardConfig.Port

ENV: TYK_IB_TYKAPISETTINGS_DASHBOARDCONFIG_PORT
Type: string
 The port of your Advanced API.

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TykAPISettings.DashboardConfig.AdminSecret

ENV: TYK_IB_TYKAPISETTINGS_DASHBOARDCONFIG_ADMINSECRET
Type: string
 The high-level secret for the Advanced API. This is required because of the SSO-nature of some of the actions provided by TIB, it requires the capability to access a special SSO endpoint in the Advanced API to create one-time tokens for access.