Skip to main content

Configuration Model

You've seen that DataPower is a graph of objects living inside domains. This lesson covers how you actually create and manage that configuration, and the crucial difference between the running configuration and the persisted one.

Ways to configure a gateway​

  • WebGUI — the browser-based console. Best for learning and ad-hoc work; you can see the object model.
  • CLI — a command-line interface over SSH (or serial on the appliance). Organised into configuration modes per object type. Great for scripting and precise control.
  • REST management interface — modern, JSON-based API for automation and CI/CD. Preferred for declarative, pipeline-driven deployment.
  • SOAP/XML management (SOMA / AMP) — the older programmatic interface; still widely used by tooling.

All of these manipulate the same underlying objects.

Running config vs. persisted config​

This is the single most important operational concept in this lesson:

  • The running configuration is what's live in memory right now. Changes take effect immediately as you make them.
  • The persisted (startup) configuration is what's written to disk and reloaded on restart.

Changes are not automatically saved. If you configure a service and the gateway restarts before you save, your changes are gone.

Save your config

After making changes you want to keep, Save Configuration (WebGUI) or write memory (CLI). Make this a habit — especially in the labs.

Promoting configuration between environments​

Because configuration is object-based and domain-scoped, you can move it cleanly:

  • Export a domain (or selected objects) to a config package.
  • Import it into another domain or device.
  • Use deployment policies to rewrite environment-specific values (hostnames, ports, credentials) during import — so the same package promotes from dev to prod without manual editing.

This export/import + deployment-policy flow is the backbone of DataPower CI/CD, which we revisit in Config Management.

Knowledge Check

You configured a new service in the WebGUI but did not save. The gateway restarts. What happens?

Which interface is best suited for declarative, CI/CD-driven automation of DataPower?