215 lines
13 KiB
Plaintext
215 lines
13 KiB
Plaintext
---
|
|
layout: docs
|
|
page_title: Connect - Certificate Management
|
|
sidebar_title: Certificate Management
|
|
description: An overview of the Connect Certificate Authority mechanisms.
|
|
---
|
|
|
|
# Connect Certificate Management
|
|
|
|
Certificate management in Connect is done centrally through the Consul
|
|
servers using the configured CA (Certificate Authority) provider. A CA provider
|
|
manages root and intermediate certificates and performs certificate signing
|
|
operations. The Consul leader orchestrates CA provider operations as necessary,
|
|
such as when a service needs a new certificate or during CA rotation events.
|
|
|
|
The CA provider abstraction enables Consul to support multiple systems for
|
|
storing and signing certificates. Consul ships with a
|
|
[built-in CA](/docs/connect/ca/consul) which generates and stores the
|
|
root certificate and private key on the Consul servers. Consul also has
|
|
built-in support for
|
|
[Vault as a CA](/docs/connect/ca/vault). With Vault, the root certificate
|
|
and private key material remain with the Vault cluster. A future version of
|
|
Consul will support pluggable CA systems using external binaries.
|
|
|
|
## CA Bootstrapping
|
|
|
|
CA initialization happens automatically when a new Consul leader is elected
|
|
as long as
|
|
[Connect is enabled](/docs/connect/configuration#enable-connect-on-the-cluster)
|
|
and the CA system hasn't already been initialized. This initialization process
|
|
will generate the initial root certificates and setup the internal Consul server
|
|
state.
|
|
|
|
For the initial bootstrap, the CA provider can be configured through the
|
|
[Agent configuration](/docs/agent/options#connect_ca_config). After
|
|
initialization, the CA can only be updated through the
|
|
[Update CA Configuration API endpoint](/api/connect/ca#update-ca-configuration).
|
|
If a CA is already initialized, any changes to the CA configuration in the
|
|
agent configuration file (including removing the configuration completely)
|
|
will have no effect.
|
|
|
|
If no specific provider is configured when Connect is enabled, the built-in
|
|
Consul CA provider will be used and a private key and root certificate will
|
|
be generated automatically.
|
|
|
|
## Viewing Root Certificates
|
|
|
|
Root certificates can be queried with the
|
|
[list CA Roots endpoint](/api/connect/ca#list-ca-root-certificates).
|
|
With this endpoint, you can see the list of currently trusted root certificates.
|
|
When a cluster first initializes, this will only list one trusted root. Multiple
|
|
roots may appear as part of
|
|
[rotation](#).
|
|
|
|
```bash
|
|
$ curl http://localhost:8500/v1/connect/ca/roots
|
|
{
|
|
"ActiveRootID": "31:6c:06:fb:49:94:42:d5:e4:55:cc:2e:27:b3:b2:2e:96:67:3e:7e",
|
|
"TrustDomain": "36cb52cd-4058-f811-0432-6798a240c5d3.consul",
|
|
"Roots": [
|
|
{
|
|
"ID": "31:6c:06:fb:49:94:42:d5:e4:55:cc:2e:27:b3:b2:2e:96:67:3e:7e",
|
|
"Name": "Consul CA Root Cert",
|
|
"SerialNumber": 7,
|
|
"SigningKeyID": "19:45:8b:30:a1:45:84:ae:23:52:db:8d:1b:ff:a9:09:db:fc:2a:72:39:ae:da:11:53:f4:37:5c:de:d1:68:d8",
|
|
"ExternalTrustDomain": "a1499528-fbf6-df7b-05e5-ae81e1873fc4",
|
|
"NotBefore": "2018-06-06T17:35:25Z",
|
|
"NotAfter": "2028-06-03T17:35:25Z",
|
|
"RootCert": "-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----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\nvC6jWPuqqMwmAiEAkvMadtwjtNU7m/AQRJrj1LeG3eXw7dWO8SlI2fEs0yY=\n-----END CERTIFICATE-----\n",
|
|
"IntermediateCerts": null,
|
|
"Active": true,
|
|
"PrivateKeyType": "",
|
|
"PrivateKeyBits": 0,
|
|
"CreateIndex": 8,
|
|
"ModifyIndex": 8
|
|
}
|
|
]
|
|
}
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
## CA Configuration
|
|
|
|
After initialization, the CA provider configuration can be viewed with the
|
|
[Get CA Configuration API endpoint](/api/connect/ca#get-ca-configuration).
|
|
Consul will filter sensitive values from this endpoint depending on the
|
|
provider in use, so the configuration may not be complete.
|
|
|
|
```bash
|
|
$ curl http://localhost:8500/v1/connect/ca/configuration
|
|
{
|
|
"Provider": "consul",
|
|
"Config": {
|
|
"LeafCertTTL": "72h",
|
|
"RotationPeriod": "2160h",
|
|
"IntermediateCertTTL": "8760h"
|
|
},
|
|
"CreateIndex": 5,
|
|
"ModifyIndex": 5
|
|
}
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
The CA provider can be reconfigured using the
|
|
[Update CA Configuration API endpoint](/api/connect/ca#update-ca-configuration).
|
|
Specific options for reconfiguration can be found in the specific
|
|
CA provider documentation in the sidebar to the left.
|
|
|
|
## Root Certificate Rotation
|
|
|
|
Whenever the CA's configuration is updated in a way that causes the root key to
|
|
change, a special rotation process will be triggered in order to smoothly
|
|
transition to the new certificate. This rotation is automatically orchestrated
|
|
by Consul.
|
|
|
|
~> If the current CA Provider doesn't support cross-signing, this process can't
|
|
be followed. See [Forced Rotation Without
|
|
Cross-Signing](#forced-rotation-without-cross-signing).
|
|
|
|
This also automatically occurs when a completely different CA provider is
|
|
configured (since this changes the root key). Therefore, this automatic rotation
|
|
process can also be used to cleanly transition between CA providers. For example,
|
|
updating Connect to use Vault instead of the built-in CA.
|
|
|
|
During rotation, an intermediate CA certificate is requested from the new root,
|
|
which is then cross-signed by the old root. This cross-signed certificate is
|
|
then distributed alongside any newly-generated leaf certificates used by the
|
|
proxies once the new root becomes active, and provides a chain of trust back to
|
|
the old root certificate in the event that a certificate signed by the new root
|
|
is presented to a proxy that has not yet updated its bundle of trusted root CA
|
|
certificates to include the new root.
|
|
|
|
After the cross-signed certificate has been successfully generated and the new root
|
|
certificate or CA provider has been set up, the new root becomes the active one
|
|
and is immediately used for signing any new incoming certificate requests.
|
|
|
|
If we check the [list CA roots
|
|
endpoint](/api/connect/ca#list-ca-root-certificates) after updating the
|
|
configuration with a new root certificate, we can see both the old and new root
|
|
certificates are present, and the currently active root has an intermediate
|
|
certificate which has been generated and cross-signed automatically by the old
|
|
root during the rotation process:
|
|
|
|
```bash
|
|
$ curl localhost:8500/v1/connect/ca/roots
|
|
{
|
|
"ActiveRootID": "d2:2c:41:94:1e:50:04:ea:86:fc:08:d6:b0:45:a4:af:8a:eb:76:a0",
|
|
"TrustDomain": "36cb52cd-4058-f811-0432-6798a240c5d3.consul",
|
|
"Roots": [
|
|
{
|
|
"ID": "31:6c:06:fb:49:94:42:d5:e4:55:cc:2e:27:b3:b2:2e:96:67:3e:7e",
|
|
"Name": "Consul CA Root Cert",
|
|
"SerialNumber": 7,
|
|
"SigningKeyID": "19:45:8b:30:a1:45:84:ae:23:52:db:8d:1b:ff:a9:09:db:fc:2a:72:39:ae:da:11:53:f4:37:5c:de:d1:68:d8",
|
|
"ExternalTrustDomain": "a1499528-fbf6-df7b-05e5-ae81e1873fc4",
|
|
"NotBefore": "2018-06-06T17:35:25Z",
|
|
"NotAfter": "2028-06-03T17:35:25Z",
|
|
"RootCert": "-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----\nMIICmDCCAj6gAwIBAgIBBzAKBggqhkjOPQQDAjAWMRQwEgYDVQQDEwtDb25zdWwg\nQ0EgNzAeFw0xODA2MDYxNzM1MjVaFw0yODA2MDMxNzM1MjVaMBYxFDASBgNVBAMT\nC0NvbnN1bCBDQSA3MFkwEwYHKoZIzj0CAQYIKoZIzj0DAQcDQgAEgo09lpx63bHw\ncSXeeoSpHpHgyzX1Q8ewJ3RUg6Ie8Howbs/QBz1y/kGxsF35HXij3YrqhgQyPPx4\nbQ8FH2YR4aOCAXswggF3MA4GA1UdDwEB/wQEAwIBhjAPBgNVHRMBAf8EBTADAQH/\nMGgGA1UdDgRhBF8xOTo0NTo4YjozMDphMTo0NTo4NDphZToyMzo1MjpkYjo4ZDox\nYjpmZjphOTowOTpkYjpmYzoyYTo3MjozOTphZTpkYToxMTo1MzpmNDozNzo1Yzpk\nZTpkMTo2ODpkODBqBgNVHSMEYzBhgF8xOTo0NTo4YjozMDphMTo0NTo4NDphZToy\nMzo1MjpkYjo4ZDoxYjpmZjphOTowOTpkYjpmYzoyYTo3MjozOTphZTpkYToxMTo1\nMzpmNDozNzo1YzpkZTpkMTo2ODpkODA/BgNVHREEODA2hjRzcGlmZmU6Ly8zNmNi\nNTJjZC00MDU4LWY4MTEtMDQzMi02Nzk4YTI0MGM1ZDMuY29uc3VsMD0GA1UdHgEB\n/wQzMDGgLzAtgiszNmNiNTJjZC00MDU4LWY4MTEtMDQzMi02Nzk4YTI0MGM1ZDMu\nY29uc3VsMAoGCCqGSM49BAMCA0gAMEUCIHl6UDdouw8Fzn/oDHputAxt3UFbVg/U\nvC6jWPuqqMwmAiEAkvMadtwjtNU7m/AQRJrj1LeG3eXw7dWO8SlI2fEs0yY=\n-----END CERTIFICATE-----\n",
|
|
"IntermediateCerts": null,
|
|
"Active": false,
|
|
"PrivateKeyType": "",
|
|
"PrivateKeyBits": 0,
|
|
"CreateIndex": 8,
|
|
"ModifyIndex": 24
|
|
},
|
|
{
|
|
"ID": "d2:2c:41:94:1e:50:04:ea:86:fc:08:d6:b0:45:a4:af:8a:eb:76:a0",
|
|
"Name": "Consul CA Root Cert",
|
|
"SerialNumber": 16238269036752183483,
|
|
"SigningKeyID": "",
|
|
"ExternalTrustDomain": "a1499528-fbf6-df7b-05e5-ae81e1873fc4",
|
|
"NotBefore": "2018-06-06T17:37:03Z",
|
|
"NotAfter": "2028-06-03T17:37:03Z",
|
|
"RootCert": "-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----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\n-----END CERTIFICATE-----",
|
|
"IntermediateCerts": [
|
|
"-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----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\nAiEAwKBzEMcLd5kCBgFHNGyksRAMh/AGdEW859aL6z0u4gM=\n-----END CERTIFICATE-----\n"
|
|
],
|
|
"Active": true,
|
|
"PrivateKeyType": "",
|
|
"PrivateKeyBits": 0,
|
|
"CreateIndex": 24,
|
|
"ModifyIndex": 24
|
|
}
|
|
]
|
|
}
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
The old root certificate will be automatically removed once enough time has elapsed
|
|
for any leaf certificates signed by it to expire.
|
|
|
|
### Forced Rotation Without Cross-Signing
|
|
|
|
If the CA provider that is currently in use does not support cross-signing, then
|
|
attempts to change the root key or CA provider will fail. This is to ensure
|
|
operators don't make the change without understanding that there is additional
|
|
risk involved.
|
|
|
|
It is possible to force the change to happen anyway by setting the
|
|
`ForceWithoutCrossSigning` field in the CA configuration to `true`.
|
|
|
|
The downside is that all new certificates will immediately start being signed
|
|
with the new root key, but it will take some time for agents throughout the
|
|
cluster to observe the root CA change and reconfigure applications and proxies
|
|
to accept certificates signed by this new root. This will mean connections made
|
|
with a new certificate may fail for a short period after the CA change.
|
|
|
|
Typically all connected agents will have observed the new roots within seconds
|
|
even in a large deployment so the impact should be contained. But it is possible
|
|
for a disconnected, overloaded or misconfigured agent to not see the new root
|
|
for an unbounded amount of time during which new connections to services on that
|
|
host will fail. The issue will resolve as soon as the agent can reconnect to
|
|
servers.
|
|
|
|
Currently both Consul and Vault CA providers _do_ support cross signing. As more
|
|
providers are added this documentation will list any that this section applies
|
|
to.
|