286 lines
10 KiB
Plaintext
286 lines
10 KiB
Plaintext
---
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layout: docs
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page_title: Connect - Certificate Management
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description: >-
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Consul can be used with Vault to manage and sign certificates. The Vault CA
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provider uses the Vault PKI secrets engine to generate and sign certificates.
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---
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# Vault as a Connect CA
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Consul can be used with [Vault](https://www.vaultproject.io) to
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manage and sign certificates.
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The Vault CA provider uses the
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[Vault PKI secrets engine](https://www.vaultproject.io/docs/secrets/pki)
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to generate and sign certificates.
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This page documents the specifics of the Vault CA provider.
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Please read the [certificate management overview](/docs/connect/ca)
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page first to understand how Consul manages certificates with configurable
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CA providers.
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-> **NOTE**: A Learn [tutorial](https://learn.hashicorp.com/tutorials/consul/vault-pki-consul-connect-ca?in=consul/vault-secure) is available to help you configure Vault as the Consul Connect service mesh Certification Authority.
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## Requirements
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Prior to using Vault as a CA provider for Consul, the following requirements
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must be met:
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- **Vault 0.10.3 or later.** Consul uses URI SANs in the PKI engine which
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were introduced in Vault 0.10.3. Prior versions of Vault are not
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compatible with Connect.
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## Configuration
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The Vault CA is enabled by setting the CA provider to `"vault"` and
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setting the required configuration values.
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The configuration may either be provided in the agent's configuration file using
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the [`ca_provider`] and [`ca_config`] options, or configured using the
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[`/connect/ca/configuration`] API endpoint.
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Example configurations are shown below:
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<CodeTabs heading="Connect CA configuration" tabs={["Agent configuration", "API"]}>
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<CodeBlockConfig filename="/etc/consul.d/config.hcl" highlight="4,6-9">
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```hcl
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# ...
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connect {
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enabled = true
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ca_provider = "vault"
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ca_config {
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address = "http://localhost:8200"
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token = "..."
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root_pki_path = "connect-root"
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intermediate_pki_path = "connect-intermediate"
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}
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}
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```
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</CodeBlockConfig>
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<CodeBlockConfig highlight="2,4-7">
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```json
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{
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"Provider": "vault",
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"Config": {
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"Address": "http://localhost:8200",
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"Token": "<token>",
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"RootPKIPath": "connect-root",
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"IntermediatePKIPath": "connect-intermediate"
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}
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}
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```
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</CodeBlockConfig>
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</CodeTabs>
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The configuration options are listed below.
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-> **NOTE**: The first key is the value used in API calls, and the second key
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(after the `/`) is used if you are adding the configuration to the agent's
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configuration file.
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- `Address` / `address` (`string: <required>`) - The address of the Vault
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server.
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- `Token` / `token` (`string: ""`) - A token for accessing Vault.
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This is write-only and will not be exposed when reading the CA configuration.
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This token must have [proper privileges](#vault-acl-policies) for the PKI
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paths configured. In Consul 1.8.5 and later, if the token has the [renewable](https://www.vaultproject.io/api-docs/auth/token#renewable)
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flag set, Consul will attempt to renew its lease periodically after half the
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duration has expired.
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!> **Warning:** You must either provide a token or configure an auth method below.
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- `AuthMethod` / `auth_method` (`map: nil`) - Vault auth method to use for logging in to Vault.
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Please see [Vault Auth Methods](https://www.vaultproject.io/docs/auth) for more information
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on how to configure individual auth methods. If auth method is provided, Consul will obtain
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a new token from Vault when the token can no longer be renewed.
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- `Type`/ `type` (`string: ""`) - The type of Vault auth method.
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- `MountPath`/ `mount_path` (`string: <AuthMethod.Type>`) - The mount path of the auth method.
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If not provided the auth method type will be used as the mount path.
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- `Params`/`params` (`map: nil`) - The parameters to configure the auth method. Please see
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[Vault Auth Methods](https://www.vaultproject.io/docs/auth) for information on how to configure the
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auth method you wish to use. If using the Kubernetes auth method,
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Consul will read the service account token from the
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default mount path `/var/run/secrets/kubernetes.io/serviceaccount/token` if the `jwt` parameter
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is not provided.
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- `RootPKIPath` / `root_pki_path` (`string: <required>`) - The path to
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a PKI secrets engine for the root certificate.
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If the path does not
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exist, Consul will mount a new PKI secrets engine at the specified path with the
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`RootCertTTL` value as the root certificate's TTL. If the `RootCertTTL` is not set,
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a [`max_lease_ttl`](https://www.vaultproject.io/api/system/mounts#max_lease_ttl)
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of 87600 hours, or 10 years is applied by default as of Consul 1.11 and later. Prior to Consul 1.11,
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the root certificate TTL was set to 8760 hour, or 1 year, and was not configurable.
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The root certificate will expire at the end of the specified period.
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When WAN Federation is enabled, each secondary datacenter must use the same Vault cluster and share the same `root_pki_path`
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with the primary datacenter.
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To use an intermediate certificate as the primary CA in Consul initialize the
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`RootPKIPath` in Vault with a PEM bundle. The first certificate in the bundle
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must be the intermediate certificate that Consul will use as the primary CA.
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The last certificate in the bundle must be a root certificate. The bundle
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must contain a valid chain, where each certificate is followed by the certificate
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that authorized it.
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- `IntermediatePKIPath` / `intermediate_pki_path` (`string: <required>`) -
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The path to a PKI secrets engine for the generated intermediate certificate.
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This certificate will be signed by the configured root PKI path. If this
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path does not exist, Consul will attempt to mount and configure this
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automatically.
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When WAN Federation is enabled, every secondary
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datacenter must specify a unique `intermediate_pki_path`.
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- `CAFile` / `ca_file` (`string: ""`) - Specifies an optional path to the CA
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certificate used for Vault communication. If unspecified, this will fallback
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to the default system CA bundle, which varies by OS and version.
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- `CAPath` / `ca_path` (`string: ""`) - Specifies an optional path to a folder
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containing CA certificates to be used for Vault communication. If
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unspecified, this will fallback to the default system CA bundle, which
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varies by OS and version.
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- `CertFile` / `cert_file` (`string: ""`) - Specifies the path to the
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certificate used for Vault communication. If this is set, then you also need to
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set `key_file`.
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- `KeyFile` / `key_file` (`string: ""`) - Specifies the path to the private
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key used for Vault communication. If this is set, then you also need to set
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`cert_file`.
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- `TLSServerName` / `tls_server_name` (`string: ""`) - Specifies an optional
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string used to set the SNI host when connecting to Vault via TLS.
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- `TLSSkipVerify` / `tls_skip_verify` (`bool: false`) - Specifies if SSL peer
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validation should be enforced.
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- `Namespace` / `namespace` (`string: <optional>`) - The Vault Namespace that
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the `Token` and PKI Certificates are a part of. Vault Namespaces are a Vault
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Enterprise feature. Added in Consul 1.11.0
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@include 'http_api_connect_ca_common_options.mdx'
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## Root and Intermediate PKI Paths
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The Vault CA provider uses two separately configured
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[PKI secrets engines](https://www.vaultproject.io/docs/secrets/pki)
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for managing Connect certificates.
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The `RootPKIPath` is the PKI engine for the root certificate. Consul will
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use this root certificate to sign the intermediate certificate. Consul will
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never attempt to write or modify any data within the root PKI path.
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The `IntermediatePKIPath` is the PKI engine used for storing the intermediate
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signed with the root certificate. The intermediate is used to sign all leaf
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certificates and Consul may periodically generate new intermediates for
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automatic rotation. Therefore, Consul requires write access to this path.
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If either path does not exist, then Consul will attempt to mount and
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initialize it. This requires additional privileges by the Vault token in use.
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If the paths already exist, Consul will use them as configured.
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## Vault ACL Policies
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### Vault Managed PKI Paths
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The following Vault policy allows Consul to use pre-existing PKI paths in Vault.
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Consul is granted read-only access to the PKI mount points and the Root CA, but is
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granted full control of the Intermediate or Leaf CA for Connect clients.
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In this example the `RootPKIPath` is `connect_root` and the `IntermediatePKIPath`
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is `connect_inter`. These values should be updated for your environment.
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<CodeBlockConfig filename="vault-managed-pki-policy.hcl">
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```hcl
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# Existing PKI Mounts
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path "/sys/mounts" {
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capabilities = [ "read" ]
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}
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path "/sys/mounts/connect_root" {
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capabilities = [ "read" ]
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}
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path "/sys/mounts/connect_inter" {
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capabilities = [ "read" ]
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}
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path "/connect_root/" {
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capabilities = [ "read" ]
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}
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path "/connect_root/root/sign-intermediate" {
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capabilities = [ "update" ]
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}
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path "/connect_inter/*" {
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capabilities = [ "create", "read", "update", "delete", "list" ]
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}
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path "auth/token/renew-self" {
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capabilities = [ "update" ]
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}
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path "auth/token/lookup-self" {
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capabilities = [ "read" ]
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}
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```
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</CodeBlockConfig>
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### Consul Managed PKI Paths
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The following Vault policy allows Consul to create and manage the PKI paths in Vault.
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Consul is granted the ability to create the PKI mount points and given full
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control of the Root and Intermediate or Leaf CA for Connect clients.
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In this example the `RootPKIPath` is `connect_root` and the `IntermediatePKIPath`
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is `connect_inter`. These values should be updated for your environment.
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<CodeBlockConfig filename="consul-managed-pki-policy.hcl">
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```hcl
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# Consul Managed PKI Mounts
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path "/sys/mounts" {
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capabilities = [ "read" ]
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}
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path "/sys/mounts/connect_root" {
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capabilities = [ "create", "read", "update", "delete", "list" ]
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}
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path "/sys/mounts/connect_inter" {
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capabilities = [ "create", "read", "update", "delete", "list" ]
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}
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path "/connect_root/*" {
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capabilities = [ "create", "read", "update", "delete", "list" ]
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}
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path "/connect_inter/*" {
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capabilities = [ "create", "read", "update", "delete", "list" ]
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}
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```
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</CodeBlockConfig>
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<!-- Reference style links -->
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[`ca_config`]: /docs/agent/config/agent-config-files#connect_ca_config
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[`ca_provider`]: /docs/agent/config/agent-config-files#connect_ca_provider
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[`/connect/ca/configuration`]: /api-docs/connect/ca#update-ca-configuration
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