2018-08-16 00:44:00 +00:00
|
|
|
---
|
2020-01-18 00:18:09 +00:00
|
|
|
layout: docs
|
|
|
|
page_title: Namespaces - Vault Enterprise
|
|
|
|
description: >-
|
|
|
|
Vault Enterprise has support for Namespaces, a feature to enable Secure
|
|
|
|
Multi-tenancy (SMT) and self-management.
|
2018-08-16 00:44:00 +00:00
|
|
|
---
|
|
|
|
|
2023-07-18 21:07:55 +00:00
|
|
|
# Vault enterprise namespaces
|
2018-08-16 00:44:00 +00:00
|
|
|
|
2023-06-28 16:00:09 +00:00
|
|
|
<Note>
|
2018-08-16 00:44:00 +00:00
|
|
|
|
2023-06-28 16:00:09 +00:00
|
|
|
This feature is available in all versions of [Vault
|
|
|
|
Enterprise](https://www.hashicorp.com/products/vault/).
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
</Note>
|
2020-01-25 00:18:22 +00:00
|
|
|
|
2019-10-14 17:31:03 +00:00
|
|
|
Many organizations implement Vault as a "service", providing centralized
|
2018-08-16 20:38:24 +00:00
|
|
|
management for teams within an organization while ensuring that those teams
|
2020-01-18 00:18:09 +00:00
|
|
|
operate within isolated environments known as _tenants_.
|
2018-08-16 00:44:00 +00:00
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
There are two common challenges when implementing this architecture in Vault:
|
|
|
|
|
2023-06-28 16:00:09 +00:00
|
|
|
- **Tenant isolation**
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Frequently teams within a VaaS environment require strong isolation from other
|
|
|
|
users in their policies, secrets, and identities. Tenant isolation is typically a
|
|
|
|
result of compliance regulations such as [GDPR](https://gdpr.eu/), though it may
|
|
|
|
be necessitated by corporate or organizational infosec requirements.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
- **Self-management**
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
As new tenants are added, there is an additional human cost in the management
|
|
|
|
overhead for teams. Given that tenants will likely have different policies and
|
|
|
|
request changes at a different rate, managing a multi-tenant environment can
|
|
|
|
become very difficult for a single team as the number of tenants within that
|
|
|
|
organization grow.
|
2018-08-16 00:44:36 +00:00
|
|
|
|
2023-06-28 16:00:09 +00:00
|
|
|
'Namespaces' is a set of features within Vault Enterprise that allows Vault
|
|
|
|
environments to support _Secure Multi-tenancy_ (or _SMT_) within a single Vault
|
|
|
|
infrastructure. Through namespaces, Vault administrators can support tenant isolation
|
|
|
|
for teams and individuals as well as empower delegated administrators to manage their
|
|
|
|
own tenant environment.
|
2018-08-16 00:44:00 +00:00
|
|
|
|
2023-06-28 16:00:09 +00:00
|
|
|
## Architecture
|
2018-08-16 00:44:36 +00:00
|
|
|
|
2023-06-28 16:00:09 +00:00
|
|
|
Namespaces are isolated environments that functionally exist as "Vaults within a Vault."
|
|
|
|
They have separate login paths and support creating and managing data isolated to their
|
|
|
|
namespace. This data includes the following:
|
2018-08-16 00:44:00 +00:00
|
|
|
|
2023-06-28 16:00:09 +00:00
|
|
|
- Secret Engines
|
|
|
|
- Auth Methods
|
|
|
|
- ACL, EGP, and RGP Policies
|
|
|
|
- Password Policies
|
|
|
|
- Identities (Entities, Groups)
|
|
|
|
- Tokens
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rather than rely on Vault system admins, namespaces can be managed by delegated admins who
|
|
|
|
can be prescribed administration rights for their namespace. These delegated admins can also
|
|
|
|
create their own child namespaces, thereby prescribing admin rights on a subordinate group
|
|
|
|
of delegate admins.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Child namespaces can share policies from their parent namespaces. For example, a child namespace
|
|
|
|
may refer to parent identities (entities and groups) when writing policies that function only
|
|
|
|
within that child namespace. Similarly, a parent namespace can have policies asserted on child
|
|
|
|
identities. This behavior can be configured using the [group-policy-application](/vault/api-docs/system/config-group-policy-application) API, and
|
|
|
|
can be set to allow policies to be applied irrespective of namespace hierarchy, allowing sharing
|
|
|
|
across any namespace.
|
2019-04-06 16:22:48 +00:00
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
## Usage
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
API operations performed under a namespace can be done by providing the relative
|
|
|
|
request path along with the namespace path using the `X-Vault-Namespace` header.
|
|
|
|
Similarly, the namespace header value can be provided in full or partially when
|
|
|
|
reaching into nested namespaces. When provided partially, the remaining
|
|
|
|
namespace path must be provided in the request path in order to reach into the
|
|
|
|
desired nested namespace.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Alternatively, the fully qualified path can be provided without using the
|
|
|
|
`X-Vault-Namespace` header. In either scenario, Vault will construct the fully
|
|
|
|
qualified path from these two sources to correctly route the request to the
|
|
|
|
appropriate namespace.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
For example, these three requests are equivalent:
|
2020-01-18 00:18:09 +00:00
|
|
|
|
2019-04-06 16:22:48 +00:00
|
|
|
1. Path: `ns1/ns2/secret/foo`
|
|
|
|
2. Path: `secret/foo`, Header: `X-Vault-Namespace: ns1/ns2/`
|
|
|
|
3. Path: `ns2/secret/foo`, Header: `X-Vault-Namespace: ns1/`
|
2018-08-16 00:44:00 +00:00
|
|
|
|
2023-06-28 16:00:09 +00:00
|
|
|
<Tip>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
See the [Commands (CLI) - namespace](/vault/docs/commands/namespace) page to
|
|
|
|
learn more about the `namespace` command and subcommands to create and manage
|
|
|
|
namespaces.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
</Tip>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
## Namespace naming restrictions
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Consider the following namespace name restrictions:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
- Cannot end with `/`
|
|
|
|
- Cannot contain spaces
|
|
|
|
- The `root` is the top-level namespace. You cannot create another namespace
|
|
|
|
named "root" under the `root` namespace
|
2020-10-08 16:46:43 +00:00
|
|
|
|
2023-06-28 16:00:09 +00:00
|
|
|
In addition, the following paths are reserved by Vault so that they cannot be
|
|
|
|
the namespace name.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
- `sys/`
|
|
|
|
- `audit/`
|
|
|
|
- `auth/`
|
|
|
|
- `cubbyhole/`
|
|
|
|
- `identity/`
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<Tip>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Refer to the [Namespace limits section of the Limits and
|
|
|
|
Maximums](/vault/docs/internals/limits#namespace-limits) documentation for the
|
|
|
|
limits associated with the Vault's storage backend.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
To learn more about the recommended approach to structure your namespaces, read
|
|
|
|
the [Vault Namespace and Mount Structuring
|
|
|
|
Guide](/vault/tutorials/enterprise/namespace-structure) tutorial.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
</Tip>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
## Root-only API paths
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
There are certain API paths that can only be called from the **root** namespace:
|
2020-10-08 16:46:43 +00:00
|
|
|
|
2020-12-17 21:53:33 +00:00
|
|
|
- `sys/init`
|
|
|
|
- `sys/leader`
|
|
|
|
- `sys/health`
|
|
|
|
- `sys/metrics`
|
2023-01-09 17:50:16 +00:00
|
|
|
- `sys/config/group-policy-application`
|
2020-12-17 21:53:33 +00:00
|
|
|
- `sys/config/state`
|
|
|
|
- `sys/host-info`
|
|
|
|
- `sys/key-status`
|
|
|
|
- `sys/storage`
|
|
|
|
- `sys/storage/raft`
|
2022-10-11 19:09:29 +00:00
|
|
|
- `sys/quotas`
|
2023-07-11 00:29:58 +00:00
|
|
|
- `sys/plugins`
|
2018-08-16 00:44:00 +00:00
|
|
|
|
2023-06-28 16:00:09 +00:00
|
|
|
## Tutorial
|
2018-08-16 00:44:00 +00:00
|
|
|
|
2023-06-28 16:00:09 +00:00
|
|
|
Refer to the following tutorials to learn more about Vault namespaces:
|
2018-08-16 00:44:00 +00:00
|
|
|
|
2023-06-28 16:00:09 +00:00
|
|
|
- [Secure Multi-Tenancy with Namespaces](/vault/tutorials/enterprise/namespaces)
|
|
|
|
- [Secrets Management Across Namespaces without Hierarchical
|
|
|
|
Relationship](/vault/tutorials/enterprise/namespaces-secrets-sharing)
|
|
|
|
- [Vault Namespace and Mount Structuring
|
|
|
|
Guide](/vault/tutorials/enterprise/namespace-structure)
|
|
|
|
- [HCP Vault namespace
|
|
|
|
considerations](/vault/tutorials/cloud-ops/hcp-vault-namespace-considerations)
|
2018-08-16 00:44:00 +00:00
|
|
|
|
2018-08-30 21:20:14 +00:00
|
|
|
|
2023-06-28 16:00:09 +00:00
|
|
|
## API
|
2018-08-16 00:44:00 +00:00
|
|
|
|
2023-06-28 16:00:09 +00:00
|
|
|
Vault Enterprise namespace has a full HTTP API. Please see the [/sys/namespaces
|
|
|
|
API](/vault/api-docs/system/namespaces) for more details.
|