New to KubeVault? Please start here.
Manage Apache Ignite credentials using the KubeVault operator
OpenBao’s ignite-database-plugin is a dynamic-credentials database plugin for Apache Ignite. It connects via Ignite’s thin client binary protocol (default port 10800) to execute CREATE USER / ALTER USER / DROP USER SQL DDL statements, so IgniteRole.spec.creationStatements is a list of Ignite SQL DDL statements with {{name}} and {{password}} placeholders, and credentials are issued dynamically through a SecretAccessRequest.
The same CRD shape is used both for the in-process ignite-database-plugin and for the hub-spoke remote-ignite-plugin; the difference is whether the Vault AppBinding referenced by SecretEngine.spec.vaultRef is marked deploymentMode: RemoteAgent (then the SecretEngine controller rewrites plugin_name to remote-ignite-plugin and attaches spoke_name).
You need to be familiar with the following CRDs:
Before you begin
- Install KubeVault operator in your cluster from here.
- Run an Apache Ignite cluster the operator can reach over the network. The plugin requires Ignite 2.5+ with persistence enabled and
authenticationEnabled=truein the cluster configuration (see https://ignite.apache.org/docs/latest/security/authentication). Without persistence, Ignite refuses to enable authentication.
$ kubectl create ns demo
namespace/demo created
Vault Server
Deploy a Vault Server using the KubeVault operator: Deploy Vault Server. The KubeVault operator will create an AppBinding wiring up Kubernetes auth.
$ kubectl get appbinding -n demo vault -o yaml
AppBinding for Apache Ignite
Create an AppBinding pointing at the Ignite thin client endpoint. The URL specifies the thin client binary address (e.g. tcp://ignite.demo.svc:10800); the referenced Secret carries the username and password the plugin uses to authenticate against the thin client endpoint as the administrative principal.
apiVersion: appcatalog.appscode.com/v1alpha1
kind: AppBinding
metadata:
name: ignite
namespace: demo
spec:
clientConfig:
url: tcp://ignite.demo.svc:10800
secret:
kind: Secret
name: ignite-cred
---
apiVersion: v1
kind: Secret
metadata:
name: ignite-cred
namespace: demo
type: kubernetes.io/basic-auth
stringData:
username: ignite
password: ignite
Enable and Configure Apache Ignite Secret Engine
When a SecretEngine crd object is created, the KubeVault operator will enable a secret engine on a specified path and configure the secret engine with the given configuration.
A sample SecretEngine for Apache Ignite:
apiVersion: engine.kubevault.com/v1alpha1
kind: SecretEngine
metadata:
name: ignite-engine
namespace: demo
spec:
vaultRef:
name: vault
ignite:
databaseRef:
name: ignite
namespace: demo
pluginName: ignite-database-plugin # optional; this is the default
allowedRoles:
- "*"
Apply it and wait for STATUS=Success:
$ kubectl apply -f ignite-engine.yaml
secretengine.engine.kubevault.com/ignite-engine created
$ kubectl get secretengines -n demo
NAME STATUS AGE
ignite-engine Success 10s
Use kubectl describe secretengine -n demo ignite-engine to inspect error events, if any.
Unlike SQL-driver based engines (Postgres, MySQL, HanaDB), the Ignite configuration intentionally omits maxOpenConnections / maxIdleConnections / maxConnectionLifetime because the REST API does not expose connection-pool tuning knobs.
Create an IgniteRole
An IgniteRole describes how the plugin should mint a dynamic credential. Each entry in creationStatements is an Ignite SQL DDL statement, executed in sequence with the {{name}} and {{password}} placeholders substituted at credential-issue time.
apiVersion: engine.kubevault.com/v1alpha1
kind: IgniteRole
metadata:
name: ignite-app
namespace: demo
spec:
secretEngineRef:
name: ignite-engine
creationStatements:
- CREATE USER "{{name}}" WITH PASSWORD '{{password}}';
revocationStatements:
- DROP USER "{{name}}";
defaultTTL: 1h
maxTTL: 24h
Apply and verify:
$ kubectl apply -f ignite-role.yaml
igniterole.engine.kubevault.com/ignite-app created
$ kubectl get igniterole -n demo
NAME STATUS AGE
ignite-app Success 12s
The role name in Vault follows the format k8s.{clusterName}.{metadata.namespace}.{metadata.name}, so you can verify directly with the Vault CLI:
$ vault read your-database-path/roles/k8s.-.demo.ignite-app
Key Value
--- -----
creation_statements [CREATE USER "{{name}}" WITH PASSWORD '{{password}}';]
db_name k8s.-.demo.ignite
default_ttl 1h
max_ttl 24h
revocation_statements [DROP USER "{{name}}";]
Deleting the IgniteRole removes the role from Vault.
Issue Apache Ignite credentials
Request a dynamic credential by creating a SecretAccessRequest:
apiVersion: engine.kubevault.com/v1alpha1
kind: SecretAccessRequest
metadata:
name: ignite-cred-rqst
namespace: demo
spec:
roleRef:
kind: IgniteRole
name: ignite-app
subjects:
- kind: ServiceAccount
name: demo-sa
namespace: demo
Approve it through the KubeVault CLI:
$ kubectl vault approve secretaccessrequest ignite-cred-rqst -n demo
approved
Once approved, the operator issues the credential, stores it in a Secret, and binds the listed subjects via a Role/RoleBinding. The credential lives on the lease until you delete the SecretAccessRequest or it expires.
$ kubectl get secretaccessrequest ignite-cred-rqst -n demo -o json | jq '.status'
{
"lease": {
"duration": "1h0m0s",
"id": "your-database-path/creds/k8s.-.demo.ignite-app/abc...",
"renewable": true
},
"secret": {
"name": "ignite-cred-rqst-xxxxxx"
}
}
$ kubectl get secret -n demo ignite-cred-rqst-xxxxxx -o jsonpath='{.data.username}' | base64 -d
V_KUBERNETES_DEMO_XXXXXXXX
$ kubectl get secret -n demo ignite-cred-rqst-xxxxxx -o jsonpath='{.data.password}' | base64 -d
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Use the issued username / password to authenticate to the Ignite cluster (via thin client or JDBC); the credential is revoked when the SecretAccessRequest is deleted (the plugin runs revocationStatements, or falls back to a sensible DROP USER if you didn’t set any).
Further reading
- Apache Ignite authentication docs: https://ignite.apache.org/docs/latest/security/authentication
- OpenBao Apache Ignite plugin: https://github.com/sigilr/openbao/pull/14