Encrypting etcd data

About etcd encryption

By default, etcd data is not encrypted in OKD. You can enable etcd encryption for your cluster to provide an additional layer of data security. For example, it can help protect the loss of sensitive data if an etcd backup is exposed to the incorrect parties.

When you enable etcd encryption, the following OpenShift API server and Kubernetes API server resources are encrypted:

  • Secrets

  • Config maps

  • Routes

  • OAuth access tokens

  • OAuth authorize tokens

When you enable etcd encryption, encryption keys are created. These keys are rotated on a weekly basis. You must have these keys in order to restore from an etcd backup.

Keep in mind that etcd encryption only encrypts values, not keys. This means that resource types, namespaces, and object names are unencrypted.

Enabling etcd encryption

You can enable etcd encryption to encrypt sensitive resources in your cluster.

It is not recommended to take a backup of etcd until the initial encryption process is complete. If the encryption process has not completed, the backup might be only partially encrypted.

Prerequisites

  • Access to the cluster as a user with the cluster-admin role.

Procedure

  1. Modify the APIServer object:

    1. $ oc edit apiserver

  2. Set the encryption field type to aescbc:

    1. spec:
    2.   encryption:
    3.     type: aescbc (1)
    1The aescbc type means that AES-CBC with PKCS#7 padding and a 32 byte key is used to perform the encryption.

  3. Save the file to apply the changes.

    The encryption process starts. It can take 20 minutes or longer for this process to complete, depending on the size of your cluster.

  4. Verify that etcd encryption was successful.

    1. Review the Encrypted status condition for the OpenShift API server to verify that its resources were successfully encrypted:

      1. $ oc get openshiftapiserver -o=jsonpath='{range .items[0].status.conditions[?(@.type=="Encrypted")]}{.reason}{"\n"}{.message}{"\n"}'

      The output shows EncryptionCompleted upon successful encryption:

      1. EncryptionCompleted
      2. All resources encrypted: routes.route.openshift.io, oauthaccesstokens.oauth.openshift.io, oauthauthorizetokens.oauth.openshift.io

      If the output shows EncryptionInProgress, this means that encryption is still in progress. Wait a few minutes and try again.

    2. Review the Encrypted status condition for the Kubernetes API server to verify that its resources were successfully encrypted:

      1. $ oc get kubeapiserver -o=jsonpath='{range .items[0].status.conditions[?(@.type=="Encrypted")]}{.reason}{"\n"}{.message}{"\n"}'

      The output shows EncryptionCompleted upon successful encryption:

      1. EncryptionCompleted
      2. All resources encrypted: secrets, configmaps

      If the output shows EncryptionInProgress, this means that encryption is still in progress. Wait a few minutes and try again.

Disabling etcd encryption

You can disable encryption of etcd data in your cluster.

Prerequisites

  • Access to the cluster as a user with the cluster-admin role.

Procedure

  1. Modify the APIServer object:

    1. $ oc edit apiserver

  2. Set the encryption field type to identity:

    1. spec:
    2.   encryption:
    3.     type: identity (1)
    1The identity type is the default value and means that no encryption is performed.

  3. Save the file to apply the changes.

    The decryption process starts. It can take 20 minutes or longer for this process to complete, depending on the size of your cluster.

  4. Verify that etcd decryption was successful.

    1. Review the Encrypted status condition for the OpenShift API server to verify that its resources were successfully decrypted:

      1. $ oc get openshiftapiserver -o=jsonpath='{range .items[0].status.conditions[?(@.type=="Encrypted")]}{.reason}{"\n"}{.message}{"\n"}'

      The output shows DecryptionCompleted upon successful decryption:

      1. DecryptionCompleted
      2. Encryption mode set to identity and everything is decrypted

      If the output shows DecryptionInProgress, this means that decryption is still in progress. Wait a few minutes and try again.

    2. Review the Encrypted status condition for the Kubernetes API server to verify that its resources were successfully decrypted:

      1. $ oc get kubeapiserver -o=jsonpath='{range .items[0].status.conditions[?(@.type=="Encrypted")]}{.reason}{"\n"}{.message}{"\n"}'

      The output shows DecryptionCompleted upon successful decryption:

      1. DecryptionCompleted
      2. Encryption mode set to identity and everything is decrypted

      If the output shows DecryptionInProgress, this means that decryption is still in progress. Wait a few minutes and try again.