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Add documentation for certificate rotation. #5639
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--- | ||
approvers: | ||
- jcbsmpsn | ||
- mikedanese | ||
title: Certificate Rotation | ||
--- | ||
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{% capture overview %} | ||
This page shows how to enable and configure certificate rotation for the kubelet. | ||
{% endcapture %} | ||
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{% capture prerequisites %} | ||
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* Kubernetes version 1.8.0 or later is required | ||
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* Kubelet certificate rotation is beta in 1.8.0 which means it may change without notice. | ||
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{% endcapture %} | ||
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{% capture steps %} | ||
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## Overview | ||
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The kubelet uses certificates for authenticating to the Kubernetes API. By | ||
default, these certificates are issued with one year expiration so that they do | ||
not need to be renewed too frequently. | ||
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Kubernetes 1.8 contains [kubelet certificate | ||
rotation](/docs/tasks/administer-cluster/certificate-rotation/), a beta feature | ||
that will automatically generate a new key and request a new certificate from | ||
the Kubernetes API as the current certificate approaches expiration. Once the | ||
new certificate is available, it will be used for authenticating connections to | ||
the Kubernetes API. | ||
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## Enabling client certificate rotation | ||
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The `kubelet` process accepts an argument `--rotate-certificates` that controls | ||
if the kubelet will automatically request a new certificate as the expiration of | ||
the certificate currently in use approaches. Since certificate rotation is a | ||
beta feature, the feature flag must also be enabled with | ||
`--feature-gates=RotateKubeletClientCertificate=true`. | ||
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The `kube-controller-manager` process accepts an argument | ||
`--experimental-cluster-signing-duration` that controls how long certificates | ||
will be issued for. | ||
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## Understanding the certificate rotation configuration | ||
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When a kubelet starts up, if it is configured to bootstrap (using the | ||
`--bootstrap-kubeconfig` flag), it will use its initial certificate to connect | ||
to the Kubernetes API and issue a certificate signing request. You can view the | ||
There was a problem hiding this comment. Choose a reason for hiding this commentThe reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more. punctuation: When a kubelet starts up, if it is configured to bootstrap (using the `--bootstrap-kubeconfig` flag) There was a problem hiding this comment. Choose a reason for hiding this commentThe reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more. Done. |
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status of certificate signing requests using: | ||
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```sh | ||
kubectl get csr | ||
``` | ||
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Initially a certificate signing request from the kubelet on a node will have a | ||
status of `Pending`. If the certificate signing requests meets specific | ||
criteria, it will be auto approved by the controller manager, then it will have | ||
a status of `Approved`. Next, the controller manager will sign a certificate, | ||
issued for the duration specified by the | ||
`--experimental-cluster-signing-duration` parameter, and the signed certificate | ||
will be attached to the certificate signing requests. | ||
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The kubelet will retrieve the signed certificate from the Kubernetes API and | ||
write that to disk, in the location specified by `--cert-dir`. Then the kubelet | ||
will use the new certificate to connect to the Kubernetes API. | ||
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As the expiration of the signed certificate approaches, the kubelet will | ||
automatically issue a new certificate signing request, using the Kubernetes | ||
API. Again, the controller manager will automatically approve the certificate | ||
request and attach a signed certificate to the certificate signing request. The | ||
kubelet will retrieve the new signed certificate from the Kubernetes API and | ||
write that to disk. Then it will update the connections it has to the | ||
Kubernetes API to reconnect using the new certificate. | ||
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{% endcapture %} | ||
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{% include templates/task.md %} |
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Are we supposed to mention that this feature was available as Alpha in v1.7?
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There was a stability problem with certificate approval in 1.7, and the
--rotate-certificates
option was introduced in 1.8. I would prefer to just document 1.8.