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Often a scaler will require authentication or secrets and config to check for events.
KEDA provides a few secure patterns to manage authentication flows:
- Configure authentication per
ScaledObject - Re-use per-namespace credentials or delegate authentication with
TriggerAuthentication - Re-use global credentials with
ClusterTriggerAuthentication
Defining secrets and config maps on ScaledObject
Some metadata parameters will not allow resolving from a literal value, and will instead require a reference to a secret, config map, or environment variable defined on the target container.
💡 TIP: If creating a deployment yaml that references a secret, be sure the secret is created before the deployment that references it, and the scaledObject after both of them to avoid invalid references.
Example
If using the RabbitMQ scaler, the host parameter may include passwords so is required to be a reference. You can create a secret with the value of the host string, reference that secret in the deployment, and map it to the ScaledObject metadata parameter like below:
apiVersion: v1
kind: Secret
metadata:
name: {secret-name}
data:
{secret-key-name}: YW1xcDovL3VzZXI6UEFTU1dPUkRAcmFiYml0bXEuZGVmYXVsdC5zdmMuY2x1c3Rlci5sb2NhbDo1Njcy #base64 encoded per secret spec
---
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
name: {deployment-name}
namespace: default
labels:
app: {deployment-name}
spec:
selector:
matchLabels:
app: {deployment-name}
template:
metadata:
labels:
app: {deployment-name}
spec:
containers:
- name: {deployment-name}
image: {container-image}
envFrom:
- secretRef:
name: {secret-name}
---
apiVersion: keda.sh/v1alpha1
kind: ScaledObject
metadata:
name: {scaled-object-name}
namespace: default
spec:
scaleTargetRef:
name: {deployment-name}
triggers:
- type: rabbitmq
metadata:
queueName: hello
host: {secret-key-name}
queueLength : '5'
If you have multiple containers in a deployment, you will need to include the name of the container that has the references in the ScaledObject. If you do not include a envSourceContainerName it will default to the first container. KEDA will attempt to resolve references from secrets, config maps, and environment variables of the container.
The downsides
While this method works for many scenarios, there are some downsides:
- Difficult to efficiently share auth config across
ScaledObjects - No support for referencing a secret directly, only secrets that are referenced by the container
- No support for other types of authentication flows such as pod identity where access to a source could be acquired with no secrets or connection strings
For these and other reasons, we also provide a TriggerAuthentication resource to define authentication as a separate resource to a ScaledObject. This allows you to reference secrets directly, configure to use pod identity or use authentication object managed by a different team.
Re-use credentials and delegate auth with TriggerAuthentication
TriggerAuthentication allows you to describe authentication parameters separate from the ScaledObject and the deployment containers. It also enables more advanced methods of authentication like “pod identity”, authentication re-use or allowing IT to configure the authentication.
apiVersion: keda.sh/v1alpha1
kind: TriggerAuthentication
metadata:
name: {trigger-authentication-name}
namespace: default # must be same namespace as the ScaledObject
spec:
podIdentity:
provider: none | azure | azure-workload | aws-eks | aws-kiam | gcp # Optional. Default: none
identityId: <identity-id> # Optional. Only used by azure & azure-workload providers.
secretTargetRef: # Optional.
- parameter: {scaledObject-parameter-name} # Required.
name: {secret-name} # Required.
key: {secret-key-name} # Required.
env: # Optional.
- parameter: {scaledObject-parameter-name} # Required.
name: {env-name} # Required.
containerName: {container-name} # Optional. Default: scaleTargetRef.envSourceContainerName of ScaledObject
hashiCorpVault: # Optional.
address: {hashicorp-vault-address} # Required.
namespace: {hashicorp-vault-namespace} # Optional. Default is root namespace. Useful for Vault Enterprise
authentication: token | kubernetes # Required.
role: {hashicorp-vault-role} # Optional.
mount: {hashicorp-vault-mount} # Optional.
credential: # Optional.
token: {hashicorp-vault-token} # Optional.
serviceAccount: {path-to-service-account-file} # Optional.
secrets: # Required.
- parameter: {scaledObject-parameter-name} # Required.
key: {hashicorp-vault-secret-key-name} # Required.
path: {hashicorp-vault-secret-path} # Required.
azureKeyVault: # Optional.
vaultUri: {key-vault-address} # Required.
podIdentity: # Optional. Required when using pod identity.
provider: azure | azure-workload # Required.
identityId: <identity-id> # Optional
credentials: # Optional. Required when not using pod identity.
clientId: {azure-ad-client-id} # Required.
clientSecret: # Required.
valueFrom: # Required.
secretKeyRef: # Required.
name: {k8s-secret-with-azure-ad-secret} # Required.
key: {key-within-the-secret} # Required.
tenantId: {azure-ad-tenant-id} # Required.
cloud: # Optional.
type: AzurePublicCloud | AzureUSGovernmentCloud | AzureChinaCloud | AzureGermanCloud | Private # Required.
keyVaultResourceURL: {key-vault-resource-url-for-cloud} # Required when type = Private.
activeDirectoryEndpoint: {active-directory-endpoint-for-cloud} # Required when type = Private.
secrets: # Required.
- parameter: {param-name-used-for-auth} # Required.
name: {key-vault-secret-name} # Required.
version: {key-vault-secret-version} # Optional.
Based on the requirements you can mix and match the reference types providers in order to configure all required parameters.
Every parameter you define in TriggerAuthentication definition does not need to be included in the metadata of the trigger for your ScaledObject definition. To reference a TriggerAuthentication from a ScaledObject you add the authenticationRef to the trigger.
# some Scaled Object
# ...
triggers:
- type: {scaler-type}
metadata:
param1: {some-value}
authenticationRef:
name: {trigger-authentication-name} # this may define other params not defined in metadata
Authentication scopes: Namespace vs. Cluster
Each TriggerAuthentication is defined in one namespace and can only be used by a ScaledObject in that same namespace. For cases where you want to share a single set of credentials between scalers in many namespaces, you can instead create a ClusterTriggerAuthentication. As a global object, this can be used from any namespace. To set a trigger to use a ClusterTriggerAuthentication, add a kind field to the authentication reference:
authenticationRef:
name: {cluster-trigger-authentication-name}
kind: ClusterTriggerAuthentication
By default, Secrets loaded from a secretTargetRef must be in the same namespace as KEDA is deployed in (usually keda). This can be overridden by setting a KEDA_CLUSTER_OBJECT_NAMESPACE environment variable for the keda-operator container.
Defining a ClusterTriggerAuthentication works almost identically to a TriggerAuthentication, except there is no metadata.namespace value:
apiVersion: keda.sh/v1alpha1
kind: ClusterTriggerAuthentication
metadata:
name: {cluster-trigger-authentication-name}
spec:
# As before ...
Authentication parameters
Authentication parameters can be pulled in from many sources. All of these values are merged together to make the authentication data for the scaler.
Environment variable(s)
You can pull information via one or more environment variables by providing the name of the variable for a given containerName.
env: # Optional.
- parameter: region # Required - Defined by the scale trigger
name: my-env-var # Required.
containerName: my-container # Optional. Default: scaleTargetRef.envSourceContainerName of ScaledObject
Assumptions: containerName is in the same resource as referenced by scaleTargetRef.name in the ScaledObject, unless specified otherwise.
Secret(s)
You can pull one or more secrets into the trigger by defining the name of the Kubernetes Secret and the key to use.
secretTargetRef: # Optional.
- parameter: connectionString # Required - Defined by the scale trigger
name: my-keda-secret-entity # Required.
key: azure-storage-connectionstring # Required.
Assumptions: namespace is in the same resource as referenced by scaleTargetRef.name in the ScaledObject, unless specified otherwise.
Hashicorp Vault secret(s)
You can pull one or more Hashicorp Vault secrets into the trigger by defining the authentication metadata such as Vault address and the authentication method (token | kubernetes). If you choose kubernetes auth method you should provide role and mount as well.
credential defines the Hashicorp Vault credentials depending on the authentication method, for kubernetes you should provide path to service account token (/var/run/secrets/kubernetes.io/serviceaccount/token) and for token auth method provide the token.
secrets list defines the mapping between the path and the key of the secret in Vault to the parameter.
namespace may be used to target a given Vault Enterprise namespace.
hashiCorpVault: # Optional.
address: {hashicorp-vault-address} # Required.
namespace: {hashicorp-vault-namespace} # Optional. Default is root namespace. Useful for Vault Enterprise
authentication: token | kubernetes # Required.
role: {hashicorp-vault-role} # Optional.
mount: {hashicorp-vault-mount} # Optional.
credential: # Optional.
token: {hashicorp-vault-token} # Optional.
serviceAccount: {path-to-service-account-file} # Optional.
secrets: # Required.
- parameter: {scaledObject-parameter-name} # Required.
key: {hashicorp-vault-secret-key-name} # Required.
path: {hashicorp-vault-secret-path} # Required.
Azure Key Vault secret(s)
You can pull secrets from Azure Key Vault into the trigger by using the azureKeyVault key.
The secrets list defines the mapping between the key vault secret and the authentication parameter.
You can use pod identity providers azure or azure-workload to authenticate to the key vault by specifying it in the
TriggerAuthentication / ClusterTriggerAuthentication definition. Pod Identity binding needs to be applied in the keda namespace.
If you do not wish to use a pod identity provider, you need to register an application with Azure Active Directory and specify its credentials. The clientId and tenantId for the application are to be provided as part of the spec. The clientSecret for the application is expected to be within a kubernetes secret in the same namespace as the authentication resource.
Ensure that “read secret” permissions have been granted to the managed identity / Azure AD application on the Azure Key Vault. Learn more in the Azure Key Vault documentation.
The cloud parameter can be used to specify cloud environments besides Azure Public Cloud, such as known Azure clouds like
Azure China Cloud, etc. and even Azure Stack Hub or Air Gapped clouds.
azureKeyVault: # Optional.
vaultUri: {key-vault-address} # Required.
credentials: # Optional. Required when not using pod identity.
clientId: {azure-ad-client-id} # Required.
clientSecret: # Required.
valueFrom: # Required.
secretKeyRef: # Required.
name: {k8s-secret-with-azure-ad-secret} # Required.
key: {key-within-the-secret} # Required.
tenantId: {azure-ad-tenant-id} # Required.
cloud: # Optional.
type: AzurePublicCloud | AzureUSGovernmentCloud | AzureChinaCloud | AzureGermanCloud | Private # Required.
keyVaultResourceURL: {key-vault-resource-url-for-cloud} # Required when type = Private.
activeDirectoryEndpoint: {active-directory-endpoint-for-cloud} # Required when type = Private.
secrets: # Required.
- parameter: {param-name-used-for-auth} # Required.
name: {key-vault-secret-name} # Required.
version: {key-vault-secret-version} # Optional.
Pod Authentication Providers
Several service providers allow you to assign an identity to a pod. By using that identity, you can defer authentication to the pod & the service provider, rather than configuring secrets.
Currently we support the following:
podIdentity:
provider: none | azure | azure-workload | aws-eks | aws-kiam # Optional. Default: none
identityId: <identity-id> # Optional. Only used by azure & azure-workload providers.
Azure Pod Identity
Azure Pod Identity is an implementation of Azure AD Pod Identity which lets you bind an Azure Managed Identity to a Pod in a Kubernetes cluster as delegated access - Don’t manage secrets, let Azure AD do the hard work.
You can tell KEDA to use Azure AD Pod Identity via podIdentity.provider.
podIdentity:
provider: azure # Optional. Default: none
identityId: <identity-id> # Optional. Default: Identity linked with the label set when installing KEDA.
Azure AD Pod Identity will give access to containers with a defined label for aadpodidbinding. You can set this label on the KEDA operator deployment. This can be done for you during deployment with Helm with --set podIdentity.activeDirectory.identity={your-label-name}.
You can override the identity that was assigned to KEDA during installation, by specifying an identityId parameter under the podIdentity field. This allows end-users to use different identities to access various resources which is more secure than using a single identity that has access to multiple resources.
Azure Workload Identity
Azure AD Workload Identity is the newer version of Azure AD Pod Identity. It lets your Kubernetes workloads access Azure resources using an Azure AD Application without having to specify secrets, using federated identity credentials - Don’t manage secrets, let Azure AD do the hard work.
You can tell KEDA to use Azure AD Workload Identity via podIdentity.provider.
podIdentity:
provider: azure-workload # Optional. Default: none
identityId: <identity-id> # Optional. Default: ClientId From annotation on service-account.
Azure AD Workload Identity will give access to pods with service accounts having appropriate labels and annotations. Refer to these docs for more information. You can set these labels and annotations on the KEDA Operator service account. This can be done for you during deployment with Helm with the following flags -
--set podIdentity.azureWorkload.enabled=true--set podIdentity.azureWorkload.clientId={azure-ad-client-id}--set podIdentity.azureWorkload.tenantId={azure-ad-tenant-id}
Setting podIdentity.azureWorkload.enabled to true is required for workload identity authentication to work. For KEDA to get access to the provided client id federated credential has to be configured on the target Managed Identity / Azure AD application. Refer to these docs. Federated credential should use this subject (if KEDA is installed in keda namespace): system:serviceaccount:keda:keda-operator.
You can override the identity that was assigned to KEDA during installation, by specifying an identityId parameter under the podIdentity field. This allows end-users to use different identities to access various resources which is more secure than using a single identity that has access to multiple resources. In the case of override federated credentials should be configured for each of the used identities.
AWS EKS Pod Identity Webhook
EKS Pod Identity Webhook, which is described more in depth here, allows you to provide the role name using an annotation on a service account associated with your pod.
You can tell KEDA to use EKS Pod Identity Webhook via podIdentity.provider.
podIdentity:
provider: aws-eks # Optional. Default: none
AWS Kiam Pod Identity
Kiam lets you bind an AWS IAM Role to a pod using an annotation on the pod.
You can tell KEDA to use Kiam via podIdentity.provider.
podIdentity:
provider: aws-kiam # Optional. Default: none