Secure HyperDX With Kubernetes Secrets: A How-To Guide

by Felix Dubois 55 views

Hey guys! Let's dive into a crucial aspect of deploying HyperDX in a production environment: securely managing sensitive information, specifically ClickHouse credentials. We'll explore a common challenge and a robust solution for keeping your deployments safe and sound.

The Challenge: Hardcoded Credentials in values.yaml

When deploying HyperDX with an external ClickHouse and OpenTelemetry (OTel) collector, a common hurdle arises: configuring the defaultConnections property. Currently, the HyperDX Helm chart primarily relies on hardcoding ClickHouse credentials directly within the values.yaml file. This approach, while seemingly straightforward, presents significant security risks. Imagine storing your database passwords in plain text – not a great idea, right?

Why Hardcoding Credentials is a No-Go

  • Security Vulnerability: Hardcoded credentials expose your ClickHouse instance to unauthorized access. If the values.yaml file is compromised, your database is at risk.
  • Compliance Issues: Many security standards and compliance regulations prohibit storing sensitive information in configuration files.
  • Maintenance Nightmare: Updating credentials becomes a tedious and error-prone process, requiring manual changes across multiple files and deployments.
  • Version Control Risks: Committing sensitive information to version control systems like Git is a major security faux pas. Anyone with access to the repository can potentially view the credentials.

The Need for a Secure Alternative

To address these concerns, we need a more secure and manageable way to handle ClickHouse credentials in HyperDX deployments. This is where Kubernetes Secrets come into play.

The Solution: Leveraging Kubernetes Secrets

Kubernetes Secrets offer a secure mechanism for storing sensitive information, such as passwords, API keys, and certificates. Secrets are stored in the Kubernetes API server's etcd datastore, which is designed for secure storage and access control. By leveraging Secrets, we can decouple sensitive information from our configuration files, enhancing security and simplifying management.

Introducing useExistingConnectionsConfig

The proposed solution involves introducing a new setting within the HyperDX Helm chart, tentatively named useExistingConnectionsConfig. This setting would allow users to specify an existing Kubernetes Secret or ConfigMap containing the ClickHouse connection details. Think of it as a pointer, directing HyperDX to fetch the credentials from a secure location rather than relying on hardcoded values.

How useExistingConnectionsConfig Works

  1. Disable Default Generation: When useExistingConnectionsConfig is enabled, the chart would skip the default generation of connection configurations.
  2. Specify External Secret: Users would then specify the name of an existing Kubernetes Secret (or ConfigMap) containing the ClickHouse connection parameters.
  3. Fetch Credentials: HyperDX would dynamically fetch the credentials from the specified Secret at runtime, ensuring that sensitive information is never directly embedded in the configuration.

Example Configuration

To illustrate, consider the following example inspired by the Alertmanager configuration in the kube-prometheus-stack chart:

hyperdx:
  clickhouse:
    useExistingConnectionsConfig: true
    connectionsSecret: "my-clickhouse-secret"

In this example, we've enabled useExistingConnectionsConfig and specified my-clickhouse-secret as the Secret containing the ClickHouse connection details. HyperDX would then retrieve the necessary information from this Secret during startup.

Benefits of Using Kubernetes Secrets

  • Enhanced Security: Secrets are stored securely within the Kubernetes cluster, protected by access control mechanisms.
  • Simplified Management: Updating credentials becomes a breeze. Simply update the Secret, and HyperDX will automatically pick up the changes without requiring a redeployment.
  • Compliance Friendly: Using Secrets aligns with security best practices and helps meet compliance requirements.
  • Version Control Safe: Sensitive information is kept out of version control systems, reducing the risk of accidental exposure.

Drawing Inspiration from kube-prometheus-stack

As mentioned earlier, the kube-prometheus-stack chart provides a compelling example of how to implement this functionality. The Alertmanager configuration within this chart allows users to disable default generation and specify an external Secret for storing Alertmanager configurations. This approach has proven successful and serves as a valuable reference for implementing useExistingConnectionsConfig in the HyperDX chart.

Alertmanager Example

Here's a snippet from the kube-prometheus-stack values.yaml:

alertmanager:
  alertmanagerSpec:
    useExistingSecret: true
    configSecret: "my-alertmanager-config"

This configuration allows users to provide their own Alertmanager configuration stored in a Secret named my-alertmanager-config. We can adopt a similar pattern for HyperDX, providing a consistent and familiar experience for users.

Implementing useExistingConnectionsConfig: A Step-by-Step Guide

Let's outline the steps involved in implementing the useExistingConnectionsConfig feature in the HyperDX Helm chart:

  1. Introduce New Settings: Add the useExistingConnectionsConfig and connectionsSecret settings to the values.yaml file.
  2. Modify Chart Templates: Update the chart templates to conditionally generate the connection configuration based on the useExistingConnectionsConfig setting.
  3. Fetch Credentials from Secret: Implement the logic to fetch ClickHouse credentials from the specified Secret if useExistingConnectionsConfig is enabled.
  4. Documentation: Provide clear documentation on how to use the new feature, including examples and best practices.
  5. Testing: Thoroughly test the implementation to ensure that it works as expected and that credentials are properly secured.

Step-by-Step Code Example (Conceptual)

While the exact implementation details may vary, here's a conceptual code example to illustrate how the credential fetching might work:

import kubernetes
import os

def get_clickhouse_credentials():
    if os.getenv("USE_EXISTING_CONNECTIONS_CONFIG") == "true":
        secret_name = os.getenv("CONNECTIONS_SECRET")
        if not secret_name:
            raise ValueError("CONNECTIONS_SECRET must be specified when USE_EXISTING_CONNECTIONS_CONFIG is true")
        
        kubernetes.config.load_incluster_config()
        api = kubernetes.client.CoreV1Api()
        
        try:
            secret = api.read_namespaced_secret(name=secret_name, namespace=os.getenv("NAMESPACE", "default"))
            username = secret.data.get("clickhouse-username", "").decode("utf-8")
            password = secret.data.get("clickhouse-password", "").decode("utf-8")
            host = secret.data.get("clickhouse-host", "").decode("utf-8")
            # ... other credentials
            
            return {
                "username": username,
                "password": password,
                "host": host,
                # ...
            }
        except kubernetes.client.exceptions.ApiException as e:
            raise Exception(f"Error reading secret {secret_name}: {e}")
    else:
        # Load from values.yaml (less secure, for demonstration only)
        return {
            "username": os.getenv("CLICKHOUSE_USERNAME", "default_user"),
            "password": os.getenv("CLICKHOUSE_PASSWORD", "default_password"),
            "host": os.getenv("CLICKHOUSE_HOST", "localhost"),
        }

# Example usage
credentials = get_clickhouse_credentials()
print(f"ClickHouse Username: {credentials.get('username')}")
print(f"ClickHouse Host: {credentials.get('host')}")

This code snippet demonstrates how to conditionally fetch credentials from a Kubernetes Secret based on the USE_EXISTING_CONNECTIONS_CONFIG environment variable. It uses the Kubernetes Python client to interact with the API server and retrieve the Secret data. Remember that this is a simplified example, and a production-ready implementation would require more robust error handling and security considerations.

Best Practices for Using Kubernetes Secrets

To ensure the security and integrity of your deployments, it's crucial to follow best practices when working with Kubernetes Secrets:

  • Least Privilege: Grant only the necessary permissions to access Secrets. Avoid granting cluster-wide access unless absolutely required.
  • Encryption at Rest: Enable encryption at rest for Secrets to protect them from unauthorized access even if the etcd datastore is compromised.
  • Regular Rotation: Regularly rotate your Secrets to minimize the impact of potential breaches.
  • Auditing: Monitor access to Secrets to detect and respond to suspicious activity.
  • External Secret Stores: Consider using external Secret stores like HashiCorp Vault for enhanced security and management capabilities.

Conclusion: Securing HyperDX Deployments with Kubernetes Secrets

Implementing useExistingConnectionsConfig and leveraging Kubernetes Secrets is a significant step towards securing HyperDX deployments in production environments. By decoupling sensitive information from configuration files and relying on Kubernetes' built-in security mechanisms, we can mitigate risks, simplify management, and ensure compliance. So, guys, let's embrace Kubernetes Secrets and keep our deployments safe and sound!