mirror of
https://github.com/shankar0123/certctl.git
synced 2026-06-07 12:21:31 +00:00
shankar0123
fd94205cfa
Extract the first 5 issuer per-connector deep-dive pages: - vault.md (128 lines) — Vault PKI synchronous issuance, token TTL + auto-renewal loop, MaxTTL enforcement, rotation playbook - digicert.md (106 lines) — CertCentral DV/OV/EV with bounded async polling for vetting workflows - aws-acm-pca.md (165 lines) — managed private CA on AWS with full IAM policy, IRSA wiring, troubleshooting matrix - ejbca.md (116 lines) — open-source / Keyfactor EJBCA with mTLS or OAuth2 auth, mTLS keypair caching, approval-pending guidance - adcs.md (111 lines) — Active Directory Certificate Services as enterprise root via Local CA sub-CA mode, sub-CA rotation playbook Index updated with forward-list entries and the index-purpose blurb revised so the index now positions itself as 'navigate from here; deeper material lives in siblings' rather than 'docs to be extracted later'. Each per-page follows the WHAT/HOW/WHY pattern: what the connector is, how authentication and issuance work, and when to choose this vs an alternative. Cross-links to the connector index, async-ca-polling primitive, and adjacent operator runbooks. This is part 1 of 4 for the Phase 4 follow-on (per-connector page extraction) tracked in cowork/docs-overhaul-phase-2-restructure-2026-05-04/log.md. Net add: 5 files, 626 lines. No content removed from index.md (the index keeps its inline reference; per-pages add operator depth on top, matching the pattern set by apache/f5/iis/k8s/nginx in Phase 4 structural).
129 lines
5.3 KiB
Markdown
129 lines
5.3 KiB
Markdown
# Vault PKI Issuer Connector — Operator Deep-Dive
|
|
|
|
> Last reviewed: 2026-05-05
|
|
>
|
|
> Operator-grade documentation for the HashiCorp Vault PKI issuer
|
|
> connector. For the connector-development context (interface contract,
|
|
> registry, ports/adapters), see the
|
|
> [connector index](index.md).
|
|
|
|
## Overview
|
|
|
|
The Vault PKI connector integrates with HashiCorp Vault's PKI secrets
|
|
engine using its native `/sign` API with token-based authentication.
|
|
The flow is purely synchronous — Vault returns the signed certificate
|
|
in the same HTTP response that submits the CSR — so there is no
|
|
challenge-solving or async polling on the certctl side.
|
|
|
|
Implementation lives at `internal/connector/issuer/vault/`. The
|
|
factory key is `Vault`; the registry binds it under whatever issuer
|
|
ID the operator picks (e.g. `iss-vault`).
|
|
|
|
## When to use this connector
|
|
|
|
Use the Vault PKI connector when:
|
|
|
|
- Your organization already runs Vault as the system of record for
|
|
internal certificates.
|
|
- You want a synchronous, low-latency issuance path with no challenge
|
|
flow (no DNS records, no HTTP-01).
|
|
- You want certctl to manage the lifecycle (renewal scheduling,
|
|
deployment, alerts) while Vault keeps the signing material.
|
|
|
|
Look elsewhere when:
|
|
|
|
- Public-trust certificates are required — Vault PKI is internal-only.
|
|
Use ACME (Let's Encrypt, ZeroSSL, Sectigo) or DigiCert / Sectigo SCM
|
|
for public-trust workloads.
|
|
- The Vault PKI engine is not already deployed and you don't want to
|
|
run Vault. The Local CA issuer is a simpler self-contained path for
|
|
small internal CAs.
|
|
|
|
## Configuration
|
|
|
|
| Variable | Default | Description |
|
|
|---|---|---|
|
|
| `CERTCTL_VAULT_ADDR` | — | Vault server address (e.g. `https://vault.internal:8200`) |
|
|
| `CERTCTL_VAULT_TOKEN` | — | Vault auth token with permissions on the PKI mount |
|
|
| `CERTCTL_VAULT_MOUNT` | `pki` | PKI secrets engine mount path |
|
|
| `CERTCTL_VAULT_ROLE` | — | PKI role name for certificate signing |
|
|
| `CERTCTL_VAULT_TTL` | `8760h` | Certificate validity period (TTL) |
|
|
|
|
Vault issues certificates synchronously via the
|
|
`/v1/{mount}/sign/{role}` API with `X-Vault-Token` header
|
|
authentication. The issued certificate is parsed to extract serial
|
|
number, validity dates, and chain information.
|
|
|
|
## Token TTL and automatic renewal
|
|
|
|
This was Top-10 fix #5 from the 2026-05-03 issuer-coverage audit.
|
|
|
|
certctl-server periodically calls `POST /v1/auth/token/renew-self` at
|
|
half the token's TTL to keep the integration alive without manual
|
|
rotation. The cadence is read from a one-shot `lookup-self` at
|
|
startup and re-derived on every successful renewal — so a short
|
|
bootstrap token that gets renewed up to a longer Max TTL shifts to
|
|
the longer cadence automatically.
|
|
|
|
The renewal loop emits the
|
|
`certctl_vault_token_renewals_total{result="success"|"failure"|"not_renewable"}`
|
|
Prometheus counter so operators see expiry trouble in Grafana before
|
|
issuance breaks.
|
|
|
|
When Vault returns `renewable: false` (configured Max TTL reached),
|
|
the loop logs a WARN, increments `{result="not_renewable"}`, and
|
|
exits. The operator must rotate the Vault token and either restart
|
|
certctl-server or use the GUI / MCP issuer-update path to swap the
|
|
token in place — the registry's Rebuild path re-Starts the lifecycle
|
|
on the new connector.
|
|
|
|
Per-tick failures (e.g. transient 5xx, brief network blips) bump
|
|
`{result="failure"}` and the loop keeps ticking. Only the explicit
|
|
`renewable: false` case stops it.
|
|
|
|
## MaxTTL enforcement (M11c)
|
|
|
|
When a certificate profile defines a maximum TTL, the Vault connector
|
|
overrides the TTL string in the signing request to ensure the issued
|
|
certificate does not exceed the profile limit. This is applied
|
|
**before** Vault's own role-level max TTL — so the effective limit is
|
|
the minimum of (profile.MaxTTL, role.MaxLeaseTTL).
|
|
|
|
## Revocation and CRL/OCSP
|
|
|
|
CRL and OCSP are managed by Vault itself. Clients should validate
|
|
certificate status against Vault's own CRL/OCSP endpoints
|
|
(`GET /v1/{mount}/crl` and Vault's OCSP responder). certctl does not
|
|
generate local CRL/OCSP for Vault-issued certificates. Revocation is
|
|
recorded locally (audit row + cert state) but Vault is the
|
|
authoritative source for relying parties.
|
|
|
|
## Operator playbook
|
|
|
|
### Token rotation without downtime
|
|
|
|
Two paths:
|
|
|
|
1. **Restart-driven.** Update `CERTCTL_VAULT_TOKEN` env var on the
|
|
server, restart certctl-server. The renewal loop picks up the new
|
|
token's lookup-self response and resumes ticking.
|
|
2. **Hot-swap via API/GUI.** `PUT /api/v1/issuers/{id}` with the
|
|
updated config; the registry's Rebuild path replaces the connector
|
|
without restart. Use this when Vault's Max TTL has been reached
|
|
and the existing token can no longer be renewed.
|
|
|
|
### Diagnosing renewal failures
|
|
|
|
Watch
|
|
`certctl_vault_token_renewals_total{result="not_renewable"}` and
|
|
`{result="failure"}`. Sustained failures with no `not_renewable`
|
|
generally indicate Vault unreachability or token-policy drift; a
|
|
spike in `not_renewable` is the canonical signal that a Max TTL
|
|
boundary was hit and operator action is required.
|
|
|
|
## Related docs
|
|
|
|
- [Connector index](index.md) — interface contract, registry, port/adapter wiring
|
|
- [Issuer hierarchy primitive](../intermediate-ca-hierarchy.md) — how Vault sits as a sub-CA under another issuer
|
|
- [Async CA polling](../protocols/async-ca-polling.md) — the bounded-polling primitive used by other issuers; Vault is synchronous so does not consume it
|