mirror of
https://github.com/shankar0123/certctl.git
synced 2026-06-09 22:08:52 +00:00
shankar0123
9d0c2fe551
Per Phase 1 audit at cowork/docs-overhaul-phase-1-audit-2026-05-04/.
Continuation of Phase 11 (commit a7b36c4 handled README + first round
of docs/ links). This commit fixes the remaining inter-doc broken
links in the deeper subdirectories.
Per source directory:
docs/getting-started/quickstart.md (1 fix):
(connectors.md) → (../reference/connectors/index.md)
docs/contributor/test-environment.md (2 fixes):
(tls.md) → (../operator/tls.md)
(upgrade-to-tls.md) → (../archive/upgrades/to-tls-v2.2.md)
docs/contributor/testing-strategy.md (4 fixes):
`docs/security.md` → `docs/operator/security.md`
(security.md) → (../operator/security.md)
`docs/testing-guide.md` (kept; testing-guide.md still at top level
pending Phase 5 prune)
(testing-guide.md) → (../testing-guide.md)
docs/migration/acme-from-traefik.md (2 sites, multi-link):
(./acme-cert-manager-walkthrough.md) → (./acme-from-cert-manager.md)
(./acme-server.md) → (../reference/protocols/acme-server.md)
docs/migration/cert-manager-coexistence.md (1 fix):
(./quickstart.md) → (../getting-started/quickstart.md)
docs/migration/from-acmesh.md (2 fixes):
(connectors.md) → (../reference/connectors/index.md)
(./examples.md) → (../getting-started/examples.md)
docs/migration/acme-from-caddy.md (multi-link):
(./acme-cert-manager-walkthrough.md) → (./acme-from-cert-manager.md)
(./acme-server.md) → (../reference/protocols/acme-server.md)
docs/migration/acme-from-cert-manager.md (multi-link):
(./acme-server.md) → (../reference/protocols/acme-server.md)
(./acme-server-threat-model.md) → (../reference/protocols/acme-server-threat-model.md)
(./acme-caddy-walkthrough.md) → (./acme-from-caddy.md)
(./acme-traefik-walkthrough.md) → (./acme-from-traefik.md)
docs/migration/from-certbot.md (2 fixes):
(./concepts.md) → (../getting-started/concepts.md)
(./examples.md) → (../getting-started/examples.md)
docs/operator/tls.md (3 sites):
(upgrade-to-tls.md) → (../archive/upgrades/to-tls-v2.2.md)
(quickstart.md) → (../getting-started/quickstart.md)
(test-env.md) → (../contributor/test-environment.md)
docs/operator/runbooks/disaster-recovery.md (5 fixes):
(crl-ocsp.md) → (../../reference/protocols/crl-ocsp.md)
(tls.md) → (../../operator/tls.md)
(security.md) → (../../operator/security.md)
(scep-intune.md) → (../../reference/protocols/scep-intune.md)
(est.md) → (../../reference/protocols/est.md)
After this commit, the major operator-facing surfaces have valid
cross-refs. Some lower-traffic docs (compliance/soc2.md, compliance/
nist-sp-800-57.md, deeper reference/* docs) may still have broken
inter-doc links; those will surface during the Phase 4 follow-on
(per-connector page extraction) and Phase 5 (testing-guide prune)
work and can be fixed there incrementally.
148 lines
7.0 KiB
Markdown
148 lines
7.0 KiB
Markdown
# certctl for cert-manager Users
|
|
|
|
> Last reviewed: 2026-05-05
|
|
|
|
You run cert-manager inside Kubernetes and it works well for in-cluster certificates. But you also have VMs, bare-metal servers, network appliances, and legacy systems outside the cluster. cert-manager can't reach those. This guide shows how certctl complements cert-manager to give you unified certificate visibility and automation across your entire infrastructure.
|
|
|
|
## Not a Replacement
|
|
|
|
cert-manager is the right tool for in-cluster certs. It's tightly integrated with Kubernetes:
|
|
- Native CRDs (Certificate, ClusterIssuer, Issuer)
|
|
- Automatic cert injection into Ingress and Service objects
|
|
- Controller-driven renewal within the cluster
|
|
|
|
**certctl does not replace this.** Instead, it extends your certificate management to everything outside Kubernetes: VMs, bare metal, network appliances, Windows servers, and legacy systems.
|
|
|
|
## The Problem
|
|
|
|
Your setup:
|
|
- **cert-manager**: handles all certs in Kubernetes (TLS for Ingress, service-to-service, internal services)
|
|
- **Everything else**: NGINX/Apache on VMs, HAProxy load balancers on bare metal, network appliances, Windows servers with IIS — these are managed inconsistently. Maybe Certbot cron jobs, maybe manual renewal, maybe deprecated cert files sitting around.
|
|
|
|
Result:
|
|
- No unified visibility — you don't know when non-Kubernetes certs expire
|
|
- Renewal failures go unnoticed until the cert is already expired
|
|
- Audit trail fragmented across multiple tools
|
|
- Scaling to hundreds of machines becomes impossible
|
|
|
|
## The Solution
|
|
|
|
Deploy certctl control plane once (Docker Compose, Kubernetes Helm chart, or self-hosted). Deploy agents on your VMs, bare metal, and network appliances. One dashboard shows:
|
|
- **All cert-manager certs** via discovery scanning (agents find cert-manager-issued certs copied to target machines, or scan the cluster directly)
|
|
- **All certctl-managed certs** issued by shared issuers (ACME, step-ca, Vault PKI (planned), private CA)
|
|
- **Unified renewal and deployment** across both worlds
|
|
- **Single pane of glass** with expiration timeline, renewal status, deployment verification, audit trail
|
|
|
|
## How to Set Up
|
|
|
|
### 1. Install certctl Control Plane
|
|
|
|
**Option A: Docker Compose** (quickest for evaluation)
|
|
```bash
|
|
cd /opt/certctl
|
|
docker compose up -d
|
|
# Dashboard & API: https://localhost:8443 (self-signed cert — pin with --cacert ./deploy/test/certs/ca.crt)
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
**Option B: Kubernetes** (recommended for prod)
|
|
```bash
|
|
helm install certctl deploy/helm/certctl/ \
|
|
--set auth.apiKey=YOUR_SECURE_KEY
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
### 2. Deploy Agents to Non-Kubernetes Infrastructure
|
|
|
|
On each VM, bare-metal server, or appliance (via proxy agent):
|
|
```bash
|
|
# Linux amd64
|
|
curl -sSL https://github.com/certctl-io/certctl/releases/download/v2.1.0/certctl-agent-linux-amd64 \
|
|
-o /usr/local/bin/certctl-agent
|
|
chmod +x /usr/local/bin/certctl-agent
|
|
|
|
# Config
|
|
sudo tee /etc/certctl/agent.env > /dev/null <<EOF
|
|
CERTCTL_SERVER_URL=https://certctl-control-plane:8443
|
|
CERTCTL_SERVER_CA_BUNDLE_PATH=/etc/certctl/tls/ca.crt
|
|
CERTCTL_API_KEY=your-api-key
|
|
CERTCTL_DISCOVERY_DIRS=/etc/nginx/certs,/etc/ssl,/etc/letsencrypt/live
|
|
CERTCTL_KEY_DIR=/var/lib/certctl/keys
|
|
EOF
|
|
sudo chmod 600 /etc/certctl/agent.env
|
|
|
|
# Start
|
|
sudo systemctl start certctl-agent
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
### 3. Enable Discovery Scanning
|
|
|
|
Agents scan configured directories and report back all existing certs. In the dashboard:
|
|
- **Discovery** page: all found certs grouped by agent
|
|
- Claim cert-manager certs to link them with Kubernetes metadata
|
|
- Dismiss obsolete certs
|
|
|
|
### 4. Configure Shared Issuers
|
|
|
|
Set up the same issuer certctl uses for non-Kubernetes certs:
|
|
- **ACME** (Let's Encrypt, for public certs)
|
|
- **step-ca** (Smallstep, for internal certs)
|
|
- **Vault PKI** (HashiCorp Vault, for enterprise PKI)
|
|
- **Private CA** (your own internal root CA)
|
|
|
|
No new CA infrastructure needed. If cert-manager already uses your CA, certctl points to the same one.
|
|
|
|
### 5. Create Policies for Non-Kubernetes Certs
|
|
|
|
Go to **Policies** → **+ New Policy** to create enforcement rules:
|
|
- **Name:** e.g., "VM Certificate Policy"
|
|
- **Type:** `expiration_window` or `key_algorithm` (enforce renewal thresholds or crypto requirements)
|
|
- **Severity:** `high`
|
|
- **Config:** set your enforcement parameters
|
|
|
|
Certificates are linked to issuers and profiles when created or claimed from discovery. Policies add guardrails — enforcing key algorithm requirements, expiration windows, and other compliance rules across your fleet.
|
|
|
|
### 6. View Unified Inventory
|
|
|
|
**Dashboard** shows:
|
|
- Certificate status heatmap (all 1000 certs: cert-manager + certctl)
|
|
- Renewal job trends (both types)
|
|
- Expiration timeline (30/60/90 days)
|
|
- Agent fleet status (all infrastructure)
|
|
|
|
**Certificates** page filters by issuer (show me all ACME certs, or all step-ca certs):
|
|
- cert-manager certs discovered from Kubernetes nodes
|
|
- certctl-managed certs on VMs
|
|
- Network appliance certs auto-discovered
|
|
|
|
## Shared Infrastructure
|
|
|
|
If cert-manager and certctl both use the same CA:
|
|
- **ACME**: cert-manager uses ClusterIssuer + certctl uses ACME connector → same Let's Encrypt account, transparent coexistence
|
|
- **step-ca**: cert-manager uses external issuer CRD + certctl uses step-ca connector → same provisioner, shared certificate inventory
|
|
- **Vault PKI**: cert-manager uses external issuer CRD + certctl uses Vault connector → same mount, same audit trail
|
|
|
|
No conflict. They just issue certs through the same CA. certctl's discovery scanning finds cert-manager-issued certs and shows them alongside certctl-managed ones.
|
|
|
|
## Key Differences from cert-manager
|
|
|
|
| Feature | cert-manager | certctl |
|
|
|---------|--------------|---------|
|
|
| Target | In-cluster (Kubernetes) | Out-of-cluster (VMs, bare metal, appliances) |
|
|
| Configuration | CRDs (Certificate, ClusterIssuer, Issuer) | API + Dashboard (JSON REST) |
|
|
| Deployment | Injected into Secret objects, mounted by pods | Agent pulls work, deploys via target-specific API (file, service restart, proxy agent) |
|
|
| Renewal | Controller watches Certificate CRDs, triggers renewal when needed | Scheduler checks thresholds, agents poll for work |
|
|
| Audit | Kubernetes event log | Immutable append-only audit trail |
|
|
| Visibility | Per-namespace, per-resource | Fleet-wide, unified inventory |
|
|
|
|
## Future Integration
|
|
|
|
On the roadmap (V4): **cert-manager external issuer** — certctl acts as a ClusterIssuer backend for Kubernetes. This would allow cert-manager to request certificates from certctl, which could issue them via any of its connectors (step-ca, Vault, private CA, etc.). Pure integration play; no breaking changes.
|
|
|
|
For now: cert-manager handles Kubernetes, certctl handles everything else. They coexist seamlessly.
|
|
|
|
## Next Steps
|
|
|
|
1. Run through the [Quick Start](../getting-started/quickstart.md) for a 5-minute demo
|
|
2. Try the [Multi-Issuer example](../examples/multi-issuer/multi-issuer.md) — manages public and internal certs from one dashboard
|
|
3. Explore [Architecture](./architecture.md#agents) for deployment patterns
|
|
4. Check the [Helm Chart](../deploy/helm/certctl/) for production Kubernetes deployment
|