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certctl/docs/README.md
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shankar0123 57b539c378 docs(b12): observability reference + Postgres backup runbook 
Closes acquisition-diligence Bundle 12 — Observability, DR,
Operations Receipts, And Performance Proof. Source IDs: D5, D6, D8,
T9, finding 7, OPS-H1, OPS-M1, OPS-M2, LOW-7.

Two new operator-facing references; both non-audit-framed per the
Bundle 5 doc-placement policy.

docs/operator/observability.md — single canonical statement of what
certctl emits, what it doesn't, and what survives a restart:
  - Metrics surface: both /api/v1/metrics (JSON) and
    /api/v1/metrics/prometheus (text exposition v0.0.4); inventory of
    certctl_certificate_* gauges + certctl_issuance_duration_seconds
    per-issuer-type histogram + certctl_uptime_seconds.
  - Prometheus library vs hand-rolled exposition: explicit scope
    statement — hand-rolled fmt.Fprintf is intentional for v2.x given
    the shallow metric surface; client_golang migration tracked as
    v3 item (closes OPS-M1).
  - Tracing: explicit deferral — no OTel SDK setup, OTel packages
    are indirect-only in go.mod, no spans, no OTLP exporter; tracked
    as v3 item; in the meantime structured logs carry request_id and
    certctl_issuance_duration_seconds carries the per-issuer latency
    signal (closes OPS-M2).
  - Logging: structured JSON via log/slog; CERTCTL_LOG_LEVEL control;
    no key material / bearer tokens / session cookies in log lines.
  - Rate-limit semantics under restarts + replicas: per-process,
    in-memory, reset-on-restart, NOT shared across replicas; full
    inventory of the 5 limiter call sites (break-glass login,
    SCEP/Intune per-device, EST per-principal CSR, EST HTTP-Basic
    source-IP, ACME per-account); multi-replica + sticky-session
    implications; database-backed sliding window deferred to v3
    (closes D8).
  - Performance harness scope: cross-references the explicit
    'What it explicitly does NOT measure' list in
    deploy/test/loadtest/README.md (closes LOW-7 + finding 7).

docs/operator/runbooks/postgres-backup.md — operator-runnable
backup procedure:
  - Inventory of what to back up (DB + operator-managed file
    material that lives outside the DB: CA keys, RA keys, OCSP
    responder keys, trust bundles).
  - Logical backup recipe with docker-compose + Kubernetes variants,
    integrity verification step, off-host storage step.
  - Physical / PITR recipe pointing at pgbackrest / wal-g
    (certctl ships nothing here — standard PostgreSQL DBA work).
  - Three sample automation paths (in-cluster Postgres → S3 CronJob,
    managed Postgres PITR, self-hosted VM systemd timer + restic).
  - Quarterly restore-dry-run procedure.
  - Helm CronJob template deliberately not shipped — three
    documented reasons (deployment topology / secret-management
    integration / off-host storage all vary by operator) plus
    roadmap entry for shipping a starter template when a real
    operator asks for one (closes D6 + OPS-H1).

Both new docs wired into docs/README.md Operator + Runbooks tables.

D5 (ServiceMonitor) and T9 (canonical k6 load-test) were already
shipped in Bundle 3 (deploy/helm/certctl/templates/servicemonitor.yaml)
and in deploy/test/loadtest/ + .github/workflows/loadtest.yml
respectively; this bundle doesn't touch them — it just records the
closure in the audit HTML.

Verified:
  bash scripts/ci-guards/G-3-env-docs-drift.sh    # PASS
  bash scripts/ci-guards/doc-rot-detector.sh      # PASS
  All 35 scripts/ci-guards/*.sh green.
2026-05-13 02:09:11 +00:00

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# certctl Documentation
> Last reviewed: 2026-05-12
The full docs index, organized by audience. Pick the section that matches what you need to do; each link below opens a focused doc rather than a wall of text.
For the elevator pitch and quickstart commands, see the repo `README.md` at the root. For the marketing site, see [certctl.io](https://certctl.io).
---
## Getting Started
You're new to certctl, just cloned the repo, or want to understand what it does before installing.
| Doc | What it covers |
|---|---|
| [Concepts](getting-started/concepts.md) | TLS certificates explained for beginners — CAs, ACME, EST, private keys, the full glossary |
| [Quickstart](getting-started/quickstart.md) | Five-minute setup with Docker Compose, dashboard tour, API tour |
| [Examples](getting-started/examples.md) | Five turnkey scenarios — ACME+NGINX, wildcard DNS-01, private CA+Traefik, step-ca+HAProxy, multi-issuer |
| [Advanced demo](getting-started/advanced-demo.md) | End-to-end certificate lifecycle with technical depth at each step |
| [Why certctl](getting-started/why-certctl.md) | Positioning vs ACME clients, agent-based SaaS, enterprise platforms; when to look elsewhere |
## Reference
You're operating certctl in production or building integrations and need authoritative technical detail.
| Doc | What it covers |
|---|---|
| [Architecture](reference/architecture.md) | System design, data flow, security model, deployment topologies |
| [Profiles](reference/profiles.md) | CertificateProfile policy object — issuer wiring, EKUs, RequiresApproval gate (with profile-edit closure) |
| [API](reference/api.md) | OpenAPI 3.1 spec, integration patterns, client SDK generation |
| [CLI](reference/cli.md) | certctl-cli command reference and CI/CD integration patterns |
| [Configuration](reference/configuration.md) | `CERTCTL_*` environment variable reference (scheduler, rate limits, deploy verify, audit, agent) |
| [MCP server](reference/mcp.md) | Model Context Protocol integration for AI assistants |
| [Release verification](reference/release-verification.md) | Cosign / SLSA / SBOM verification procedure |
| [Intermediate CA hierarchy](reference/intermediate-ca-hierarchy.md) | Multi-level CA tree management — RFC 5280 §3.2/§4.2.1.9/§4.2.1.10 enforcement |
| [Auth standards implemented](reference/auth-standards-implemented.md) | RFC + CWE evidence for the API-key + RBAC + OIDC + sessions + break-glass surface (NOT a compliance-mapping doc) |
| [Deployment model](reference/deployment-model.md) | Atomic write, post-deploy verify, rollback semantics across all targets |
| [Vendor matrix](reference/vendor-matrix.md) | Tested vendor versions per target connector |
### Connectors
The [connector index](reference/connectors/index.md) is the canonical catalog (interfaces, registry, scanners, plus an inline reference per built-in). Per-connector deep-dive siblings cover operator-grade material — vendor edges, troubleshooting, rotation playbooks, when-to-use vs alternatives.
**Issuers** (13 deep-dives): [ACME](reference/connectors/acme.md) · [ADCS](reference/connectors/adcs.md) · [AWS ACM Private CA](reference/connectors/aws-acm-pca.md) · [DigiCert](reference/connectors/digicert.md) · [EJBCA / Keyfactor](reference/connectors/ejbca.md) · [Entrust](reference/connectors/entrust.md) · [GlobalSign Atlas HVCA](reference/connectors/globalsign.md) · [Google CAS](reference/connectors/google-cas.md) · [Local CA](reference/connectors/local-ca.md) · [OpenSSL / Custom CA](reference/connectors/openssl.md) · [Sectigo SCM](reference/connectors/sectigo.md) · [step-ca / Smallstep](reference/connectors/step-ca.md) · [Vault PKI](reference/connectors/vault.md)
**Targets** (15 deep-dives): [Apache](reference/connectors/apache.md) · [AWS Certificate Manager](reference/connectors/aws-acm.md) · [Azure Key Vault](reference/connectors/azure-kv.md) · [Caddy](reference/connectors/caddy.md) · [Envoy](reference/connectors/envoy.md) · [F5 BIG-IP](reference/connectors/f5.md) · [HAProxy](reference/connectors/haproxy.md) · [IIS](reference/connectors/iis.md) · [Java Keystore](reference/connectors/jks.md) · [Kubernetes Secrets](reference/connectors/k8s.md) · [NGINX](reference/connectors/nginx.md) · [Postfix / Dovecot](reference/connectors/postfix.md) · [SSH (agentless)](reference/connectors/ssh.md) · [Traefik](reference/connectors/traefik.md) · [Windows Certificate Store](reference/connectors/wincertstore.md)
### Protocols
| Doc | What it covers |
|---|---|
| [ACME server](reference/protocols/acme-server.md) | Run certctl as an RFC 8555 + RFC 9773 ARI ACME server |
| [ACME server threat model](reference/protocols/acme-server-threat-model.md) | Security posture for the ACME server endpoint |
| [SCEP server](reference/protocols/scep-server.md) | RFC 8894 native SCEP server — RA cert config, multi-profile dispatch, must-staple, mTLS sibling route |
| [SCEP for Microsoft Intune](reference/protocols/scep-intune.md) | Intune-specific deployment guide — NDES replacement playbook |
| [EST server](reference/protocols/est.md) | RFC 7030 EST server — 802.1X / Wi-Fi enrollment, IoT bootstrap, channel binding |
| [CRL & OCSP](reference/protocols/crl-ocsp.md) | RFC 5280 CRL + RFC 6960 OCSP responder for relying parties |
| [Async CA polling](reference/protocols/async-ca-polling.md) | Bounded polling for async-CA issuer connectors |
## Operator
You're running certctl in production and need operational guidance.
| Doc | What it covers |
|---|---|
| [Security posture](operator/security.md) | Auth, rate limits, encryption at rest, key rotation, RBAC + OIDC + sessions + break-glass, bootstrap |
| [Secret custody](operator/secret-custody.md) | Where private keys live; FileDriver vs HSM/KMS; encryption wire format; env-seeded vs DB-seeded plaintext policy |
| [Observability](operator/observability.md) | Metrics surface, Prometheus exposition vs client_golang, tracing scope, log structure, rate-limit semantics across restarts/replicas |
| [RBAC operator reference](operator/rbac.md) | Roles, permissions, scopes, scope-down + day-0 bootstrap |
| [Auth threat model](operator/auth-threat-model.md) | API-key + RBAC + OIDC + sessions + break-glass — token forgery, session hijacking, IdP compromise, role-grant abuse, bootstrap-token leak, audit-mutation |
| [OIDC / SSO runbooks](operator/oidc-runbooks/index.md) | Per-IdP setup guides — Keycloak, Authentik, Okta, Auth0, Entra ID, Google Workspace |
| [Control plane TLS](operator/tls.md) | Self-signed bootstrap, operator-supplied Secret, cert-manager Certificate CR |
| [Database TLS](operator/database-tls.md) | PostgreSQL transport encryption |
| [Approval workflow](operator/approval-workflow.md) | Two-person integrity gate for high-stakes issuance + profile-edit closure |
| [Helm deployment](operator/helm-deployment.md) | Kubernetes installation via the bundled chart |
| [Performance baselines](operator/performance-baselines.md) | Operator-runnable benchmarks for regression spot checks |
| [Auth benchmarks](operator/auth-benchmarks.md) | Session + OIDC validation p99 targets and measured baselines |
| [Legacy clients (TLS 1.2)](operator/legacy-clients-tls-1.2.md) | Reverse-proxy runbook for embedded EST/SCEP clients on TLS 1.2 |
### Runbooks
| Runbook | When |
|---|---|
| [Cloud targets](operator/runbooks/cloud-targets.md) | AWS ACM + Azure Key Vault deployment, debugging, rollback |
| [Expiry alerts](operator/runbooks/expiry-alerts.md) | Per-policy multi-channel routing matrix, severity tiers |
| [Disaster recovery](operator/runbooks/disaster-recovery.md) | CRL cache, OCSP responder cert, CA private-key rotation, Postgres restore |
| [Config-encryption upgrade](operator/runbooks/config-encryption-upgrade.md) | Force v1/v2 → v3 re-seal across the database; passphrase rotation procedure |
| [PostgreSQL backup](operator/runbooks/postgres-backup.md) | Operator-run backup recipe (docker-compose + Kubernetes); recommended cadence; quarterly DR dry-run |
## Migration
You're moving from another cert-management tool to certctl, or running both in parallel.
| From | Doc |
|---|---|
| Certbot | [migration/from-certbot.md](migration/from-certbot.md) |
| acme.sh | [migration/from-acmesh.md](migration/from-acmesh.md) |
| cert-manager (coexistence, not replacement) | [migration/cert-manager-coexistence.md](migration/cert-manager-coexistence.md) |
| Caddy ACME (point Caddy at certctl) | [migration/acme-from-caddy.md](migration/acme-from-caddy.md) |
| cert-manager ACME (point cert-manager at certctl) | [migration/acme-from-cert-manager.md](migration/acme-from-cert-manager.md) |
| Traefik ACME (point Traefik at certctl) | [migration/acme-from-traefik.md](migration/acme-from-traefik.md) |
| **API keys → RBAC (v2.0.x → v2.1.0)** | [migration/api-keys-to-rbac.md](migration/api-keys-to-rbac.md) — **AUDIT YOUR API KEYS** post-upgrade |
| **Enable OIDC SSO** | [migration/oidc-enable.md](migration/oidc-enable.md) — step-by-step OIDC onboarding for an existing API-key + RBAC deployment |
## Contributor
You're contributing to certctl, running tests locally, or trying to understand the CI pipeline.
| Doc | What it covers |
|---|---|
| [Testing strategy](contributor/testing-strategy.md) | What we test and why; per-PR fast gates vs daily deep-scan |
| [Test environment](contributor/test-environment.md) | Local environment with real CAs (Pebble, step-ca, etc.) |
| [QA prerequisites](contributor/qa-prerequisites.md) | Before running QA: stack boot, demo data baseline, env vars |
| [QA test suite](contributor/qa-test-suite.md) | qa_test.go reference for release QA |
| [GUI QA checklist](contributor/gui-qa-checklist.md) | Manual GUI verification pass for release |
| [Release sign-off](contributor/release-sign-off.md) | Release-day checklist — code state, automated gates, manual QA, artefact verification |
| [CI pipeline](contributor/ci-pipeline.md) | CI shape, regression guards, adding new checks |
| [CI guards](contributor/ci-guards.md) | Per-class CI guards (code-shape, contract-parity, build/dep, operational); how to add one |
## Archive
Historical docs preserved for reference. Most operators don't need these.
| Doc | Why archived |
|---|---|
| [Upgrade to TLS (v2.2)](archive/upgrades/to-tls-v2.2.md) | Pre-v2.2 HTTPS-everywhere upgrade procedure |
| [Upgrade past v2 JWT removal](archive/upgrades/to-v2-jwt-removal.md) | G-1 milestone JWT auth removal procedure |
---
## Reading order by role
**First-time operator:** [Concepts](getting-started/concepts.md) → [Quickstart](getting-started/quickstart.md) → [Examples](getting-started/examples.md). About 90 minutes end to end.
**Production operator:** [Architecture](reference/architecture.md) → [Security posture](operator/security.md) → [Control plane TLS](operator/tls.md) → [Disaster recovery runbook](operator/runbooks/disaster-recovery.md). About 4 hours end to end.
**PKI engineer:** [ACME server](reference/protocols/acme-server.md) → [SCEP server](reference/protocols/scep-server.md) → [EST server](reference/protocols/est.md) → [Intermediate CA hierarchy](reference/intermediate-ca-hierarchy.md). About 6 hours end to end.
**Contributor:** [Architecture](reference/architecture.md) → [Testing strategy](contributor/testing-strategy.md) → [Test environment](contributor/test-environment.md) → [CI pipeline](contributor/ci-pipeline.md). About 3 hours end to end.
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