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Repository that demonstrates the deployment of three node Vault clusters in three AWS regions using Terraform and Cloud-init

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martinhristov90/3xVault

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Simple PoC project that creates three Vault clusters in three different AWS regions.

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What is it:

This project creates three node Vault environment joined in a Raft (integrated storage) cluster in three different AWS regions.

Simple diagram:

Diagram

Prerequisites:

  • Having AWS account with the necessary permissions.
  • Terraform v0.13.2 or higher

Usage:

  • Clone the repository: git clone https://github.com/martinhristov90/3xVault.git.
  • Change into its directory: cd 3xVault.
  • Create terraform.tfvars file, example of how it should look like can be found below. While creating terraform.tfvars file specify Vault version newer than 1.6.0, so "Integrated Storage Cloud Auto Join" is available.
  • Put your Vault enterprise license in a file named license_vault.txt in the root directory of this project.
  • Initialize Terraform providers: terraform init.
  • Execute Terraform plan and apply: terraform plan and terraform apply, the IPs of all Vault nodes are printed as Terraform outputs.
  • Each node located in a1 AZ is the active node for the particular cluster. The VAULT_TOKEN env variable is automatically populated via /etc/profile.d/vault.sh for the active node of each cluster.

Example terraform.tfvars:

clusters = {
"us" = { region = "us-east-2", vpc_cidr = "192.168.0.0/24", vault_version = "1.10.3+ent-2", vault_ec2_type = "large" },
"ap" = { region = "ap-south-1", vpc_cidr = "192.168.100.0/24", vault_version = "1.9.6+ent-2", vault_ec2_type = "large" },
"eu" = { region = "eu-west-1", vpc_cidr = "192.168.200.0/24", vault_version = "1.9.6+ent-2", vault_ec2_type = "large" }
}
# For all versions of "vault-enterprise" package, run "apt list -a vault-enterprise" after installing the Hashicorp repo.
# The "vault_ec2_type" variable should be one of the following types - small or large. Small corresponds to "t3.small" while "large" corresponds to "t3.large".

Example SSH commands:

ssh -i ./private_keys/private-ap-south-1.key ubuntu@IP_VAULT_INSTANCE_AP_REGION
ssh -i ./private_keys/private-eu-west-1.key ubuntu@IP_VAULT_INSTANCE_EU_REGION
ssh -i ./private_keys/private-us-east-2.key ubuntu@IP_VAULT_INSTANCE_US_REGION

How to enable Vault replication:

  • The directory private_keys in the root directory of this repository contains three private keys, each private key is designated for particular region as its name suggests.

  • Use the private-us-east-2.key key to connect to the us-east-2 region (or other region that is configured by terraform.tfvars file):

    ssh -i private_keys/private-us-east-2.key ubuntu@IP_ADDRESS_ACTIVE_NODE`

  • Enable PR(ap-south-1 region) and DR(eu-west-1 region) replication in primary mode (the Vault token is pre-configured):

    vault write -f sys/replication/performance/primary/enable 
vault write -f sys/replication/dr/primary/enable

  • Generate secondary tokens for PR(ap-south-1 region) and DR(eu-west-1 region) replications:

    • For PR(ap-south-1 region):

      vault write -format=json sys/replication/performance/primary/secondary-token id=pr_secondary_asia | jq -r .wrap_info.token

      The output should look like:

      eyJhbGciOiJFUzUxMiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJhY2Nlc3NvciI6IiIsImFkZHIiOiJodHRwczovLzE5Mi4xNjguMC41OjgyMDAiLCJleHAiOjE2MDMxMTYyNjAsImlhdCI6MTYwMzExNDQ2MCwianRpIjoicy55OWtXUHRZTVJtMU9lczRQaEdjcnk4MkIiLCJuYmYiOjE2MDMxMTQ0NTUsInR5cGUiOiJ3cmFwcGluZyJ9.ANmspVajd3a3acxxxKSwjQNsTxms4zlM4Acbc-4F0Qh3T0ofoEwVu7KFN68OTJ2OxDAQ7d4LI_LOQbV1oG2Y8alBAWrGWyv3OPUQftA0h5yrTzer4ZLVqIwdik9cjzooJhkKtsQibWGioY48vxiaVpDIQWxGzwoCvFM2tOi8FD91BNYu

    • For DR(eu-west-1 region):

      vault write -format=json sys/replication/dr/primary/secondary-token id=dr_secondary_europe | jq -r .wrap_info.token

      The output should look like:

      eyJhbGciOiJFUzUxMiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJhY2Nlc3NvciI6IiIsImFkZHIiOiJodHRwczovLzE5Mi4xNjguMC41OjgyMDAiLCJleHAiOjE2MDMxMTYyMjUsImlhdCI6MTYwMzExNDQyNSwianRpIjoicy5QWW55WmxoUnBONDlRMk5oaTB2RWQwVUciLCJuYmYiOjE2MDMxMTQ0MjAsInR5cGUiOiJ3cmFwcGluZyJ9.APs-iC01TgceBg9FGFaaZncK65b21j_xJMXWX8uXjlUj0QeiYEkT2n89HISbwSvc51yY7pYl8q2mkl1nF7u6-zXbAHvo_uLdYi3p2_LOynLN31hEFtdhgPgIECoSATBboe3OgdQ0yaWbpK7DoDcY4-k4b_Ueg_FU9nJMgzz1qsp0RWT3

      Take a note of the generated tokens, they are good for 30 minutes.

  • Enable PR replication on the secondary side in ap-south region:

    • Login to the node with:

      ssh -i private_keys/private-ap-south-1.key ubuntu@IP_OF_AP_VAULT_NODE

    • Enable PR:

      vault write sys/replication/performance/secondary/enable token=eyJhbGciOiJFUzUxMiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJhY2Nlc3NvciI6IiIsImFkZHIiOiJodHRwczovLzE5Mi4xNjguMC41OjgyMDAiLCJleHAiOjE2MDMxMTYyNjAsImlhdCI6MTYwMzExNDQ2MCwianRpIjoicy55OWtXUHRZTVJtMU9lczRQaEdjcnk4MkIiLCJuYmYiOjE2MDMxMTQ0NTUsInR5cGUiOiJ3cmFwcGluZyJ9.ANmspVajd3a3acxxxKSwjQNsTxms4zlM4Acbc-4F0Qh3T0ofoEwVu7KFN68OTJ2OxDAQ7d4LI_LOQbV1oG2Y8alBAWrGWyv3OPUQftA0h5yrTzer4ZLVqIwdik9cjzooJhkKtsQibWGioY48vxiaVpDIQWxGzwoCvFM2tOi8FD91BNYu

    • Verify that the PR replication is in stream-wals state:

      vault read -format=json sys/replication/performance/status | jq -r .data.state

  • Enable DR replication on the secondary side in eu-central region:

    • Login to the node with:

      ssh -i private_keys/private-eu-west-1.key ubuntu@IP_OF_EU_VAULT_NODE

    • Enable DR:

      vault write sys/replication/dr/secondary/enable token=eyJhbGciOiJFUzUxMiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJhY2Nlc3NvciI6IiIsImFkZHIiOiJodHRwczovLzE5Mi4xNjguMC41OjgyMDAiLCJleHAiOjE2MDMxMTYyMjUsImlhdCI6MTYwMzExNDQyNSwianRpIjoicy5QWW55WmxoUnBONDlRMk5oaTB2RWQwVUciLCJuYmYiOjE2MDMxMTQ0MjAsInR5cGUiOiJ3cmFwcGluZyJ9.APs-iC01TgceBg9FGFaaZncK65b21j_xJMXWX8uXjlUj0QeiYEkT2n89HISbwSvc51yY7pYl8q2mkl1nF7u6-zXbAHvo_uLdYi3p2_LOynLN31hEFtdhgPgIECoSATBboe3OgdQ0yaWbpK7DoDcY4-k4b_Ueg_FU9nJMgzz1qsp0RWT3

    • Verify that the DR replication is in stream-wals state:

      vault read -format=json sys/replication/dr/status | jq -r .data.state

Example of enabling S3 auto snapshot (backup):

vault write sys/storage/raft/snapshot-auto/config/vault_backup_bucket \
storage_type="aws-s3" \
aws_s3_bucket="raft-snapshot-bucket-<region-here>-<current-env-id>" \
aws_s3_region="<region-here>" \
interval="1m" \
retain=5

For every cluster there is a dedicated S3 bucket to keep the Raft snapshots. Before using the above-mentioned command replace the <region-here> string with the region of the cluster, for example us-east-2 and <current-env-id> string with the current-env-id TF output, for example touched-cicada, which corresponds to the current deployment. You can use the terraform output command to retrieve current-env-id value.

Example configuring AWS secrets engine and AWS auth method via local (local on EC2) Terraform:

  • Both of the instances have latest Terraform version installed locally via Cloud-init.
  • The Terraform configuration for configuring AWS secret engine and AWS auth method is located inside the /home/ubuntu/_AWS_TF path by default.
  • To configure the AWS secret engine and AWS auth method via TF:

    • On active nodes for every cluster that is initially the node located in 1a availability zone, for example vault-us-east-2-us-east-2a-engaged-dinosaur node, do:

      cd /home/ubuntu/_AWS_TF

    • Review the main.tf for more information on role naming and configuration details.

    • Execute terraform init for downloading the Vault TF provider.

    • Execute terraform apply -auto-approve to run the main.tf file.

    • List the created roles by vault list auth/aws/roles command. The output should look like this:

      ubuntu@vault-eu-west-1-eu-west-1a-engaged-dinosaur:~/_AWS_TF$ vault list auth/aws/roles
Keys
----
vault-role-eu-west-1-engaged-dinosaur
vault-role-eu-west-1-engaged-dinosaur_ec2_type

    • The role with _ec2_type extension is used for ec2 type AWS auth method, while the role without the _ec2_type extension is used for iam type AWS auth method.

    • To login to Vault from EC2 instance using the ec2 type of the AWS auth method:

      SIGNATURE=$(curl -s http://169.254.169.254/latest/dynamic/instance-identity/pkcs7 | tr -d '\n')
vault write auth/aws/login role=NAME_OF_EC2_TYPE_ROLE_HERE pkcs7=$SIGNATURE

      Replace NAME_OF_EC2_TYPE_ROLE_HERE string with the actual name of the ec2 type role, for example: vault-role-eu-west-1-engaged-dinosaur_ec2_type

    • To login to Vault from EC2 instance using the iam type of the AWS auth method:

      vault login -method=aws

      No role= parameter should be specified, because the role EC2 is using as instance profile matches the name of the AWS auth method role in Vault.

  • In order to utilize the AWS secrets engine (use vault list aws/roles for listing role names):

    • Creating IAM type user:

      ubuntu@vault-eu-west-1-eu-west-1a-comic-rhino:~/_AWS_TF$ vault read aws/creds/NAME_OF_EC2_TYPE_ROLE_HERE
Key                Value
---                -----
lease_id           aws/creds/vault-role-eu-west-1-comic-rhino/v8QdqLTHZpZfHsfeBPCIFbIR
lease_duration     768h
lease_renewable    true
access_key         AKIA<SNIP>
secret_key         tYR8h<SNIP>osvc
security_token     <nil>

    • Retrieving STS credentials for assumed role:

      ubuntu@vault-eu-west-1-eu-west-1a-comic-rhino:~/_AWS_TF$ vault read aws/creds/NAME_OF_EC2_TYPE_ROLE_HERE role_session_name=test
Key                Value
---                -----
lease_id           aws/creds/vault-role-eu-west-1-comic-rhino_assumed_role/QfxGP6NI7KCo1ytkcHc1gbTN
lease_duration     59m59s
lease_renewable    false
access_key         ASIARZOHN7HQRHCGEYFT
arn                arn:aws:sts::1233<SNIP>8033:assumed-role/demo-role-vault-secrets-eu-west-1-comic-rhino/test
secret_key         4V0JC<SNIP>vcW0+r
security_token     FwoGZ<SNIP>67AzdHGxSl/1MnKX9k

TODO:

  • Install host keys
  • Use cloud-init to setup Hashicorp DEB repo
  • Install Vault from the DEB repo
  • Implement TLS for Vault
  • Provision Vault
  • Add Vault Ent license
  • Create Raft storage
  • Use cloud-init for exchanging CAs
  • Fix SystemD issue - Vault does not start
  • Create role for instance profile of EC2
  • Utilize the instance profile for KMS
  • Utilize the instance profile for AWS auth
  • Provide replication instructions
  • Output IPs of the nodes
  • Create LB
  • Isolate the instances and provide Bastion host for accessing them
  • Create configuration object (custom object) for top-level main.tf
  • Add public DNS to the host keys of the local TF machine
  • Readme should include instructions on the licensing
  • Review the raft protocol configuration when new version of Vault comes out
  • Use cloud auto-join feature
  • Do smarter check when licensing
  • Improve VPC peering - Add routes to the existing route tables and adjust timeouts when destroying
  • Install TF and do some config with TF Vault provider. For example, enable aws auth, aws secrets engine and configure S3 Raft auto snapshot
  • Create usage GIF with peek
  • Provide ability to enable Raft auto-snapshot feature
  • Provide configurable Vault version for each cluster
  • Add ability to select EC2 sizes.
  • Verify the ability updating the infra in-place via terraform apply.
  • Attach audit volumes and configure logrotate
  • Fix permissions of /home/ubuntu, so it belongs to ubuntu user
  • Create VPC peering between DR and PR regions, in case of DR being promoted

Contributing:

License:

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Repository that demonstrates the deployment of three node Vault clusters in three AWS regions using Terraform and Cloud-init

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bash tls aws vault terraform hashicorp cloud-init

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