helm-charts

ziti-controller

Version: 0.2.6 Type: application AppVersion: 0.27.9

Host an OpenZiti controller in Kubernetes

Requirements

Repository Name Version
https://charts.jetstack.io cert-manager ~1.11.0
https://charts.jetstack.io trust-manager ~0.4.0
https://kubernetes.github.io/ingress-nginx/ ingress-nginx ~4.5.2

Note that ingress-nginx is not strictly required, but the chart is parameterized to allow for conveniently declaring pass-through TLS.

You must patch the ingress-nginx deployment to enable the SSL passthrough option.

kubectl patch deployment "ingress-nginx-controller" \
    --namespace ingress-nginx \
    --type json \
    --patch '[{"op": "add",
        "path": "/spec/template/spec/containers/0/args/-",
        "value":"--enable-ssl-passthrough"
    }]'

Overview

This chart runs a Ziti controller in Kubernetes. It uses the custom resources provided by cert-manager and trust-manager, i.e., Issuer, Certificate, and Bundle. Delete the controller pod after an upgrade for the new controller configuration to take effect.

Requirements

Add the OpenZiti Charts Repo to Helm

helm repo add openziti https://docs.openziti.io/helm-charts/

This chart requires Certificate, Issuer, and Bundle resources to be applied before installing the chart. Sub-charts cert-manager, and trust-manager will be installed automatically. You may disable the sub-charts if you wish to provide these resources separately, but if you do so then please use the sub-chart values at the foot of Values.yaml to ensure those charts are correctly configured.

Install Required Custom Resource Definitions

This step satisfies Helm’s requirement that the CRDs used in the umbrella chart already exist in Kubernetes before installing the controller chart.

kubectl apply -f https://github.com/cert-manager/cert-manager/releases/latest/download/cert-manager.crds.yaml
kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cert-manager/trust-manager/v0.4.0/deploy/crds/trust.cert-manager.io_bundles.yaml

Minimal Installation

This first example shows a minimal installation for a Kubernetes distribution that provides TLS pass-through for Service type LoadBalancer, e.g., K3S, Minikube.

You must supply one value when you install the chart.

Key Type Default Description
clientApi.advertisedHost string nil the DNS name that edge clients and routers will resolve to reach this controller’s edge client API
clientApi.advertisedPort string nil the TCP port associated with the advertisedHost to advertise to edge clients and routers
helm install \
    --namespace ziti-controller ziti-controller-minimal1 \
    openziti/ziti-controller \
        --set clientApi.advertisedHost="ziti-controller-minimal.example.com" \
        --set clientApi.advertisedPort="443"

A default admin user and password will be generated and saved to a secret during installation. The credentials can be retrieved using this command:

kubectl get secret \
    -n ziti-controller ziti-controller-minimal1-admin-secret \
    -o go-template='{{range $k,$v := .data}}{{printf "%s: " $k}}{{if not $v}}{{$v}}{{else}}{{$v | base64decode}}{{end}}{{"\n"}}{{end}}'

You may log in the ziti CLI with one command or omit the -p part to prompt:

ziti edge login ziti-controller-minimal.example.com:1280 \
    --yes \
    --username admin \
    --password $(
        kubectl -n ziti-controller \
            get secrets ziti-controller-minimal1-admin-secret \
                -o go-template='{{index .data "admin-password" | base64decode }}'
        )

Managed Kubernetes Installation

Managed Kubernetes providers typically configure server TLS for a Service of type LoadBalancer. Ziti needs pass-through TLS because edge clients and routers authenticate with client certificates. We’ll accomplish this by changing the Service type to ClusterIP and creating Ingress resources with pass-through TLS for each cluster service.

This example demonstrates creating TLS pass-through Ingress resources for use with ingress-nginx.

Ensure you have the ingress-nginx chart installed with controller.extraArgs.enable-ssl-passthrough=true. You can verify this feature is enabled by running kubectl describe pods {ingress-nginx-controller pod} and checking the args for --enable-ssl-passthrough=true.

Create a Helm chart values file like this.

# /tmp/controller-values.yml
clientApi:
    advertisedHost: ziti-controller-managed.example.com
    advertisedPort: 443
    service:
        type: ClusterIP
    ingress:
        enabled: true
        ingressClassName: nginx
        annotations:
            kubernetes.io/ingress.allow-http: "false"
            nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/ssl-passthrough: "true"

Now install or upgrade this controller chart with your values file.

helm install \
    --namespace ziti-controller ziti-controller-managed1 \
    openziti/ziti-controller \
    --values /tmp/controller-values.yml

Expose the Router Control Plane

This is applicable if you have any routers outside the Ziti controller’s cluster. You must configure pass-through TLS LoadBalancer or Ingress for the control plane service. Routers running in the same cluster as the controller can use the cluster service named {controller release}-ctrl (the “ctrl” endpoint). This example demonstrates a pass-through Ingress resource for nginx-ingress.

Merge this with your Helm chart values file before installing or upgrading.

ctrlPlane:
    advertisedHost: ziti-controller-managed-ctrl.example.com
    advertisedPort: 443
    service:
        enabled: true
    ingress:
        enabled: true
        ingressClassName: nginx
        annotations:
            kubernetes.io/ingress.allow-http: "false"
            nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/ssl-passthrough: "true"

Extra Security for the Management API

You can split the client and management APIs into separate cluster services by setting managementApi.service.enabled=true. With this configuration, you’ll have an additional cluster service named {controller release}-mgmt that is the management API, and the client API will not have management features.

This Helm chart’s values allow for both operational scenarios: combined and split. The default choice is to expose the combined client and management APIs as the cluster service named {controller release}-client, which is convenient because you can use the ziti CLI immediately. For additional security, you may shelter the management API by splitting these two sets of features, exposing them as separate API servers. After the split, you can access the management API in several ways:

Advanced PKI

The default configuration generates a singular PKI root of trust for all the controller’s servers and the edge signer CA. Optionally, you may provide the name of a cert-manager Issuer or ClusterIssuer to become the root of trust for the Ziti controller’s identity.

Merge this with your Helm chart values file before installing or upgrading.

ctrlPlane:
    issuer:
        kind: ClusterIssuer
        name: my-alternative-cluster-issuer

You may also configure the Ziti controller to use separate PKI roots of trust for its three main identities: control plane, edge signer, and web bindings.

For example, to use a separate CA for the edge signer function, merge this with your Helm chart values file before installing or upgrading.

edgeSignerPki:
    enabled: true

Values Reference

Key Type Default Description
additionalVolumes list [] additional volumes to mount to ziti-controller container
affinity object {} deployment template spec affinity
ca.clusterDomain string "cluster.local" Set a custom cluster domain if other than cluster.local
ca.duration string "87840h" Go time.Duration string format
ca.renewBefore string "720h" Go time.Duration string format
cert-manager.enableCertificateOwnerRef bool true clean up secret when certificate is deleted
cert-manager.enabled bool false install the cert-manager subchart to provide CRDs Certificate, Issuer
cert-manager.installCRDs bool false CRDs must be applied in advance of installing the parent chart
cert.duration string "87840h" server certificate duration as Go time.Duration string format
cert.renewBefore string "720h" rewnew server certificates before expiry as Go time.Duration string format
clientApi.advertisedHost string nil global DNS name by which routers can resolve a reachable IP for this service
clientApi.advertisedPort int 443 cluster service, node port, load balancer, and ingress port
clientApi.containerPort int 1280 cluster service target port on the container
clientApi.dnsNames list [] additional DNS SANs
clientApi.ingress.annotations string nil ingress annotations, e.g., to configure ingress-nginx
clientApi.ingress.enabled bool false create an ingress for the cluster service
clientApi.service.enabled bool true create a cluster service for the deployment
clientApi.service.type string "LoadBalancer" expose the service as a ClusterIP, NodePort, or LoadBalancer
ctrlPlane.advertisedHost string nil global DNS name by which routers can resolve a reachable IP for this service: default is cluster service DNS name which assumes all routers are inside the same cluster
ctrlPlane.advertisedPort int 443 cluster service, node port, load balancer, and ingress port
ctrlPlane.alternativeIssuer string nil kind and name of alternative issuer for the controller’s identity
ctrlPlane.containerPort int 6262 cluster service target port on the container
ctrlPlane.dnsNames list [] additional DNS SANs
ctrlPlane.ingress.annotations string nil ingress annotations, e.g., to configure ingress-nginx
ctrlPlane.ingress.enabled bool false create an ingress for the cluster service
ctrlPlane.service.enabled bool true create a cluster service for the deployment
ctrlPlane.service.type string "ClusterIP" expose the service as a ClusterIP, NodePort, or LoadBalancer
ctrlPlaneCasBundle.namespaceSelector object {} namespaces where trust-manager will create the Bundle resource containing Ziti’s trusted CA certs (default: empty means all namespaces)
dbFile string "ctrl.db" name of the BoltDB file
edgeSignerPki.admin_client_cert.duration string "8760h" admin client certificate duration as Go time.Duration
edgeSignerPki.admin_client_cert.renewBefore string "720h" renew admin client certificate before expiry as Go time.Duration
edgeSignerPki.enabled bool true generate a separate PKI root of trust for the edge signer CA
fabric.events.enabled bool false enable fabric event logger and file handler
fabric.events.fileName string "fabric-events.json"  
fabric.events.mountDir string "/var/run/ziti"  
fabric.events.network.intervalAgeThreshold string "5s" matching interval age and reporting interval ensures coherent metrics from fabric events
fabric.events.network.metricsReportInterval string "5s" matching interval age and reporting interval ensures coherent metrics from fabric events
fabric.events.subscriptions[0].type string "fabric.circuits"  
fabric.events.subscriptions[1].type string "fabric.links"  
fabric.events.subscriptions[2].type string "fabric.routers"  
fabric.events.subscriptions[3].type string "fabric.terminators"  
fabric.events.subscriptions[4].metricFilter string ".*"  
fabric.events.subscriptions[4].sourceFilter string ".*"  
fabric.events.subscriptions[4].type string "metrics"  
fabric.events.subscriptions[5].type string "edge.sessions"  
fabric.events.subscriptions[6].type string "edge.apiSessions"  
fabric.events.subscriptions[7].type string "fabric.usage"  
fabric.events.subscriptions[7].version int 3  
fabric.events.subscriptions[8].type string "services"  
fabric.events.subscriptions[9].interval string "5s"  
fabric.events.subscriptions[9].type string "edge.entityCounts"  
highAvailability.mode string "standalone" Ziti controller HA mode
highAvailability.replicas int 1 Ziti controller HA swarm replicas
image.args list ["/ziti-controller.yaml"] args for the entrypoint command
image.command list ["ziti","controller","run"] container entrypoint command
image.homeDir string "/home/ziggy" homeDir for admin login shell must align with container image’s ~/.bashrc for ziti CLI auto-complete to work
image.pullPolicy string "IfNotPresent" deployment image pull policy
image.repository string "docker.io/openziti/ziti-controller" container image repository for app deployment
image.tag string "" override the container image tag specified in the chart
ingress-nginx.controller.extraArgs.enable-ssl-passthrough string "true" configure subchart ingress-nginx to enable the pass-through TLS feature
ingress-nginx.enabled bool false recommended: install the ingress-nginx subchart (may be necessary for managed k8s)
managementApi.advertisedHost string nil global DNS name by which routers can resolve a reachable IP for this service
managementApi.advertisedPort int 443 cluster service, node port, load balancer, and ingress port
managementApi.containerPort int 1281 cluster service target port on the container
managementApi.dnsNames list [] additional DNS SANs
managementApi.ingress.annotations string nil ingress annotations, e.g., to configure ingress-nginx
managementApi.ingress.enabled bool false create an ingress for the cluster service
managementApi.service.enabled bool false create a cluster service for the deployment
managementApi.service.type string "ClusterIP" expose the service as a ClusterIP, NodePort, or LoadBalancer
network.createCircuitRetries int 2 createCircuitRetries controls the number of retries that will be attempted to create a path (and terminate it) for new circuits.
network.cycleSeconds int 15 Defines the period that the controller re-evaluates the performance of all of the circuits running on the network.
network.initialLinkLatency string "65s" Sets the latency of link when it’s first created. Will be overwritten as soon as latency from the link is actually reported from the routers. Defaults to 65 seconds.
network.minRouterCost int 10 Sets router minimum cost. Defaults to 10
network.pendingLinkTimeoutSeconds int 10 pendingLinkTimeoutSeconds controls how long we’ll wait before creating a new link between routers where there isn’t an established link, but a link request has been sent
network.routeTimeoutSeconds int 10 routeTimeoutSeconds controls the number of seconds the controller will wait for a route attempt to succeed.
network.routerConnectChurnLimit string "1m" Sets how often a new control channel connection can take over for a router with an existing control channel connection Defaults to 1 minute
network.smart.rerouteCap int 4 Defines the hard upper limit of underperforming circuits that are candidates to be re-routed. If smart routing detects 100 circuits that are underperforming, and smart.rerouteCap is set to 1, and smart.rerouteFraction is set to 0.02, then the upper limit of circuits that will be re-routed in this cycleSeconds period will be limited to 1.
network.smart.rerouteFraction float 0.02 Defines the fractional upper limit of underperforming circuits that are candidates to be re-routed. If smart routing detects 100 circuits that are underperforming, and smart.rerouteFraction is set to 0.02, then the upper limit of circuits that will be re-routed in this cycleSeconds period will be limited to 2 (2% of 100).
nodeSelector object {} deployment template spec node selector
persistence.VolumeName string nil PVC volume name
persistence.accessMode string "ReadWriteOnce" PVC access mode: ReadWriteOnce (concurrent mounts not allowed), ReadWriteMany (concurrent allowed)
persistence.annotations object {} annotations for the PVC
persistence.enabled bool true required: place a storage claim for the BoltDB persistent volume
persistence.existingClaim string "" A manually managed Persistent Volume and Claim Requires persistence.enabled=true. If defined, PVC must be created manually before volume will be bound.
persistence.size string "2Gi" 2GiB is enough for tens of thousands of entities, but feel free to make it larger
persistence.storageClass string nil Storage class of PV to bind. By default it looks for the default storage class. If the PV uses a different storage class, specify that here.
podAnnotations object {} annotations to apply to all pods deployed by this chart
podSecurityContext object {"fsGroup":2171} deployment template spec security context
podSecurityContext.fsGroup int 2171 the GID of the group that should own any files created by the container, especially the BoltDB file
prometheus.advertisedHost string "" DNS name to advertise in place of the default internal cluster name built from the Helm release name
prometheus.advertisedPort int 443 cluster service, node port, load balancer, and ingress port
prometheus.containerPort int 9090 cluster service target port on the container
prometheus.service.annotations object {}  
prometheus.service.enabled bool false create a cluster service for the deployment
prometheus.service.labels object {}  
prometheus.service.type string "ClusterIP" expose the service as a ClusterIP, NodePort, or LoadBalancer
resources object {} deployment container resources
securityContext object {} deployment container security context
spireAgent.enabled bool false if you are running a container with the spire-agent binary installed then this will allow you to add the hostpath necessary for connecting to the spire socket
spireAgent.spireSocketMnt string "/run/spire/sockets" file path of the spire socket mount
tolerations list [] deployment template spec tolerations
trust-manager.app.trust.namespace string "ziti" trust-manager needs to be configured to trust the namespace in which the controller is deployed so that it will create the Bundle resource for the ctrl plane trust bundle
trust-manager.crds.enabled bool false CRDs must be applied in advance of installing the parent chart
trust-manager.enabled bool false install the trust-manager subchart to provide CRD Bundle
webBindingPki.enabled bool true generate a separate PKI root of trust for web bindings, i.e., client, management, and prometheus APIs

TODO’s