Kubernetes access control in the enterprise | Jan Bruder

Discover the intricacies of Kubernetes access control in the enterprise, including role-based access control, namespaces, and fine-grained access control mechanisms like ABAC, and learn how to manage access with Rancher and OpenID Connect.

Key takeaways
  • Authentication is about establishing the identity of a user and verifying who they are.
  • Rancher has a role-based access control (RBAC) mechanism built on top of OpenID Connect.
  • Role bindings define a mapping between users, groups, and roles in a specific cluster.
  • Custom API resources are used to manage RBAC globally across clusters.
  • Kubernetes itself does not have a user management system, and authentication is not built-in.
  • Namespaces are a way to isolate resources within a cluster and separate deployment stages.
  • Role-based access control is important for preventing users from accessing sensitive resources.
  • The principle of least privilege should be applied when assigning roles to users.
  • The authentication proxy forwards requests to an external service for validation.
  • OpenID Connect is an authentication mechanism that can be used in conjunction with Kubernetes.
  • Client certificate authentication is another method for authenticating users.
  • Fine-grained access control can be achieved using ABAC.
  • Rancher uses a reconciliation process to ensure consistency across clusters.
  • Manual RBAC management can be time-consuming and prone to errors.
  • Kubernetes API objects, such as pods and deployments, can be controlled using roles.
  • Webhook authorization is a way to add custom authorization logic.
  • Least privilege access should be applied to integrations with Rancher.