Upstream TLS

A network architecture using HTTP for client communication and HTTPS upstream, featuring SSL/TLS termination at the gateway and centralized certificate management for enhanced security.

Using HTTP for external client communication and HTTPS for upstream services is a common network architecture pattern. In this setup, the gateway acts as the SSL/TLS termination point, ensuring secure encrypted communication with upstream services. This means that even though the client-to-gateway communication uses standard unencrypted HTTP protocol, the gateway securely converts these requests to HTTPS for communication with upstream services.

Centralized certificate management simplifies security maintenance, enhancing system reliability and manageability. This pattern is particularly practical in scenarios requiring protected internal communication while balancing front-end compatibility and performance.

Prerequisites

  • Kubernetes cluster
  • kubectl tool
  • FSM Gateway installed via guide doc.

Demonstration

Deploying Sample Application

Our upstream application uses HTTPS, so first, generate a self-signed certificate. The following commands generate a CA certificate, server certificate, and key.

openssl genrsa 2048 > ca-key.pem

openssl req -new -x509 -nodes -days 365000 \
   -key ca-key.pem \
   -out ca-cert.pem \
   -subj '/CN=flomesh.io'

openssl genrsa -out server-key.pem 2048
openssl req -new -key server-key.pem -out server.csr -subj '/CN=foo.example.com'
openssl x509 -req -in server.csr -CA ca-cert.pem -CAkey ca-key.pem -CAcreateserial -out server-cert.pem -days 365

Create a Secret server-cert using the server certificate and key.

kubectl create namespace httpbin
#TLS cert secret
kubectl create secret generic -n httpbin server-cert \
  --from-file=./server-cert.pem \
  --from-file=./server-key.pem

The sample application still uses the httpbin image, but now with TLS enabled using the created certificate and key.

kubectl apply -n httpbin -f - <<EOF
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: httpbin
spec:
  replicas: 1
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: httpbin
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: httpbin
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: httpbin
        image: kennethreitz/httpbin
        ports:
        - containerPort: 443
        volumeMounts:
        - name: cert-volume
          mountPath: /etc/httpbin/certs  # Mounting path in the container
        command: ["gunicorn"]
        args: ["-b", "0.0.0.0:443", "httpbin:app", "-k", "gevent", "--certfile", "/etc/httpbin/certs/server-cert.pem", "--keyfile", "/etc/httpbin/certs/server-key.pem"]
      volumes:
      - name: cert-volume
        secret:
          secretName: server-cert
---
apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
  name: httpbin
spec:
  selector:
    app: httpbin
  ports:
    - protocol: TCP
      port: 8443
      targetPort: 443
EOF

Verify if HTTPS has been enabled.

export HTTPBIN_POD=$(kubectl get po -n httpbin -l app=httpbin -o jsonpath='{.items[0].metadata.name}')

kubectl port-forward -n httpbin $HTTPBIN_POD 8443:443 &
# access with CA cert
curl --cacert ca-cert.pem https://foo.example.com/headers --connect-to foo.example.com:443:127.0.0.1:8443
{
  "headers": {
    "Accept": "*/*",
    "Host": "foo.example.com",
    "User-Agent": "curl/8.1.2"
  }
}

Creating Gateway and Routes

Next, create a gateway and route for the Service httpbin.

kubectl apply -n httpbin -f - <<EOF
apiVersion: gateway.networking.k8s.io/v1beta1
kind: Gateway
metadata:
  name: simple-fsm-gateway
spec:
  gatewayClassName: fsm-gateway-cls
  listeners:
  - protocol: HTTP
    port: 8000
    name: http
    allowedRoutes:
      namespaces:
        from: Same
---
apiVersion: gateway.networking.k8s.io/v1beta1
kind: HTTPRoute
metadata:
  name: http-route-foo
spec:
  parentRefs:
  - name: simple-fsm-gateway
    port: 8000
  hostnames:
  - foo.example.com
  rules:
  - matches:
    - path:
        type: PathPrefix
        value: /
    backendRefs:
    - name: httpbin
      port: 8443
EOF

At this point, accessing httpbin through the gateway is not possible, as httpbin has TLS enabled and the gateway cannot verify its server certificate.

curl http://foo.example.com/headers --connect-to foo.example.com:80:$GATEWAY_IP:8000
curl: (52) Empty reply from server

Upstream TLS Policy Verification

Create a Secret https-cert using the previously created CA certificate.

#CA cert secret
kubectl create secret generic -n httpbin https-cert --from-file=ca.crt=ca-cert.pem

Next, create an Upstream TLS Policy UpstreamTLSPolicy. Refer to the document UpstreamTLSPolicy and specify the Secret https-cert, containing the CA certificate, for the upstream service httpbin. The gateway will use this certificate to verify httpbin’s server certificate.

kubectl apply -n httpbin -f - <<EOF
apiVersion: gateway.flomesh.io/v1alpha1
kind: UpstreamTLSPolicy
metadata:
  name: upstream-tls-policy-sample
spec:
  targetRef:
    group: ""
    kind: Service
    name: httpbin
    namespace: httpbin
  ports:
  - port: 8443
    config:
      certificateRef:
        namespace: httpbin
        name: https-cert
      mTLS: false
EOF

After applying this policy and once it takes effect, try accessing the httpbin service through the gateway again.

curl http://foo.example.com/headers --connect-to foo.example.com:80:$GATEWAY_IP:8000
{
  "headers": {
    "Accept": "*/*",
    "Connection": "keep-alive",
    "Host": "10.42.0.25:443",
    "User-Agent": "curl/8.1.2"
  }
}

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Last modified April 11, 2024: update versions of fsm and pipy (cea5b3e)