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Run Redis with TLS/SSL (Transport Encryption)

KubeDB supports providing TLS/SSL encryption for Redis. This tutorial will show you how to use KubeDB to run a Redis database with TLS/SSL encryption.

Before You Begin

At first, you need to have a Kubernetes cluster, and the kubectl command-line tool must be configured to communicate with your cluster. If you do not already have a cluster, you can create one by using kind.
Install cert-manger v1.0.0 or later to your cluster to manage your SSL/TLS certificates.
Now, install KubeDB cli on your workstation and KubeDB operator in your cluster following the steps here.
To keep things isolated, this tutorial uses a separate namespace called demo throughout this tutorial.
```
$ kubectl create ns demo
namespace/demo created
```

Note: YAML files used in this tutorial are stored in docs/examples/redis folder in GitHub repository kubedb/docs.

Overview

KubeDB uses following crd fields to enable SSL/TLS encryption in Redis and RedisSentinel.

spec:
- tls:
  - issuerRef
  - certificate

There are two basic things to keep in mind when securing Redis using TLS in Sentinel Mode.

Either Sentinel instance and Redis database both should have TLS enabled or both have TLS disabled.
If TLS enabled, both Sentinel instance and Redis database should use the same Issuer. If they are in different namespace, in order to use same issuer, the certificates should be signed using ClusterIssuer

Read about the fields in details in redis concept and redissentinel concept

Create Issuer/ ClusterIssuer

We are going to create an example ClusterIssuer that will be used throughout the duration of this tutorial to enable SSL/TLS in Redis. Alternatively, you can follow this cert-manager tutorial to create your own ClusterIssuer.

Start off by generating you can certificate using openssl.

openssl req -x509 -nodes -days 365 -newkey rsa:2048 -keyout ./ca.key -out ./ca.crt -subj "/CN=redis/O=kubedb"

Now create a ca-secret using the certificate files you have just generated. The secret should be created in cert-manager namespace to create the ClusterIssuer.

$ kubectl create secret tls redis-ca \
     --cert=ca.crt \
     --key=ca.key \
     --namespace=cert-manager

Now, create an ClusterIssuer using the ca-secret you have just created. The YAML file looks like this:

apiVersion: cert-manager.io/v1
kind: ClusterIssuer
metadata:
  name: redis-ca-issuer
spec:
  ca:
    secretName: redis-ca

Apply the YAML file:

$ kubectl create -f https://github.com/kubedb/docs/raw/v2023.06.19/docs/examples/redis/tls/clusterissuer.yaml
clusterissuer.cert-manager.io/redis-ca-issuer created

TLS/SSL encryption in Sentinel

Below is the YAML for Redis in Sentinel Mode.

apiVersion: kubedb.com/v1alpha2
kind: RedisSentinel
metadata:
  name: sen-tls
  namespace: demo
spec:
  replicas: 3
  version: "6.2.5"
  tls:
    issuerRef:
      apiGroup: "cert-manager.io"
      kind: ClusterIssuer
      name: redis-ca-issuer
  storage:
    storageClassName: "standard"
    accessModes:
      - ReadWriteOnce
    resources:
      requests:
        storage: 1Gi

Deploy Redis in Sentinel Mode

$ kubectl create -f https://github.com/kubedb/docs/raw/v2023.06.19/docs/examples/redis/tls/sentinel-ssl.yaml
redissentinel.kubedb.com/sen-tls created

Now, wait until sen-tls has status Ready. i.e,

$ watch kubectl get redissentinel -n demo
Every 2.0s: kubectl get redis -n demo
NAME      VERSION   STATUS   AGE
sen-tls   6.2.5     Ready    111s

Verify TLS/SSL in Redis in Sentinel Mode

Now, connect to this database by exec into a pod and verify if tls has been set up as intended.

$ kubectl describe secret -n demo sen-tls-client-cert
Name:         sen-tls-client-cert
Namespace:    demo
Labels:       app.kubernetes.io/component=database
              app.kubernetes.io/instance=sen-tls
              app.kubernetes.io/managed-by=kubedb.com
              app.kubernetes.io/name=redissentinels.kubedb.com
Annotations:  cert-manager.io/alt-names: 
              cert-manager.io/certificate-name: sen-tls-client-cert
              cert-manager.io/common-name: default
              cert-manager.io/ip-sans: 
              cert-manager.io/issuer-group: cert-manager.io
              cert-manager.io/issuer-kind: ClusterIssuer
              cert-manager.io/issuer-name: redis-ca-issuer
              cert-manager.io/uri-sans: 

Type:  kubernetes.io/tls

Data
====
ca.crt:   1147 bytes
tls.crt:  1127 bytes
tls.key:  1675 bytes

Now, Lets exec into a redis container and find out the username to connect in a redis shell,

$ kubectl exec -it -n demo sen-tls-0 -c redissentinel -- bash
 
root@sen-tls-0:/data# ls /certs
ca.crt	client.crt  client.key	server.crt  server.key

root@sen-tls-0:/data# apt-get update; apt-get install openssl;
...

root@sen-tls-0:/data# openssl x509 -in /certs/ca.crt -inform PEM -subject -nameopt RFC2253 -noout
subject=O=kubedb,CN=redis

TLS/SSL encryption in Redis in Sentinel Mode

Below is the YAML for Redis in Sentinel Mode.

apiVersion: kubedb.com/v1alpha2
kind: Redis
metadata:
  name: rd-tls
  namespace: demo
spec:
  version: "6.2.5"
  mode: Sentinel
  replicas: 3
  sentinelRef:
    name: sen-tls
    namespace: demo
  tls:
    issuerRef:
      apiGroup: "cert-manager.io"
      kind: ClusterIssuer
      name: redis-ca-issuer
  storage:
    storageClassName: "standard"
    accessModes:
      - ReadWriteOnce
    resources:
      requests:
        storage: 1Gi

Deploy Redis in Sentinel Mode

$ kubectl create -f https://github.com/kubedb/docs/raw/v2023.06.19/docs/examples/redis/tls/rd-sentinel.yaml
redis.kubedb.com/rd-tls created

Now, wait until rd-tls has status Ready. i.e,

$ watch kubectl get rd -n demo
Every 2.0s: kubectl get redis -n demo
NAME      VERSION     STATUS     AGE
rd-tls    6.2.5       Ready      2m14s

Verify TLS/SSL in Redis in Sentinel Mode

Now, connect to this database by exec into a pod and verify if tls has been set up as intended.

$ kubectl describe secret -n demo rd-tls-client-cert
Name:         rd-tls-client-cert
Namespace:    demo
Labels:       app.kubernetes.io/component=database
              app.kubernetes.io/instance=rd-tls
              app.kubernetes.io/managed-by=kubedb.com
              app.kubernetes.io/name=redises.kubedb.com
Annotations:  cert-manager.io/alt-names: 
              cert-manager.io/certificate-name: rd-tls-client-cert
              cert-manager.io/common-name: default
              cert-manager.io/ip-sans: 
              cert-manager.io/issuer-group: cert-manager.io
              cert-manager.io/issuer-kind: ClusterIssuer
              cert-manager.io/issuer-name: redis-ca-issuer
              cert-manager.io/uri-sans: 

Type:  kubernetes.io/tls

Data
====
tls.key:  1679 bytes
ca.crt:   1147 bytes
tls.crt:  1127 bytes

Now, Lets exec into a redis container and find out the username to connect in a redis shell,

$ kubectl exec -it -n demo rd-tls-0 -c redis -- bash

root@rd-tls-0:/data# ls /certs
ca.crt	client.crt  client.key	server.crt  server.key

root@rd-tls-0:/data# apt-get update; apt-get install openssl;
...

root@rd-tls-0:/data# openssl x509 -in /certs/ca.crt -inform PEM -subject -nameopt RFC2253 -noout
subject=O=kubedb,CN=redis

Now, we can connect using CN=redis,O=kubedb as root to connect to the redis and write some data

$ kubectl exec -it -n demo rd-tls-0 -c redis -- bash

# Trying to connect without tls certificates
root@rd-tls-0:/data# redis-cli
127.0.0.1:6379> 
127.0.0.1:6379> set hello world
# Can not write data 
Error: Connection reset by peer 

# Trying to connect with tls certificates
root@rd-tls-0:/data# redis-cli --tls --cert "/certs/client.crt" --key "/certs/client.key" --cacert "/certs/ca.crt"
127.0.0.1:6379> 
127.0.0.1:6379> set hello world
OK
127.0.0.1:6379> exit

Cleaning up

To clean up the Kubernetes resources created by this tutorial, run:

$ kubectl patch -n demo redis/rd-tls -p '{"spec":{"terminationPolicy":"WipeOut"}}' --type="merge"
redis.kubedb.com/rd-tls patched

$ kubectl delete -n demo redis rd-tls
redis.kubedb.com "rd-tls" deleted

$ kubectl patch -n demo redissentinel/sen-tls -p '{"spec":{"terminationPolicy":"WipeOut"}}' --type="merge"
redissentinel.kubedb.com/sen-tls patched

$ kubectl delete -n demo redissentinel sen-tls
redissentinel.kubedb.com "sen-tls" deleted

$ kubectl delete clusterissuer redis-ca-issuer
clusterissuer.cert-manager.io "redis-ca-issuer" deleted

Next Steps

Detail concepts of Redis object.
Backup and Restore Redis databases using Stash. .
Monitor your Redis database with KubeDB using out-of-the-box Prometheus operator.
Monitor your Redis database with KubeDB using out-of-the-box builtin-Prometheus.

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KubeDB CLI

Run Redis with TLS/SSL (Transport Encryption)

Before You Begin

Overview

Create Issuer/ ClusterIssuer

TLS/SSL encryption in Sentinel

Deploy Redis in Sentinel Mode

Verify TLS/SSL in Redis in Sentinel Mode

TLS/SSL encryption in Redis in Sentinel Mode

Deploy Redis in Sentinel Mode

Verify TLS/SSL in Redis in Sentinel Mode

Cleaning up

Next Steps

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