Sidecar injector for self-signed certificates on OpenShift

CloudBees CI includes an option called sidecar injector. This option lets you use a self-signed certificate or a custom certificate authority (CA) to access internal HTTPS services, such as an SCM repository or an artifact repository.

Sidecar injector is designed only to trust services that are secured with custom or self-signed certificates. It is not intended to be used to secure a CloudBees CI cluster using HTTPS and should not be set up for that purpose.

Using sidecar injector provides the following benefits:

Satisfies the enterprise security policies for organizations that use custom certificate authorities.
Removes the cost of purchasing commercially signed certificates for internal websites.
Saves time because organizations don’t have to wait for signed certificates.

To use sidecar injector, create a certificate bundle that overwrites the default certificate bundle. Then, set up sidecar injector to inject that certificate bundle into all containers of all scheduled Kubernetes pods in a labeled namespace.

Prerequisites for using sidecar injector on OpenShift

The following items are required:

A supported version of OpenShift. See Supported platforms for CloudBees CI on modern cloud platforms - Kubernetes reference platforms.
The MutatingAdmissionWebhook admission controller is enabled for your cluster.

To verify the admission controller is enabled for your cluster, enter the following command:
```
$ oc api-versions | grep admissionregistration.k8s.io/v1▼
```
The result should be:
```
admissionregistration.k8s.io/v1▼
```
For OpenShift 3.x only, you must add the admission controllers to the master-config.yaml file. This YAML file is the master configuration file for OpenShift. For information about the OpenShift master-config.yaml file, refer to Customizing master and node configuration after installation.

An example of how to add the admission controllers to the master-config.yaml file is as follows:

admissionConfig:
  pluginConfig:
    ValidatingAdmissionWebhook:
      configuration:
        kind: DefaultAdmissionConfig
        apiVersion: v1
        disable: false
    MutatingAdmissionWebhook:
      configuration:
        kind: DefaultAdmissionConfig
        apiVersion: v1
        disable: false▼

Network requirements for sidecar injector

The sidecar injector listens to HTTPS requests on port 443, and the firewall rules of that port must be configured accordingly:

From	To	Port	Description
Kubernetes Control Plane	Kubernetes Node(s)	443	Allow Kubernetes control plane to communicate with sidecar-injector pod(s)
Kubernetes Node(s)	Kubernetes Control Plane	443	Allow incoming requests from sidecar-injector pod(s)

From

Port

Description

Kubernetes Control Plane

Kubernetes Node(s)

443

Allow Kubernetes control plane to communicate with sidecar-injector pod(s)

Kubernetes Node(s)

Kubernetes Control Plane

443

Allow incoming requests from sidecar-injector pod(s)

In environments where aggregator routing is enabled, the API Server routes the webhook requests directly to the Sidecar Injector Endpoint that listens on port 8443, rather than the Kubernetes Service that listens on port 443. In such environments, the firewall rules must allow the Kubernetes control plane to communicate with Kubernetes node(s) on the port 8443.

Installing self-signed certificates on OpenShift

This procedure requires a context with the cluster-admin privilege to create the MutatingWebhookConfiguration.

Follow all of the following instructions in the order listed to ensure that sidecar injector works correctly with your self-signed certificates:

Creating a certificate bundle on OpenShift
Setting up the sidecar injector on OpenShift using Helm install, or Setting up the sidecar injector on OpenShift using Helm template if you are unable to use helm install
Configuring a namespace for sidecar injector on OpenShift
Verifying the namespace for sidecar injector on OpenShift
Applying the certificate bundle

Creating a certificate bundle on OpenShift

These instructions assume that you are working in the project where CloudBees CI is installed, and that the certificate you want to install is named mycertificate.pem.

If you are using a self-signed certificate, add the certificate itself. If you are using a certificate issued by a custom root CA, add the root CA itself.

Copy reference files locally:

On CloudBees CI 2.204.1.3 or newer:

$ oc cp cjoc-0:/etc/pki/ca-trust/extracted/pem/tls-ca-bundle.pem ./ca-certificates.crt
$ oc cp cjoc-0:/etc/pki/ca-trust/extracted/java/cacerts ./cacerts▼

On earlier versions, or when overriding the Docker image selection to use the Alpine base:

$ oc cp cjoc-0:/etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt ./ca-certificates.crt
$ oc cp cjoc-0:/etc/ssl/certs/java/cacerts ./cacerts▼

Alternatively, in case you do not have an operations center pod running, you can retrieve the files from the image without deploying in OpenShift.

For this you will need to have a working Docker installation.

You can then run:

CBCI_VERSION="2.249.2.4"
CONTAINER_ID=$(docker create cloudbees/cloudbees-cloud-core-oc:${CBCI_VERSION})
# adapt for each file you need to retrieve
docker cp ${CONTAINER_ID}:/etc/pki/ca-trust/extracted/pem/tls-ca-bundle.pem .
docker rm ${CONTAINER_ID}▼

Add the root CA to the system certificate bundle:

$ cat mycertificate.pem >> ca-certificates.crt▼

Add the root CA to the Java cacerts:
```
$ keytool -import -noprompt -keystore cacerts -file mycertificate.pem -storepass changeit -alias service-mycertificate;▼
```
Make sure that mycertificate.pem contains only one certificate. keytool does not support importing multiple certificates from a single file.
Use the two files above to create a configmap for each labeled namespace that uses sidecar injector:
```
$ oc create configmap --from-file=ca-certificates.crt,cacerts ca-bundles▼
```

Setting up the sidecar injector on OpenShift using Helm install

This procedure shows you how to set up sidecar injector using the helm install method. If you are unable to use helm install, go to Setting up sidecar injector on OpenShift using Helm template.

Create a project to deploy the sidecar injector:
```
$ oc new-project cloudbees-sidecar-injector▼
```

Type the following command:

helm install cloudbees-sidecar-injector cloudbees/cloudbees-sidecar-injector --namespace cloudbees-sidecar-injector▼

Verify that the sidecar-inject-webhook pod is running:

$ oc --namespace cloudbees-sidecar-injector get pods
NAME                                                  READY     STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
sidecar-injector-webhook-deployment-bbb689d69-882dd   1/1       Running   0          5m

$ oc --namespace cloudbees-sidecar-injector get deployment
NAME                                  DESIRED   CURRENT   UP-TO-DATE   AVAILABLE   AGE
sidecar-injector-webhook-deployment   1         1         1            1           5m▼

Setting up the sidecar injector on OpenShift using Helm template

Use this procedure to set up sidecar injector if you are unable to use helm install. This procedure uses the helm template method.

Create a project to deploy the sidecar injector:
```
$ oc new-project cloudbees-sidecar-injector▼
```

Enter the following command:

helm template cloudbees-sidecar-injector cloudbees/cloudbees-sidecar-injector --namespace cloudbees-sidecar-injector --api-versions "route.openshift.io/v1" > sidecar-injector.yaml▼

Enter the following command:

oc apply --namespace cloudbees-sidecar-injector -f sidecar-injector.yaml.▼

Verify that the sidecar-inject-webhook pod is running:

$ oc --namespace cloudbees-sidecar-injector get pods
NAME                                                  READY     STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
sidecar-injector-webhook-deployment-bbb689d69-882dd   1/1       Running   0          5m

$ oc --namespace cloudbees-sidecar-injector get deployment
NAME                                  DESIRED   CURRENT   UP-TO-DATE   AVAILABLE   AGE
sidecar-injector-webhook-deployment   1         1         1            1           5m▼

Configuring a namespace for sidecar injector on OpenShift

Label the namespace where CloudBees CI is installed with sidecar-injector=enabled:

In the command below, replace "mynamespace" with the name of your namespace. For example, if your namespace is "cb", use the command kubectl label namespace cb sidecar-injector=enabled. This causes pods that start in that namespace to have the sidecar injected.

$ oc label namespace mynamespace sidecar-injector=enabled▼

Check the configuration:

$ oc get namespace -L sidecar-injector
NAME          STATUS    AGE       SIDECAR-INJECTOR
default       Active    18h
mynamespace   Active    18h       enabled
kube-public   Active    18h
kube-system   Active    18h▼

Verifying the namespace for sidecar injector on OpenShift

Switch to the CloudBees CI project:
```
$ oc project mynamespace▼
```

Deploy an app in the OpenShift cluster. For example, the sleep app:

# cat <<EOF | oc create -f -
apiVersion: extensions/v1beta1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
name: sleep
spec:
replicas: 1
template:
  metadata:
	labels:
	  app: sleep
  spec:
	containers:
	- name: sleep
	  image: busybox
	  command: ["/bin/sleep","infinity"]
EOF▼

Verify that injection has occurred:

$ oc get pods -o 'go-template={{range .items}}{{.metadata.name}}{{"\n"}}{{range $key,$value := .metadata.annotations}}* {{$key}}: {{$value}}{{"\n"}}{{end}}{{"\n"}}{{end}}'
      sleep-d5bf9d8c9-bfglq
      * com.cloudbees.sidecar-injector/status: injected▼

Applying the certificate bundle

After you have completed the setup for sidecar injector, you can use your custom CA across your cluster.

To apply the new certificate bundle:

Use CJOC_RUL/restart to restart operations center and the pod.
Restart any running managed controllers.

When new build agents are scheduled, the certificate bundle is automatically applied and permits connection to remote endpoints using your certificates.

Advanced configuration for sidecar injector on OpenShift

Disabling Injection on a specific pod

To disable implicit injection for a specific pod, annotate it with com.cloudbees.sidecar-injector/inject: no

Making injection explicit

By default, injection is implicit and applies to all pods created in the labeled namespace(s). However, you can alternately enable injection on only the pod(s) that explicitly require it.

To make injection explicit for a given pod:

Edit the sidecar-injector-webhook-configmap configmap and specify requiresExplicitInjection: true.
To enable injection on a specific pod, annotate the pod with com.cloudbees.sidecar-injector/inject: yes.

Troubleshooting self-signed certificates on OpenShift

The sleep pod can’t be created

There is an error on pod creation, such as "certificate signed by unknown authority", or the sidecar-injector logs contain the following: http: TLS handshake error from aaa.bbb.ccc.ddd:nnnnn: remote error: tls: bad certificate.

This can happen if the API server TLS certificate differs from the cluster signing certificate. To fix this, you need to provide the cluster signing certificate as an input to the installation.

Create a values.yaml file as follows. Replace the content with your own certificate.

caBundleCrt: |-
  -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
  MIICyDCCAbCgAwIBAgIBADANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQsFADAVMRMwEQYDVQQDEwprdWJl
  cm5ldGVzMB4XDTE5MDcyOTA3MzQyMloXDTI5MDcyNjA3MzQyMlowFTETMBEGA1UE
  AxMKa3ViZXJuZXRlczCCASIwDQYJKoZIhvcNAQEBBQADggEPADCCAQoCggEBALgQ
  fjIm8iVEpmX3tlcUzuH2BAQGzK0utC6S0hhqnK6zlQ9iGDAwDpAiwGB9VzcJSfK7
  fr3rx4zT9rWfVeot+ARQV/NPxSUpPlGK8WsRleg5wKyUdnE1xKZDly2l2Vpqlr0J
  GnMXb2A0roi685XZo6iQALLfo+rtWQ2y2JLXzGYYCB1sAUX3hM3qbYmIMReBIyMX
  YGUUdaMuWU1YazKy3eJ84Am7l9ZXlMm7infJlAFsM3BCKed9ZxO2KxTvhWv1qbUk
  Bj3GJrL2bJfQi3B6h0piiBDt6YeI3U8yU4EyxtMKQwQXs9T1zHloc6RmVGYYVAEl
  HquW/XIk4ebWTxYND6UCAwEAAaMjMCEwDgYDVR0PAQH/BAQDAgKkMA8GA1UdEwEB
  /wQFMAMBAf8wDQYJKoZIhvcNAQELBQADggEBABsJvnyo14a8FR6y4JGSX1SXSmtS
  uRiWH6qo5Ou+4zIw0LIhDQTtaN44G86BzhvQFdeQzfvyrKXfuYUTOQz/iYPNFsO6
  FOcDg9EcA19n5tSGp8SniyDEe6EhBWa5A9UR2RPEg/8NZRoeZ/2G9SjUqoa/Erxn
  IPlZvNu+gMEK7etysUQ33s4fp+jD6p0pbWKgSQAiDRVHi3Khlhcn7DfM0ncrSQBs
  vgFPSEczjpl8LR6c0pLSdPUHgdK6pDLTYdtdytRNfJAVjAREYL4uSb8I5NKdkgEz
  BLvnDfdDoCeOZoaeLR68jCltNfdzT5/d1v086i7uRepGhQ5w7ehtPuZ+0U8=
  -----END CERTIFICATE-----▼

If running on AWS EKS, you can get the API server TLS certificate by opening the AWS Console, navigating to menu:EKS[Clusters > Your Cluster > Overview, and copying the Certificate authority. Then, run echo 'COPIED_VALUE' | base64 -d to get the certificate. It is also found at /etc/kubernetes/pki/ca.crt from any Kubernetes node.

Then, run the installation again.

helm delete cloudbees-sidecar-injector -n cloudbees-sidecar-injector
kubectl delete MutatingWebhookConfiguration cloudbees-sidecar-injector
kubectl delete namespace cloudbees-sidecar-injector
kubectl create namespace cloudbees-sidecar-injector
helm install cloudbees-sidecar-injector cloudbees/cloudbees-sidecar-injector --namespace cloudbees-sidecar-injector --values values.yaml▼

The sleep pod is created but stays in `ContainerCreating` state

Describe the pod:

kubectl describe po sleep▼

You may get an error like the following:

Warning  FailedMount  2s (x3 over 3s)  kubelet, docker-desktop  MountVolume.SetUp failed for volume "bundles" : configmap "ca-bundles" not found▼

If so, please verify that you created the certificate bundle mentioned above. Also check that you are working in the expected namespace. A configmap called ca-bundles must be created in each namespace you wish to use sidecar injector with.

Remove a previous broken installation and perform a fresh installation

If you have a previous installation that was not installed correctly, or is failing to upgrade, you can follow these steps to remove the previous installation and perform a fresh installation.

Retrieve the existing Helm values:

helm get values -n cloudbees-sidecar-injector cloudbees-sidecar-injector > cloudbees-sidecar-injector-values.yaml▼

Edit the generated cloudbees-sidecar-injector-values.yaml file and remove USER-SUPPLIED VALUES: at the top of the file. If the file only has null remaining, then the previous installation did not use any values; omit -f cloudbees-sidecar-injector-values.yaml when running the new installation.

Uninstall the cloudbees-sidecar-injector release, delete the MutatingWebhookConfiguration, and delete the namespace:

helm uninstall -n cloudbees-sidecar-injector cloudbees-sidecar-injector
kubectl delete MutatingWebhookConfiguration cloudbees-sidecar-injector
kubectl delete namespace cloudbees-sidecar-injector▼

Create the namespace, and install cloudbees-sidecar-injector:

kubectl create namespace cloudbees-sidecar-injector
helm repo update
helm install -n cloudbees-sidecar-injector cloudbees-sidecar-injector cloudbees/cloudbees-sidecar-injector -f cloudbees-sidecar-injector-values.yaml▼

In August 2020, the Jenkins project voted to replace the term master with controller. We have taken a pragmatic approach to cleaning these up, ensuring the least amount of downstream impact as possible. CloudBees is committed to ensuring a culture and environment of inclusiveness and acceptance - this includes ensuring the changes are not just cosmetic ones, but pervasive. As this change happens, please note that the term master has been replaced through the latest versions of the CloudBees documentation with controller (as in managed controller, client controller, team controller) except when still used in the UI or in code.

Sidecar injector for self-signed certificates on OpenShift

Prerequisites for using sidecar injector on OpenShift

Network requirements for sidecar injector

Installing self-signed certificates on OpenShift

Creating a certificate bundle on OpenShift

Setting up the sidecar injector on OpenShift using Helm install

Setting up the sidecar injector on OpenShift using Helm template

Configuring a namespace for sidecar injector on OpenShift

Verifying the namespace for sidecar injector on OpenShift

Applying the certificate bundle

Advanced configuration for sidecar injector on OpenShift

Disabling Injection on a specific pod

Making injection explicit

Troubleshooting self-signed certificates on OpenShift

The sleep pod can’t be created

The sleep pod is created but stays in ContainerCreating state

Remove a previous broken installation and perform a fresh installation

The sleep pod is created but stays in `ContainerCreating` state