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https://github.com/cruise-automation/rbacsync

Automatically sync groups into Kubernetes RBAC
https://github.com/cruise-automation/rbacsync

go golang k8s kubernetes kubernetes-controller kubernetes-operator kubernetes-rbac

Last synced: 22 days ago
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Automatically sync groups into Kubernetes RBAC

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README 

        
![RBACSync](project/images/logo-horizontal.png)



[![Build Status](https://travis-ci.org/cruise-automation/rbacsync.svg?branch=master)](https://travis-ci.org/cruise-automation/rbacsync)



* [Usage](#usage)

  + [Custom Resources](#custom-resources)

    - [Bindings](#bindings)

    - [Memberships](#memberships)

  + [Configuration](#configuration)

    - [Enabling GSuite Group Configuration](#enabling-gsuite-group-configuration)

  + [Deployment](#deployment)

* [Development](#development)

  + [Building](#building)

  + [Local Development](#local-development)

* [In Cluster Development](#in-cluster-development)

* [Release Process](#release-process)

  + [Tagging your release](#tagging-your-release)

  + [Pushing your release tag](#pushing-your-release-tag)

  + [Create your release in Github](#create-your-release-in-github)

* [License](#license)

* [Contributions](#contributions)



This project provides a Kubernetes controller to synchronize RoleBindings and

ClusterRoleBindings, used in [Kubernetes RBAC](https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/access-authn-authz/rbac/),

from group membership sources using consolidated configuration objects. The

provided configuration objects allow you to define "virtual" groups that result

in the creation of RoleBindings and ClusterRoleBindings that directly reference

all users in the group.



Group membership can be declared directly in configuration objects or be pulled

from an "upstream". Currently, the only supported upstream is GSuite, but we

may add others, if required.



Usage

-----



### Custom Resources



RBACSync leverages [Custom Resource Definitions](https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/extend-kubernetes/api-extension/custom-resources/#customresourcedefinitions)

to manage binding configuration and group membership declaration. The

CRDs are available in the [deployment directory](deploy/00-crds.yml). Specific

information about the type declarations are available in the [the source

code](pkg/apis/rbacsync/v1alpha/types.go).



There are two CRDs defined depending on whether you want to create groups with cluster

scope or namespace scope:



| Custom Resource Definition | Scope      | Description                                              |

|----------------------------|------------|----------------------------------------------------------|

| RBACSyncConfig             | Namespaced | Maps groups to users to create namespaced `RoleBindings` |

| ClusterRBACSyncConfig      | Cluster    | Maps groups to users to create `ClusterRoleBindings`     |



To define groups with RoleBindings within a namespace, you'll need to create an

RBACSyncConfig. To define groups that create ClusterRoleBindings, you'll need

to create ClusterRBACSyncConfig.



These two configuration objects can be used in concert to correctly configure

user bindings to `Roles` and `ClusterRoles` depending on the context.



If you are confused at any time, it might help to look at the

[example.yml](example.yml) for details.



#### Bindings



The configurations used for RBACSync are centered around a `bindings` entry. It

declares a mapping of group name to `RoleBinding` or `ClusterRoleBinding`. We

can use a very simple configuration to show this concept:



```yaml

apiVersion: rbacsync.getcruise.com/v1alpha

kind: ClusterRBACSyncConfig

metadata:

  name: example-simple

spec:

  # Defines the roleRef to use against the subjects defined above.

  bindings:

  - group: [email protected]

    roleRef:

      apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io

      kind: ClusterRole

      name: cluster-admin

```



The above is a configuration for the `ClusterRBACSyncConfig` with a single

binding entry that will map the Google Group "[email protected]". For

each binding entry, a `ClusterRoleBinding` will be created. It will look

similar to the following:



```yaml

apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1

kind: ClusterRoleBinding

metadata:

  annotations:

    rbacsync.getcruise.com/group: [email protected]

  labels:

    owner: example-simple # allows use to select child objects quickly

  name: [email protected]

  ownerReferences: # will be owned by the above configuration

roleRef:

  apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io

  kind: ClusterRole

  name: cluster-admin

subjects:

# Users that are a member of the group, from the upstream

- apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io

  kind: User

  name: [email protected]

- apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io

  kind: User

  name: [email protected]

- apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io

  kind: User

  name: [email protected]

```



The above will be created when the configuration is added to the Kubernetes

cluster. If the upstream group definition changes, updates will be picked up

after a configurable polling period. If the configuration that defined this, in

this case `example-simple`, is removed, this `ClusterRoleBinding` will be

automatically removed.



For namespace-scoped `RBACSyncConfig`, the behavior is nearly identical except

for the following:



1. `RBACSyncConfig` must be defined with a namespace.

2. All `RoleBindings` created as a result of the `RBACSyncConfig` will be in

   the same namespace.



`RBACSyncConfig` may reference a `ClusterRole` to grant permissions to

namespaced resources defined in the `ClusterRole` within the `RoleBinding`’s

namespace. This allows administrators to define a set of common roles for the

entire cluster, then reuse them within multiple namespaces.



When deciding between using the two, you should mostly only need to look at

whether your assigning `ClusterRoles` or `Roles` and then use the equivalent

configuration. Refer to the [Kubernetes RBAC documentation](https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/access-authn-authz/rbac/)

for further guidance on that topic.



#### Memberships



Group memberships allow one to specify the targets of the `RoleBindings` and

`ClusterRoleBindings` used in a configuration object. Abstractly, we'd like to

know based on a group name, what subjects are a member of that group. If you

are using an upstream, such as GSuite, these memberships are drawn directly

from group memberships define there. There may be cases when you want to store

these definitions directly in the cluster or need to augment groups with

additional members, such as GCP service accounts.



Each config has a spec which defines `memberships`, calling out each member of

the group.  The groups defined in `memberships` may then be referenced in one

or mores `bindings`.



To add memberships, simply include a memberships section in the spec,

memberships:



```yaml

  memberships:

  - group: cluster-admin-group

    subjects:

    - kind: User

      name: [email protected]

      apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io

    - kind: User

      name: [email protected]

      apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io

    - kind: User

      name: [email protected]

  - group: someother-group

    subjects:

    - kind: User

      name: [email protected]

      apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io

```



The above declares two groups, "cluster-admin-group" and "someother-group",

each with a list of subjects. When creating `RoleBindings`, the subjects

declared here will be used as the subjects in the `RoleBinding` object that

gets created.



> NOTE: If you're using GSuite to configure group memberships, you likely won't

> need this section. However, it may be useful to add supplementary members or

> robot accounts to groups using memberships.



### Configuration



For the most part, you can start using RBACSync with the default deployment,

defined in [`deploy/20-deployment.yml`](deploy/20-deployment.yml). This will

allow you to deploy configurations with bindings and memberships.



For reference, here are the available flags on the `rbacsync` binary:



```console

Usage of bin/rbacsync:

  -alsologtostderr

		log to standard error as well as files

  -debug-addr string

		bind address for liveness, readiness, debug and metrics (default ":8080")

  -gsuite.credentials string

		path to service account token json for gsuite access

  -gsuite.delegator string

		Account that has been delegated for use by the service account.

  -gsuite.enabled

		enabled membership definitions from gsuite

  -gsuite.pattern string

		Groups forwarded to gsuite account must match this pattern

  -gsuite.timeout duration

		Timeout for requests to gsuite API (default 30s)

  -kubeconfig string

		(optional) absolute path to the kubeconfig file (default "/home/sday/.kube/config")

  -log_backtrace_at value

		when logging hits line file:N, emit a stack trace

  -log_dir string

		If non-empty, write log files in this directory

  -logtostderr

		log to standard error instead of files

  -stderrthreshold value

		logs at or above this threshold go to stderr

  -upstream-poll-period duration

		poll period for upstream group updates (default 5m0s)

  -v value

		log level for V logs

  -version

		show the verson and exit

  -vmodule value

		comma-separated list of pattern=N settings for file-filtered logging

```



In configuring upstreams, you'll likely have to add one or more flags. Note

that you can also increase logging granularity, if you need more in depth

debugging.



#### Enabling GSuite Group Configuration



To use GSuite, you'll need a service account with "G Suite Domain-Wide

Delegation of Authority". It's recommended to read the

[guide](https://developers.google.com/admin-sdk/directory/v1/guides/delegation)

to understand how this works in case you run into issues. The blog

[Navigating the Google Suite Directory

API](https://www.fin.com/post/2017/10/navigating-google-suite-directory-api)

may also provide some insight.



The goal is to end up with two accounts:



1. A "robot" GSuite account that acts as a "delagator" to the service account.

2. A "service account" in a GCP project that will act as a delegate.



We then use the credentials of the service account with `rbacsync` to allow it

to read the GSuite Directory API.



> NOTE: You may be able to get away with delegating to a user account and

> taking it through the OAuth flow to delegate permissions. It is recommended

> to have a robot account with restricted permissions to control access and

> avoid lockouts if a user account experiences problems.



To setup this account, you'll need to take the following steps:



1. Create a new GSuite account with readonly access to the API on Google

   Groups. We'll call this the "robot" account. It should have the following

   permissions:



	- https://www.googleapis.com/auth/admin.directory.group.readonly

	- https://www.googleapis.com/auth/admin.directory.group.member.readonly



   Please refer to the GSuite documentation, as the exact process for doing

   this may have changed.

2. Create a GCP service account in the GCP project where you're interested in using the GSuite "robot" account. Enable [G

   Suite Domain-wide Delegation](https://developers.google.com/identity/protocols/OAuth2ServiceAccount#delegatingauthority) and note the Client ID.

3. Using the "security" component in the "admin.google.com" console, use the

   Client ID for the service account and add the following scopes, which are

   the same as those from step 1:

	- https://www.googleapis.com/auth/admin.directory.group.member.readonly

	- https://www.googleapis.com/auth/admin.directory.group.readonly

4. Generate the service account credentials. Make sure to save the generated

   JSON file somewhere safe.



Once we have the account setup we can modify the deployment to allow `rbacsync`

to use it. The first step is creating the secret from the service account

credentials created in step 5:



```console

kubectl create secret generic --from-file=token.json= rbacsync-gsuite-credentials

```



We can then apply the following diff to the [`rbacsync` deployment](deploy/20-deployment.yml)

to use the secret created above:



```diff

@@ -14,6 +14,10 @@

     spec:

       restartPolicy: Always

       serviceAccountName: rbacsync

+      volumes:

+      - name: rbacsync-gsuite-credentials

+        secret:

+          secretName: rbacsync-gsuite-credentials

       containers:

       - name: rbacsync

         image: cruise/rbacsync:latest

@@ -24,6 +28,14 @@

         - /bin/rbacsync

         args:

         - "-logtostderr"

+        - "-gsuite.enabled"

+        - "-gsuite.credentials"

+        - "/run/secrets/gsuite/token.json"

+        - "-gsuite.delegator"

+        - "[email protected]"

+        volumeMounts:

+        - mountPath: /run/secrets/gsuite

+          name: rbacsync-gsuite-credentials

         imagePullPolicy: Always

         ports:

         - name: debug-port

```



In the above, we set several flags to pass to `rbacsync`:



- `-gsuite.enabled`: enables the GSuite upstream for groups.

- `-gsuite.credentials`: path to the credentials generated for the service

  account. We map them to the secret volume mount location above.

- `-gsuite.delegator`: This is the delegator whom the service account acts on

  behalf of. We call this the "robot" account in the instructions above. Be

  sure to set the argument to whatever account you use.



> NOTE: You can also use `-gsuite.pattern` to limit which group names are sent

> upstream for queries. That takes a regular expression that must be matched

> before it will be allowed to query the upstream.



Once the above is configured and deployed, groups referenced in `bindings` will

be automatically queried against GSuite. If `memberships` have the same name as

an upstream group, the subject lists from the upstream and the `memberships`

section will be merged.



### Deployment



> WARNING: Before running any commands here, make sure you are in the right

> cluster context. This will deploy to whatever cluster kubectl is currently

> configured for.



You can deploy the rbacsync with the following command:



	kubectl apply -f deploy/



Once it has been deployed, you'll need to push a config to specify group

members using the [CRDs](deploy/00-crds.yml) defined in this project. There are

two CRDs defined depending on whether you want to create groups with cluster

scope or namespace scope. To define groups with RoleBindings within a

namespace, you'll need to create an RBACSyncConfig. To define groups that

create ClusterRoleBindings, you'll need to create ClusterRBACSyncConfig.



If the RBACSyncConfig changes, the associated RoleBindings will be updated to

reflect the difference. For example, if new group members are added, the

RoleBinding will be updated with the new subjects.



If you remove RBACSyncConfig or ClusterRBACSyncConfig, any associated

RoleBindings or ClusterRoleBindings will be removed, as well.



Development

-----------



### Building



Building is easy to do. Make sure to setup your local environment according to

https://golang.org/doc/code.html. Once setup, you should be able to build the

binaries using the following command:



```

make

```



Generated binaries will then be available in `bin/`. See the section on local

development for how to use the binary.



### Local Development



For developing on rbacsync, you can run inside or outside the cluster. For

changes with lots of iteration, it is probably best to run it locally, since

building and pushing an image to a deployment can be time consuming. The

process would use the following commands:



> WARNING: Before running any commands here, make sure you are in the right

> cluster context. This will deploy to whatever cluster kubectl is currently

> configured for.



```

kubectl apply -f deploy/10-deployment.yml

make

bin/rbacsync -logtostderr

```



The above will use your local kube context to run rbacsync, so you'll need

`cluster-admin` Role for this to work. rbacsync will fire log messages and

events complaining about permissions if it cannot create the specified roles.



When you run the process, nothing will happen unless it has CRs to operate one.

You can use the [example.yml](example.yml) to try it out:



```

kubectl apply -f example.yml

```



You'll know its working if you see log messages indicating that it saw the

configs.



In Cluster Development

----------------------



If you are working on changes that require rbacsync to be running in a cluster,

such as when checking whether operations will work correctly, you can use the

`deploy` target.  To test in a cluster, the following can be run:



	make REGISTRY=cruise/ deploy



The above will build the image, push it to a registry, apply the CRDs

and deployment to the kubernetes context and update the deployment to

use the created image. This makes iterating on testing within a cluster

much easier.



You'll need cluster admin to perform this operation.



Release Process

---------------



RBACSync is versioned using [semantic versioning](https://semver.org/). For the

most part, patch releases should be only bug fixes, minor releases can have

backwards compatible feature introductions and major releases are for breaking

changes. If you can't decide whether a feature or change is breaking, err on

the side of caution when incrementing the version number and just do it.



The release process for rbacsync is triggered with tags. Every build in master

will pickup the tag and create a version number relative, using a git

commitish, to the tag and push it to the registry. For production, you should

only use exact tags, and, if possible, only proper releases, meaning no release

candidates, alphas or betas.



### Tagging your release



To perform a release, you simply need to push a tag to the repository. To

create a tag, run the following, with the new version number of course:



```

git tag -s v0.1.0

```



Notice that the version number is _always_ prefixed with a `v` when it appears

as a tag. This allows us to easily identify version tags with a text prefix. We

also sign the tag with a PGP key. If you haven't already done so, it is

recommended to generate a PGP key for your workstation and add it to github.

When you run this command, an editor will pop up to include a release message.

The following format is usually sufficient:



```

rbacsync 0.1.0



With this release, we introduce support for Google Groups API with

GSuite Directory SDK. This allows one to configure groups without

declared memberships that are queried to the GSuite upstream resource.

```



There may be releases with complex information for upgrades and caveats, so

feel free to be verbose. Once you are ready, save in the editor and the tag

will be created. To push it to github, run the following command:



### Pushing your release tag



```

git push --tags origin v0.1.0

```



This will push the tag remotely, and start the build and push for rbacsync.

Make sure to check in CircleCI to ensure it was triggered.



### Create your release in Github



In addition to pushing this tag, it is also recommended to create a release in

the [releases page](https://github.com/cruise-automation/rbacsync/releases). Make

sure to name it consistently with other releases. It should be sufficient to

use the exact same text from the tag, but you may have to tweak the formatting

to be compatible with markdown.



While this is an extra step when releasing the software, it is very helpful

when looking at a project to see its releases properly documented in github.

Also follow this practice to have a healthy project!



# License



Copyright 2018 Cruise LLC



Licensed under the [Apache License Version 2.0](LICENSE) (the "License");

you may not use this project except in compliance with the License.



Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software

distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,

WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.

See the License for the specific language governing permissions and

limitations under the License.



# Contributions



Contributions are welcome! Please see the agreement for contributions in

[CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md).



Commits must be made with a Sign-off (`git commit -s`) certifying that you

agree to the provisions in [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md).