Vault Plugin: AliCloud Auth Backend

This is a standalone backend plugin for use with Hashicorp Vault. This plugin allows authentication to Vault using Resource Access Management (RAM).

Please note: We take Vault's security and our users' trust very seriously. If you believe you have found a security issue in Vault, please responsibly disclose by contacting us at [email protected].

Quick Links

- Vault Website: https://www.vaultproject.io
- AliCloud Auth Docs: https://www.vaultproject.io/docs/auth/alicloud.html
- Main Project Github: https://www.github.com/hashicorp/vault

Getting Started

This is a Vault plugin and is meant to work with Vault. This guide assumes you have already installed Vault and have a basic understanding of how Vault works.

Otherwise, first read this guide on how to get started with Vault.

To learn specifically about how plugins work, see documentation on Vault plugins.

Security Model

This authentication model places Vault in the middle of a call between a client and AliCloud's "GetCallerIdentity" method. Based on AliCloud's response, it grants an access token based on pre-configured roles.

Usage

Please see documentation for the plugin on the Vault website.

This plugin is currently built into Vault and by default is accessed at auth/alicloud. To enable this in a running Vault server:

$ vault auth enable alicloud
Successfully enabled 'alicloud' at 'alicloud'!

To see all the supported paths, see the AliCloud auth backend docs.

Developing

If you wish to work on this plugin, you'll first need Go installed on your machine.

For local dev first make sure Go is properly installed, including setting up a GOPATH. Next, clone this repository into $GOPATH/src/github.com/hashicorp/vault-plugin-auth-alicloud.

To compile a development version of this plugin, run make or make dev. This will put the plugin binary in the bin and $GOPATH/bin folders. dev mode will only generate the binary for your platform and is faster:

$ make
$ make dev

Put the plugin binary into a location of your choice. This directory will be specified as the plugin_directory in the Vault config used to start the server.

plugin_directory = "path/to/plugin/directory"

Start a Vault server with this config file:

$ vault server -config=path/to/config.hcl ...
...

Once the server is started, register the plugin in the Vault server's plugin catalog:

$ vault plugin register \
        -sha256=<SHA256 Hex value of the plugin binary> \
        -command="vault-plugin-auth-alicloud" \
        auth \
        alicloud

Note you should generate a new sha256 checksum if you have made changes to the plugin. Example using openssl:

openssl dgst -sha256 $GOPATH/vault-plugin-auth-alicloud
...
SHA256(.../go/bin/vault-plugin-auth-alicloud)= 896c13c0f5305daed381952a128322e02bc28a57d0c862a78cbc2ea66e8c6fa1

Enable the auth plugin backend using the AliCloud auth plugin:

$ vault auth enable -plugin-name='alicloud' plugin
...

Successfully enabled 'plugin' at 'alicloud'!

Tests

If you are developing this plugin and want to verify it is still functioning (and you haven't broken anything else), we recommend running the tests.

To run the tests, invoke make test:

$ make test

You can also specify a TESTARGS variable to filter tests like so:

$ make test TESTARGS='--run=TestConfig'

Acceptance Tests

Warning: The acceptance tests create/destroy/modify real resources, which may incur real costs in some cases. In the presence of a bug, it is technically possible that broken backends could leave dangling data behind. Therefore, please run the acceptance tests at your own risk. At the very least, we recommend running them in their own private account for whatever backend you're testing.

Acceptance tests require the following environment variables.

export VAULT_AUTH_ACC_TEST_ROLE_ARN=<myrolearn>
export VAULT_AUTH_ACC_TEST_ACCESS_KEY_ID=<myaccesskeyid>
export VAULT_AUTH_ACC_TEST_SECRET_KEY=<mysecretkey>
export VAULT_ACC=1

To run the acceptance tests, invoke make testacc:

$ make testacc

Updating the Changelog

All pull requests that introduce a user-facing change must include a changelog entry. We use the changie tool to manage these entries and automate the release process.

---

1. Installing Changie

You only need to do this once. If you don't have changie installed, choose one of the options below.

• Homebrew (macOS):

  brew install changie

• Go Install:

  go install github.com/miniscruff/changie@latest

• Other Methods: See the official changie installation guide for other options, including pre-compiled binaries.

---

2. Creating an Entry

Once your code changes are complete, create the changelog entry:

1. Run the command in your terminal:

   changie new

2. Follow the prompts. An interactive prompt will ask you to select the kind of change (e.g., BREAKING CHANGES, NOTES, FEATURES) and write a concise description of what you changed.

3. Commit the new file. After you're done, changie will create a new YAML file in the .changie/unreleased directory. Commit this file along with your other code changes before submitting your pull request.