Chapter 11. Preparing for users


After installing OpenShift Container Platform, you can further expand and customize your cluster to your requirements, including taking steps to prepare for users.

11.1. Understanding identity provider configuration

The OpenShift Container Platform control plane includes a built-in OAuth server. Developers and administrators obtain OAuth access tokens to authenticate themselves to the API.

As an administrator, you can configure OAuth to specify an identity provider after you install your cluster.

11.1.1. About identity providers in OpenShift Container Platform

By default, only a kubeadmin user exists on your cluster. To specify an identity provider, you must create a custom resource (CR) that describes that identity provider and add it to the cluster.

Note

OpenShift Container Platform user names containing /, :, and % are not supported.

11.1.2. Supported identity providers

You can configure the following types of identity providers:

Identity providerDescription

htpasswd

Configure the htpasswd identity provider to validate user names and passwords against a flat file generated using htpasswd.

Keystone

Configure the keystone identity provider to integrate your OpenShift Container Platform cluster with Keystone to enable shared authentication with an OpenStack Keystone v3 server configured to store users in an internal database.

LDAP

Configure the ldap identity provider to validate user names and passwords against an LDAPv3 server, using simple bind authentication.

Basic authentication

Configure a basic-authentication identity provider for users to log in to OpenShift Container Platform with credentials validated against a remote identity provider. Basic authentication is a generic backend integration mechanism.

Request header

Configure a request-header identity provider to identify users from request header values, such as X-Remote-User. It is typically used in combination with an authenticating proxy, which sets the request header value.

GitHub or GitHub Enterprise

Configure a github identity provider to validate user names and passwords against GitHub or GitHub Enterprise’s OAuth authentication server.

GitLab

Configure a gitlab identity provider to use GitLab.com or any other GitLab instance as an identity provider.

Google

Configure a google identity provider using Google’s OpenID Connect integration.

OpenID Connect

Configure an oidc identity provider to integrate with an OpenID Connect identity provider using an Authorization Code Flow.

After you define an identity provider, you can use RBAC to define and apply permissions.

11.1.3. Identity provider parameters

The following parameters are common to all identity providers:

ParameterDescription

name

The provider name is prefixed to provider user names to form an identity name.

mappingMethod

Defines how new identities are mapped to users when they log in. Enter one of the following values:

claim
The default value. Provisions a user with the identity’s preferred user name. Fails if a user with that user name is already mapped to another identity.
lookup
Looks up an existing identity, user identity mapping, and user, but does not automatically provision users or identities. This allows cluster administrators to set up identities and users manually, or using an external process. Using this method requires you to manually provision users.
add
Provisions a user with the identity’s preferred user name. If a user with that user name already exists, the identity is mapped to the existing user, adding to any existing identity mappings for the user. Required when multiple identity providers are configured that identify the same set of users and map to the same user names.
Note

When adding or changing identity providers, you can map identities from the new provider to existing users by setting the mappingMethod parameter to add.

11.1.4. Sample identity provider CR

The following custom resource (CR) shows the parameters and default values that you use to configure an identity provider. This example uses the htpasswd identity provider.

Sample identity provider CR

apiVersion: config.openshift.io/v1
kind: OAuth
metadata:
  name: cluster
spec:
  identityProviders:
  - name: my_identity_provider 1
    mappingMethod: claim 2
    type: HTPasswd
    htpasswd:
      fileData:
        name: htpass-secret 3

1
This provider name is prefixed to provider user names to form an identity name.
2
Controls how mappings are established between this provider’s identities and User objects.
3
An existing secret containing a file generated using htpasswd.

11.2. Using RBAC to define and apply permissions

Understand and apply role-based access control.

11.2.1. RBAC overview

Role-based access control (RBAC) objects determine whether a user is allowed to perform a given action within a project.

Cluster administrators can use the cluster roles and bindings to control who has various access levels to the OpenShift Container Platform platform itself and all projects.

Developers can use local roles and bindings to control who has access to their projects. Note that authorization is a separate step from authentication, which is more about determining the identity of who is taking the action.

Authorization is managed using:

Authorization objectDescription

Rules

Sets of permitted verbs on a set of objects. For example, whether a user or service account can create pods.

Roles

Collections of rules. You can associate, or bind, users and groups to multiple roles.

Bindings

Associations between users and/or groups with a role.

There are two levels of RBAC roles and bindings that control authorization:

RBAC levelDescription

Cluster RBAC

Roles and bindings that are applicable across all projects. Cluster roles exist cluster-wide, and cluster role bindings can reference only cluster roles.

Local RBAC

Roles and bindings that are scoped to a given project. While local roles exist only in a single project, local role bindings can reference both cluster and local roles.

A cluster role binding is a binding that exists at the cluster level. A role binding exists at the project level. The cluster role view must be bound to a user using a local role binding for that user to view the project. Create local roles only if a cluster role does not provide the set of permissions needed for a particular situation.

This two-level hierarchy allows reuse across multiple projects through the cluster roles while allowing customization inside of individual projects through local roles.

During evaluation, both the cluster role bindings and the local role bindings are used. For example:

  1. Cluster-wide "allow" rules are checked.
  2. Locally-bound "allow" rules are checked.
  3. Deny by default.

11.2.1.1. Default cluster roles

OpenShift Container Platform includes a set of default cluster roles that you can bind to users and groups cluster-wide or locally.

Important

It is not recommended to manually modify the default cluster roles. Modifications to these system roles can prevent a cluster from functioning properly.

Default cluster roleDescription

admin

A project manager. If used in a local binding, an admin has rights to view any resource in the project and modify any resource in the project except for quota.

basic-user

A user that can get basic information about projects and users.

cluster-admin

A super-user that can perform any action in any project. When bound to a user with a local binding, they have full control over quota and every action on every resource in the project.

cluster-status

A user that can get basic cluster status information.

cluster-reader

A user that can get or view most of the objects but cannot modify them.

edit

A user that can modify most objects in a project but does not have the power to view or modify roles or bindings.

self-provisioner

A user that can create their own projects.

view

A user who cannot make any modifications, but can see most objects in a project. They cannot view or modify roles or bindings.

Be mindful of the difference between local and cluster bindings. For example, if you bind the cluster-admin role to a user by using a local role binding, it might appear that this user has the privileges of a cluster administrator. This is not the case. Binding the cluster-admin to a user in a project grants super administrator privileges for only that project to the user. That user has the permissions of the cluster role admin, plus a few additional permissions like the ability to edit rate limits, for that project. This binding can be confusing via the web console UI, which does not list cluster role bindings that are bound to true cluster administrators. However, it does list local role bindings that you can use to locally bind cluster-admin.

The relationships between cluster roles, local roles, cluster role bindings, local role bindings, users, groups and service accounts are illustrated below.

OpenShift Container Platform RBAC
Warning

The get pods/exec, get pods/*, and get * rules grant execution privileges when they are applied to a role. Apply the principle of least privilege and assign only the minimal RBAC rights required for users and agents. For more information, see RBAC rules allow execution privileges.

11.2.1.2. Evaluating authorization

OpenShift Container Platform evaluates authorization by using:

Identity
The user name and list of groups that the user belongs to.
Action

The action you perform. In most cases, this consists of:

  • Project: The project you access. A project is a Kubernetes namespace with additional annotations that allows a community of users to organize and manage their content in isolation from other communities.
  • Verb : The action itself: get, list, create, update, delete, deletecollection, or watch.
  • Resource name: The API endpoint that you access.
Bindings
The full list of bindings, the associations between users or groups with a role.

OpenShift Container Platform evaluates authorization by using the following steps:

  1. The identity and the project-scoped action is used to find all bindings that apply to the user or their groups.
  2. Bindings are used to locate all the roles that apply.
  3. Roles are used to find all the rules that apply.
  4. The action is checked against each rule to find a match.
  5. If no matching rule is found, the action is then denied by default.
Tip

Remember that users and groups can be associated with, or bound to, multiple roles at the same time.

Project administrators can use the CLI to view local roles and bindings, including a matrix of the verbs and resources each are associated with.

Important

The cluster role bound to the project administrator is limited in a project through a local binding. It is not bound cluster-wide like the cluster roles granted to the cluster-admin or system:admin.

Cluster roles are roles defined at the cluster level but can be bound either at the cluster level or at the project level.

11.2.1.2.1. Cluster role aggregation

The default admin, edit, view, and cluster-reader cluster roles support cluster role aggregation, where the cluster rules for each role are dynamically updated as new rules are created. This feature is relevant only if you extend the Kubernetes API by creating custom resources.

11.2.2. Projects and namespaces

A Kubernetes namespace provides a mechanism to scope resources in a cluster. The Kubernetes documentation has more information on namespaces.

Namespaces provide a unique scope for:

  • Named resources to avoid basic naming collisions.
  • Delegated management authority to trusted users.
  • The ability to limit community resource consumption.

Most objects in the system are scoped by namespace, but some are excepted and have no namespace, including nodes and users.

A project is a Kubernetes namespace with additional annotations and is the central vehicle by which access to resources for regular users is managed. A project allows a community of users to organize and manage their content in isolation from other communities. Users must be given access to projects by administrators, or if allowed to create projects, automatically have access to their own projects.

Projects can have a separate name, displayName, and description.

  • The mandatory name is a unique identifier for the project and is most visible when using the CLI tools or API. The maximum name length is 63 characters.
  • The optional displayName is how the project is displayed in the web console (defaults to name).
  • The optional description can be a more detailed description of the project and is also visible in the web console.

Each project scopes its own set of:

ObjectDescription

Objects

Pods, services, replication controllers, etc.

Policies

Rules for which users can or cannot perform actions on objects.

Constraints

Quotas for each kind of object that can be limited.

Service accounts

Service accounts act automatically with designated access to objects in the project.

Cluster administrators can create projects and delegate administrative rights for the project to any member of the user community. Cluster administrators can also allow developers to create their own projects.

Developers and administrators can interact with projects by using the CLI or the web console.

11.2.3. Default projects

OpenShift Container Platform comes with a number of default projects, and projects starting with openshift- are the most essential to users. These projects host master components that run as pods and other infrastructure components. The pods created in these namespaces that have a critical pod annotation are considered critical, and the have guaranteed admission by kubelet. Pods created for master components in these namespaces are already marked as critical.

Note

You cannot assign an SCC to pods created in one of the default namespaces: default, kube-system, kube-public, openshift-node, openshift-infra, and openshift. You cannot use these namespaces for running pods or services.

11.2.4. Viewing cluster roles and bindings

You can use the oc CLI to view cluster roles and bindings by using the oc describe command.

Prerequisites

  • Install the oc CLI.
  • Obtain permission to view the cluster roles and bindings.

Users with the cluster-admin default cluster role bound cluster-wide can perform any action on any resource, including viewing cluster roles and bindings.

Procedure

  1. To view the cluster roles and their associated rule sets:

    $ oc describe clusterrole.rbac

    Example output

    Name:         admin
    Labels:       kubernetes.io/bootstrapping=rbac-defaults
    Annotations:  rbac.authorization.kubernetes.io/autoupdate: true
    PolicyRule:
      Resources                                                  Non-Resource URLs  Resource Names  Verbs
      ---------                                                  -----------------  --------------  -----
      .packages.apps.redhat.com                                  []                 []              [* create update patch delete get list watch]
      imagestreams                                               []                 []              [create delete deletecollection get list patch update watch create get list watch]
      imagestreams.image.openshift.io                            []                 []              [create delete deletecollection get list patch update watch create get list watch]
      secrets                                                    []                 []              [create delete deletecollection get list patch update watch get list watch create delete deletecollection patch update]
      buildconfigs/webhooks                                      []                 []              [create delete deletecollection get list patch update watch get list watch]
      buildconfigs                                               []                 []              [create delete deletecollection get list patch update watch get list watch]
      buildlogs                                                  []                 []              [create delete deletecollection get list patch update watch get list watch]
      deploymentconfigs/scale                                    []                 []              [create delete deletecollection get list patch update watch get list watch]
      deploymentconfigs                                          []                 []              [create delete deletecollection get list patch update watch get list watch]
      imagestreamimages                                          []                 []              [create delete deletecollection get list patch update watch get list watch]
      imagestreammappings                                        []                 []              [create delete deletecollection get list patch update watch get list watch]
      imagestreamtags                                            []                 []              [create delete deletecollection get list patch update watch get list watch]
      processedtemplates                                         []                 []              [create delete deletecollection get list patch update watch get list watch]
      routes                                                     []                 []              [create delete deletecollection get list patch update watch get list watch]
      templateconfigs                                            []                 []              [create delete deletecollection get list patch update watch get list watch]
      templateinstances                                          []                 []              [create delete deletecollection get list patch update watch get list watch]
      templates                                                  []                 []              [create delete deletecollection get list patch update watch get list watch]
      deploymentconfigs.apps.openshift.io/scale                  []                 []              [create delete deletecollection get list patch update watch get list watch]
      deploymentconfigs.apps.openshift.io                        []                 []              [create delete deletecollection get list patch update watch get list watch]
      buildconfigs.build.openshift.io/webhooks                   []                 []              [create delete deletecollection get list patch update watch get list watch]
      buildconfigs.build.openshift.io                            []                 []              [create delete deletecollection get list patch update watch get list watch]
      buildlogs.build.openshift.io                               []                 []              [create delete deletecollection get list patch update watch get list watch]
      imagestreamimages.image.openshift.io                       []                 []              [create delete deletecollection get list patch update watch get list watch]
      imagestreammappings.image.openshift.io                     []                 []              [create delete deletecollection get list patch update watch get list watch]
      imagestreamtags.image.openshift.io                         []                 []              [create delete deletecollection get list patch update watch get list watch]
      routes.route.openshift.io                                  []                 []              [create delete deletecollection get list patch update watch get list watch]
      processedtemplates.template.openshift.io                   []                 []              [create delete deletecollection get list patch update watch get list watch]
      templateconfigs.template.openshift.io                      []                 []              [create delete deletecollection get list patch update watch get list watch]
      templateinstances.template.openshift.io                    []                 []              [create delete deletecollection get list patch update watch get list watch]
      templates.template.openshift.io                            []                 []              [create delete deletecollection get list patch update watch get list watch]
      serviceaccounts                                            []                 []              [create delete deletecollection get list patch update watch impersonate create delete deletecollection patch update get list watch]
      imagestreams/secrets                                       []                 []              [create delete deletecollection get list patch update watch]
      rolebindings                                               []                 []              [create delete deletecollection get list patch update watch]
      roles                                                      []                 []              [create delete deletecollection get list patch update watch]
      rolebindings.authorization.openshift.io                    []                 []              [create delete deletecollection get list patch update watch]
      roles.authorization.openshift.io                           []                 []              [create delete deletecollection get list patch update watch]
      imagestreams.image.openshift.io/secrets                    []                 []              [create delete deletecollection get list patch update watch]
      rolebindings.rbac.authorization.k8s.io                     []                 []              [create delete deletecollection get list patch update watch]
      roles.rbac.authorization.k8s.io                            []                 []              [create delete deletecollection get list patch update watch]
      networkpolicies.extensions                                 []                 []              [create delete deletecollection patch update create delete deletecollection get list patch update watch get list watch]
      networkpolicies.networking.k8s.io                          []                 []              [create delete deletecollection patch update create delete deletecollection get list patch update watch get list watch]
      configmaps                                                 []                 []              [create delete deletecollection patch update get list watch]
      endpoints                                                  []                 []              [create delete deletecollection patch update get list watch]
      persistentvolumeclaims                                     []                 []              [create delete deletecollection patch update get list watch]
      pods                                                       []                 []              [create delete deletecollection patch update get list watch]
      replicationcontrollers/scale                               []                 []              [create delete deletecollection patch update get list watch]
      replicationcontrollers                                     []                 []              [create delete deletecollection patch update get list watch]
      services                                                   []                 []              [create delete deletecollection patch update get list watch]
      daemonsets.apps                                            []                 []              [create delete deletecollection patch update get list watch]
      deployments.apps/scale                                     []                 []              [create delete deletecollection patch update get list watch]
      deployments.apps                                           []                 []              [create delete deletecollection patch update get list watch]
      replicasets.apps/scale                                     []                 []              [create delete deletecollection patch update get list watch]
      replicasets.apps                                           []                 []              [create delete deletecollection patch update get list watch]
      statefulsets.apps/scale                                    []                 []              [create delete deletecollection patch update get list watch]
      statefulsets.apps                                          []                 []              [create delete deletecollection patch update get list watch]
      horizontalpodautoscalers.autoscaling                       []                 []              [create delete deletecollection patch update get list watch]
      cronjobs.batch                                             []                 []              [create delete deletecollection patch update get list watch]
      jobs.batch                                                 []                 []              [create delete deletecollection patch update get list watch]
      daemonsets.extensions                                      []                 []              [create delete deletecollection patch update get list watch]
      deployments.extensions/scale                               []                 []              [create delete deletecollection patch update get list watch]
      deployments.extensions                                     []                 []              [create delete deletecollection patch update get list watch]
      ingresses.extensions                                       []                 []              [create delete deletecollection patch update get list watch]
      replicasets.extensions/scale                               []                 []              [create delete deletecollection patch update get list watch]
      replicasets.extensions                                     []                 []              [create delete deletecollection patch update get list watch]
      replicationcontrollers.extensions/scale                    []                 []              [create delete deletecollection patch update get list watch]
      poddisruptionbudgets.policy                                []                 []              [create delete deletecollection patch update get list watch]
      deployments.apps/rollback                                  []                 []              [create delete deletecollection patch update]
      deployments.extensions/rollback                            []                 []              [create delete deletecollection patch update]
      catalogsources.operators.coreos.com                        []                 []              [create update patch delete get list watch]
      clusterserviceversions.operators.coreos.com                []                 []              [create update patch delete get list watch]
      installplans.operators.coreos.com                          []                 []              [create update patch delete get list watch]
      packagemanifests.operators.coreos.com                      []                 []              [create update patch delete get list watch]
      subscriptions.operators.coreos.com                         []                 []              [create update patch delete get list watch]
      buildconfigs/instantiate                                   []                 []              [create]
      buildconfigs/instantiatebinary                             []                 []              [create]
      builds/clone                                               []                 []              [create]
      deploymentconfigrollbacks                                  []                 []              [create]
      deploymentconfigs/instantiate                              []                 []              [create]
      deploymentconfigs/rollback                                 []                 []              [create]
      imagestreamimports                                         []                 []              [create]
      localresourceaccessreviews                                 []                 []              [create]
      localsubjectaccessreviews                                  []                 []              [create]
      podsecuritypolicyreviews                                   []                 []              [create]
      podsecuritypolicyselfsubjectreviews                        []                 []              [create]
      podsecuritypolicysubjectreviews                            []                 []              [create]
      resourceaccessreviews                                      []                 []              [create]
      routes/custom-host                                         []                 []              [create]
      subjectaccessreviews                                       []                 []              [create]
      subjectrulesreviews                                        []                 []              [create]
      deploymentconfigrollbacks.apps.openshift.io                []                 []              [create]
      deploymentconfigs.apps.openshift.io/instantiate            []                 []              [create]
      deploymentconfigs.apps.openshift.io/rollback               []                 []              [create]
      localsubjectaccessreviews.authorization.k8s.io             []                 []              [create]
      localresourceaccessreviews.authorization.openshift.io      []                 []              [create]
      localsubjectaccessreviews.authorization.openshift.io       []                 []              [create]
      resourceaccessreviews.authorization.openshift.io           []                 []              [create]
      subjectaccessreviews.authorization.openshift.io            []                 []              [create]
      subjectrulesreviews.authorization.openshift.io             []                 []              [create]
      buildconfigs.build.openshift.io/instantiate                []                 []              [create]
      buildconfigs.build.openshift.io/instantiatebinary          []                 []              [create]
      builds.build.openshift.io/clone                            []                 []              [create]
      imagestreamimports.image.openshift.io                      []                 []              [create]
      routes.route.openshift.io/custom-host                      []                 []              [create]
      podsecuritypolicyreviews.security.openshift.io             []                 []              [create]
      podsecuritypolicyselfsubjectreviews.security.openshift.io  []                 []              [create]
      podsecuritypolicysubjectreviews.security.openshift.io      []                 []              [create]
      jenkins.build.openshift.io                                 []                 []              [edit view view admin edit view]
      builds                                                     []                 []              [get create delete deletecollection get list patch update watch get list watch]
      builds.build.openshift.io                                  []                 []              [get create delete deletecollection get list patch update watch get list watch]
      projects                                                   []                 []              [get delete get delete get patch update]
      projects.project.openshift.io                              []                 []              [get delete get delete get patch update]
      namespaces                                                 []                 []              [get get list watch]
      pods/attach                                                []                 []              [get list watch create delete deletecollection patch update]
      pods/exec                                                  []                 []              [get list watch create delete deletecollection patch update]
      pods/portforward                                           []                 []              [get list watch create delete deletecollection patch update]
      pods/proxy                                                 []                 []              [get list watch create delete deletecollection patch update]
      services/proxy                                             []                 []              [get list watch create delete deletecollection patch update]
      routes/status                                              []                 []              [get list watch update]
      routes.route.openshift.io/status                           []                 []              [get list watch update]
      appliedclusterresourcequotas                               []                 []              [get list watch]
      bindings                                                   []                 []              [get list watch]
      builds/log                                                 []                 []              [get list watch]
      deploymentconfigs/log                                      []                 []              [get list watch]
      deploymentconfigs/status                                   []                 []              [get list watch]
      events                                                     []                 []              [get list watch]
      imagestreams/status                                        []                 []              [get list watch]
      limitranges                                                []                 []              [get list watch]
      namespaces/status                                          []                 []              [get list watch]
      pods/log                                                   []                 []              [get list watch]
      pods/status                                                []                 []              [get list watch]
      replicationcontrollers/status                              []                 []              [get list watch]
      resourcequotas/status                                      []                 []              [get list watch]
      resourcequotas                                             []                 []              [get list watch]
      resourcequotausages                                        []                 []              [get list watch]
      rolebindingrestrictions                                    []                 []              [get list watch]
      deploymentconfigs.apps.openshift.io/log                    []                 []              [get list watch]
      deploymentconfigs.apps.openshift.io/status                 []                 []              [get list watch]
      controllerrevisions.apps                                   []                 []              [get list watch]
      rolebindingrestrictions.authorization.openshift.io         []                 []              [get list watch]
      builds.build.openshift.io/log                              []                 []              [get list watch]
      imagestreams.image.openshift.io/status                     []                 []              [get list watch]
      appliedclusterresourcequotas.quota.openshift.io            []                 []              [get list watch]
      imagestreams/layers                                        []                 []              [get update get]
      imagestreams.image.openshift.io/layers                     []                 []              [get update get]
      builds/details                                             []                 []              [update]
      builds.build.openshift.io/details                          []                 []              [update]
    
    
    Name:         basic-user
    Labels:       <none>
    Annotations:  openshift.io/description: A user that can get basic information about projects.
    	              rbac.authorization.kubernetes.io/autoupdate: true
    PolicyRule:
    	Resources                                           Non-Resource URLs  Resource Names  Verbs
    	  ---------                                           -----------------  --------------  -----
    	  selfsubjectrulesreviews                             []                 []              [create]
    	  selfsubjectaccessreviews.authorization.k8s.io       []                 []              [create]
    	  selfsubjectrulesreviews.authorization.openshift.io  []                 []              [create]
    	  clusterroles.rbac.authorization.k8s.io              []                 []              [get list watch]
    	  clusterroles                                        []                 []              [get list]
    	  clusterroles.authorization.openshift.io             []                 []              [get list]
    	  storageclasses.storage.k8s.io                       []                 []              [get list]
    	  users                                               []                 [~]             [get]
    	  users.user.openshift.io                             []                 [~]             [get]
    	  projects                                            []                 []              [list watch]
    	  projects.project.openshift.io                       []                 []              [list watch]
    	  projectrequests                                     []                 []              [list]
    	  projectrequests.project.openshift.io                []                 []              [list]
    
    Name:         cluster-admin
    Labels:       kubernetes.io/bootstrapping=rbac-defaults
    Annotations:  rbac.authorization.kubernetes.io/autoupdate: true
    PolicyRule:
    Resources  Non-Resource URLs  Resource Names  Verbs
    ---------  -----------------  --------------  -----
    *.*        []                 []              [*]
               [*]                []              [*]
    
    ...

  2. To view the current set of cluster role bindings, which shows the users and groups that are bound to various roles:

    $ oc describe clusterrolebinding.rbac

    Example output

    Name:         alertmanager-main
    Labels:       <none>
    Annotations:  <none>
    Role:
      Kind:  ClusterRole
      Name:  alertmanager-main
    Subjects:
      Kind            Name               Namespace
      ----            ----               ---------
      ServiceAccount  alertmanager-main  openshift-monitoring
    
    
    Name:         basic-users
    Labels:       <none>
    Annotations:  rbac.authorization.kubernetes.io/autoupdate: true
    Role:
      Kind:  ClusterRole
      Name:  basic-user
    Subjects:
      Kind   Name                  Namespace
      ----   ----                  ---------
      Group  system:authenticated
    
    
    Name:         cloud-credential-operator-rolebinding
    Labels:       <none>
    Annotations:  <none>
    Role:
      Kind:  ClusterRole
      Name:  cloud-credential-operator-role
    Subjects:
      Kind            Name     Namespace
      ----            ----     ---------
      ServiceAccount  default  openshift-cloud-credential-operator
    
    
    Name:         cluster-admin
    Labels:       kubernetes.io/bootstrapping=rbac-defaults
    Annotations:  rbac.authorization.kubernetes.io/autoupdate: true
    Role:
      Kind:  ClusterRole
      Name:  cluster-admin
    Subjects:
      Kind   Name            Namespace
      ----   ----            ---------
      Group  system:masters
    
    
    Name:         cluster-admins
    Labels:       <none>
    Annotations:  rbac.authorization.kubernetes.io/autoupdate: true
    Role:
      Kind:  ClusterRole
      Name:  cluster-admin
    Subjects:
      Kind   Name                   Namespace
      ----   ----                   ---------
      Group  system:cluster-admins
      User   system:admin
    
    
    Name:         cluster-api-manager-rolebinding
    Labels:       <none>
    Annotations:  <none>
    Role:
      Kind:  ClusterRole
      Name:  cluster-api-manager-role
    Subjects:
      Kind            Name     Namespace
      ----            ----     ---------
      ServiceAccount  default  openshift-machine-api
    
    ...

11.2.5. Viewing local roles and bindings

You can use the oc CLI to view local roles and bindings by using the oc describe command.

Prerequisites

  • Install the oc CLI.
  • Obtain permission to view the local roles and bindings:

    • Users with the cluster-admin default cluster role bound cluster-wide can perform any action on any resource, including viewing local roles and bindings.
    • Users with the admin default cluster role bound locally can view and manage roles and bindings in that project.

Procedure

  1. To view the current set of local role bindings, which show the users and groups that are bound to various roles for the current project:

    $ oc describe rolebinding.rbac
  2. To view the local role bindings for a different project, add the -n flag to the command:

    $ oc describe rolebinding.rbac -n joe-project

    Example output

    Name:         admin
    Labels:       <none>
    Annotations:  <none>
    Role:
      Kind:  ClusterRole
      Name:  admin
    Subjects:
      Kind  Name        Namespace
      ----  ----        ---------
      User  kube:admin
    
    
    Name:         system:deployers
    Labels:       <none>
    Annotations:  openshift.io/description:
                    Allows deploymentconfigs in this namespace to rollout pods in
                    this namespace.  It is auto-managed by a controller; remove
                    subjects to disa...
    Role:
      Kind:  ClusterRole
      Name:  system:deployer
    Subjects:
      Kind            Name      Namespace
      ----            ----      ---------
      ServiceAccount  deployer  joe-project
    
    
    Name:         system:image-builders
    Labels:       <none>
    Annotations:  openshift.io/description:
                    Allows builds in this namespace to push images to this
                    namespace.  It is auto-managed by a controller; remove subjects
                    to disable.
    Role:
      Kind:  ClusterRole
      Name:  system:image-builder
    Subjects:
      Kind            Name     Namespace
      ----            ----     ---------
      ServiceAccount  builder  joe-project
    
    
    Name:         system:image-pullers
    Labels:       <none>
    Annotations:  openshift.io/description:
                    Allows all pods in this namespace to pull images from this
                    namespace.  It is auto-managed by a controller; remove subjects
                    to disable.
    Role:
      Kind:  ClusterRole
      Name:  system:image-puller
    Subjects:
      Kind   Name                                Namespace
      ----   ----                                ---------
      Group  system:serviceaccounts:joe-project

11.2.6. Adding roles to users

You can use the oc adm administrator CLI to manage the roles and bindings.

Binding, or adding, a role to users or groups gives the user or group the access that is granted by the role. You can add and remove roles to and from users and groups using oc adm policy commands.

You can bind any of the default cluster roles to local users or groups in your project.

Procedure

  1. Add a role to a user in a specific project:

    $ oc adm policy add-role-to-user <role> <user> -n <project>

    For example, you can add the admin role to the alice user in joe project by running:

    $ oc adm policy add-role-to-user admin alice -n joe
    Tip

    You can alternatively apply the following YAML to add the role to the user:

    apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
    kind: RoleBinding
    metadata:
      name: admin-0
      namespace: joe
    roleRef:
      apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
      kind: ClusterRole
      name: admin
    subjects:
    - apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
      kind: User
      name: alice
  2. View the local role bindings and verify the addition in the output:

    $ oc describe rolebinding.rbac -n <project>

    For example, to view the local role bindings for the joe project:

    $ oc describe rolebinding.rbac -n joe

    Example output

    Name:         admin
    Labels:       <none>
    Annotations:  <none>
    Role:
      Kind:  ClusterRole
      Name:  admin
    Subjects:
      Kind  Name        Namespace
      ----  ----        ---------
      User  kube:admin
    
    
    Name:         admin-0
    Labels:       <none>
    Annotations:  <none>
    Role:
      Kind:  ClusterRole
      Name:  admin
    Subjects:
      Kind  Name   Namespace
      ----  ----   ---------
      User  alice 1
    
    
    Name:         system:deployers
    Labels:       <none>
    Annotations:  openshift.io/description:
                    Allows deploymentconfigs in this namespace to rollout pods in
                    this namespace.  It is auto-managed by a controller; remove
                    subjects to disa...
    Role:
      Kind:  ClusterRole
      Name:  system:deployer
    Subjects:
      Kind            Name      Namespace
      ----            ----      ---------
      ServiceAccount  deployer  joe
    
    
    Name:         system:image-builders
    Labels:       <none>
    Annotations:  openshift.io/description:
                    Allows builds in this namespace to push images to this
                    namespace.  It is auto-managed by a controller; remove subjects
                    to disable.
    Role:
      Kind:  ClusterRole
      Name:  system:image-builder
    Subjects:
      Kind            Name     Namespace
      ----            ----     ---------
      ServiceAccount  builder  joe
    
    
    Name:         system:image-pullers
    Labels:       <none>
    Annotations:  openshift.io/description:
                    Allows all pods in this namespace to pull images from this
                    namespace.  It is auto-managed by a controller; remove subjects
                    to disable.
    Role:
      Kind:  ClusterRole
      Name:  system:image-puller
    Subjects:
      Kind   Name                                Namespace
      ----   ----                                ---------
      Group  system:serviceaccounts:joe

    1
    The alice user has been added to the admins RoleBinding.

11.2.7. Creating a local role

You can create a local role for a project and then bind it to a user.

Procedure

  1. To create a local role for a project, run the following command:

    $ oc create role <name> --verb=<verb> --resource=<resource> -n <project>

    In this command, specify:

    • <name>, the local role’s name
    • <verb>, a comma-separated list of the verbs to apply to the role
    • <resource>, the resources that the role applies to
    • <project>, the project name

    For example, to create a local role that allows a user to view pods in the blue project, run the following command:

    $ oc create role podview --verb=get --resource=pod -n blue
  2. To bind the new role to a user, run the following command:

    $ oc adm policy add-role-to-user podview user2 --role-namespace=blue -n blue

11.2.8. Creating a cluster role

You can create a cluster role.

Procedure

  1. To create a cluster role, run the following command:

    $ oc create clusterrole <name> --verb=<verb> --resource=<resource>

    In this command, specify:

    • <name>, the local role’s name
    • <verb>, a comma-separated list of the verbs to apply to the role
    • <resource>, the resources that the role applies to

    For example, to create a cluster role that allows a user to view pods, run the following command:

    $ oc create clusterrole podviewonly --verb=get --resource=pod

11.2.9. Local role binding commands

When you manage a user or group’s associated roles for local role bindings using the following operations, a project may be specified with the -n flag. If it is not specified, then the current project is used.

You can use the following commands for local RBAC management.

Table 11.1. Local role binding operations
CommandDescription

$ oc adm policy who-can <verb> <resource>

Indicates which users can perform an action on a resource.

$ oc adm policy add-role-to-user <role> <username>

Binds a specified role to specified users in the current project.

$ oc adm policy remove-role-from-user <role> <username>

Removes a given role from specified users in the current project.

$ oc adm policy remove-user <username>

Removes specified users and all of their roles in the current project.

$ oc adm policy add-role-to-group <role> <groupname>

Binds a given role to specified groups in the current project.

$ oc adm policy remove-role-from-group <role> <groupname>

Removes a given role from specified groups in the current project.

$ oc adm policy remove-group <groupname>

Removes specified groups and all of their roles in the current project.

11.2.10. Cluster role binding commands

You can also manage cluster role bindings using the following operations. The -n flag is not used for these operations because cluster role bindings use non-namespaced resources.

Table 11.2. Cluster role binding operations
CommandDescription

$ oc adm policy add-cluster-role-to-user <role> <username>

Binds a given role to specified users for all projects in the cluster.

$ oc adm policy remove-cluster-role-from-user <role> <username>

Removes a given role from specified users for all projects in the cluster.

$ oc adm policy add-cluster-role-to-group <role> <groupname>

Binds a given role to specified groups for all projects in the cluster.

$ oc adm policy remove-cluster-role-from-group <role> <groupname>

Removes a given role from specified groups for all projects in the cluster.

11.2.11. Creating a cluster admin

The cluster-admin role is required to perform administrator level tasks on the OpenShift Container Platform cluster, such as modifying cluster resources.

Prerequisites

  • You must have created a user to define as the cluster admin.

Procedure

  • Define the user as a cluster admin:

    $ oc adm policy add-cluster-role-to-user cluster-admin <user>

11.3. The kubeadmin user

OpenShift Container Platform creates a cluster administrator, kubeadmin, after the installation process completes.

This user has the cluster-admin role automatically applied and is treated as the root user for the cluster. The password is dynamically generated and unique to your OpenShift Container Platform environment. After installation completes the password is provided in the installation program’s output. For example:

INFO Install complete!
INFO Run 'export KUBECONFIG=<your working directory>/auth/kubeconfig' to manage the cluster with 'oc', the OpenShift CLI.
INFO The cluster is ready when 'oc login -u kubeadmin -p <provided>' succeeds (wait a few minutes).
INFO Access the OpenShift web-console here: https://console-openshift-console.apps.demo1.openshift4-beta-abcorp.com
INFO Login to the console with user: kubeadmin, password: <provided>

11.3.1. Removing the kubeadmin user

After you define an identity provider and create a new cluster-admin user, you can remove the kubeadmin to improve cluster security.

Warning

If you follow this procedure before another user is a cluster-admin, then OpenShift Container Platform must be reinstalled. It is not possible to undo this command.

Prerequisites

  • You must have configured at least one identity provider.
  • You must have added the cluster-admin role to a user.
  • You must be logged in as an administrator.

Procedure

  • Remove the kubeadmin secrets:

    $ oc delete secrets kubeadmin -n kube-system

11.4. Populating OperatorHub from mirrored Operator catalogs

If you mirrored Operator catalogs for use with disconnected clusters, you can populate OperatorHub with the Operators from your mirrored catalogs. You can use the generated manifests from the mirroring process to create the required ImageContentSourcePolicy and CatalogSource objects.

11.4.1. Prerequisites

11.4.1.1. Creating the ImageContentSourcePolicy object

After mirroring Operator catalog content to your mirror registry, create the required ImageContentSourcePolicy (ICSP) object. The ICSP object configures nodes to translate between the image references stored in Operator manifests and the mirrored registry.

Procedure

  • On a host with access to the disconnected cluster, create the ICSP by running the following command to specify the imageContentSourcePolicy.yaml file in your manifests directory:

    $ oc create -f <path/to/manifests/dir>/imageContentSourcePolicy.yaml

    where <path/to/manifests/dir> is the path to the manifests directory for your mirrored content.

    You can now create a CatalogSource object to reference your mirrored index image and Operator content.

11.4.1.2. Adding a catalog source to a cluster

Adding a catalog source to an OpenShift Container Platform cluster enables the discovery and installation of Operators for users. Cluster administrators can create a CatalogSource object that references an index image. OperatorHub uses catalog sources to populate the user interface.

Tip

Alternatively, you can use the web console to manage catalog sources. From the Administration Cluster Settings Configuration OperatorHub page, click the Sources tab, where you can create, update, delete, disable, and enable individual sources.

Prerequisites

  • You built and pushed an index image to a registry.
  • You have access to the cluster as a user with the cluster-admin role.

Procedure

  1. Create a CatalogSource object that references your index image. If you used the oc adm catalog mirror command to mirror your catalog to a target registry, you can use the generated catalogSource.yaml file in your manifests directory as a starting point.

    1. Modify the following to your specifications and save it as a catalogSource.yaml file:

      apiVersion: operators.coreos.com/v1alpha1
      kind: CatalogSource
      metadata:
        name: my-operator-catalog 1
        namespace: openshift-marketplace 2
      spec:
        sourceType: grpc
        grpcPodConfig:
          securityContextConfig: <security_mode> 3
        image: <registry>/<namespace>/redhat-operator-index:v4.13 4
        displayName: My Operator Catalog
        publisher: <publisher_name> 5
        updateStrategy:
          registryPoll: 6
            interval: 30m
      1
      If you mirrored content to local files before uploading to a registry, remove any backslash (/) characters from the metadata.name field to avoid an "invalid resource name" error when you create the object.
      2
      If you want the catalog source to be available globally to users in all namespaces, specify the openshift-marketplace namespace. Otherwise, you can specify a different namespace for the catalog to be scoped and available only for that namespace.
      3
      Specify the value of legacy or restricted. If the field is not set, the default value is legacy. In a future OpenShift Container Platform release, it is planned that the default value will be restricted. If your catalog cannot run with restricted permissions, it is recommended that you manually set this field to legacy.
      4
      Specify your index image. If you specify a tag after the image name, for example :v4.13, the catalog source pod uses an image pull policy of Always, meaning the pod always pulls the image prior to starting the container. If you specify a digest, for example @sha256:<id>, the image pull policy is IfNotPresent, meaning the pod pulls the image only if it does not already exist on the node.
      5
      Specify your name or an organization name publishing the catalog.
      6
      Catalog sources can automatically check for new versions to keep up to date.
    2. Use the file to create the CatalogSource object:

      $ oc apply -f catalogSource.yaml
  2. Verify the following resources are created successfully.

    1. Check the pods:

      $ oc get pods -n openshift-marketplace

      Example output

      NAME                                    READY   STATUS    RESTARTS  AGE
      my-operator-catalog-6njx6               1/1     Running   0         28s
      marketplace-operator-d9f549946-96sgr    1/1     Running   0         26h

    2. Check the catalog source:

      $ oc get catalogsource -n openshift-marketplace

      Example output

      NAME                  DISPLAY               TYPE PUBLISHER  AGE
      my-operator-catalog   My Operator Catalog   grpc            5s

    3. Check the package manifest:

      $ oc get packagemanifest -n openshift-marketplace

      Example output

      NAME                          CATALOG               AGE
      jaeger-product                My Operator Catalog   93s

You can now install the Operators from the OperatorHub page on your OpenShift Container Platform web console.

11.5. About Operator installation with OperatorHub

OperatorHub is a user interface for discovering Operators; it works in conjunction with Operator Lifecycle Manager (OLM), which installs and manages Operators on a cluster.

As a cluster administrator, you can install an Operator from OperatorHub by using the OpenShift Container Platform web console or CLI. Subscribing an Operator to one or more namespaces makes the Operator available to developers on your cluster.

During installation, you must determine the following initial settings for the Operator:

Installation Mode
Choose All namespaces on the cluster (default) to have the Operator installed on all namespaces or choose individual namespaces, if available, to only install the Operator on selected namespaces. This example chooses All namespaces…​ to make the Operator available to all users and projects.
Update Channel
If an Operator is available through multiple channels, you can choose which channel you want to subscribe to. For example, to deploy from the stable channel, if available, select it from the list.
Approval Strategy

You can choose automatic or manual updates.

If you choose automatic updates for an installed Operator, when a new version of that Operator is available in the selected channel, Operator Lifecycle Manager (OLM) automatically upgrades the running instance of your Operator without human intervention.

If you select manual updates, when a newer version of an Operator is available, OLM creates an update request. As a cluster administrator, you must then manually approve that update request to have the Operator updated to the new version.

11.5.1. Installing from OperatorHub using the web console

You can install and subscribe to an Operator from OperatorHub by using the OpenShift Container Platform web console.

Prerequisites

  • Access to an OpenShift Container Platform cluster using an account with cluster-admin permissions.

Procedure

  1. Navigate in the web console to the Operators OperatorHub page.
  2. Scroll or type a keyword into the Filter by keyword box to find the Operator you want. For example, type jaeger to find the Jaeger Operator.

    You can also filter options by Infrastructure Features. For example, select Disconnected if you want to see Operators that work in disconnected environments, also known as restricted network environments.

  3. Select the Operator to display additional information.

    Note

    Choosing a Community Operator warns that Red Hat does not certify Community Operators; you must acknowledge the warning before continuing.

  4. Read the information about the Operator and click Install.
  5. On the Install Operator page:

    1. Select one of the following:

      • All namespaces on the cluster (default) installs the Operator in the default openshift-operators namespace to watch and be made available to all namespaces in the cluster. This option is not always available.
      • A specific namespace on the cluster allows you to choose a specific, single namespace in which to install the Operator. The Operator will only watch and be made available for use in this single namespace.
    2. Select an Update channel (if more than one is available).
    3. Select Automatic or Manual approval strategy, as described earlier.
  6. Click Install to make the Operator available to the selected namespaces on this OpenShift Container Platform cluster.

    1. If you selected a Manual approval strategy, the upgrade status of the subscription remains Upgrading until you review and approve the install plan.

      After approving on the Install Plan page, the subscription upgrade status moves to Up to date.

    2. If you selected an Automatic approval strategy, the upgrade status should resolve to Up to date without intervention.
  7. After the upgrade status of the subscription is Up to date, select Operators Installed Operators to verify that the cluster service version (CSV) of the installed Operator eventually shows up. The Status should ultimately resolve to InstallSucceeded in the relevant namespace.

    Note

    For the All namespaces…​ installation mode, the status resolves to InstallSucceeded in the openshift-operators namespace, but the status is Copied if you check in other namespaces.

    If it does not:

    1. Check the logs in any pods in the openshift-operators project (or other relevant namespace if A specific namespace…​ installation mode was selected) on the Workloads Pods page that are reporting issues to troubleshoot further.

11.5.2. Installing from OperatorHub using the CLI

Instead of using the OpenShift Container Platform web console, you can install an Operator from OperatorHub by using the CLI. Use the oc command to create or update a Subscription object.

Prerequisites

  • Access to an OpenShift Container Platform cluster using an account with cluster-admin permissions.
  • You have installed the OpenShift CLI (oc).

Procedure

  1. View the list of Operators available to the cluster from OperatorHub:

    $ oc get packagemanifests -n openshift-marketplace

    Example output

    NAME                               CATALOG               AGE
    3scale-operator                    Red Hat Operators     91m
    advanced-cluster-management        Red Hat Operators     91m
    amq7-cert-manager                  Red Hat Operators     91m
    ...
    couchbase-enterprise-certified     Certified Operators   91m
    crunchy-postgres-operator          Certified Operators   91m
    mongodb-enterprise                 Certified Operators   91m
    ...
    etcd                               Community Operators   91m
    jaeger                             Community Operators   91m
    kubefed                            Community Operators   91m
    ...

    Note the catalog for your desired Operator.

  2. Inspect your desired Operator to verify its supported install modes and available channels:

    $ oc describe packagemanifests <operator_name> -n openshift-marketplace
  3. An Operator group, defined by an OperatorGroup object, selects target namespaces in which to generate required RBAC access for all Operators in the same namespace as the Operator group.

    The namespace to which you subscribe the Operator must have an Operator group that matches the install mode of the Operator, either the AllNamespaces or SingleNamespace mode. If the Operator you intend to install uses the AllNamespaces mode, the openshift-operators namespace already has the appropriate global-operators Operator group in place.

    However, if the Operator uses the SingleNamespace mode and you do not already have an appropriate Operator group in place, you must create one.

    Note
    • The web console version of this procedure handles the creation of the OperatorGroup and Subscription objects automatically behind the scenes for you when choosing SingleNamespace mode.
    • You can only have one Operator group per namespace. For more information, see "Operator groups".
    1. Create an OperatorGroup object YAML file, for example operatorgroup.yaml:

      Example OperatorGroup object

      apiVersion: operators.coreos.com/v1
      kind: OperatorGroup
      metadata:
        name: <operatorgroup_name>
        namespace: <namespace>
      spec:
        targetNamespaces:
        - <namespace>

      Warning

      Operator Lifecycle Manager (OLM) creates the following cluster roles for each Operator group:

      • <operatorgroup_name>-admin
      • <operatorgroup_name>-edit
      • <operatorgroup_name>-view

      When you manually create an Operator group, you must specify a unique name that does not conflict with the existing cluster roles or other Operator groups on the cluster.

    2. Create the OperatorGroup object:

      $ oc apply -f operatorgroup.yaml
  4. Create a Subscription object YAML file to subscribe a namespace to an Operator, for example sub.yaml:

    Example Subscription object

    apiVersion: operators.coreos.com/v1alpha1
    kind: Subscription
    metadata:
      name: <subscription_name>
      namespace: openshift-operators 1
    spec:
      channel: <channel_name> 2
      name: <operator_name> 3
      source: redhat-operators 4
      sourceNamespace: openshift-marketplace 5
      config:
        env: 6
        - name: ARGS
          value: "-v=10"
        envFrom: 7
        - secretRef:
            name: license-secret
        volumes: 8
        - name: <volume_name>
          configMap:
            name: <configmap_name>
        volumeMounts: 9
        - mountPath: <directory_name>
          name: <volume_name>
        tolerations: 10
        - operator: "Exists"
        resources: 11
          requests:
            memory: "64Mi"
            cpu: "250m"
          limits:
            memory: "128Mi"
            cpu: "500m"
        nodeSelector: 12
          foo: bar

    1
    For default AllNamespaces install mode usage, specify the openshift-operators namespace. Alternatively, you can specify a custom global namespace, if you have created one. Otherwise, specify the relevant single namespace for SingleNamespace install mode usage.
    2
    Name of the channel to subscribe to.
    3
    Name of the Operator to subscribe to.
    4
    Name of the catalog source that provides the Operator.
    5
    Namespace of the catalog source. Use openshift-marketplace for the default OperatorHub catalog sources.
    6
    The env parameter defines a list of Environment Variables that must exist in all containers in the pod created by OLM.
    7
    The envFrom parameter defines a list of sources to populate Environment Variables in the container.
    8
    The volumes parameter defines a list of Volumes that must exist on the pod created by OLM.
    9
    The volumeMounts parameter defines a list of VolumeMounts that must exist in all containers in the pod created by OLM. If a volumeMount references a volume that does not exist, OLM fails to deploy the Operator.
    10
    The tolerations parameter defines a list of Tolerations for the pod created by OLM.
    11
    The resources parameter defines resource constraints for all the containers in the pod created by OLM.
    12
    The nodeSelector parameter defines a NodeSelector for the pod created by OLM.
  5. Create the Subscription object:

    $ oc apply -f sub.yaml

    At this point, OLM is now aware of the selected Operator. A cluster service version (CSV) for the Operator should appear in the target namespace, and APIs provided by the Operator should be available for creation.

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