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Chapter 8. Configuring the audit log policy

You can control the amount of information that is logged to the API server audit logs by choosing the audit log policy profile to use.

8.1. About audit log policy profiles

Audit log profiles define how to log requests that come to the OpenShift API server, the Kubernetes API server, and the OAuth API server.

OpenShift Container Platform provides the following predefined audit policy profiles:

ProfileDescription

Default

Logs only metadata for read and write requests; does not log request bodies except for OAuth access token requests. This is the default policy.

WriteRequestBodies

In addition to logging metadata for all requests, logs request bodies for every write request to the API servers (create, update, patch). This profile has more resource overhead than the Default profile. [1]

AllRequestBodies

In addition to logging metadata for all requests, logs request bodies for every read and write request to the API servers (get, list, create, update, patch). This profile has the most resource overhead. [1]

None

No requests are logged; even OAuth access token requests and OAuth authorize token requests are not logged.

Warning

It is not recommended to disable audit logging by using the None profile unless you are fully aware of the risks of not logging data that can be beneficial when troubleshooting issues. If you disable audit logging and a support situation arises, you might need to enable audit logging and reproduce the issue in order to troubleshoot properly.

  1. Sensitive resources, such as Secret, Route, and OAuthClient objects, are never logged past the metadata level.

By default, OpenShift Container Platform uses the Default audit log profile. You can use another audit policy profile that also logs request bodies, but be aware of the increased resource usage (CPU, memory, and I/O).

8.2. Configuring the audit log policy

You can configure the audit log policy to use when logging requests that come to the API servers.

Prerequisites

  • You have access to the cluster as a user with the cluster-admin role.

Procedure

  1. Edit the APIServer resource: 

    $ oc edit apiserver cluster

  2. Update the spec.audit.profile field: 

    apiVersion: config.openshift.io/v1
kind: APIServer
metadata:
...
spec:
  audit:
    profile: WriteRequestBodies    1
    1
    Set to Default, WriteRequestBodies, AllRequestBodies, or None. The default profile is Default.
    Warning

    It is not recommended to disable audit logging by using the None profile unless you are fully aware of the risks of not logging data that can be beneficial when troubleshooting issues. If you disable audit logging and a support situation arises, you might need to enable audit logging and reproduce the issue in order to troubleshoot properly.

  3. Save the file to apply the changes.

Verification

  • Verify that a new revision of the Kubernetes API server pods is rolled out. It can take several minutes for all nodes to update to the new revision. 

    $ oc get kubeapiserver -o=jsonpath='{range .items[0].status.conditions[?(@.type=="NodeInstallerProgressing")]}{.reason}{"\n"}{.message}{"\n"}'

    Review the NodeInstallerProgressing status condition for the Kubernetes API server to verify that all nodes are at the latest revision. The output shows AllNodesAtLatestRevision upon successful update: 

    AllNodesAtLatestRevision
3 nodes are at revision 12 1
    1
    In this example, the latest revision number is 12.

    If the output shows a message similar to one of the following messages, the update is still in progress. Wait a few minutes and try again.

    • 3 nodes are at revision 11; 0 nodes have achieved new revision 12
    • 2 nodes are at revision 11; 1 nodes are at revision 12

8.3. Configuring the audit log policy with custom rules

You can configure an audit log policy that defines custom rules. You can specify multiple groups and define which profile to use for that group.

These custom rules take precedence over the top-level profile field. The custom rules are evaluated from top to bottom, and the first that matches is applied.

Prerequisites

  • You have access to the cluster as a user with the cluster-admin role.

Procedure

  1. Edit the APIServer resource: 

    $ oc edit apiserver cluster

  2. Add the spec.audit.customRules field: 

    apiVersion: config.openshift.io/v1
kind: APIServer
metadata:
...
spec:
  audit:
    customRules:                        1
    - group: system:authenticated:oauth
      profile: WriteRequestBodies
    - group: system:authenticated
      profile: AllRequestBodies
    profile: Default                    2
    1
    Add one or more groups and specify the profile to use for that group. These custom rules take precedence over the top-level profile field. The custom rules are evaluated from top to bottom, and the first that matches is applied.
    2
    Set to Default, WriteRequestBodies, AllRequestBodies, or None. If you do not set this top-level audit.profile field, it defaults to the Default profile.
    Warning

    It is not recommended to disable audit logging by using the None profile unless you are fully aware of the risks of not logging data that can be beneficial when troubleshooting issues. If you disable audit logging and a support situation arises, you might need to enable audit logging and reproduce the issue in order to troubleshoot properly.

  3. Save the file to apply the changes.

Verification

  • Verify that a new revision of the Kubernetes API server pods is rolled out. It can take several minutes for all nodes to update to the new revision. 

    $ oc get kubeapiserver -o=jsonpath='{range .items[0].status.conditions[?(@.type=="NodeInstallerProgressing")]}{.reason}{"\n"}{.message}{"\n"}'

    Review the NodeInstallerProgressing status condition for the Kubernetes API server to verify that all nodes are at the latest revision. The output shows AllNodesAtLatestRevision upon successful update: 

    AllNodesAtLatestRevision
3 nodes are at revision 12 1
    1
    In this example, the latest revision number is 12.

    If the output shows a message similar to one of the following messages, the update is still in progress. Wait a few minutes and try again.

    • 3 nodes are at revision 11; 0 nodes have achieved new revision 12
    • 2 nodes are at revision 11; 1 nodes are at revision 12

8.4. Disabling audit logging

You can disable audit logging for OpenShift Container Platform. When you disable audit logging, even OAuth access token requests and OAuth authorize token requests are not logged.

Warning

It is not recommended to disable audit logging by using the None profile unless you are fully aware of the risks of not logging data that can be beneficial when troubleshooting issues. If you disable audit logging and a support situation arises, you might need to enable audit logging and reproduce the issue in order to troubleshoot properly.

Prerequisites

  • You have access to the cluster as a user with the cluster-admin role.

Procedure

  1. Edit the APIServer resource: 

    $ oc edit apiserver cluster

  2. Set the spec.audit.profile field to None: 

    apiVersion: config.openshift.io/v1
kind: APIServer
metadata:
...
spec:
  audit:
    profile: None
    Note

    You can also disable audit logging only for specific groups by specifying custom rules in the spec.audit.customRules field.

  3. Save the file to apply the changes.

Verification

  • Verify that a new revision of the Kubernetes API server pods is rolled out. It can take several minutes for all nodes to update to the new revision. 

    $ oc get kubeapiserver -o=jsonpath='{range .items[0].status.conditions[?(@.type=="NodeInstallerProgressing")]}{.reason}{"\n"}{.message}{"\n"}'

    Review the NodeInstallerProgressing status condition for the Kubernetes API server to verify that all nodes are at the latest revision. The output shows AllNodesAtLatestRevision upon successful update: 

    AllNodesAtLatestRevision
3 nodes are at revision 12 1
    1
    In this example, the latest revision number is 12.

    If the output shows a message similar to one of the following messages, the update is still in progress. Wait a few minutes and try again.

    • 3 nodes are at revision 11; 0 nodes have achieved new revision 12
    • 2 nodes are at revision 11; 1 nodes are at revision 12
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