Chapter 1. SSL and TLS for Red Hat Quay


The Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol was originally developed by Netscape Corporation to provide a mechanism for secure communication over the Internet. Subsequently, the protocol was adopted by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and renamed to Transport Layer Security (TLS).

TLS (Transport Layer Security) is a cryptographic protocol used to secure network communications. When hardening system security settings by configuring preferred key-exchange protocols, authentication methods, and encryption algorithms, it is necessary to bear in mind that the broader the range of supported clients, the lower the resulting security. Conversely, strict security settings lead to limited compatibility with clients, which can result in some users being locked out of the system. Be sure to target the strictest available configuration and only relax it when it is required for compatibility reasons.

Red Hat Quay can be configured to use SSL/TLS certificates to ensure secure communication between clients and the Red Hat Quay server. This configuration involves the use of valid SSL/TLS certificates, which can be obtained from a trusted Certificate Authority (CA) or generated as self-signed certificates for internal use.

1.1. Creating a Certificate Authority

Use the following procedure to set up your own CA and use it to issue a server certificate for your domain. This allows you to secure communications with SSL/TLS using your own certificates.

Procedure

  1. Generate the root CA key by entering the following command:

    $ openssl genrsa -out rootCA.key 2048
  2. Generate the root CA certificate by entering the following command:

    $ openssl req -x509 -new -nodes -key rootCA.key -sha256 -days 1024 -out rootCA.pem
  3. Enter the information that will be incorporated into your certificate request, including the server hostname, for example:

    Country Name (2 letter code) [XX]:IE
    State or Province Name (full name) []:GALWAY
    Locality Name (eg, city) [Default City]:GALWAY
    Organization Name (eg, company) [Default Company Ltd]:QUAY
    Organizational Unit Name (eg, section) []:DOCS
    Common Name (eg, your name or your server's hostname) []:quay-server.example.com
  4. Generate the server key by entering the following command:

    $ openssl genrsa -out ssl.key 2048
  5. Generate a signing request by entering the following command:

    $ openssl req -new -key ssl.key -out ssl.csr
  6. Enter the information that will be incorporated into your certificate request, including the server hostname, for example:

    Country Name (2 letter code) [XX]:IE
    State or Province Name (full name) []:GALWAY
    Locality Name (eg, city) [Default City]:GALWAY
    Organization Name (eg, company) [Default Company Ltd]:QUAY
    Organizational Unit Name (eg, section) []:DOCS
    Common Name (eg, your name or your server's hostname) []:quay-server.example.com
    Email Address []:
  7. Create a configuration file openssl.cnf, specifying the server hostname, for example:

    Example openssl.cnf file

    [req]
    req_extensions = v3_req
    distinguished_name = req_distinguished_name
    [req_distinguished_name]
    [ v3_req ]
    basicConstraints = CA:FALSE
    keyUsage = nonRepudiation, digitalSignature, keyEncipherment
    subjectAltName = @alt_names
    [alt_names]
    DNS.1 = <quay-server.example.com>
    IP.1 = 192.168.1.112

  8. Use the configuration file to generate the certificate ssl.cert:

    $ openssl x509 -req -in ssl.csr -CA rootCA.pem -CAkey rootCA.key -CAcreateserial -out ssl.cert -days 356 -extensions v3_req -extfile openssl.cnf
  9. Confirm your created certificates and files by entering the following command:

    $ ls /path/to/certificates

    Example output

    rootCA.key ssl-bundle.cert ssl.key custom-ssl-config-bundle-secret.yaml rootCA.pem ssl.cert
    openssl.cnf rootCA.srl  ssl.csr

1.2. Configuring SSL/TLS for standalone Red Hat Quay deployments

For standalone Red Hat Quay deployments, SSL/TLS certificates must be configured by using the command-line interface and by updating your config.yaml file manually.

1.2.1. Configuring custom SSL/TLS certificates by using the command line interface

SSL/TLS must be configured by using the command-line interface (CLI) and updating your config.yaml file manually.

Prerequisites

  • You have created a certificate authority and signed the certificate.

Procedure

  1. Copy the certificate file and primary key file to your configuration directory, ensuring they are named ssl.cert and ssl.key respectively:

    cp ~/ssl.cert ~/ssl.key /path/to/configuration_directory
  2. Navigate to the configuration directory by entering the following command:

    $ cd /path/to/configuration_directory
  3. Edit the config.yaml file and specify that you want Red Hat Quay to handle SSL/TLS:

    Example config.yaml file

    # ...
    SERVER_HOSTNAME: <quay-server.example.com>
    ...
    PREFERRED_URL_SCHEME: https
    # ...

  4. Optional: Append the contents of the rootCA.pem file to the end of the ssl.cert file by entering the following command:

    $ cat rootCA.pem >> ssl.cert
  5. Stop the Quay container by entering the following command:

    $ sudo podman stop <quay_container_name>
  6. Restart the registry by entering the following command:

    $ sudo podman run -d --rm -p 80:8080 -p 443:8443 \
      --name=quay \
      -v $QUAY/config:/conf/stack:Z \
      -v $QUAY/storage:/datastorage:Z \
      registry.redhat.io/quay/quay-rhel8:v3.13.1

1.2.2. Configuring Podman to trust the Certificate Authority

Podman uses two paths to locate the Certificate Authority (CA) file: /etc/containers/certs.d/ and /etc/docker/certs.d/. Use the following procedure to configure Podman to trust the CA.

Procedure

  1. Copy the root CA file to one of /etc/containers/certs.d/ or /etc/docker/certs.d/. Use the exact path determined by the server hostname, and name the file ca.crt:

    $ sudo cp rootCA.pem /etc/containers/certs.d/quay-server.example.com/ca.crt
  2. Verify that you no longer need to use the --tls-verify=false option when logging in to your Red Hat Quay registry:

    $ sudo podman login quay-server.example.com

    Example output

    Login Succeeded!

1.2.3. Configuring the system to trust the certificate authority

Use the following procedure to configure your system to trust the certificate authority.

Procedure

  1. Enter the following command to copy the rootCA.pem file to the consolidated system-wide trust store:

    $ sudo cp rootCA.pem /etc/pki/ca-trust/source/anchors/
  2. Enter the following command to update the system-wide trust store configuration:

    $ sudo update-ca-trust extract
  3. Optional. You can use the trust list command to ensure that the Quay server has been configured:

    $ trust list | grep quay
        label: quay-server.example.com

    Now, when you browse to the registry at https://quay-server.example.com, the lock icon shows that the connection is secure:

    Connection not secure

  4. To remove the rootCA.pem file from system-wide trust, delete the file and update the configuration:

    $ sudo rm /etc/pki/ca-trust/source/anchors/rootCA.pem
    $ sudo update-ca-trust extract
    $ trust list | grep quay

More information can be found in the RHEL 9 documentation in the chapter Using shared system certificates.

1.3. Configuring custom SSL/TLS certificates for Red Hat Quay on OpenShift Container Platform

When Red Hat Quay is deployed on OpenShift Container Platform, the tls component of the QuayRegistry custom resource definition (CRD) is set to managed by default. As a result, OpenShift Container Platform’s Certificate Authority is used to create HTTPS endpoints and to rotate SSL/TLS certificates.

You can configure custom SSL/TLS certificates before or after the initial deployment of Red Hat Quay on OpenShift Container Platform. This process involves creating or updating the configBundleSecret resource within the QuayRegistry YAML file to integrate your custom certificates and setting the tls component to unmanaged.

Important

When configuring custom SSL/TLS certificates for Red Hat Quay, administrators are responsible for certificate rotation.

The following procedures enable you to apply custom SSL/TLS certificates to ensure secure communication and meet specific security requirements for your Red Hat Quay on OpenShift Container Platform deployment. These steps assumed you have already created a Certificate Authority (CA) bundle or an ssl.key, and an ssl.cert. The procedure then shows you how to integrate those files into your Red Hat Quay on OpenShift Container Platform deployment, which ensures that your registry operates with the specified security settings and conforms to your organization’s SSL/TLS policies.

Note
  • The following procedure is used for securing Red Hat Quay with an HTTPS certificate. Note that this differs from managing Certificate Authority Trust Bundles. CA Trust Bundles are used by system processes within the Quay container to verify certificates against trusted CAs, and ensure that services like LDAP, storage backend, and OIDC connections are trusted.
  • If you are adding the certificates to an existing deployment, you must include the existing config.yaml file in the new config bundle secret, even if you are not making any configuration changes.

1.3.1. Creating a custom SSL/TLS configBundleSecret resource

After creating your custom SSL/TLS certificates, you can create a custom configBundleSecret resource for Red Hat Quay on OpenShift Container Platform, which allows you to upload ssl.cert and ssl.key files.

Prerequisites

  • You have base64 decoded the original config bundle into a config.yaml file. For more information, see Downloading the existing configuration.
  • You have generated custom SSL certificates and keys.

Procedure

  1. Create a new YAML file, for example, custom-ssl-config-bundle-secret.yaml:

    $ touch custom-ssl-config-bundle-secret.yaml
  2. Create the custom-ssl-config-bundle-secret resource.

    1. Create the resource by entering the following command:

      $ oc -n <namespace> create secret generic custom-ssl-config-bundle-secret \
        --from-file=config.yaml=</path/to/config.yaml> \ 1
        --from-file=ssl.cert=</path/to/ssl.cert> \ 2
        --from-file=extra_ca_cert_<name-of-certificate>.crt=ca-certificate-bundle.crt
       \ 3
        --from-file=ssl.key=</path/to/ssl.key> \ 4
        --dry-run=client -o yaml > custom-ssl-config-bundle-secret.yaml
      1
      Where <config.yaml> is your base64 decoded config.yaml file.
      2
      Where <ssl.cert> is your ssl.cert file.
      3
      Optional. The --from-file=extra_ca_cert_<name-of-certificate>.crt=ca-certificate-bundle.crt field allows Red Hat Quay to recognize custom Certificate Authority (CA) files. If you are using LDAP, OIDC, or another service that uses custom CAs, you must add them via the extra_ca_cert path. For more information, see "Adding additional Certificate Authorities to Red Hat Quay on OpenShift Container Platform."
      4
      Where <ssl.key> is your ssl.key file.
  3. Optional. You can check the content of the custom-ssl-config-bundle-secret.yaml file by entering the following command:

    $ cat custom-ssl-config-bundle-secret.yaml

    Example output

    apiVersion: v1
    data:
      config.yaml: QUxMT1dfUFVMTFNfV0lUSE9VVF9TVFJJQ1RfTE9HR0lORzogZmFsc2UKQVVUSEVOVElDQVRJT05fVFlQRTogRGF0YWJhc2UKREVGQVVMVF9UQUdfRVhQSVJBVElPTjogMncKRElTVFJJQlVURURfU1R...
      ssl.cert: LS0tLS1CRUdJTiBDRVJUSUZJQ0FURS0tLS0tCk1JSUVYakNDQTBhZ0F3SUJBZ0lVTUFBRk1YVWlWVHNoMGxNTWI3U1l0eFV5eTJjd0RRWUpLb1pJaHZjTkFRRUwKQlFBd2dZZ3hDekFKQmdOVkJBWVR...
      extra_ca_cert_<name-of-certificate>:LS0tLS1CRUdJTiBDRVJUSUZJQ0FURS0tLS0tCk1JSUVYakNDQTBhZ0F3SUJBZ0lVTUFBRk1YVWlWVHNoMGxNTWI3U1l0eFV5eTJjd0RRWUpLb1pJaHZjTkFRRUwKQlFBd2dZZ3hDe...
      ssl.key: LS0tLS1CRUdJTiBQUklWQVRFIEtFWS0tLS0tCk1JSUV2UUlCQURBTkJna3Foa2lHOXcwQkFRRUZBQVNDQktjd2dnU2pBZ0VBQW9JQkFRQ2c0VWxZOVV1SVJPY1oKcFhpZk9MVEdqaS9neUxQMlpiMXQ...
    kind: Secret
    metadata:
      creationTimestamp: null
      name: custom-ssl-config-bundle-secret
      namespace: <namespace>

  4. Create the configBundleSecret resource by entering the following command:

    $ oc create -n <namespace> -f custom-ssl-config-bundle-secret.yaml

    Example output

    secret/custom-ssl-config-bundle-secret created

  5. Update the QuayRegistry YAML file to reference the custom-ssl-config-bundle-secret object by entering the following command:

    $ oc patch quayregistry <registry_name> -n <namespace> --type=merge -p '{"spec":{"configBundleSecret":"custom-ssl-config-bundle-secret"}}'

    Example output

    quayregistry.quay.redhat.com/example-registry patched

  6. Set the tls component of the QuayRegistry YAML to false by entering the following command:

    $ oc patch quayregistry <registry_name> -n <namespace> --type=merge -p '{"spec":{"components":[{"kind":"tls","managed":false}]}}'

    Example output

    quayregistry.quay.redhat.com/example-registry patched

  7. Ensure that your QuayRegistry YAML file has been updated to use the custom SSL configBundleSecret resource, and that your and tls resource is set to false by entering the following command:

    $ oc get quayregistry <registry_name> -n <namespace> -o yaml

    Example output

    # ...
      configBundleSecret: custom-ssl-config-bundle-secret
    # ...
    spec:
      components:
      - kind: tls
        managed: false
    # ...

Verification

  • Confirm a TLS connection to the server and port by entering the following command:

    $  openssl s_client -connect <quay-server.example.com>:443

    Example output

    # ...
    SSL-Session:
        Protocol  : TLSv1.3
        Cipher    : TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384
        Session-ID: 0E995850DC3A8EB1A838E2FF06CE56DBA81BD8443E7FA05895FBD6FBDE9FE737
        Session-ID-ctx:
        Resumption PSK: 1EA68F33C65A0F0FA2655BF9C1FE906152C6E3FEEE3AEB6B1B99BA7C41F06077989352C58E07CD2FBDC363FA8A542975
        PSK identity: None
        PSK identity hint: None
        SRP username: None
        TLS session ticket lifetime hint: 7200 (seconds)
    
    # ...

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