cert-manager-key-vault-sync

Kubernetes app that syncs cert-manager Secrets to Azure Key Vault. Originally created with the intention of getting LetsEncrypt certficates into Key Vault, but works with any certificate stored in a Kubernetes Secret.

Component	Version	Status
Helm Chart	v0.2.2
Application	v0.1.1

Features

• Supports Kubernetes Nodes running linux/amd64, linux/arm64 (Apple M1, Linux)
• Synchronizes Kubernetes Secrets to Azure Key Vault Certificates
• Leverages passwordless authentication using Workload Identity
• Certificate is automatically rotated when cert-manager triggers a renewal
• Supports duplicate certificates in multiple Kubernetes Namespaces (e.g. *.your-domain.com in multiple Namespaces)
• Runs in a lightweight Alpine container, using < 100 MiB of memory
• Includes a Helm Chart for easy installation

Requirements & Limitations

• Running cert-manager ~> v1 in your Azure Kubernetes cluster
• Only syncs Kubernetes Secrets to Key Vault Certificates (not to Key Vault Secrets)
• The included Helm chart only authenticates using Workload Identity

Helm Installation

If you're running an older version of Helm, HELM_EXPERIMENTAL_OCI=1 needs to be set to support OCI charts.

export HELM_EXPERIMENTAL_OCI=1
helm upgrade --install cert-manager-key-vault-sync \
    oci://docker.io/rdvansloten/cert-manager-key-vault-sync \
    --values ./charts/cert-manager-key-vault-sync/values.yaml \
    --version v0.2.2 \
    --namespace cert-manager-key-vault-sync --create-namespace

If you wish to use raw Kubernetes manifests instead, you may render the Helm template to plain YAML using the command below.

helm template cert-manager-key-vault-sync oci://docker.io/rdvansloten/cert-manager-key-vault-sync --version v0.2.2 \
    --values ./charts/cert-manager-key-vault-sync/values.yaml > output.yaml

Examples

For examples on building the image from scratch or prepping your Azure/Kubernetes environment, see Examples.

Design

The synchronization process is a small Python3 application running on an Alpine image. It leverages OpenSSL to bundle the .cer and .key files, then uploads the resulting .pfx file to Azure Key Vault. cert-manager-key-vault-sync requires verbs "get", "list", "watch" on the "secrets" resource, as it needs to pull cert-manager-generated Secrets from all namespaces. It will only search for Secrets with the annotation cert-manager.io/certificate-name by default, though this can be changed.

The attached Service Account is connected to a Managed Identity in Azure, providing access to the Key Vault. The Managed Identity requires the Key Vault Certificates Officer role on the Key Vault, or a custom role with permissions to list, read, create and update Certificates and their metadata.

Diagram

Contributing

I'd love your input! I want to make contributing to this project as easy and transparent as possible, whether it's:

• Reporting an issue.
• Submitting a fix.
• Proposing new features.
• Becoming a maintainer.
• Supporting my GitHub page through GitHub Sponsors or ko-fi.

All changes happen through Pull Requests

Pull requests are the best way to propose changes. I actively welcome your Pull Requests:

1. Fork this repository and create your branch from main.
2. If you've added code that should be tested, add some test examples.
3. Update the documentation.
4. Submit that Pull Request!