docs/source/operations/server-side-encryption/configure-minio-kes-azure.rst

Server-Side Object Encryption with Azure Key Vault Root KMS

minio

Table of Contents

MinIO Server-Side Encryption (SSE) protects objects as part of write operations, allowing clients to take advantage of server processing power to secure objects at the storage layer (encryption-at-rest). SSE also provides key functionality to regulatory and compliance requirements around secure locking and erasure.

MinIO SSE uses Key Encryption Service (KES) <kes> and an external root Key Management Service (KMS) for performing secured cryptographic operations at scale. The root KMS provides stateful and secured storage of External Keys (EK) while KES (Key Encryption Service) is stateless and derives additional cryptographic keys from the root-managed EK (External Key).

linux

This procedure provides guidance for deploying and configuring KES at scale for a supporting SSE (Server-Side Encryption) on a production MinIO deployment, with Azure Key Vault as the external root KMS (Key Management System). You can also use this procedure for deploying to local environments for testing and evaluation.

As part of this procedure, you will:

1. Deploy one or more KES (Key Encryption Service) servers configured to use Azure Key Vault as the root KMS (Key Management System). You may optionally deploy a load balancer for managing connections to those KES servers.
2. Create a new EK (External Key) on Azure Key Vault for use with SSE (Server-Side Encryption).
3. Create or modify a MinIO deployment with support for SSE (Server-Side Encryption) using KES (Key Encryption Service). Defer to the Deploy Distributed MinIO <minio-mnmd> tutorial for guidance on production-ready MinIO deployments.
4. Configure automatic bucket-default SSE-KMS <minio-encryption-sse-kms>

For production orchestrated environments, use the MinIO Kubernetes Operator to deploy a tenant with SSE (Server-Side Encryption) enabled and configured for use with Azure Key Vault.

macos or windows

This procedure assumes a single local host machine running the MinIO and KES processes, with Azure Key Vault as the external root KMS (Key Management System).. As part of this procedure, you will:

1. Deploy a KES (Key Encryption Service) server configured to use Azure Key Vault as the root KMS (Key Management System).
2. Create a new EK (External Key) on Vault for use with SSE (Server-Side Encryption).
3. Deploy a MinIO server in Single-Node Single-Drive mode <minio-snsd> configured to use the KES (Key Encryption Service) container for supporting SSE (Server-Side Encryption).
4. Configure automatic bucket-default SSE-KMS <minio-encryption-sse-kms>.

For production orchestrated environments, use the MinIO Kubernetes Operator to deploy a tenant with SSE (Server-Side Encryption) enabled and configured for use with Azure Key Vault.

For production baremetal environments, see the MinIO on Linux documentation for tutorials on configuring MinIO with KES and Azure Key Vault.

container

This procedure assumes a single host machine running the MinIO and KES containers, with Azure Key Vault as the external root KMS (Key Management System).. As part of this procedure, you will:

1. Deploy a KES (Key Encryption Service) container configured to use Azure Key Vault as the root KMS (Key Management System).
2. Create a new EK (External Key) on Vault for use with SSE (Server-Side Encryption).
3. Deploy a MinIO Server container in Single-Node Single-Drive mode <minio-snsd> configured to use the KES (Key Encryption Service) container for supporting SSE (Server-Side Encryption).
4. Configure automatic bucket-default SSE-KMS <minio-encryption-sse-kms>.

For production orchestrated environments, use the MinIO Kubernetes Operator to deploy a tenant with SSE (Server-Side Encryption) enabled and configured for use with Azure Key Vault.

For production baremetal environments, see the MinIO on Linux documentation for tutorials on configuring MinIO with KES and Azure Key Vault.

k8s

This procedure assumes you have access to a Kubernetes cluster with an active MinIO Operator installation, with a cluster-accessible Azure Key Vault service as the external root KMS (Key Management System). As part of this procedure, you will:

1. Use the MinIO Operator Console to create or manage a MinIO Tenant.
2. Access the Encryption settings for that tenant and configure SSE (Server-Side Encryption) using Azure Key Vault as the root KMS (Key Management System).
3. Create a new EK (External Key) on Vault for use with SSE (Server-Side Encryption).
4. Configure automatic bucket-default SSE-KMS <minio-encryption-sse-kms>.

For production baremetal environments, see the MinIO on Linux documentation for tutorials on configuring MinIO with KES and Azure Key Vault.

Important

Prerequisites

k8s

MinIO Kubernetes Operator and Plugin

The procedures on this page requires a valid installation of the MinIO Kubernetes Operator and assumes the local host has a matching installation of the MinIO Kubernetes Operator. This procedure assumes the latest stable Operator and Plugin version |operator-version-stable|.

See deploy-operator-kubernetes for complete documentation on deploying the MinIO Operator.

Azure Key Vault

This procedure assumes familiarity with Azure Key Vault. The Key Vault Quickstart provides a sufficient foundation for the purposes of this procedure.

MinIO specifically requires the following Azure settings or configurations:

• Register an application for KES (Key Encryption Service) (e.g. minio-kes). Note the Application (client) ID, Directory (tenant) ID, and Client credentials. You may need to create the client credentials secret and copy the Secret Value for use in this procedure.

• Create an Access Policy for use by KES. The policy must have the following Secret Permissions:

  • Get
  • List
  • Set
  • Delete
  • Purge

  Set the Principal for the new policy to the KES Application ID.

linux or macos or windows

Deploy or Ensure Access to a MinIO Deployment

container

Install Podman or a Similar Container Management Interface

k8s

container

linux

macos

windows

Configuration Reference for Azure Key Vault Root KMS

The following section describes each of the Key Encryption Service (KES) <kes> configuration settings for using Azure Key Vault as the root Key Management Service (KMS) for SSE (Server-Side Encryption):

Important

Starting with RELEASE.2023-02-17T17-52-43Z, MinIO requires expanded KES permissions for functionality. The example configuration in this section contains all required permissions.

YAML Overview

Fields with ${<STRING>} use the environment variable matching the <STRING> value. You can use this functionality to set credentials without writing them to the configuration file.

The YAML assumes a minimal set of permissions for the MinIO deployment accessing KES. As an alternative, you can omit the policy.minio-server section and instead set the ${MINIO_IDENTITY} hash as the ${ROOT_IDENTITY}.

address: 0.0.0.0:7373
root: ${ROOT_IDENTITY}

tls:
  key: kes-server.key
  cert: kes-server.cert

policy:
  minio-server:
    allow:
    - /v1/key/create/*
    - /v1/key/generate/*
    - /v1/key/decrypt/*
    - /v1/key/bulk/decrypt
    - /v1/key/list
    - /v1/status
    - /v1/metrics
    - /v1/log/audit
    - /v1/log/error
    identities:
    - ${MINIO_IDENTITY}

keys:
  - name: "minio-encryption-key-alpha"
  - name: "minio-encryption-key-baker"
  - name: "minio-encryption-key-charlie"

keystore:
  azure:
    keyvault:
      endpoint: "https://<keyvaultinstance>.vault.azure.net"
      credentials:
        tenant_id: "${TENANTID}" # The directory/tenant UUID
        client_id: "${CLIENTID}" # The application/client UUID
        client_secret: "${CLIENTSECRET}" # The Active Directory secret for the application

Reference

Key	Description
address
root
tls
policy
keys
keystore.azure.keyvault	The configuration for the Azure Key Vault endpoint - The hostname for the Key Vault service. credentials - Replace the credentials with the credentials for the Active Directory application as which KES authenticates. The specified credentials must have the appropriate permissions <minio-sse-azure-prereq-azure>