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

Server-Side Object Encryption with GCP Secret Manager 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. 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 Google Cloud Platform Secret Manager 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 GCP Secret Manager 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 GCP Secret Manager.

macos or windows

This procedure assumes a single local host machine running the MinIO and KES processes. As part of this procedure, you will:

1. Deploy a KES (Key Encryption Service) server configured to use GCP Secret Manager as the root KMS (Key Management System).
2. Create a new EK (External Key) on GCP Secret Manager 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 GCP Secret Manager.

For production baremetal environments, see the MinIO on Linux documentation for tutorials on configuring MinIO with KES and GCP Secret Manager.

container

This procedure assumes a single host machine running the MinIO and KES containers. As part of this procedure, you will:

1. Deploy a KES (Key Encryption Service) container configured to use GCP Secret Manager 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 GCP Secret Manager.

For production baremetal environments, see the MinIO on Linux documentation for tutorials on configuring MinIO with KES and GCP Secret Manager.

k8s

This procedure assumes you have access to a Kubernetes cluster with an active MinIO Operator installation. 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 GCP Secret Manager.
3. Create a new EK (External Key) on GCP Secret Manager 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 GCP Secret Manager.

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.

GCP Secret Manager

This procedure assumes familiarity with GCP Secret Manager. The Secret Manager Quickstart provides a sufficient foundation for the purposes of this procedure.

k8s

This procedure assumes your Kubernetes cluster configuration allows for cluster-internal pods and services to resolve and connect to endpoints outside the cluster, such as the public internet.

MinIO specifically requires the following GCP settings or configurations:

• Enable Secret Manager in the project.

• Create a new GCP Service Account for supporting KES (Key Encryption Service). Ensure the user has a role with at minimum the following permissions:

  secretmanager.secrets.create
  secretmanager.secrets.delete
  secretmanager.secrets.get

  The Secret manager Admin role meets the minimum required permissions.

  GCP should return a set of credentials associated to the new access keys, including private keys. Copy these credentials to a safe and secure location for use with this procedure.

linux or macos or windows

Deploy or Ensure Access to a MinIO Deployment

container

Install Podman or a Similar Container Management Interface

container

linux

macos

k8s

windows

Configuration Reference for GCP Secret Manager Root KMS

The following section describes each of the Key Encryption Service (KES) <kes> configuration settings for using GCP Secrets Manager 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:
  gcp:
    secretmanager:
      project_id: "${GCPPROJECTID}"
      credentials:
        client_email: "${GCPCLIENTEMAIL}"
        client_id: "${GCPCLIENTID}"
        private_key_id: "${GCPPRIVATEKEYID}"
        private_key: "${GCPPRIVATEKEY}"

Reference

Key	Description
address
root
tls
policy
keys
keystore.gcp.secretmanager	The configuration for the GCP Secret Manager project_id - The GCP Project of the Secret Manager instance. credentials - Replace the credentials with the credentials for a project user with the required permissions <minio-sse-gcp-prereq-gcp>.