Software Engineer

Can Apache Cassandra take my PEM keys?
Can Apache Cassandra take my PEM keys?
This article discusses how to configure Apache Cassandra 4.1 and beyond to use your PEM-encoded (Privacy Enhanced Mail) security credentials like your private key, corresponding certificate chain, and trusted CA certificates. PEM makes it easier to transport, transfer, and even edit the data with simple text editors.
PEM stands for . It is a popular data-formatting standard for your cryptographic keys, certificates, and other data. Being a text-based encoding standard, PEM makes it easier to transport, transfer, and even edit the data with simple text editors. It is easy to copy and paste and combine different PEM encoded artifacts (for example: build a certificate chain and combine with corresponding private key) to create new ones.
An interesting fact about PEM is that—as the name suggests—it was designed to be used for electronic mail systems but became popular for encoding cryptographic data while other standards like saw a better success with emails. Below is an of a X.509 Certificate represented in PEM format,
Why do we need support for PEM if we have JKS support?
Most Java-based systems allow storing/reading security credentials in/from using a .jks file extension. You can create your keystore and truststore in JKS format using the keytool utility from Java. Apache Cassandra, being Java-based, supports keystore and truststore in JKS format. You can read the for more details on this.
However, if you have your security credentials already in PEM format and use them in other systems, it would be an operational overhead to convert from PEM format to JKS just for Apache Cassandra. This conversion requires converting security credentials to first format and then to JKS. The Apache Cassandra community agreed that it should support widely adopted standards like PEM out-of-box with its ‘batteries-included’ philosophy and has worked on delivering this. Apache Cassandra 4.1, targeted to freeze in May 2022 and a release in July 2022, will enable you to do exactly that.
SEE ALSO:“Organizations and engineering teams should be checking their software constantly”
Using PEM-encoded security credentials with Apache Cassandra 4.1
Apache Cassandra 4.1 introduces a pluggable configuration for customizing the SSL context for TLS encryption. It also offers built-in support for PEM-based security credentials. For the PEM-based key material, you can use the built-in class as the setting.
You can configure the PEM-based factory with either in-line PEM data or files with the required PEM data, as shown below. Here the PEM encoded private key is expected to be in PKCS#8 format. Just remember the spaces in the YAML.
Defining PEM keys/certs in-line to the configuration

client/serverencryptionoptions

sslcontextfactory

classname: org.apache.cassandra.security.PEMBasedSslContextFactory

parameters

privatekey

-----BEGIN ENCRYPTED PRIVATE KEY-----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-----END ENCRYPTED PRIVATE KEY-----
-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----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-----END CERTIFICATE-----
privatekeypassword: "cassandra"

trustedcertificates

-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----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-----END CERTIFICATE-----

Defining PEM keys/certs in files

client/serverencryptionoptions

sslcontextfactory

classname: org.apache.cassandra.security.PEMBasedSslContextFactory
internodeencryption: none
keystore: conf/cassandrassltest.keystore.pem
keystorepassword: cassandra
truststore: conf/cassandrassltest.truststore.pem

Location: conf/cassandrassltest.keystore.pem

-----BEGIN ENCRYPTED PRIVATE KEY-----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-----END ENCRYPTED PRIVATE KEY-----
-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----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-----END CERTIFICATE-----

SEE ALSO: An introduction to JobRunr, a distributed background job scheduler
Kubernetes and K8s Pod configuration
If you’re on Kubernetes, we have an built for that already. Let’s walk through the POD configuration and cassandra.yaml configuration considering the example class’s availability. In the pod.yaml, below, we are configuring secrets-based environment variables for the PEM private key, including the corresponding certificate chain, private key’s password, and the trusted certificates. Kubernetes secrets-based environment variables provide equivalent in-line PEM content (which we mentioned in the previous section). The last-updated-timestamps for keystore and truststore are mounted as secrets to be able to hot-reload security credentials upon changes to them. You can also use Kubernetes secrets for file-based PEM content, assuming you make appropriate changes in the code.
We’ve omitted repeating the same PEM content from the previous sections for the data for creating Kubernetes secrets required here.

apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod

metadata

name: my-pod

labels

app: my-app

spec

containers

• name: my-app

image: my-app:latest
imagePullPolicy: Always

env

• name: PRIVATEKEY

valueFrom

secretKeyRef

name: my-ssl-store
key: private-key

• name: PRIVATEKEYPASSWORD

valueFrom

secretKeyRef

name: my-ssl-store
key: private-key-password

• name: TRUSTEDCERTIFICATES

valueFrom

secretKeyRef

name: my-ssl-store
key: trusted-certificates

volumeMounts

• name: my-ssl-store

mountPath: "/etc/my-ssl-store"
readOnly: true

volumes

• name: my-ssl-store

secret

secretName: my-ssl-store

items

• key: keystore-last-updatedtime

path: keystore-last-updatedtime

• key: truststore-last-updatedtime

path: truststore-last-updatedtime

In the configuration below, we provide appropriate secret names and paths for the security credentials required by the class.

client/serverencryptionoptions

internodeencryption: none

sslcontextfactory

classname: org.apache.cassandra.security.KubernetesSecretsPEMSslContextFactory

parameters

PRIVATEKEYENVVAR: PRIVATEKEY
PRIVATEKEYPASSWORDENVVAR: PRIVATEKEYPASSWORD
KEYSTOREUPDATEDTIMESTAMPPATH: /etc/my-ssl-store/keystore-last-updatedtime
TRUSTEDCERTIFICATESENVVAR: TRUSTEDCERTIFICATES
TRUSTSTOREUPDATEDTIMESTAMPPATH: /etc/my-ssl-store/truststore-last-updatedtime

And there you have it; you can now enjoy PEM secrets on Apache Cassandra!
More articles on this topic
Creating value, AI operational design, and enhancing industry standards Charting the Way Forward for AI-Native Software Organizations
Enhance innovation by giving developers the freedom to experiment Why Developer-Centric AI Will Transform Business
Women, Leadership, and Innovation: A Q&A with Lauren Nagel "High-scaling cloud architecture has empowered founders and creators — especially women — to keep moving forward with their ideas."
UI/UX Designers and Software Developers: Future Proof Your Career Unleash Your Potential: Lucrative Niches for Web Design and Development in 2025 and Beyond
More articles on this topic
Creating value, AI operational design, and enhancing industry standards Charting the Way Forward for AI-Native Software Organizations
Enhance innovation by giving developers the freedom to experiment Why Developer-Centric AI Will Transform Business
Women, Leadership, and Innovation: A Q&A with Lauren Nagel "High-scaling cloud architecture has empowered founders and creators — especially women — to keep moving forward with their ideas."
UI/UX Designers and Software Developers: Future Proof Your Career Unleash Your Potential: Lucrative Niches for Web Design and Development in 2025 and Beyond
Gen AI Engineering Days 2024
Live on 29 & 30. October 2024 13:00 – 16:30 CEST