Add an AKS Cluster
Last modified on June 10, 2024
This guide describes how to manage access to an Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) cluster via the StrongDM Admin UI. This process involves creating and configuring a new cluster in the Admin UI and checking the connection to your Azure-managed API server.
Prerequisites
Ensure that the API server you intend to add to StrongDM is accessible from your StrongDM gateways or relays. See our guide on Gateways for more information.
Add an AKS Cluster in the Admin UI
Log in to the Admin UI and go to Infrastructure > Clusters.
Click the Add cluster button.
Select AKS as the Server Type and set other resource properties to configure how the StrongDM relay connects.
AKS Cluster Setup Click Create to save the resource.
The Admin UI updates and shows your new cluster in a green or yellow state. Green indicates a successful connection. If it is yellow, click the pencil icon to the right of the server to reopen the Connection Details screen. Then click Diagnostics to determine where the connection is failing.
Resource properties
Configuration properties are visible when you add a Cluster Type or when you click to view the cluster’s settings. The following table describes the settings available for your AKS cluster.
| Property | Requirement | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Display Name | Required | Meaningful name to display the resource throughout StrongDM; exclude special characters like quotes (") or angle brackets (< or >) |
| Server Type | Required | Select AKS |
| Hostname | Required | Hostname or IP address of the API server, such as api.aks.example.com; relay server should be able to connect to your target server or hostname |
| Port | Required | Port to connect to the API server; default port value 443 |
| Bind Interface | Read only | Automatically generated IP address value in the 127.0.0.1 to 127.255.255.254 IP address range; default is 127.0.0.1; preferred bind interface value can be modified later under Settings > Port Overrides |
| Port Override | Read only | Automatically generated with a value between 1024 to 59999 as long as that port is not used by another resource; preferred port can be modified later under Settings > Port Overrides; after specifying the port override number, you must also update the kubectl configuration, which you can learn more about in section Port Overrides |
| Secret Store | Optional | Credential store location; defaults to Strong Vault; to learn more, see Secret Store options |
| Server CA | Required | Pasted server certificate (plaintext or Base64-encoded), or imported PEM file; you can either generate the server certificate on the API server or get it in Base64 format from your existing Kubernetes configuration (kubeconfig) file |
| Client Certificate | Required | Pasted client certificate (plaintext or Base64-encoded), or imported PEM file; you can either generate the client certificate on the API server or get it in Base64 format from your existing Kubernetes configuration (kubeconfig) file |
| Client Key | Required | Pasted client key (plaintext or Base64-encoded) or imported PEM file; you can either generate the client key on the API server or get it in Base64 format from your existing Kubernetes configuration (kubeconfig) file |
| Healthcheck Namespace | Optional | If enabled for your organization, the namespace used for the resource healthcheck; defaults to default if empty; supplied credentials must have the rights to perform one of the following kubectl commands in the specified namespace: get pods, get deployments, or describe namespace |
| Authentication | Required | Authentication method to access the cluster; select either Leased Credential (default) or Identity Aliases (to use the Identity Aliases of StrongDM users to access the cluster) |
| Identity Set | Required | Displays if Authentication is set to Identity Aliases; select an Identity Set name from the list |
| Healthcheck Username | Required | If Authentication is set to Identity Aliases, the username that should be used to verify StrongDM’s connection to it username must already exist on the target cluster |
| Resource Tags | Optional | Resource tags consisting of key-value pairs <KEY>=<VALUE> (for example, env=dev) |
How to get the server CA from your kubeconfig file
- Open the CLI and type
cat ~/.kube/configto view the contents of the file. - In the file, under
- cluster, copy thecertificate-authority-datavalue. That is the server certificate in Base64 encoding.
- cluster:
certificate-authority-data: ... SERVER CERT BASE64 ...
How to get the client certificate from your kubeconfig file
- From the CLI, type
cat ~/.kube/configto view the contents of the file. - In the file, under
- name, copy theclient-certificate-datavalue. That is the client certificate in Base64 encoding.
- name: clusterUser_StrongDM_example
user:
client-certificate-data: ... CLIENT CERT BASE64...
How to get the client key from your kubeconfig file
- Open the CLI and type
cat ~/.kube/configto view the file. - In the file, under
- name, copy theclient-key-datavalue. That is the client private key in Base64 encoding.
- name: clusterUser_StrongDM_example
user:
client-key-data: ... CLIENT PRIVATE KEY BASE64...
Secret Store options
By default, server credentials are stored in StrongDM. However, these credentials can also be saved in a secrets management tool.
Non-StrongDM options appear in the Secret Store dropdown if they are created under Network > Secret Stores. When you select another Secret Store type, its unique properties display. For more details, see Configure Secret Store Integrations.