Sensitive Configuration Data for AI Services with Kubernetes Secrets

Question

Pulumi · Accepted Answer

To handle sensitive configuration data in a Kubernetes environment, Kubernetes Secrets is one of the go-to resources. A Kubernetes Secret is an object that contains a small amount of sensitive data such as a password, a token, or a key. This data can then be used by pods in your Kubernetes cluster.

Using Secrets is more secure than putting confidential data directly into a pod's specification or in a container image because they can be created independently of the pods that use them, reducing the risk of exposure during the deployment and management process.

Here's a Pulumi program in Python that demonstrates how to create a Kubernetes Secret. We'll use the `pulumi_kubernetes` Python package, which allows you to write Kubernetes resources in a Pulumi program.

```python
import pulumi
import pulumi_kubernetes as kubernetes

# Create a Kubernetes Secret to store sensitive information such as a token.
# This secret could be used by AI services or other applications that require 
# API keys or similar sensitive configuration data.
ai_service_secret = kubernetes.core.v1.Secret(
    "aiServiceSecret",
    metadata=kubernetes.meta.v1.ObjectMetaArgs(  # Metadata about the Secret, including its name
        name="ai-service-secret"  # The name of the Secret in Kubernetes
    ),
    type="Opaque",  # The type of the Secret; "Opaque" is the default and means arbitrary user-defined data
    string_data={  # Sensitive data in key-value format; values should be strings
        "api_key": "your-sensitive-api-key"  # Replace with your actual API key or token
    }
)

# Export the Secret name so that we can easily identify it in the cluster
pulumi.export("secret_name", ai_service_secret.metadata["name"])
```

In this program, we import the necessary Pulumi packages for Kubernetes resources. Then, we create a Secret named `aiServiceSecret` using `kubernetes.core.v1.Secret`. We provide the sensitive data directly within the program under the `string_data` field. For real-world scenarios, it is a best practice to inject sensitive data into Pulumi using [Pulumi's configuration system](https://www.pulumi.com/docs/intro/concepts/config/) or environment variables, instead of hardcoding them in your program.

We also set the `type` of the Secret to `Opaque`, which is a common choice for storing arbitrary key-value pairs. Finally, we export the name of the Secret so we can reference it outside the Pulumi program, perhaps for use in a Continuous Delivery pipeline.

Remember that you should avoid storing actual sensitive data in your source control. Instead, use mechanisms like Pulumi's `Config`, environment variables, or external secret management systems for injecting secrets into your Pulumi programs.