Securing sensitive data with Vault's LDAP authentication

Question

Pulumi · Accepted Answer

To secure sensitive data using HashiCorp Vault with LDAP authentication, you'll first need to have a Vault server up and running. Once your Vault server is in place, you can enable and configure the LDAP authentication method using the Vault CLI or API. However, managing this through Pulumi allows you to codify the setup of LDAP authentication, making it reproducible and version-controllable.

In this Pulumi program, we will enable the LDAP authentication method in Vault and configure it to connect to an LDAP server. This setup will allow users within the LDAP directory to authenticate with Vault using their LDAP credentials.

Let's break down the steps we will take in the program:

1. Instantiate a Vault provider to interact with your Vault instance.
2. Enable LDAP authentication in Vault.
3. Configure LDAP with the necessary parameters such as the LDAP server URL, the user DN template etc.

Here is the program that accomplishes this:

```typescript
import * as pulumi from "@pulumi/pulumi";
import * as vault from "@pulumi/vault";

// Instantiate a Vault provider
const vaultProvider = new vault.Provider("vault-provider", {
    // Ensure you have Vault address and token set in your environment variables
    address: process.env.VAULT_ADDR, // E.g., "http://127.0.0.1:8200"
    token: process.env.VAULT_TOKEN,   // E.g., "s.1234567890abcdef"
});

// Enable the LDAP authentication method
const ldapAuth = new vault.AuthMethod("ldap", {
    type: "ldap",
    // Additional optional configuration parameters can be set here.
}, { provider: vaultProvider });

// Configure the LDAP authentication method
const ldapConfig = new vault.LdapConfig("ldap-config", {
    url: "ldap://ldap.example.com", // Replace with your LDAP server URL
    userDn: "ou=Users,dc=example,dc=com", // Base DN for user entries
    userAttr: "cn", // Attribute to use for users within the DN
    groupDn: "ou=Groups,dc=example,dc=com", // Base DN for group entries
    groupAttr: "cn", // Attribute to use for groups within the DN
    // Additional optional parameters can be set to customize your LDAP configuration,
    // such as `groupFilter`, `starttls`, `tlsMinVersion`, `certificate`, etc.
}, { provider: vaultProvider });

// Export the auth method accessor as an output
export const ldapAuthAccessor = ldapAuth.path;

```

This program should be deployed in an environment where Pulumi has access to your Vault instance. Make sure to have the Vault address and token set up in your environment variables to allow Pulumi to authenticate with Vault.

Note that in this program:

- We define two main resources: `AuthMethod` and `LdapConfig`.
- The `AuthMethod` resource enables LDAP authentication in Vault.
- The `LdapConfig` resource applies the LDAP configuration to Vault with details like the LDAP server URL, user DN template, user attribute, and group DN template.

Please replace placeholder values such as the LDAP URL (`ldap://ldap.example.com`) and Distinguished Names (`ou=Users,dc=example,dc=com` and `ou=Groups,dc=example,dc=com`) with actual values from your LDAP server's configuration.

Keep in mind that this configuration assumes that you have a running LDAP server and that the necessary firewall rules and networking requirements are met to allow Vault to communicate with LDAP.

Once you deploy this Pulumi program, you will have codified and automated the process of setting up LDAP authentication for your Vault server. This makes it easier to manage, replicate, or change the configuration in the future.