Using the Key Management Interoperability Protocol (KMIP)¶

Percona Server for MongoDB adds support for secure transfer of keys using the OASIS Key Management Interoperability Protocol (KMIP). The KMIP implementation was tested with the PyKMIP server and the HashiCorp Vault Enterprise KMIP Secrets Engine.

KMIP enables the communication between key management systems and the database server. KMIP provides the following benefits:

Streamlines encryption key management
Eliminates redundant key management processes

Starting with version 4.2.21-21, you can specify multiple KMIP servers for failover. On startup, Percona Server for MongoDB connects to the servers in the order listed and selects the one with which the connection is successful.

Starting with version 4.2.22-22, the kmipKeyIdentifier option is no longer mandatory. When left blank, the database server creates a key on the KMIP server and uses that for encryption. When you specify the identifier, the key with such an ID must exist on the key storage.

KMIP parameters¶

Command line	Configuration file	Type	Description
kmipServerName	security.kmip. serverName	string	The hostname or IP address of the KMIP server. As of version 4.2.21-21, multiple KMIP servers are supported as the comma-separated list, e.g. `kmip1.example.com,kmip2.example.com`
kmipPort	security.kmip.port	number	The port used to communicate with the KMIP server. When undefined, the default port `5696` will be used
kmipServerCAFile	security.kmip. serverCAFile	string	The path to the certificate of the root authority that issued the certificate for the KMIP server. Required only if the root certificate is not trusted by default on the machine the database server works on.
kmipClientCertificateFile	security.kmip. clientCertificateFile	string	The path to the PEM file with the KMIP client private key and the certificate chain. The database server uses this PEM file to authenticate the KMIP server
kmipKeyIdentifier	security.kmip. keyIdentifier	string	Optional starting with version 4.2.22-22. The identifier of the KMIP key. If not specified, the database server creates a key on the KMIP server and saves its identifier internally for future use. When you specify the identifier, the key with such an ID must exist on the key storage. You can only use this setting for the first time you enable encryption
kmipRotateMasterKey	security.kmip. rotateMasterKey	boolean	Controls master keys rotation. When enabled, generates the new master key version and re-encrypts the keystore. Available as of version 4.2.20-20. Requires the unique `--kmipKeyIdentifier` for every `mongod` node
kmipClientCertificatePassword	security.kmip. clientCertificatePassword	string	The password for the KMIP client private key or certificate. Use this parameter only if the KMIP client private key or certificate is encrypted. Available starting with version 4.2.21-21.

Key rotation¶

Starting with version 4.2.20-20, the support for master key rotation is added. This enables users to comply with data security regulations when using KMIP.

Configuration¶

Considerations¶

Make sure you have obtained the root certificate, and the keypair for the KMIP server and the mongod client. For testing purposes you can use the OpenSSL to issue self-signed certificates. For production use we recommend you use the valid certificates issued by the key management appliance.

To enable data-at-rest encryption in Percona Server for MongoDB using KMIP, edit the /etc/mongod.conf configuration file as follows:

security:
  enableEncryption: true
  kmip:
    serverName: <kmip_server_name>
    port: <kmip_port>
    clientCertificateFile: </path/client_certificate.pem>
    serverCAFile: </path/ca.pem>
    keyIdentifier: <key_name>

Alternatively, you can start Percona Server for MongoDB using the command line as follows:

$ mongod --enableEncryption \
  --kmipServerName <kmip_servername> \
  --kmipPort <kmip_port> \
  --kmipServerCAFile <path_to_ca_file> \
  --kmipClientCertificateFile <path_to_client_certificate> \
  --kmipKeyIdentifier <kmip_identifier>

Minor upgrade of Percona Server for MongoDB from 4.2.21-21 and earlier to version 4.2.22-22 and higher¶

With the kmipKeyIdentifier option becoming optional in version 4.2.22-22, the standard upgrade procedure doesn’t work if you are upgrading from version 4.2.21-21 and earlier.

For Percona Server for MongoDB 4.2.23 and higher, follow the standard upgrade procedure.

This section provides upgrade instructions from Percona Server for MongoDB 4.2.21-21 or lower to Percona Server for MongoDB to version 4.2.22-22 and higher.

For a single-node deployment, use the mongodump / mongorestore tools to make a backup before the update and to restore from it after binaries are updated.

For replica sets, data must be re-encrypted with the new key during the upgrade. Go through the encrypting existing data steps but perform the minor upgrade between steps 1 and 2 to replace the mongod binary.

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Last update: May 24, 2023
Created: December 8, 2022