Openshift or PKS – Using NSX-T API Certificate – Principal Identity

Normally for my lab or POC, I will use NSX-T admin and password for integration. However, in a production environment, customer might not accept that and therefore you might need to result to using certificate for API access. In this blog post, I will show you how to create the certificate and key to be used for Openshift Integration.

 

Step 1: Generate and Register the Certificate and Key

Provided below is the create_certificate.sh script that generates a certificate and private key, and then uploads the certificate to the NSX Manager. Complete the following steps to run this script:

1. Log in to a Linux VM in your Openshift environment. For example, I use an ubuntu 18 jumphost.
2. To create an empty file for the first script, run nano create_certificate.sh.
3. Copy the following script contents into create_certificate.sh, updating the values for the first two lines to match your environment:
   • NSX_MANAGER_IP: IP address of the NSX Manager host.
   • NSX_MANAGER_USERNAME: Username for NSX Manager.

#!/bin/bash
#create_certificate.sh

NSX_MANAGER="NSX_MANAGER_IP"
NSX_USER="NSX_MANAGER_USERNAME"

PI_NAME="ocp-nsx-t-superuser"
NSX_SUPERUSER_CERT_FILE="ocp-nsx-t-superuser.crt"
NSX_SUPERUSER_KEY_FILE="ocp-nsx-t-superuser.key"

stty -echo
printf "Password: "
read NSX_PASSWORD
stty echo

openssl req \
  -newkey rsa:2048 \
  -x509 \
  -nodes \
  -keyout "$NSX_SUPERUSER_KEY_FILE" \
  -new \
  -out "$NSX_SUPERUSER_CERT_FILE" \
  -subj /CN=ocp-nsx-t-superuser \
  -extensions client_server_ssl \
  -config <(
    cat /etc/ssl/openssl.cnf \
    <(printf '[client_server_ssl]\nextendedKeyUsage = clientAuth\n')
  ) \
  -sha256 \
  -days 730

cert_request=$(cat <<END
  {
    "display_name": "$PI_NAME",
    "pem_encoded": "$(awk '{printf "%s\\n", $0}' $NSX_SUPERUSER_CERT_FILE)"
  }
END
)

curl -k -X POST \
    "https://${NSX_MANAGER}/api/v1/trust-management/certificates?action=import" \
    -u "$NSX_USER:$NSX_PASSWORD" \
    -H 'content-type: application/json' \
    -d "$cert_request"

• Save the script and run bash create_certificate.sh.
• When prompted, enter the NSX_MANAGER_PASSWORD for the NSX user you specified in the script.
• Complete the following steps to verify the results of the script:
  • The certificate, ocp-nsx-t-superuser.crt, and private key, ocp-nsx-t-superuser.key, are generated in the directory where you ran the script.
  • The certificate is uploaded to the NSX Manager and the CERTIFICATE_ID value is returned to the console. You need this ID for the second script.
  • 

 

Step 2: Create and Register the Principal Identity

Provided below is the create_pi.sh script that creates the principal identity and registers it with the NSX Manager. This script requires the CERTIFICATE_ID returned from the create_certificate.sh script.

Note: Perform these steps on the same Linux VM where you ran the create_certificate.sh script.

1. To create an empty file for the second script, run nano create_pi.sh.
2. Copy the following script contents into create_pi.sh, updating the values for the first three lines to match your environment:
   • NSX_MANAGER_IP: IP address of the NSX Manager host.
   • NSX_MANAGER_USERNAME: Username for NSX Manager.
   • CERTIFICATE_ID: Response from the create_certificate.sh script.

     #!/bin/bash
     #create_pi.sh

NSX_MANAGER=“NSX_MANAGER_IP” NSX_USER=“NSX_MANAGER_USERNAME” CERTIFICATE_ID=‘CERTIFICATE_ID’

PI_NAME=“ocp-nsx-t-superuser” NSX_SUPERUSER_CERT_FILE=“ocp-nsx-t-superuser.crt” NSX_SUPERUSER_KEY_FILE=“ocp-nsx-t-superuser.key” NODE_ID=$(cat /proc/sys/kernel/random/uuid)

stty -echo printf “Password: “ read NSX_PASSWORD stty echo

pi_request=$(cat <<END { “display_name”: “$PI_NAME”, “name”: “$PI_NAME”, “permission_group”: “superusers”, “certificate_id”: “$CERTIFICATE_ID”, “node_id”: “$NODE_ID” } END )

curl -k -X POST
“https://${NSX_MANAGER}/api/v1/trust-management/principal-identities”
-u “$NSX_USER:$NSX_PASSWORD”
-H ‘content-type: application/json’
-d “$pi_request”

curl -k -X GET
“https://${NSX_MANAGER}/api/v1/trust-management/principal-identities”
–cert $(pwd)/“$NSX_SUPERUSER_CERT_FILE”
–key $(pwd)/“$NSX_SUPERUSER_KEY_FILE”

1. Save the script and run bash create_pi.sh.
2. When prompted, enter the NSX_MANAGER_PASSWORD for the NSX user you specified in the script.[
   

]2 5.  In your folder, you should have two files. ocp-nsx-t-superuser.crt and ocp-nsx-t-superuser.key.[

]3 6. Copy the two files to master and nodes using SCP

scp ocp-nsx-t-superuser.crt ocp-nsx-t-superuser.key root@10.11.1.10:/root/

scp ocp-nsx-t-superuser.crt ocp-nsx-t-superuser.key root@10.11.1.11:/root/

scp ocp-nsx-t-superuser.crt ocp-nsx-t-superuser.key root@10.11.1.12:/root/

1. At the NSX-T Manager, you can view the principal identities.

   [

]4 8. Back to your master node, you can now amend the ansible host file.

> nsx\_api\_cert=’/root/ocp-nsx-t-superuser.crt’ nsx\_api\_private_key=’/root/ocp-nsx-t-superuser.key’
> 
> _**be aware when you copy and paste the character ‘_

[<img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-1100" src="http://blog.acepod.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Screen-Shot-2019-02-19-at-8.17.45-PM-1024x513.png" alt="Screen Shot 2019-02-19 at 8.17.45 PM" width="665" height="333" />][5]</li> </ol> 

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References:

<https://docs.pivotal.io/runtimes/pks/1-3/generate-nsx-pi-cert.html>

<https://github.com/openshift/openshift-ansible/blob/release-3.11/roles/nsx/README.md>