Data encryption

By default, the following data is stored encrypted in the hybrid runtime plane:

  • Key management system (KMS) data
  • Key-value map (KVM) data
  • Cache data

Data encryption does not require any special configuration on your part. However, if for some reason you want to use your own encryption keys (replacing the default ones) you can do so, as explained in this topic.

Encryption key scope

Encryption keys for KMS, KVM, and cache have scope. For example, KMS keys have organization scope. This means that the key is used to encrypt KMS data for the entire organization. The following table lists the scope for each type of key:

Encryption key Scope
KMS Organization only
KVM Organization or environment

If a KVM policy specifies apiproxy or policy (API proxy revision) scope, the organization level key is used to encrypt the data. For a general overview of how KVMs are used in Apigee Edge, see Working with key-value maps.
Cache Environment only

About the default encryption keys

By default, Apigee hybrid provides a set of Base64-encoded keys that are used to encrypt KVM, KMS, and cache data. The Apigee hybrid installer stores the keys in the runtime plane as Kubernetes Secrets, and uses them to encrypt your data with AES-128 standard encryption. The keys are under your control; the hybrid management plane is never aware of them at any time.

Changing the default encryption keys

Although not required, you can change any of the default encryption keys if you wish. To replace one or more default keys, follow these steps:

  1. Copy the following stanzas into your overrides file. This configuration lets you change the KMS and KVM encryption keys for the organization level and the KVM and cache encryption keys for the environment level: 
    defaults:
  org:
    kmsEncryptionKey: base64-encoded-key
    kvmEncryptionKey: base64-encoded-key
  env:
    kvmEncryptionKey: base64-encoded-key
    cacheEncryptionKey: base64-encoded-key
  2. Generate a new key for each key you wish to replace. Each key must be a Base64-encoded string that is exactly 16, 24, or 32 bytes long. See also How to create an encoded key.
  3. Replace the default keys with new ones. In this example, all of the default keys are replaced with keys: 
    defaults:
  org:
    kmsEncryptionKey: "JVpTb1FwI0otUHo2RUdRN3pnVyQqVGlMSEFAJXYmb1c="
    kvmEncryptionKey: "T3VkRGM1U3cpOFgtNk9fMnNZU2NaSVA3I1BtZWxkaUU="
  env:
    kvmEncryptionKey: "Q3h6M3R6OWdBeipxTURfKjQwQVdtTng2dU5mODFHcyE="
    cacheEncryptionKey: "b2NTVXdKKjBzN0NORF9XSm9tWFlYKGJ6NUhpNystJVI="
  4. Apply the overrides file to your cluster.

A note about backward compatibility

If you were to remove the encryption keys in your overrides file the first time you install Apigee hybrid, you would effectively disable encryption and values would be stored unencrypted. If at a later time you enable encryption by providing keys, exiting data remains unencrypted; however, any future data that is added will be encrypted. The system will continue working normally with the unencrypted data and the new encrypted data.

Also, note that you cannot later change the encryption keys once the runtime data is encrypted.

How to create an encoded key

A properly formatted Base-64-encoded key is required for KVM, KMS, and cache encryption. The key used for any of these purposes must be Base-64 encoded from a string that is 16, 24, or 32 bytes long, as explained in the following steps:

The following example commands generate suitable, randomly generated, 32 character, Base64-encoded strings that do not include non-printable characters: 

LC_ALL=C tr -dc A-Za-z0-9_\!\@\#\$\%\^\&\*\(\)\\-+= < /dev/urandom | head -c 32  | openssl base64
PSFvX0BPc1Z2NVklcXdxcF8xR0N4MV4temFveStITU4=

or 

LC_ALL=C tr -dc "[:print:]" < /dev/urandom | head -c 32 | openssl base64