SSL/SASL Authentication for Kafka Loader

TigerGraph’s Kafka loader supports authentication and encryption using SSL and SASL protocols. This page details how to set up the following authentication and encryption protocol between the server (the external Kafka cluster) and the client (your TigerGraph instance).

  • Set up one-way SSL

  • Set up two-way SSL

  • Set up SASL

  • Set up SSL and SASL

Set up one-way SSL

You can set up SSL to only have the client (TigerGraph) verify the identity of the server (your external Kafka cluster or broker).

Before you begin

The following prerequisites should be met on the server side:

  • Ensure you have generated a Certificate Authority (CA) on the server.

  • Ensure you have generated a certificate and private key with the server’s hostname as the alias on the server. The certificate has been signed by the CA.

  • Ensure the IP address and the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the server is listed in the /etc/hosts file on the server.

You will need the following files in order to configure SSL on TigerGraph.

  • The truststore file from the broker

  • The broker’s Certificate Authority

Procedure

  1. Copy the following files from the server side to all machines in your TigerGraph cluster at the same absolute path:

    • The truststore file from the broker

      • For example, server.truststore.jks

    • The certificate for the broker’s CA

    After copying the files, change the owner of the files to the TigerGraph Linux user:

    $ chown -R tigergraph:tigergraph <file_path>

  2. Create the Kafka data source and specify SSL configurations in the datasource configuration JSON file. For example:

    {
   "broker": "kafka-0.tigergraph.com:9092", (1)
   "kafka_config":{
       "security.protocol": "SSL",
       "ssl.endpoint.identification.algorithm": "",
       "ssl.ca.location":"/home/tigergraph/SSL_one_way/ca-root.crt",
       "ssl.truststore.location":"/home/tigergraph/SSL_one_way/server.truststore.jks", (2)
       "ssl.truststore.password":"tiger123"
   }
}
    1 The hostname and port of the broker.
    2 ssl.ca.location and ssl.truststore.location should match the paths where you copied the certificate authority and the truststore file.

Once you have defined the data source with the correct SSL configuration, you have configured one-way SSL. When you run loading jobs from this data source, SSL secures data in transit and the client verifies the identity of the server.

Set up two-way SSL

You can set up two-way SSL between TigerGraph and your external Kafka cluster. Two-way authentication means the client authenticates the server and the server also authenticates the client.

Before you begin

  • Ensure you have enabled SSL authentication for your Kafka cluster. You only need to follow the instructions in Confluent’s documentation to configure brokers. The steps for configuring the client are described on this page.

    • For optional settings, ssl.endpoint.identification.algorithm should be left empty.

  • Ensure you have created a certificate for the client, and signed it with the broker’s CA.

  • Ensure the IP address and the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of both the server and the client are in the /etc/hosts file of the server.

Procedure

  1. Copy the following files from the broker to every machine in your TigerGraph cluster at the same absolute path:

    • The certificate for the broker’s CA

    • The client’s certificate signed by the broker’s CA

    • The client’s key

    • The broker’s truststore file

    • The broker’s keystore file

    After copying the files, change the owner of the files to the TigerGraph Linux user:

    $ chown -R tigergraph:tigergraph <file_path>

  2. Create the Kafka data source and specify SSL configurations in the datasource configuration JSON file. The location of the CA, the truststore and the keystore files should match the paths where you copied the files. For example:

    {
   "broker": "kafka-0.tigergraph.com:9092",
   "kafka_config":{
       "security.protocol": "SSL",
       "ssl.endpoint.identification.algorithm": "",
       "ssl.ca.location":"/home/tigergraph/SSL_two_way/ca-root.crt",
       "ssl.certificate.location":"/home/tigergraph/SSL_two_way/tigergraph_client.crt",
       "ssl.key.location":"/home/tigergraph/SSL_two_way/tigergraph_client.key",
       "ssl.key.password":"tiger123",
       "ssl.keystore.location":"/home/tigergraph/SSL_two_way/server.keystore.jks",
       "ssl.keystore.password":"tiger123",
       "ssl.truststore.location":"/home/tigergraph/SSL_two_way/server.truststore.jks",
       "ssl.truststore.password":"tiger123"
   }
}

Once you have defined the data source with the correct SSL configuration, you have configured two-way SSL. When you run loading jobs from this data source, SSL secures data in transit and both the server and the client authenticate each other.

Set up SASL with GSSAPI

Before you begin

On broker

  • Ensure you have configured SASL with GSSAPI on the broker.

  • Ensure the IP address and the hostname of the broker is in the /etc/hosts file.

On client

  • Make sure the following dependencies are installed on the client (TigerGraph) server.

    • On Centos:

      yum install krb5-workstation
yum install cyrus-sasl-gssapi

    • On Ubuntu/Debian

      apt install krb5-user
apt install libsasl2-modules-gssapi-mit
apt install libsasl2-modules-gssapi-heimdal (1)
      1 You only need to install libsasl2-modules-gssapi-heimdal if you are on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS

Procedure

  1. Copy the following files from the server to all machines in your TigerGraph cluster at the same absolute path.

    • The server’s producer keytab.

    After copying the files, change the owner of the files to the TigerGraph Linux user:

    $ chown -R tigergraph:tigergraph <file_path>

  2. Define the data source and provide SASL configurations in the data source configuration file. For example:

    {
   "broker": "kafka-0.tigergraph.com:9092",
   "kafka_config":{
       "security.protocol": "SASL_PLAINTEXT",
       "sasl.mechanism": "GSSAPI",
       "sasl.kerberos.service.name":"kafka",
       "sasl.kerberos.principal": "kafka-producer@TIGERGRAPH.COM", (1)
       "sasl.kerberos.keytab": "/home/tigergraph/kafka_ssl/kafka-producer.keytab", (2)
       "sasl.jaas.config": "com.sun.security.auth.module.Krb5LoginModule required  debug=true useKeyTab=true  storeKey=true  keyTab=\"/home/tigergraph/kafka_ssl/kafka-producer.keytab\"  principal=\"kafka-producer@TIGERGRAPH.COM\";"
   }
}
    1 sasl.kerberos.principal needs to match the principal value in the broker’s JAAS configuration file.
    2 sasl.kerberos.keytab needs to match the paths where you copied the producer’s keytab.

Once you have defined the data source with the correct SASL configuration, you have configured SASL with GSSAPI between TigerGraph and your Kafka cluster for Kafka loading.

When you run loading jobs from this data source, the Kafka cluster will authenticate the identity of TigerGraph server. However, the data in transit remains unencrypted.

Set up SSL and SASL

You can set up SASL authentication protocol over an SSL-encrypted communication channel.

Before you begin

  • Follow Confluent documentation to configure SASL with GSSAPI on the broker, and specify security.inter.broker.protocol=SASL_SSL to be SASL_SSL. This guide focuses on configuring the client (TigerGraph server).

Procedure

  1. Copy the following files from the broker to the client.

    • The broker’s CA

    • The client’s certificate signed by the broker’s CA

    • The client’s key

    • The broker’s truststore

    • The broker’s keystore

    • The Kafka producer’s keytab

    After copying the files, change the owner of the files to the TigerGraph Linux user:

    $ chown -R tigergraph:tigergraph <file_path>

  2. On the client server, create a JAAS configuration file kafka_client_jaas.conf. In the configuration file, configure the following values:

    • Set com.sun.security.auth.module.Krb5LoginModule to required.

    • Set useKeyTab to true.

    • Set storeKey to true.

    • Set keyTab to the path where copied the producer keytab file.

    • Set principal to the producer principal.

      KafkaClient {
    com.sun.security.auth.module.Krb5LoginModule required
    useKeyTab=true
    storeKey=true
    keyTab="/home/tigergraph/kafka_ssl/kafka-producer.keytab"
    principal="kafka-producer@TIGERGRAPH.COM";
};

    Add following line into ~/.bashrc to point the auth config filepath to the JAAS configuration file you just created.

    export KAFKA_OPTS="-Djava.security.auth.login.config=/path/to/kafka_client_jaas.conf"

  3. Define the Kafka data source with the following configuration:

    {
   "broker": "kafka-0.tigergraph.com:9092",
   "kafka_config":{
       "security.protocol": "SASL_SSL",
       "sasl.mechanism": "GSSAPI",
       "sasl.kerberos.service.name":"kafka",
       "ssl.endpoint.identification.algorithm": "",
       "ssl.ca.location": <path_to_ca>,
       "ssl.certificate.location":<path_to_client_certificate>,
       "ssl.key.location":<path_to_client_key>,
       "ssl.key.password": <password_for_key>,
       "ssl.keystore.location":<path_to_server_keystore>,
       "ssl.keystore.password":<keystore_password>,
       "ssl.truststore.location":<path_to_server_trsutstore>,
       "ssl.truststore.password":<truststore_password>,
       "sasl.kerberos.principal": <producer_principal_name>,
       "sasl.kerberos.keytab": <path_to_pro>,
       "sasl.jaas.config": "com.sun.security.auth.module.Krb5LoginModule required  debug=true useKeyTab=true  storeKey=true  keyTab=\"/home/tigergraph/kafka_ssl/kafka-producer.keytab\"  principal=\"kafka-producer@TIGERGRAPH.COM\";" (1)
   }
}
    1 sasl.jaas.config shares the same content as the JAAS configuration file on the client.

Once you have defined the data source with the correct SASL and SSL configuration, you have configured SASL with GSSAPI between TigerGraph and your Kafka cluster for Kafka loading. Communication between TigerGraph and your external Kafka cluster uses SASL authentication protocol over SSL-encrypted communication channel.