Kubernetes

How to use Infisical to inject secrets into Kubernetes clusters.

The Infisical Secrets Operator is a Kubernetes controller that retrieves secrets from Infisical and stores them in a designated cluster. It uses an InfisicalSecret resource to specify authentication and storage methods. The operator continuously updates secrets and can also reload dependent deployments automatically.

Install Operator

The operator can be install via Helm or kubectl

Helm (recommended)

Install the latest Infisical Helm repository

helm repo add infisical-helm-charts 'https://dl.cloudsmith.io/public/infisical/helm-charts/helm/charts/' 
  
helm repo update

Install the Helm chart

To select a specific version, view the application versions here and chart versions here

helm install --generate-name infisical-helm-charts/secrets-operator 

# Example installing app version v0.2.0 and chart version 0.1.4
helm install --generate-name infisical-helm-charts/secrets-operator --version=0.1.4 --set controllerManager.manager.image.tag=v0.2.0

Install the latest Infisical Helm repository

helm repo add infisical-helm-charts 'https://dl.cloudsmith.io/public/infisical/helm-charts/helm/charts/' 
  
helm repo update

Install the Helm chart

To select a specific version, view the application versions here and chart versions here

helm install --generate-name infisical-helm-charts/secrets-operator 

# Example installing app version v0.2.0 and chart version 0.1.4
helm install --generate-name infisical-helm-charts/secrets-operator --version=0.1.4 --set controllerManager.manager.image.tag=v0.2.0

For production deployments, it is highly recommended to set the version of the Kubernetes operator manually instead of pointing to the latest version. Doing so will help you avoid accidental updates to the newest release which may introduce unintended breaking changes. View all application versions here.

The command below will install the most recent version of the Kubernetes operator. However, to set the version manually, download the manifest and set the image tag version of infisical/kubernetes-operator according to your desired version.

Once you apply the manifest, the operator will be installed in infisical-operator-system namespace.

kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Infisical/infisical/main/k8-operator/kubectl-install/install-secrets-operator.yaml

Sync Infisical Secrets to your cluster

Once you have installed the operator to your cluster, you’ll need to create a InfisicalSecret custom resource definition (CRD).

example-infisical-secret-crd.yaml

apiVersion: secrets.infisical.com/v1alpha1
kind: InfisicalSecret
metadata:
    name: infisicalsecret-sample
    labels:
        label-to-be-passed-to-managed-secret: sample-value
    annotations:
        example.com/annotation-to-be-passed-to-managed-secret: "sample-value"
spec:
    hostAPI: https://app.infisical.com/api
    resyncInterval: 10
    authentication:
        # Make sure to only have 1 authentication method defined, serviceToken/universalAuth.
        # If you have multiple authentication methods defined, it may cause issues.

        # (Deprecated) Service Token Auth
        serviceToken:
            serviceTokenSecretReference:
                secretName: service-token
                secretNamespace: default
            secretsScope:
                envSlug: <env-slug>
                secretsPath: <secrets-path>
                recursive: true

        # Universal Auth
        universalAuth:
            secretsScope:
                projectSlug: new-ob-em
                envSlug: dev # "dev", "staging", "prod", etc..
                secretsPath: "/" # Root is "/"
                recursive: true # Wether or not to use recursive mode (Fetches all secrets in an environment from a given secret path, and all folders inside the path) / defaults to false
            credentialsRef:
                secretName: universal-auth-credentials
                secretNamespace: default

        # Native Kubernetes Auth
        kubernetesAuth:
            identityId: <machine-identity-id>
            serviceAccountRef:
              name: <service-account-name>
              namespace: <service-account-namespace>

            # secretsScope is identical to the secrets scope in the universalAuth field in this sample.
            secretsScope:
                projectSlug: your-project-slug
                envSlug: prod
                secretsPath: "/path"
                recursive: true

        # AWS IAM Auth
        awsIamAuth:
            identityId: <your-machine-identity-id>

            # secretsScope is identical to the secrets scope in the universalAuth field in this sample.
            secretsScope:
                projectSlug: your-project-slug
                envSlug: prod
                secretsPath: "/path"
                recursive: true

        # Azure Auth
        azureAuth:
            identityId: <your-machine-identity-id>

            # secretsScope is identical to the secrets scope in the universalAuth field in this sample.
            secretsScope:
                projectSlug: your-project-slug
                envSlug: prod
                secretsPath: "/path"
                recursive: true

        # GCP ID Token Auth
        gcpIdTokenAuth:
            identityId: <your-machine-identity-id>

            # secretsScope is identical to the secrets scope in the universalAuth field in this sample.
            secretsScope:
                projectSlug: your-project-slug
                envSlug: prod
                secretsPath: "/path"
                recursive: true

        # GCP IAM Auth
        gcpIamAuth:
            identityId: <your-machine-identity-id>

            # secretsScope is identical to the secrets scope in the universalAuth field in this sample.
            secretsScope:
                projectSlug: your-project-slug
                envSlug: prod
                secretsPath: "/path"
                recursive: true

    managedSecretReference:
        secretName: managed-secret
        secretNamespace: default
        creationPolicy: "Orphan" ## Owner | Orphan
        # secretType: kubernetes.io/dockerconfigjson

InfisicalSecret CRD properties

hostAPI

If you are fetching secrets from a self hosted instance of Infisical set the value of hostAPI to https://your-self-hosted-instace.com/api

When hostAPI is not defined the operator fetches secrets from Infisical Cloud.

Advanced use case

If you have installed your Infisical instance within the same cluster as the Infisical operator, you can optionally access the Infisical backend’s service directly without having to route through the public internet. To achieve this, use the following address for the hostAPI field:

http://<backend-svc-name>.<namespace>.svc.cluster.local:4000/api

Make sure to replace <backend-svc-name> and <namespace> with the appropriate values for your backend service and namespace.

resyncInterval

This property defines the time in seconds between each secret re-sync from Infisical. Shorter time between re-syncs will require higher rate limits only available on paid plans. Default re-sync interval is every 1 minute.

authentication

This block defines the method that will be used to authenticate with Infisical so that secrets can be fetched

authentication.universalAuth

The universal machine identity authentication method is used to authenticate with Infisical. The client ID and client secret needs to be stored in a Kubernetes secret. This block defines the reference to the name and namespace of secret that stores these credentials.

1. Create a machine identity

   You need to create a machine identity, and give it access to the project(s) you want to interact with. You can read more about machine identities here.

2. Create Kubernetes secret containing machine identity credentials

   Once you have created your machine identity and added it to your project(s), you will need to create a Kubernetes secret containing the identity credentials. To quickly create a Kubernetes secret containing the identity credentials, you can run the command below.

   Make sure you replace <your-identity-client-id> with the identity client ID and <your-identity-client-secret> with the identity client secret.

     kubectl create secret generic universal-auth-credentials --from-literal=clientId="<your-identity-client-id>" --from-literal=clientSecret="<your-identity-client-secret>"
   

3. Add reference for the Kubernetes secret containing the identity credentials

   Once the secret is created, add the secretName and secretNamespace of the secret that was just created under authentication.universalAuth.credentialsRef field in the InfisicalSecret resource.

Make sure to also populate the secretsScope field with the project slug projectSlug, environment slug envSlug, and secrets path secretsPath that you want to fetch secrets from. Please see the example below.

Example

apiVersion: secrets.infisical.com/v1alpha1
kind: InfisicalSecret
metadata:
  name: infisicalsecret-sample-crd
spec:
  authentication:
      universalAuth:
          secretsScope:
              projectSlug: <project-slug> # <-- project slug
              envSlug: <env-slug> # "dev", "staging", "prod", etc..
              secretsPath: "<secrets-path>" # Root is "/"
          credentialsRef:
              secretName: universal-auth-credentials # <-- name of the Kubernetes secret that stores our machine identity credentials
              secretNamespace: default # <-- namespace of the Kubernetes secret that stores our machine identity credentials
  ...

authentication.kubernetesAuth

The Kubernetes machine identity authentication method is used to authenticate with Infisical. The identity ID is stored in a field in the InfisicalSecret resource. This authentication method can only be used within a Kubernetes environment.

1. Obtaining the token reviewer JWT for Infisical

   1.1. Start by creating a service account in your Kubernetes cluster that will be used by Infisical to authenticate with the Kubernetes API Server.

   infisical-service-account.yaml

   apiVersion: v1
   kind: ServiceAccount
   metadata:
     name: infisical-auth
     namespace: default
   
   

   kubectl apply -f infisical-service-account.yaml
   

   1.2. Bind the service account to the system:auth-delegator cluster role. As described here, this role allows delegated authentication and authorization checks, specifically for Infisical to access the TokenReview API. You can apply the following configuration file:

   cluster-role-binding.yaml

   apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
   kind: ClusterRoleBinding
   metadata:
     name: role-tokenreview-binding
     namespace: default
   roleRef:
     apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
     kind: ClusterRole
     name: system:auth-delegator
   subjects:
     - kind: ServiceAccount
       name: infisical-auth
       namespace: default
   

   kubectl apply -f cluster-role-binding.yaml
   

   1.3. Next, create a long-lived service account JWT token (i.e. the token reviewer JWT token) for the service account using this configuration file for a new Secret resource:

   service-account-token.yaml

   apiVersion: v1
   kind: Secret
   type: kubernetes.io/service-account-token
   metadata:
     name: infisical-auth-token
     annotations:
       kubernetes.io/service-account.name: "infisical-auth"
   

   kubectl apply -f service-account-token.yaml
   

   1.4. Link the secret in step 1.3 to the service account in step 1.1:

   kubectl patch serviceaccount infisical-auth -p '{"secrets": [{"name": "infisical-auth-token"}]}' -n default
   

   1.5. Finally, retrieve the token reviewer JWT token from the secret.

   kubectl get secret infisical-auth-token -n default -o=jsonpath='{.data.token}' | base64 --decode
   

   Keep this JWT token handy as you will need it for the Token Reviewer JWT field when configuring the Kubernetes Auth authentication method for the identity in step 2.

2. Creating an identity

   To create an identity, head to your Organization Settings > Access Control > Machine Identities and press Create identity.

   

   When creating an identity, you specify an organization level role for it to assume; you can configure roles in Organization Settings > Access Control > Organization Roles.

   

   Now input a few details for your new identity. Here’s some guidance for each field:

   • Name (required): A friendly name for the identity.
   • Role (required): A role from the Organization Roles tab for the identity to assume. The organization role assigned will determine what organization level resources this identity can have access to.

   Once you’ve created an identity, you’ll be prompted to configure the authentication method for it. Here, select Kubernetes Auth.

   To learn more about each field of the Kubernetes native authentication method, see step 2 of guide.

   

3. Adding an identity to a project

   To allow the operator to use the given identity to access secrets, you will need to add the identity to project(s) that you would like to grant it access to.

   To do this, head over to the project you want to add the identity to and go to Project Settings > Access Control > Machine Identities and press Add identity.

   Next, select the identity you want to add to the project and the project level role you want to allow it to assume. The project role assigned will determine what project level resources this identity can have access to.

   

   

4. Add your identity ID & service account to your InfisicalSecret resource

   Once you have created your machine identity and added it to your project(s), you will need to add the identity ID to your InfisicalSecret resource. In the authentication.kubernetesAuth.identityId field, add the identity ID of the machine identity you created. See the example below for more details.

5. Add your Kubernetes service account token to the InfisicalSecret resource

   Add the service account details from the previous steps under authentication.kubernetesAuth.serviceAccountRef. Here you will need to enter the name and namespace of the service account. The example below shows a complete InfisicalSecret resource with all required fields defined.

Make sure to also populate the secretsScope field with the project slug projectSlug, environment slug envSlug, and secrets path secretsPath that you want to fetch secrets from. Please see the example below.

Example

example-kubernetes-auth.yaml

apiVersion: secrets.infisical.com/v1alpha1
kind: InfisicalSecret
metadata:
  name: infisicalsecret-sample-crd
spec:
  authentication:
      kubernetesAuth:
          identityId: <machine-identity-id>
          serviceAccountRef:
            name: <service-account-name>
            namespace: <service-account-namespace>

          # secretsScope is identical to the secrets scope in the universalAuth field in this sample.
          secretsScope:
              projectSlug: your-project-slug
              envSlug: prod
              secretsPath: "/path"
              recursive: true
  ...

authentication.awsIamAuth

The AWS IAM machine identity authentication method is used to authenticate with Infisical. The identity ID is stored in a field in the InfisicalSecret resource. This authentication method can only be used within an AWS environment like an EC2 or a Lambda function.

1. Create a machine identity

   You need to create a machine identity, and give it access to the project(s) you want to interact with. You can read more about AWS machine identities here.

2. Add your identity ID to your InfisicalSecret resource

   Once you have created your machine identity and added it to your project(s), you will need to add the identity ID to your InfisicalSecret resource. In the authentication.awsIamAuth.identityId field, add the identity ID of the machine identity you created. See the example below for more details.

Make sure to also populate the secretsScope field with the project slug projectSlug, environment slug envSlug, and secrets path secretsPath that you want to fetch secrets from. Please see the example below.

Example

example-aws-iam-auth.yaml

apiVersion: secrets.infisical.com/v1alpha1
kind: InfisicalSecret
metadata:
  name: infisicalsecret-sample-crd
spec:
  authentication:
      awsIamAuth:
          identityId: <your-machine-identity-id>

          # secretsScope is identical to the secrets scope in the universalAuth field in this sample.
          secretsScope:
              projectSlug: your-project-slug
              envSlug: prod
              secretsPath: "/path"
              recursive: true
  ...

authentication.azureAuth

The Azure machine identity authentication method is used to authenticate with Infisical. The identity ID is stored in a field in the InfisicalSecret resource. This authentication method can only be used within an Azure environment.

1. Create a machine identity

   You need to create a machine identity, and give it access to the project(s) you want to interact with. You can read more about Azure machine identities here.

2. Add your identity ID to your InfisicalSecret resource

   Once you have created your machine identity and added it to your project(s), you will need to add the identity ID to your InfisicalSecret resource. In the authentication.azureAuth.identityId field, add the identity ID of the machine identity you created. See the example below for more details.

Make sure to also populate the secretsScope field with the project slug projectSlug, environment slug envSlug, and secrets path secretsPath that you want to fetch secrets from. Please see the example below.

Example

example-azure-auth.yaml

apiVersion: secrets.infisical.com/v1alpha1
kind: InfisicalSecret
metadata:
  name: infisicalsecret-sample-crd
spec:
  authentication:
      azureAuth:
          identityId: <your-machine-identity-id>

          # secretsScope is identical to the secrets scope in the universalAuth field in this sample.
          secretsScope:
              projectSlug: your-project-slug
              envSlug: prod
              secretsPath: "/path"
              recursive: true
  ...

authentication.gcpIdTokenAuth

The GCP ID Token machine identity authentication method is used to authenticate with Infisical. The identity ID is stored in a field in the InfisicalSecret resource. This authentication method can only be used within GCP environments.

1. Create a machine identity

   You need to create a machine identity, and give it access to the project(s) you want to interact with. You can read more about GCP machine identities here.

2. Add your identity ID to your InfisicalSecret resource

   Once you have created your machine identity and added it to your project(s), you will need to add the identity ID to your InfisicalSecret resource. In the authentication.gcpIdTokenAuth.identityId field, add the identity ID of the machine identity you created. See the example below for more details.

Make sure to also populate the secretsScope field with the project slug projectSlug, environment slug envSlug, and secrets path secretsPath that you want to fetch secrets from. Please see the example below.

Example

example-gcp-id-token-auth.yaml

apiVersion: secrets.infisical.com/v1alpha1
kind: InfisicalSecret
metadata:
  name: infisicalsecret-sample-crd
spec:
  authentication:
      gcpIdTokenAuth:
          identityId: <your-machine-identity-id>

          # secretsScope is identical to the secrets scope in the universalAuth field in this sample.
          secretsScope:
              projectSlug: your-project-slug
              envSlug: prod
              secretsPath: "/path"
              recursive: true
  ...

authentication.gcpIamAuth

The GCP IAM machine identity authentication method is used to authenticate with Infisical. The identity ID is stored in a field in the InfisicalSecret resource. This authentication method can only be used both within and outside GCP environments.

1. Create a machine identity

   You need to create a machine identity, and give it access to the project(s) you want to interact with. You can read more about GCP machine identities here.

2. Add your identity ID and service account token path to your InfisicalSecret resource

   Once you have created your machine identity and added it to your project(s), you will need to add the identity ID to your InfisicalSecret resource. In the authentication.gcpIamAuth.identityId field, add the identity ID of the machine identity you created. You’ll also need to add the service account key file path to your InfisicalSecret resource. In the authentication.gcpIamAuth.serviceAccountKeyFilePath field, add the path to your service account key file path. Please see the example below for more details.

Make sure to also populate the secretsScope field with the project slug projectSlug, environment slug envSlug, and secrets path secretsPath that you want to fetch secrets from. Please see the example below.

Example

example-gcp-id-token-auth.yaml

apiVersion: secrets.infisical.com/v1alpha1
kind: InfisicalSecret
metadata:
  name: infisicalsecret-sample-crd
spec:
  authentication:
      gcpIamAuth:
          identityId: <your-machine-identity-id>
          serviceAccountKeyFilePath: "/path/to-service-account-key-file-path.json"

          # secretsScope is identical to the secrets scope in the universalAuth field in this sample.
          secretsScope:
              projectSlug: your-project-slug
              envSlug: prod
              secretsPath: "/path"
              recursive: true
  ...

authentication.serviceToken

Service tokens are being deprecated in favor of machine identities.

They will be removed in the future in accordance with the deprecation notice and timeline stated here.

The service token required to authenticate with Infisical needs to be stored in a Kubernetes secret. This block defines the reference to the name and namespace of secret that stores this service token. Follow the instructions below to create and store the service token in a Kubernetes secrets and reference it in your CRD.

1. Generate service token

You can generate a service token for an Infisical project by heading over to the Infisical dashboard then to Project Settings.

2. Create Kubernetes secret containing service token

Once you have generated the service token, you will need to create a Kubernetes secret containing the service token you generated. To quickly create a Kubernetes secret containing the generated service token, you can run the command below. Make sure you replace <your-service-token-here> with your service token.

kubectl create secret generic service-token --from-literal=infisicalToken="<your-service-token-here>"

3. Add reference for the Kubernetes secret containing service token

Once the secret is created, add the name and namespace of the secret that was just created under authentication.serviceToken.serviceTokenSecretReference field in the InfisicalSecret resource.

Make sure to also populate the secretsScope field with the, environment slug envSlug, and secrets path secretsPath that you want to fetch secrets from. Please see the example below.

Example

apiVersion: secrets.infisical.com/v1alpha1
kind: InfisicalSecret
metadata:
  name: infisicalsecret-sample-crd
spec:
  authentication:
    serviceToken:
      serviceTokenSecretReference:
        secretName: service-token # <-- name of the Kubernetes secret that stores our service token
        secretNamespace: option # <-- namespace of the Kubernetes secret that stores our service token
      secretsScope:
        envSlug: <env-slug> # "dev", "staging", "prod", etc..
        secretsPath: <secrets-path> # Root is "/"
  ...

managedSecretReference

The managedSecretReference field is used to define the target location for storing secrets retrieved from an Infisical project. This field requires specifying both the name and namespace of the Kubernetes secret that will hold these secrets. The Infisical operator will automatically create the Kubernetes secret with the specified name/namespace and keep it continuously updated.

Note: The managed secret be should be created in the same namespace as the deployment that will use it.

managedSecretReference.secretName

The name of the managed Kubernetes secret to be created

managedSecretReference.secretNamespace

The namespace of the managed Kubernetes secret to be created.

managedSecretReference.secretType

Override the default Opaque type for managed secrets with this field. Useful for creating kubernetes.io/dockerconfigjson secrets.

managedSecretReference.creationPolicy

Creation polices allow you to control whether or not owner references should be added to the managed Kubernetes secret that is generated by the Infisical operator. This is useful for tools such as ArgoCD, where every resource requires an owner reference; otherwise, it will be pruned automatically.

Available options

• Orphan (default)
• Owner

When creation policy is set to Owner, the InfisicalSecret CRD must be in the same namespace as where the managed kubernetes secret.

Propagating labels & annotations

The operator will transfer all labels & annotations present on the InfisicalSecret CRD to the managed Kubernetes secret to be created. Thus, if a specific label is required on the resulting secret, it can be applied as demonstrated in the following example:

Example propagation

apiVersion: secrets.infisical.com/v1alpha1
kind: InfisicalSecret
metadata:
  name: infisicalsecret-sample
  labels:
    label-to-be-passed-to-managed-secret: sample-value
  annotations:
    example.com/annotation-to-be-passed-to-managed-secret: "sample-value"
spec:
  ..
  authentication:
    ...
  managedSecretReference:
    ...

This would result in the following managed secret to be created:

apiVersion: v1
data: ...
kind: Secret
metadata:
  annotations:
    example.com/annotation-to-be-passed-to-managed-secret: sample-value
    secrets.infisical.com/version: W/"3f1-ZyOSsrCLGSkAhhCkY2USPu2ivRw"
  labels:
    label-to-be-passed-to-managed-secret: sample-value
  name: managed-token
  namespace: default
type: Opaque

Apply the Infisical CRD to your cluster

Once you have configured the Infisical CRD with the required fields, you can apply it to your cluster. After applying, you should notice that the managed secret has been created in the desired namespace your specified.

kubectl apply -f example-infisical-secret-crd.yaml

Verify managed secret creation

To verify that the operator has successfully created the managed secret, you can check the secrets in the namespace that was specified.

# Verify managed secret is created
kubectl get secrets -n <namespace of managed secret>

The Infisical secrets will be synced and stored into the managed secret every 1 minutes.

Using managed secret in your deployment

Incorporating the managed secret created by the operator into your deployment can be achieved through several methods. Here, we will highlight three of the most common ways to utilize it. Learn more about Kubernetes secrets here

envFrom

This will take all the secrets from your managed secret and expose them to your container

  envFrom:
    - secretRef:
        name: managed-secret # managed secret name
  ```

  Example usage in a deployment
  ```yaml
  apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: nginx-deployment
  labels:
    app: nginx
spec:
  replicas: 1
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: nginx
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: nginx
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: nginx
        image: nginx:1.14.2
        envFrom:
        - secretRef:
            name: managed-secret # <- name of managed secret
        ports:
        - containerPort: 80

env

This will allow you to select individual secrets by key name from your managed secret and expose them to your container

env:
  - name: SECRET_NAME # The environment variable's name which is made available in the container
    valueFrom:
      secretKeyRef:
        name: managed-secret # managed secret name
        key: SOME_SECRET_KEY # The name of the key which  exists in the managed secret

Example usage in a deployment

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
name: nginx-deployment
labels:
app: nginx
spec:
replicas: 1
selector:
matchLabels:
app: nginx
template:
metadata:
labels:
app: nginx
spec:
containers: - name: nginx
image: nginx:1.14.2
env: - name: STRIPE_API_SECRET
valueFrom:
secretKeyRef:
name: managed-secret # <- name of managed secret
key: STRIPE_API_SECRET
ports: - containerPort: 80

volumes

This will allow you to create a volume on your container which comprises of files holding the secrets in your managed kubernetes secret

volumes:
  - name: secrets-volume-name # The name of the volume under which secrets will be stored
    secret:
      secretName: managed-secret # managed secret name

You can then mount this volume to the container’s filesystem so that your deployment can access the files containing the managed secrets

volumeMounts:
  - name: secrets-volume-name
    mountPath: /etc/secrets
    readOnly: true

Example usage in a deployment

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: nginx-deployment
  labels:
    app: nginx
spec:
  replicas: 1
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: nginx
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: nginx
    spec:
      containers:
        - name: nginx
          image: nginx:1.14.2
          volumeMounts:
            - name: secrets-volume-name
              mountPath: /etc/secrets
              readOnly: true
          ports:
            - containerPort: 80
      volumes:
        - name: secrets-volume-name
          secret:
            secretName: managed-secret # <- managed secrets

Auto redeployment

Deployments using managed secrets don’t reload automatically on updates, so they may use outdated secrets unless manually redeployed. To address this, we added functionality to automatically redeploy your deployment when its managed secret updates.

Enabling auto redeploy

To enable auto redeployment you simply have to add the following annotation to the deployment that consumes a managed secret

secrets.infisical.com/auto-reload: "true"

Deployment example with auto redeploy enabled

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: nginx-deployment
  labels:
    app: nginx
  annotations: 
    secrets.infisical.com/auto-reload: "true" # <- redeployment annotation
spec:
  replicas: 1
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: nginx
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: nginx
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: nginx
        image: nginx:1.14.2
        envFrom:
        - secretRef:
            name: managed-secret
        ports:
        - containerPort: 80

How it works

When a secret change occurs, the operator will check to see which deployments are using the operator-managed Kubernetes secret that received the update. Then, for each deployment that has this annotation present, a rolling update will be triggered.

Global configuration

To configure global settings that will apply to all instances of InfisicalSecret, you can define these configurations in a Kubernetes ConfigMap. For example, you can configure all InfisicalSecret instances to fetch secrets from a single backend API without specifying the hostAPI parameter for each instance.

Available global properties

Property	Description	Default value
hostAPI	If hostAPI in InfisicalSecret instance is left empty, this value will be used	https://app.infisical.com/api

Applying global configurations

All global configurations must reside in a Kubernetes ConfigMap named infisical-config in the namespace infisical-operator-system. To apply global configuration to the operator, copy the following yaml into infisical-config.yaml file.

infisical-config.yaml

apiVersion: v1
kind: Namespace
metadata:
  name: infisical-operator-system
---
apiVersion: v1
kind: ConfigMap
metadata:
  name: infisical-config
  namespace: infisical-operator-system
data:
  hostAPI: https://example.com/api # <-- global hostAPI

Then apply this change via kubectl by running the following

kubectl apply -f infisical-config.yaml

Troubleshoot operator

If the operator is unable to fetch secrets from the API, it will not affect the managed Kubernetes secret. It will continue attempting to reconnect to the API indefinitely. The InfisicalSecret resource uses the status.conditions field to report its current state and any errors encountered.

$ kubectl get infisicalSecrets
NAME                     AGE
infisicalsecret-sample   12s

$ kubectl describe infisicalSecret infisicalsecret-sample
...
Spec:
...
Status:
  Conditions:
    Last Transition Time:  2022-12-18T04:29:09Z
    Message:               Infisical controller has located the Infisical token in provided Kubernetes secret
    Reason:                OK
    Status:                True
    Type:                  secrets.infisical.com/LoadedInfisicalToken
    Last Transition Time:  2022-12-18T04:29:10Z
    Message:               Failed to update secret because: 400 Bad Request
    Reason:                Error
    Status:                False
    Type:                  secrets.infisical.com/ReadyToSyncSecrets
Events:                    <none>

Uninstall Operator

The managed secret created by the operator will not be deleted when the operator is uninstalled.

Helm

Install Infisical Helm repository

helm uninstall <release name>

Install Infisical Helm repository

helm uninstall <release name>

kubectl delete -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Infisical/infisical/main/k8-operator/kubectl-install/install-secrets-operator.yaml

Useful Articles

• Managing secrets in OpenShift with Infisical

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