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Use x.509 Certificate for Membership Authentication

Use x.509 Certificate for Membership Authentication¶

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Member x.509 Certificate
Configure Replica Set/Sharded Cluster
Upgrade from Keyfile Authentication to x.509 Authentication

New in version 2.6.

MongoDB supports x.509 certificate authentication for use with a secure TLS/SSL connection. Sharded cluster members and replica set members can use x.509 certificates to verify their membership to the cluster or the replica set instead of using keyfiles. The membership authentication is an internal process.

For client authentication with x.509, see Use x.509 Certificates to Authenticate Clients.

Important

A full description of TLS/SSL, PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) certificates, in particular x.509 certificates, and Certificate Authority is beyond the scope of this document. This tutorial assumes prior knowledge of TLS/SSL as well as access to valid x.509 certificates.

Member x.509 Certificate¶

The member certificate, used for internal authentication to verify membership to the sharded cluster or a replica set, must have the following properties:

A single Certificate Authority (CA) must issue all the x.509 certificates for the members of a sharded cluster or a replica set.
The Distinguished Name (DN), found in the member certificate’s subject, must specify a non-empty value for at least one of the following attributes: Organization (O), the Organizational Unit (OU) or the Domain Component (DC).
The Organization attributes (O’s), the Organizational Unit attributes (OU’s), and the Domain Components (DC’s) must match those from the certificates for the other cluster members. To match, the certificate must match all specifications of these attributes, or even the non-specification of these attributes. The order of the attributes does not matter.

In the following example, the two DN’s contain matching specifications for O, OU as well as the non-specification of the DC attribute.
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```
CN=host1,OU=Dept1,O=MongoDB,ST=NY,C=US
C=US, ST=CA, O=MongoDB, OU=Dept1, CN=host2
```
However, the following two DN’s contain a mismatch for the OU attribute since one contains two OU specifications and the other, only one specification.
copy
```
CN=host1,OU=Dept1,OU=Sales,O=MongoDB
CN=host2,OU=Dept1,O=MongoDB
```
Either the Common Name (CN) or one of the Subject Alternative Name (SAN) entries must match the hostname of the server, used by the other members of the cluster.

For example, the certificates for a cluster could have the following subjects:
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```
subject= CN=<myhostname1>,OU=Dept1,O=MongoDB,ST=NY,C=US
subject= CN=<myhostname2>,OU=Dept1,O=MongoDB,ST=NY,C=US
subject= CN=<myhostname3>,OU=Dept1,O=MongoDB,ST=NY,C=US
```

You can use an x509 certificate that does not have Extended Key Usage (EKU) attributes set. If you use EKU attribute in the PEMKeyFile certificate, then specify the clientAuth and/or serverAuth attributes (i.e. “TLS Web Client Authentication” and “TLS Web Server Authentication,”) as needed. The certificate that you specify for the PEMKeyFile option requires the serverAuth attribute, and the certificate you specify to clusterFile requires the clientAuth attribute. If you omit ClusterFile, mongod will use the certificate specified to PEMKeyFile for member authentication.

Configure Replica Set/Sharded Cluster¶

Use Command-line Options¶

To specify the x.509 certificate for internal cluster member authentication, append the additional TLS/SSL options --clusterAuthMode and --sslClusterFile, as in the following example for a member of a replica set:

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mongod --replSet <name> --sslMode requireSSL --clusterAuthMode x509 --sslClusterFile <path to membership certificate and key PEM file> --sslPEMKeyFile <path to SSL certificate and key PEM file> --sslCAFile <path to root CA PEM file>

Include any additional options, TLS/SSL or otherwise, that are required for your specific configuration. For instance, if the membership key is encrypted, set the --sslClusterPassword to the passphrase to decrypt the key or have MongoDB prompt for the passphrase. See SSL Certificate Passphrase for details.

Warning

If the --sslCAFile option and its target file are not specified, x.509 client and member authentication will not function. mongod, and mongos in sharded systems, will not be able to verify the certificates of processes connecting to it against the trusted certificate authority (CA) that issued them, breaking the certificate chain.

As of version 2.6.4, mongod will not start with x.509 authentication enabled if the CA file is not specified.

Use Configuration File¶

You can specify the configuration for MongoDB in a YAML formatted configuration file, as in the following example:

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security:
   clusterAuthMode: x509
net:
   ssl:
      mode: requireSSL
      PEMKeyFile: <path to TLS/SSL certificate and key PEM file>
      CAFile: <path to root CA PEM file>
      clusterFile: <path to x.509 membership certificate and key PEM file>

See security.clusterAuthMode, net.ssl.mode, net.ssl.PEMKeyFile, net.ssl.CAFile, and net.ssl.clusterFile for more information on the settings.

Upgrade from Keyfile Authentication to x.509 Authentication¶

To upgrade clusters that are currently using keyfile authentication to x.509 authentication, use a rolling upgrade process.

Clusters Currently Using TLS/SSL¶

For clusters using TLS/SSL and keyfile authentication, to upgrade to x.509 cluster authentication, use the following rolling upgrade process:

For each node of a cluster, start the node with the option --clusterAuthMode set to sendKeyFile and the option --sslClusterFile set to the appropriate path of the node’s certificate. Include other TLS/SSL options as well as any other options that are required for your specific configuration. For example:
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```
mongod --replSet <name> --sslMode requireSSL --clusterAuthMode sendKeyFile --sslClusterFile <path to membership certificate and key PEM file> --sslPEMKeyFile <path to SSL Certificate and key PEM file>  --sslCAFile <path to root CA PEM file>
```
With this setting, each node continues to use its keyfile to authenticate itself as a member. However, each node can now accept either a keyfile or an x.509 certificate from other members to authenticate those members. Upgrade all nodes of the cluster to this setting.
Then, for each node of a cluster, connect to the node and use the setParameter command to update the clusterAuthMode to sendX509. [1] For example,
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```
db.getSiblingDB('admin').runCommand( { setParameter: 1, clusterAuthMode: "sendX509" } )
```
With this setting, each node uses its x.509 certificate, specified with the --sslClusterFile option in the previous step, to authenticate itself as a member. However, each node continues to accept either a keyfile or an x.509 certificate from other members to authenticate those members. Upgrade all nodes of the cluster to this setting.
Optional but recommended. Finally, for each node of the cluster, connect to the node and use the setParameter command to update the clusterAuthMode to x509 to only use the x.509 certificate for authentication. [1] For example:
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```
db.getSiblingDB('admin').runCommand( { setParameter: 1, clusterAuthMode: "x509" } )
```
After the upgrade of all nodes, edit the configuration file with the appropriate x.509 settings to ensure that upon subsequent restarts, the cluster uses x.509 authentication.

See mongod --clusterAuthMode and mongos --clusterAuthMode for the various modes and their descriptions.

Clusters Currently Not Using TLS/SSL¶

For clusters using keyfile authentication but not TLS/SSL, to upgrade to x.509 authentication, use the following rolling upgrade process:

For each node of a cluster, start the node with the option --sslMode set to allowSSL, the option --clusterAuthMode set to sendKeyFile and the option --sslClusterFile set to the appropriate path of the node’s certificate. Include other TLS/SSL options as well as any other options that are required for your specific configuration. For example:
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```
mongod --replSet <name> --sslMode allowSSL --clusterAuthMode sendKeyFile --sslClusterFile <path to membership certificate and key PEM file> --sslPEMKeyFile <path to SSL certificate and key PEM file>  --sslCAFile <path to root CA PEM file>
```
The :--sslMode allowSSL setting allows the node to accept both TLS/SSL and non-TLS/non-SSL incoming connections. Its outgoing connections do not use TLS/SSL.

The --clusterAuthMode sendKeyFile setting allows each node continues to use its keyfile to authenticate itself as a member. However, each node can now accept either a keyfile or an x.509 certificate from other members to authenticate those members.

Upgrade all nodes of the cluster to these settings.
Then, for each node of a cluster, connect to the node and use the setParameter command to update the sslMode to preferSSL and the clusterAuthMode to sendX509. [1] For example:
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```
db.getSiblingDB('admin').runCommand( { setParameter: 1, sslMode: "preferSSL", clusterAuthMode: "sendX509" } )
```
With the sslMode set to preferSSL, the node accepts both TLS/SSL and non-TLS/non-SSL incoming connections, and its outgoing connections use TLS/SSL.

With the clusterAuthMode set to sendX509, each node uses its x.509 certificate, specified with the --sslClusterFile option in the previous step, to authenticate itself as a member. However, each node continues to accept either a keyfile or an x.509 certificate from other members to authenticate those members.

Upgrade all nodes of the cluster to these settings.
Optional but recommended. Finally, for each node of the cluster, connect to the node and use the setParameter command to update the sslMode to requireSSL and the clusterAuthMode to x509. [1] For example:
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```
db.getSiblingDB('admin').runCommand( { setParameter: 1, sslMode: "requireSSL", clusterAuthMode: "x509" } )
```
With the sslMode set to requireSSL, the node only uses TLS/SSLs connections.

With the clusterAuthMode set to x509, the node only uses the x.509 certificate for authentication.
After the upgrade of all nodes, edit the configuration file with the appropriate TLS/SSL and x.509 settings to ensure that upon subsequent restarts, the cluster uses x.509 authentication.

See mongod --clusterAuthMode and mongos --clusterAuthMode for the various modes and their descriptions.

[1]	(1, 2, 3, 4) As an alternative to using the `setParameter` command, you can also restart the nodes with the appropriate TLS/SSL and x509 options and values.

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