Header Cert Authentication: Enable Header Cert Auth - Plugin

Enable Header Cert Authv3.8+

Enables the Header Cert Authentication plugin with the CA certificate. Only allows requests from trusted IPs.

Prerequisites

Add certificate authority (CA) Certificates before configuring the plugin.

Environment variables

HEADER_NAME: Name of the header that contains the certificate, received from the WAF or other L7 downstream proxy.

Set up the plugin

Add this section to your declarative configuration file:

_format_version: "3.0"
plugins:
  - name: header-cert-auth
    config:
      ca_certificates:
      - 0D769DE8-7CC0-4541-989B-F9C23E20054C
      certificate_header_name: ${{ env "DECK_HEADER_NAME" }}
      certificate_header_format: base64_encoded

Make the following request:

curl -i -X POST http://localhost:8001/plugins/ \
    --header "Accept: application/json" \
    --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
    --data '
    {
      "name": "header-cert-auth",
      "config": {
        "ca_certificates": [
          "0D769DE8-7CC0-4541-989B-F9C23E20054C"
        ],
        "certificate_header_name": "'$HEADER_NAME'",
        "certificate_header_format": "base64_encoded"
      }
    }
    '

Make the following request:

curl -X POST https://{region}.api.konghq.com/v2/control-planes/{controlPlaneId}/core-entities/plugins/ \
    --header "accept: application/json" \
    --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
    --header "Authorization: Bearer $KONNECT_TOKEN" \
    --data '
    {
      "name": "header-cert-auth",
      "config": {
        "ca_certificates": [
          "0D769DE8-7CC0-4541-989B-F9C23E20054C"
        ],
        "certificate_header_name": "'$HEADER_NAME'",
        "certificate_header_format": "base64_encoded"
      }
    }
    '

Make sure to replace the following placeholders with your own values:

region: Geographic region where your Kong Konnect is hosted and operates.
controlPlaneId: The id of the control plane.
KONNECT_TOKEN: Your Personal Access Token (PAT) associated with your Konnect account.

See the Konnect API reference to learn about region-specific URLs and personal access tokens.

echo "
apiVersion: configuration.konghq.com/v1
kind: KongClusterPlugin
metadata:
  name: header-cert-auth
  namespace: kong
  annotations:
    kubernetes.io/ingress.class: kong
  labels:
    global: 'true'
config:
  ca_certificates:
  - 0D769DE8-7CC0-4541-989B-F9C23E20054C
  certificate_header_name: '$HEADER_NAME'
  certificate_header_format: base64_encoded
plugin: header-cert-auth
" | kubectl apply -f -

Prerequisite: Configure your Personal Access Token

terraform {
  required_providers {
    konnect = {
      source  = "kong/konnect"
    }
  }
}

provider "konnect" {
  personal_access_token = "$KONNECT_TOKEN"
  server_url            = "https://us.api.konghq.com/"
}

Add the following to your Terraform configuration to create a Konnect Gateway Plugin:

resource "konnect_gateway_plugin_header_cert_auth" "my_header_cert_auth" {
  enabled = true

  config = {
    ca_certificates = ["0D769DE8-7CC0-4541-989B-F9C23E20054C"]
    certificate_header_name = var.header_name
    certificate_header_format = "base64_encoded"
  }

  control_plane_id = konnect_gateway_control_plane.my_konnect_cp.id
}

This example requires the following variables to be added to your manifest. You can specify values at runtime by setting TF_VAR_name=value.

variable "header_name" {
  type = string
}

Add this section to your declarative configuration file:

_format_version: "3.0"
plugins:
  - name: header-cert-auth
    service: serviceName|Id
    config:
      ca_certificates:
      - 0D769DE8-7CC0-4541-989B-F9C23E20054C
      certificate_header_name: ${{ env "DECK_HEADER_NAME" }}
      certificate_header_format: base64_encoded

Make sure to replace the following placeholders with your own values:

serviceName|Id: The id or name of the service the plugin configuration will target.

Make the following request:

curl -i -X POST http://localhost:8001/services/{serviceName|Id}/plugins/ \
    --header "Accept: application/json" \
    --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
    --data '
    {
      "name": "header-cert-auth",
      "config": {
        "ca_certificates": [
          "0D769DE8-7CC0-4541-989B-F9C23E20054C"
        ],
        "certificate_header_name": "'$HEADER_NAME'",
        "certificate_header_format": "base64_encoded"
      }
    }
    '

Make sure to replace the following placeholders with your own values:

serviceName|Id: The id or name of the service the plugin configuration will target.

Make the following request:

curl -X POST https://{region}.api.konghq.com/v2/control-planes/{controlPlaneId}/core-entities/services/{serviceId}/plugins/ \
    --header "accept: application/json" \
    --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
    --header "Authorization: Bearer $KONNECT_TOKEN" \
    --data '
    {
      "name": "header-cert-auth",
      "config": {
        "ca_certificates": [
          "0D769DE8-7CC0-4541-989B-F9C23E20054C"
        ],
        "certificate_header_name": "'$HEADER_NAME'",
        "certificate_header_format": "base64_encoded"
      }
    }
    '

Make sure to replace the following placeholders with your own values:

region: Geographic region where your Kong Konnect is hosted and operates.
controlPlaneId: The id of the control plane.
KONNECT_TOKEN: Your Personal Access Token (PAT) associated with your Konnect account.
serviceId: The id of the service the plugin configuration will target.

See the Konnect API reference to learn about region-specific URLs and personal access tokens.

echo "
apiVersion: configuration.konghq.com/v1
kind: KongPlugin
metadata:
  name: header-cert-auth
  namespace: kong
  annotations:
    kubernetes.io/ingress.class: kong
config:
  ca_certificates:
  - 0D769DE8-7CC0-4541-989B-F9C23E20054C
  certificate_header_name: '$HEADER_NAME'
  certificate_header_format: base64_encoded
plugin: header-cert-auth
" | kubectl apply -f -

Next, apply the KongPlugin resource by annotating the service resource:

kubectl annotate -n kong service SERVICE_NAME konghq.com/plugins=header-cert-auth

Prerequisite: Configure your Personal Access Token

terraform {
  required_providers {
    konnect = {
      source  = "kong/konnect"
    }
  }
}

provider "konnect" {
  personal_access_token = "$KONNECT_TOKEN"
  server_url            = "https://us.api.konghq.com/"
}

Add the following to your Terraform configuration to create a Konnect Gateway Plugin:

resource "konnect_gateway_plugin_header_cert_auth" "my_header_cert_auth" {
  enabled = true

  config = {
    ca_certificates = ["0D769DE8-7CC0-4541-989B-F9C23E20054C"]
    certificate_header_name = var.header_name
    certificate_header_format = "base64_encoded"
  }

  control_plane_id = konnect_gateway_control_plane.my_konnect_cp.id
  service = {
    id = konnect_gateway_service.my_service.id
  }
}

This example requires the following variables to be added to your manifest. You can specify values at runtime by setting TF_VAR_name=value.

variable "header_name" {
  type = string
}

Add this section to your declarative configuration file:

_format_version: "3.0"
plugins:
  - name: header-cert-auth
    route: routeName|Id
    config:
      ca_certificates:
      - 0D769DE8-7CC0-4541-989B-F9C23E20054C
      certificate_header_name: ${{ env "DECK_HEADER_NAME" }}
      certificate_header_format: base64_encoded

Make sure to replace the following placeholders with your own values:

routeName|Id: The id or name of the route the plugin configuration will target.

Make the following request:

curl -i -X POST http://localhost:8001/routes/{routeName|Id}/plugins/ \
    --header "Accept: application/json" \
    --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
    --data '
    {
      "name": "header-cert-auth",
      "config": {
        "ca_certificates": [
          "0D769DE8-7CC0-4541-989B-F9C23E20054C"
        ],
        "certificate_header_name": "'$HEADER_NAME'",
        "certificate_header_format": "base64_encoded"
      }
    }
    '

Make sure to replace the following placeholders with your own values:

routeName|Id: The id or name of the route the plugin configuration will target.

Make the following request:

curl -X POST https://{region}.api.konghq.com/v2/control-planes/{controlPlaneId}/core-entities/routes/{routeId}/plugins/ \
    --header "accept: application/json" \
    --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
    --header "Authorization: Bearer $KONNECT_TOKEN" \
    --data '
    {
      "name": "header-cert-auth",
      "config": {
        "ca_certificates": [
          "0D769DE8-7CC0-4541-989B-F9C23E20054C"
        ],
        "certificate_header_name": "'$HEADER_NAME'",
        "certificate_header_format": "base64_encoded"
      }
    }
    '

Make sure to replace the following placeholders with your own values:

region: Geographic region where your Kong Konnect is hosted and operates.
controlPlaneId: The id of the control plane.
KONNECT_TOKEN: Your Personal Access Token (PAT) associated with your Konnect account.
routeId: The id of the route the plugin configuration will target.

See the Konnect API reference to learn about region-specific URLs and personal access tokens.

echo "
apiVersion: configuration.konghq.com/v1
kind: KongPlugin
metadata:
  name: header-cert-auth
  namespace: kong
  annotations:
    kubernetes.io/ingress.class: kong
config:
  ca_certificates:
  - 0D769DE8-7CC0-4541-989B-F9C23E20054C
  certificate_header_name: '$HEADER_NAME'
  certificate_header_format: base64_encoded
plugin: header-cert-auth
" | kubectl apply -f -

Next, apply the KongPlugin resource by annotating the httproute or ingress resource:

kubectl annotate -n kong httproute  konghq.com/plugins=header-cert-auth

kubectl annotate -n kong ingress  konghq.com/plugins=header-cert-auth

Prerequisite: Configure your Personal Access Token

terraform {
  required_providers {
    konnect = {
      source  = "kong/konnect"
    }
  }
}

provider "konnect" {
  personal_access_token = "$KONNECT_TOKEN"
  server_url            = "https://us.api.konghq.com/"
}

Add the following to your Terraform configuration to create a Konnect Gateway Plugin:

resource "konnect_gateway_plugin_header_cert_auth" "my_header_cert_auth" {
  enabled = true

  config = {
    ca_certificates = ["0D769DE8-7CC0-4541-989B-F9C23E20054C"]
    certificate_header_name = var.header_name
    certificate_header_format = "base64_encoded"
  }

  control_plane_id = konnect_gateway_control_plane.my_konnect_cp.id
  route = {
    id = konnect_gateway_route.my_route.id
  }
}

This example requires the following variables to be added to your manifest. You can specify values at runtime by setting TF_VAR_name=value.

variable "header_name" {
  type = string
}

Header Cert Authentication

Enable Header Cert Authv3.8+

Prerequisites

Environment variables

Set up the plugin

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