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Basic config examples for Header Cert Authentication

By Kong Inc.

Basic configuration examples

The following examples provide some typical configurations for enabling the header-cert-auth plugin on a service.

Make the following request:

curl -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": "ssl-client-cert",
    "certificate_header_format": "base64_encoded",
    "secure_source": false
  }
}
    '

Replace SERVICE_NAME|ID with the id or name of the service that this plugin configuration will target.

Make the following request, substituting your own access token, region, control plane ID, and service ID:

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

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

First, create a KongPlugin resource:

echo "
apiVersion: configuration.konghq.com/v1
kind: KongPlugin
metadata:
  name: header-cert-auth-example
plugin: header-cert-auth
config:
  ca_certificates:
  - 0D769DE8-7CC0-4541-989B-F9C23E20054C
  certificate_header_name: ssl-client-cert
  certificate_header_format: base64_encoded
  secure_source: false
" | kubectl apply -f -

Next, apply the KongPlugin resource to an ingress by annotating the service as follows:

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

Replace SERVICE_NAME with the name of the service that this plugin configuration will target. You can see your available ingresses by running kubectl get service.

Note: The KongPlugin resource only needs to be defined once and can be applied to any service, consumer, or route in the namespace. If you want the plugin to be available cluster-wide, create the resource as a KongClusterPlugin instead of KongPlugin.

Add this section to your declarative configuration file:

plugins:
- name: header-cert-auth
  service: SERVICE_NAME|ID
  config:
    ca_certificates:
    - 0D769DE8-7CC0-4541-989B-F9C23E20054C
    certificate_header_name: ssl-client-cert
    certificate_header_format: base64_encoded
    secure_source: false

Replace SERVICE_NAME|ID with the id or name of the service that this plugin configuration will target.

Prerequisite: Configure your Personal Access Token 
terraform {
  required_providers {
    konnect = {
      source  = "kong/konnect"
    }
  }
}

provider "konnect" {
  personal_access_token = "kpat_YOUR_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 = "ssl-client-cert"
    certificate_header_format = "base64_encoded"
    secure_source = false
  }

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

The following examples provide some typical configurations for enabling the header-cert-auth plugin on a route.

Make the following request:

curl -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": "ssl-client-cert",
    "certificate_header_format": "base64_encoded",
    "secure_source": false
  }
}
    '

Replace ROUTE_NAME|ID with the id or name of the route that this plugin configuration will target.

Make the following request, substituting your own access token, region, control plane ID, and route ID:

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

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

First, create a KongPlugin resource:

echo "
apiVersion: configuration.konghq.com/v1
kind: KongPlugin
metadata:
  name: header-cert-auth-example
plugin: header-cert-auth
config:
  ca_certificates:
  - 0D769DE8-7CC0-4541-989B-F9C23E20054C
  certificate_header_name: ssl-client-cert
  certificate_header_format: base64_encoded
  secure_source: false
" | kubectl apply -f -

Next, apply the KongPlugin resource to an ingress by annotating the ingress as follows:

kubectl annotate ingress INGRESS_NAME konghq.com/plugins=header-cert-auth-example

Replace INGRESS_NAME with the name of the ingress that this plugin configuration will target. You can see your available ingresses by running kubectl get ingress.

Note: The KongPlugin resource only needs to be defined once and can be applied to any service, consumer, or route in the namespace. If you want the plugin to be available cluster-wide, create the resource as a KongClusterPlugin instead of KongPlugin.

Add this section to your declarative configuration file:

plugins:
- name: header-cert-auth
  route: ROUTE_NAME|ID
  config:
    ca_certificates:
    - 0D769DE8-7CC0-4541-989B-F9C23E20054C
    certificate_header_name: ssl-client-cert
    certificate_header_format: base64_encoded
    secure_source: false

Replace ROUTE_NAME|ID with the id or name of the route that this plugin configuration will target.

Prerequisite: Configure your Personal Access Token 
terraform {
  required_providers {
    konnect = {
      source  = "kong/konnect"
    }
  }
}

provider "konnect" {
  personal_access_token = "kpat_YOUR_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 = "ssl-client-cert"
    certificate_header_format = "base64_encoded"
    secure_source = false
  }

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

A plugin which is not associated to any service, route, consumer, or consumer group is considered global, and will be run on every request.

  • In self-managed Kong Gateway Enterprise, the plugin applies to every entity in a given workspace.
  • In self-managed Kong Gateway (OSS), the plugin applies to your entire environment.
  • In Konnect, the plugin applies to every entity in a given control plane.

Read the Plugin Reference and the Plugin Precedence sections for more information.

The following examples provide some typical configurations for enabling the Header Cert Authentication plugin globally.

Make the following request:

curl -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": "ssl-client-cert",
    "certificate_header_format": "base64_encoded",
    "secure_source": false
  }
}
    '

Make the following request, substituting your own access token, region, and control plane ID:

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

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

Create a KongClusterPlugin resource and label it as global:

apiVersion: configuration.konghq.com/v1
kind: KongClusterPlugin
metadata:
  name: <global-header-cert-auth>
  annotations:
    kubernetes.io/ingress.class: kong
  labels:
    global: "true"
config:
  ca_certificates:
  - 0D769DE8-7CC0-4541-989B-F9C23E20054C
  certificate_header_name: ssl-client-cert
  certificate_header_format: base64_encoded
  secure_source: false
plugin: header-cert-auth

Add a plugins entry in the declarative configuration file:

plugins:
- name: header-cert-auth
  config:
    ca_certificates:
    - 0D769DE8-7CC0-4541-989B-F9C23E20054C
    certificate_header_name: ssl-client-cert
    certificate_header_format: base64_encoded
    secure_source: false
Prerequisite: Configure your Personal Access Token 
terraform {
  required_providers {
    konnect = {
      source  = "kong/konnect"
    }
  }
}

provider "konnect" {
  personal_access_token = "kpat_YOUR_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 = "ssl-client-cert"
    certificate_header_format = "base64_encoded"
    secure_source = false
  }

  control_plane_id = konnect_gateway_control_plane.my_konnect_cp.id
}