mirror of https://github.com/hashicorp/consul
1051 lines
45 KiB
Markdown
1051 lines
45 KiB
Markdown
---
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layout: "docs"
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page_title: "ACL System"
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sidebar_current: "docs-guides-acl"
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description: |-
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Consul provides an optional Access Control List (ACL) system which can be used to control access to data and APIs. The ACL system is a Capability-based system that relies on tokens which can have fine grained rules applied to them. It is very similar to AWS IAM in many ways.
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---
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# ACL System
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Consul provides an optional Access Control List (ACL) system which can be used to control
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access to data and APIs. The ACL is
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[Capability-based](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capability-based_security), relying
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on tokens to which fine grained rules can be applied. It is very similar to
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[AWS IAM](http://aws.amazon.com/iam/) in many ways.
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## ACL System Overview
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The ACL system is designed to be easy to use, fast to enforce, and flexible to new policies,
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all while providing administrative insight.
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#### ACL Tokens
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The ACL system is based on tokens, which are managed by Consul operators via Consul's
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[ACL API](/api/acl.html), or systems like
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[HashiCorp's Vault](https://www.vaultproject.io/docs/secrets/consul/index.html).
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Every token has an ID, name, type, and rule set. The ID is a randomly generated
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UUID, making it infeasible to guess. The name is opaque to Consul and human readable.
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The type is either "client" (meaning the token cannot modify ACL rules) or "management"
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(meaning the token is allowed to perform all actions).
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The token ID is passed along with each RPC request to the servers. Consul's
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[HTTP endpoints](/api/index.html) can accept tokens via the `token`
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query string parameter, or the `X-Consul-Token` request header. Consul's
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[CLI commands](/docs/commands/index.html) can accept tokens via the
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`token` argument, or the `CONSUL_HTTP_TOKEN` environment variable.
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If no token is provided, the rules associated with a special, configurable anonymous
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token are automatically applied. The anonymous token is managed using the
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[ACL API](/api/acl.html) like any other ACL token, but using `anonymous` for the ID.
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#### ACL Rules and Scope
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Tokens are bound to a set of rules that control which Consul resources the token
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has access to. Policies can be defined in either a whitelist or blacklist mode
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depending on the configuration of
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[`acl_default_policy`](/docs/agent/options.html#acl_default_policy). If the default
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policy is to "deny" all actions, then token rules can be set to whitelist specific
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actions. In the inverse, the "allow" all default behavior is a blacklist where rules
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are used to prohibit actions. By default, Consul will allow all actions.
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The following table summarizes the ACL policies that are available for constructing
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rules:
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| Policy | Scope |
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| ------------------------ | ----- |
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| [`agent`](#agent-rules) | Utility operations in the [Agent API](/api/agent.html), other than service and check registration |
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| [`event`](#event-rules) | Listing and firing events in the [Event API](/api/event.html) |
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| [`key`](#key-value-rules) | Key/value store operations in the [KV Store API](/api/kv.html) |
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| [`keyring`](#keyring-rules) | Keyring operations in the [Keyring API](/api/operator/keyring.html) |
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| [`node`](#node-rules) | Node-level catalog operations in the [Catalog API](/api/catalog.html), [Health API](/api/health.html), [Prepared Query API](/api/query.html), [Network Coordinate API](/api/coordinate.html), and [Agent API](/api/agent.html) |
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| [`operator`](#operator-rules) | Cluster-level operations in the [Operator API](/api/operator.html), other than the [Keyring API](/api/operator/keyring.html) |
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| [`query`](#prepared-query-rules) | Prepared query operations in the [Prepared Query API](/api/query.html)
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| [`service`](#service-rules) | Service-level catalog operations in the [Catalog API](/api/catalog.html), [Health API](/api/health.html), [Prepared Query API](/api/query.html), and [Agent API](/api/agent.html) |
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| [`session`](#session-rules) | Session operations in the [Session API](/api/session.html) |
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Since Consul snapshots actually contain ACL tokens, the
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[Snapshot API](/api/snapshot.html) requires a management token for snapshot operations
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and does not use a special policy.
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The following resources are not covered by ACL policies:
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1. The [Status API](/api/status.html) is used by servers when bootstrapping and exposes
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basic IP and port information about the servers, and does not allow modification
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of any state.
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2. The datacenter listing operation of the
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[Catalog API](/api/catalog.html#list-datacenters) similarly exposes the names of known
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Consul datacenters, and does not allow modification of any state.
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Constructing rules from these policies is covered in detail in the
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[Rule Specification](#rule-specification) section below.
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#### ACL Datacenter
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All nodes (clients and servers) must be configured with an
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[`acl_datacenter`](/docs/agent/options.html#acl_datacenter) which enables ACL
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enforcement but also specifies the authoritative datacenter. Consul relies on
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[RPC forwarding](/docs/internals/architecture.html) to support multi-datacenter
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configurations. However, because requests can be made across datacenter boundaries,
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ACL tokens must be valid globally. To avoid consistency issues, a single datacenter
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is considered authoritative and stores the canonical set of tokens.
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When a request is made to an agent in a non-authoritative datacenter, it must be
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resolved into the appropriate policy. This is done by reading the token from the
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authoritative server and caching the result for a configurable
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[`acl_ttl`](/docs/agent/options.html#acl_ttl). The implication of caching is that
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the cache TTL is an upper bound on the staleness of policy that is enforced. It is
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possible to set a zero TTL, but this has adverse performance impacts, as every
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request requires refreshing the policy via an RPC call.
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During an outage of the ACL datacenter, or loss of connectivity, the cache will be
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used as long as the TTL is valid, or the cache may be extended if the
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[`acl_down_policy`](/docs/agent/options.html#acl_down_policy) is set accordingly.
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This configuration also allows the ACL system to fail open or closed.
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[ACL replication](#replication) is also available to allow for the full set of ACL
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tokens to be replicated for use during an outage.
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## Configuring ACLs
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ACLs are configured using several different configuration options. These are marked
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as to whether they are set on servers, clients, or both.
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| Configuration Option | Servers | Clients | Purpose |
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| -------------------- | ------- | ------- | ------- |
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| [`acl_datacenter`](/docs/agent/options.html#acl_datacenter) | `REQUIRED` | `REQUIRED` | Master control that enables ACLs by defining the authoritative Consul datacenter for ACLs |
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| [`acl_default_policy`](/docs/agent/options.html#acl_default_policy) | `OPTIONAL` | `N/A` | Determines whitelist or blacklist mode |
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| [`acl_down_policy`](/docs/agent/options.html#acl_down_policy) | `OPTIONAL` | `OPTIONAL` | Determines what to do when the ACL datacenter is offline |
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| [`acl_ttl`](/docs/agent/options.html#acl_ttl) | `OPTIONAL` | `OPTIONAL` | Determines time-to-live for cached ACLs |
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There are some additional configuration items related to [ACL replication](#replication) and
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[Version 8 ACL support](#version_8_acls). These are discussed in those respective sections
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below.
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A number of special tokens can also be configured which allow for bootstrapping the ACL
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system, or accessing Consul in special situations:
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| Special Token | Servers | Clients | Purpose |
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| ------------- | ------- | ------- | ------- |
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| [`acl_agent_master_token`](/docs/agent/options.html#acl_agent_master_token) | `OPTIONAL` | `OPTIONAL` | Special token that can be used to access [Agent API](/api/agent.html) when the ACL datacenter isn't available, or servers are offline (for clients); used for setting up the cluster such as doing initial join operations, see the [ACL Agent Master Token](#acl-agent-master-token) section for more details |
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| [`acl_agent_token`](/docs/agent/options.html#acl_agent_token) | `OPTIONAL` | `OPTIONAL` | Special token that is used for an agent's internal operations, see the [ACL Agent Token](#acl-agent-token) section for more details |
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| [`acl_master_token`](/docs/agent/options.html#acl_master_token) | `REQUIRED` | `N/A` | Special token used to bootstrap the ACL system, see the [Bootstrapping ACLs](#bootstrapping-acls) section for more details |
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| [`acl_token`](/docs/agent/options.html#acl_token) | `OPTIONAL` | `OPTIONAL` | Default token to use for client requests where no token is supplied; this is often configured with read-only access to services to enable DNS service discovery on agents |
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In Consul 0.9.1 and later, the agent ACL tokens can be introduced or updated via the
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[/v1/agent/token API](/api/agent.html#update-acl-tokens).
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#### ACL Agent Master Token
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Since the [`acl_agent_master_token`](/docs/agent/options.html#acl_agent_master_token) is designed to be used when the Consul servers are not available, its policy is managed locally on the agent and does not need to have a token defined on the Consul servers via the ACL API. Once set, it implicitly has the following policy associated with it (the `node` policy was added in Consul 0.9.0):
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```text
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agent "<node name of agent>" {
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policy = "write"
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}
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node "" {
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policy = "read"
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}
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```
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In Consul 0.9.1 and later, the agent ACL tokens can be introduced or updated via the
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[/v1/agent/token API](/api/agent.html#update-acl-tokens).
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#### ACL Agent Token
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The [`acl_agent_token`](/docs/agent/options.html#acl_agent_token) is a special token that is used for an agent's internal operations. It isn't used directly for any user-initiated operations like the [`acl_token`](/docs/agent/options.html#acl_token), though if the `acl_agent_token` isn't configured the `acl_token` will be used. The ACL agent token is used for the following operations by the agent:
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1. Updating the agent's node entry using the [Catalog API](/api/catalog.html), including updating its node metadata, tagged addresses, and network coordinates
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2. Performing [anti-entropy](/docs/internals/anti-entropy.html) syncing, in particular reading the node metadata and services registered with the catalog
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3. Reading and writing the special `_rexec` section of the KV store when executing [`consul exec`](/docs/commands/exec.html) commands
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Here's an example policy sufficient to accomplish the above for a node called `mynode`:
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```text
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node "mynode" {
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policy = "write"
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}
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service "" {
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policy = "read"
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}
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key "_rexec" {
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policy = "write"
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}
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```
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The `service` policy needs `read` access for any services that can be registered on the agent. If [remote exec is disabled](/docs/agent/options.html#disable_remote_exec), the default, then the `key` policy can be omitted.
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In Consul 0.9.1 and later, the agent ACL tokens can be introduced or updated via the
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[/v1/agent/token API](/api/agent.html#update-acl-tokens).
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## Bootstrapping ACLs
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Bootstrapping ACLs on a new cluster requires a few steps, outlined in the examples in this
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section.
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#### Enable ACLs on the Consul Servers
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The first step for bootstrapping ACLs is to enable ACLs on the Consul servers in the ACL
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datacenter. In this example, we are configuring the following:
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1. An ACL datacenter of "dc1", which is where these servers are
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2. An ACL master token of "b1gs33cr3t"
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3. A default policy of "deny" which means we are in whitelist mode
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4. A down policy of "extend-cache" which means that we will ignore token TTLs during an
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outage
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Here's the corresponding JSON configuration file:
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```json
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{
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"acl_datacenter": "dc1",
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"acl_master_token": "b1gs33cr3t",
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"acl_default_policy": "deny",
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"acl_down_policy": "extend-cache"
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}
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```
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The servers will need to be restarted to load the new configuration. Please take care
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to start the servers one at a time, and ensure each server has joined and is operating
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correctly before starting another.
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The [`acl_master_token`](/docs/agent/options.html#acl_master_token) will be created
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as a "management" type token automatically. The
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[`acl_master_token`](/docs/agent/options.html#acl_master_token) is only installed when
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a server acquires cluster leadership. If you would like to install or change the
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[`acl_master_token`](/docs/agent/options.html#acl_master_token), set the new value for
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[`acl_master_token`](/docs/agent/options.html#acl_master_token) in the configuration
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for all servers. Once this is done, restart the current leader to force a leader election.
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Once the ACL system is bootstrapped, ACL tokens can be managed through the
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[ACL API](/api/acl.html).
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#### Create an Agent Token
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After the servers are restarted above, you will see new errors in the logs of the Consul
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servers related to permission denied errors:
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```
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2017/07/08 23:38:24 [WARN] agent: Node info update blocked by ACLs
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2017/07/08 23:38:44 [WARN] agent: Coordinate update blocked by ACLs
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```
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These errors are because the agent doesn't yet have a properly configured
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[`acl_agent_token`](/docs/agent/options.html#acl_agent_token) that it can use for its
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own internal operations like updating its node information in the catalog and performing
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[anti-entropy](/docs/internals/anti-entropy.html) syncing. We can create a token using the
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ACL API, and the ACL master token we set in the previous step:
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```
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$ curl \
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--request PUT \
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--header "X-Consul-Token: b1gs33cr3t" \
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--data \
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'{
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"Name": "Agent Token",
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"Type": "client",
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"Rules": "node \"\" { policy = \"write\" } service \"\" { policy = \"read\" }"
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}' http://127.0.0.1:8500/v1/acl/create
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{"ID":"fe3b8d40-0ee0-8783-6cc2-ab1aa9bb16c1"}
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```
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The returned value is the newly-created token. We can now add this to our Consul server
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configuration and restart the servers once more to apply it:
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```json
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{
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"acl_datacenter": "dc1",
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"acl_master_token": "b1gs33cr3t",
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"acl_default_policy": "deny",
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"acl_down_policy": "extend-cache",
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"acl_agent_token": "fe3b8d40-0ee0-8783-6cc2-ab1aa9bb16c1"
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}
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```
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In Consul 0.9.1 and later you can also introduce the agent token using an API,
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so it doesn't need to be set in the configuration file:
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```
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$ curl \
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--request PUT \
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--header "X-Consul-Token: b1gs33cr3t" \
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--data \
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'{
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"Token": "fe3b8d40-0ee0-8783-6cc2-ab1aa9bb16c1"
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}' http://127.0.0.1:8500/v1/agent/token/acl_agent_token
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```
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With that ACL agent token set, the servers will be able to sync themselves with the
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catalog:
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```
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2017/07/08 23:42:59 [INFO] agent: Synced node info
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```
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See the [ACL Agent Token](#acl-agent-token) section for more details.
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#### Enable ACLs on the Consul Clients
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Since ACL enforcement also occurs on the Consul clients, we need to also restart them
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with a configuration file that enables ACLs:
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```json
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{
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"acl_datacenter": "dc1",
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"acl_down_policy": "extend-cache",
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"acl_agent_token": "fe3b8d40-0ee0-8783-6cc2-ab1aa9bb16c1"
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}
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```
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Similar to the previous example, in Consul 0.9.1 and later you can also introduce the
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agent token using an API, so it doesn't need to be set in the configuration file:
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```
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$ curl \
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--request PUT \
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--header "X-Consul-Token: b1gs33cr3t" \
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--data \
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'{
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"Token": "fe3b8d40-0ee0-8783-6cc2-ab1aa9bb16c1"
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}' http://127.0.0.1:8500/v1/agent/token/acl_agent_token
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```
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We used the same ACL agent token that we created for the servers, which will work since
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it was not specific to any node or set of service prefixes. In a more locked-down
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environment it is recommended that each client get an ACL agent token with `node` write
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privileges for just its own node name prefix, and `service` read privileges for just the
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service prefixes expected to be registered on that client.
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[Anti-entropy](/docs/internals/anti-entropy.html) syncing requires the ACL agent token
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to have `service` read privileges for all services that may be registered with the agent,
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so generally an empty `service` prefix can be used, as shown in the example.
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Clients will report similar permission denied errors until they are restarted with an ACL
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agent token.
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#### Set an Anonymous Policy (Optional)
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At this point ACLs are bootstrapped with ACL agent tokens configured, but there are no
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other policies set up. Even basic operations like `consul members` will be restricted
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by the ACL default policy of "deny":
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```
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$ consul members
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```
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We don't get an error since the ACL has filtered what we see, and we aren't allowed to
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see any nodes by default.
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If we supply the token we created above we will be able to see a listing of nodes because
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it has write privileges to an empty `node` prefix, meaning it has access to all nodes:
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||
|
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```
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$ CONSUL_HTTP_TOKEN=fe3b8d40-0ee0-8783-6cc2-ab1aa9bb16c1 consul members
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Node Address Status Type Build Protocol DC
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node-1 127.0.0.1:8301 alive server 0.9.0dev 2 dc1
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node-2 127.0.0.2:8301 alive client 0.9.0dev 2 dc1
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```
|
||
|
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It's pretty common in many environments to allow listing of all nodes, even without a
|
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token. The policies associated with the special anonymous token can be updated to
|
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configure Consul's behavior when no token is supplied. The anonymous token is managed
|
||
like any other ACL token, except that `anonymous` is used for the ID. In this example
|
||
we will give the anonymous token read privileges for all nodes:
|
||
|
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```
|
||
$ curl \
|
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--request PUT \
|
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--header "X-Consul-Token: b1gs33cr3t" \
|
||
--data \
|
||
'{
|
||
"ID": "anonymous",
|
||
"Type": "client",
|
||
"Rules": "node \"\" { policy = \"read\" }"
|
||
}' http://127.0.0.1:8500/v1/acl/update
|
||
|
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{"ID":"anonymous"}
|
||
```
|
||
|
||
The anonymous token is implicitly used if no token is supplied, so now we can run
|
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`consul members` without supplying a token and we will be able to see the nodes:
|
||
|
||
```
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$ consul members
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Node Address Status Type Build Protocol DC
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node-1 127.0.0.1:8301 alive server 0.9.0dev 2 dc1
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node-2 127.0.0.2:8301 alive client 0.9.0dev 2 dc1
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```
|
||
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The anonymous token is also used for DNS lookups since there's no way to pass a
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token as part of a DNS request. Here's an example lookup for the "consul" service:
|
||
|
||
```
|
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$ dig @127.0.0.1 -p 8600 consul.service.consul
|
||
|
||
; <<>> DiG 9.8.3-P1 <<>> @127.0.0.1 -p 8600 consul.service.consul
|
||
; (1 server found)
|
||
;; global options: +cmd
|
||
;; Got answer:
|
||
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NXDOMAIN, id: 9648
|
||
;; flags: qr aa rd; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 0, AUTHORITY: 1, ADDITIONAL: 0
|
||
;; WARNING: recursion requested but not available
|
||
|
||
;; QUESTION SECTION:
|
||
;consul.service.consul. IN A
|
||
|
||
;; AUTHORITY SECTION:
|
||
consul. 0 IN SOA ns.consul. postmaster.consul. 1499584110 3600 600 86400 0
|
||
|
||
;; Query time: 2 msec
|
||
;; SERVER: 127.0.0.1#8600(127.0.0.1)
|
||
;; WHEN: Sun Jul 9 00:08:30 2017
|
||
;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 89
|
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```
|
||
|
||
Now we get an `NXDOMAIN` error because the anonymous token doesn't have access to the
|
||
"consul" service. Let's add that to the anonymous token's policy:
|
||
|
||
```
|
||
$ curl \
|
||
--request PUT \
|
||
--header "X-Consul-Token: b1gs33cr3t" \
|
||
--data \
|
||
'{
|
||
"ID": "anonymous",
|
||
"Type": "client",
|
||
"Rules": "node \"\" { policy = \"read\" } service \"consul\" { policy = \"read\" }"
|
||
}' http://127.0.0.1:8500/v1/acl/update
|
||
|
||
{"ID":"anonymous"}
|
||
```
|
||
|
||
With that new policy in place, the DNS lookup will succeed:
|
||
|
||
```
|
||
$ dig @127.0.0.1 -p 8600 consul.service.consul
|
||
|
||
; <<>> DiG 9.8.3-P1 <<>> @127.0.0.1 -p 8600 consul.service.consul
|
||
; (1 server found)
|
||
;; global options: +cmd
|
||
;; Got answer:
|
||
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 46006
|
||
;; flags: qr aa rd; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 0
|
||
;; WARNING: recursion requested but not available
|
||
|
||
;; QUESTION SECTION:
|
||
;consul.service.consul. IN A
|
||
|
||
;; ANSWER SECTION:
|
||
consul.service.consul. 0 IN A 127.0.0.1
|
||
|
||
;; Query time: 0 msec
|
||
;; SERVER: 127.0.0.1#8600(127.0.0.1)
|
||
;; WHEN: Sun Jul 9 00:11:14 2017
|
||
;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 55
|
||
```
|
||
|
||
The next section shows an alternative to the anonymous token.
|
||
|
||
#### Set Agent-Specific Default Tokens (Optional)
|
||
|
||
An alternative to the anonymous token is the [`acl_token`](/docs/agent/options.html#acl_token)
|
||
configuration item. When a request is made to a particular Consul agent and no token is
|
||
supplied, the [`acl_token`](/docs/agent/options.html#acl_token) will be used for the token,
|
||
instead of being left empty which would normally invoke the anonymous token.
|
||
|
||
In Consul 0.9.1 and later, the agent ACL tokens can be introduced or updated via the
|
||
[/v1/agent/token API](/api/agent.html#update-acl-tokens).
|
||
|
||
This behaves very similarly to the anonymous token, but can be configured differently on each
|
||
agent, if desired. For example, this allows more fine grained control of what DNS requests a
|
||
given agent can service, or can give the agent read access to some key-value store prefixes by
|
||
default.
|
||
|
||
If using [`acl_token`](/docs/agent/options.html#acl_token), then it's likely the anonymous
|
||
token will have a more restrictive policy than shown in the examples here.
|
||
|
||
#### Next Steps
|
||
|
||
The examples above configure a basic ACL environment with the ability to see all nodes
|
||
by default, and limited access to just the "consul" service. The [ACL API](/api/acl.html)
|
||
can be used to create tokens for applications specific to their intended use, and to create
|
||
more specific ACL agent tokens for each agent's expected role.
|
||
|
||
Also see [HashiCorp's Vault](https://www.vaultproject.io/docs/secrets/consul/index.html), which
|
||
has an integration with Consul that allows it to generate ACL tokens on the fly and to manage
|
||
their lifetimes.
|
||
|
||
## Rule Specification
|
||
|
||
A core part of the ACL system is the rule language which is used to describe the policy
|
||
that must be enforced. Most of the ACL rules are prefix-based, allowing operators to
|
||
define different namespaces within Consul's resource areas like the catalog and key/value
|
||
store, in order to delegate responsibility for these namespaces. Policies can have several
|
||
dispositions:
|
||
|
||
* `read`: allow the resource to be read but not modified
|
||
* `write`: allow the resource to be read and modified
|
||
* `deny`: do not allow the resource to be read or modified
|
||
|
||
With prefix-based rules, the most specific prefix match determines the action. This
|
||
allows for flexible rules like an empty prefix to allow read-only access to all
|
||
resources, along with some specific prefixes that allow write access or that are
|
||
denied all access.
|
||
|
||
We make use of the
|
||
[HashiCorp Configuration Language (HCL)](https://github.com/hashicorp/hcl/) to specify
|
||
rules. This language is human readable and interoperable with JSON making it easy to
|
||
machine-generate. Rules can make use of one or more policies.
|
||
|
||
Specification in the HCL format looks like:
|
||
|
||
```text
|
||
# These control access to the key/value store.
|
||
key "" {
|
||
policy = "read"
|
||
}
|
||
key "foo/" {
|
||
policy = "write"
|
||
}
|
||
key "foo/private/" {
|
||
policy = "deny"
|
||
}
|
||
|
||
# This controls access to cluster-wide Consul operator information.
|
||
operator = "read"
|
||
```
|
||
|
||
This is equivalent to the following JSON input:
|
||
|
||
```javascript
|
||
{
|
||
"key": {
|
||
"": {
|
||
"policy": "read"
|
||
},
|
||
"foo/": {
|
||
"policy": "write"
|
||
},
|
||
"foo/private/": {
|
||
"policy": "deny"
|
||
}
|
||
},
|
||
"operator": "read"
|
||
}
|
||
```
|
||
|
||
The [ACL API](/api/acl.html) allows either HCL or JSON to be used to define the content
|
||
of the rules section.
|
||
|
||
Here's a sample request using the HCL form:
|
||
|
||
```text
|
||
$ curl \
|
||
--request PUT \
|
||
--data \
|
||
'{
|
||
"Name": "my-app-token",
|
||
"Type": "client",
|
||
"Rules": "key \"\" { policy = \"read\" } key \"foo/\" { policy = \"write\" } key \"foo/private/\" { policy = \"deny\" } operator = \"read\""
|
||
}' https://consul.rocks/v1/acl/create?token=<management token>
|
||
```
|
||
|
||
Here's an equivalent request using the JSON form:
|
||
|
||
```text
|
||
$ curl \
|
||
--request PUT \
|
||
--data \
|
||
'{
|
||
"Name": "my-app-token",
|
||
"Type": "client",
|
||
"Rules": "{\"key\":{\"\":{\"policy\":\"read\"},\"foo/\":{\"policy\":\"write\"},\"foo/private\":{\"policy\":\"deny\"}},\"operator\":\"read\"}"
|
||
}' https://consul.rocks/v1/acl/create?token=<management token>
|
||
```
|
||
|
||
On success, the token ID is returned:
|
||
|
||
```json
|
||
{
|
||
"ID": "adf4238a-882b-9ddc-4a9d-5b6758e4159e"
|
||
}
|
||
```
|
||
|
||
This token ID can then be passed into Consul's HTTP APIs via the `token`
|
||
query string parameter, or the `X-Consul-Token` request header, or Consul's
|
||
CLI commands via the `token` argument, or the `CONSUL_HTTP_TOKEN` environment
|
||
variable.
|
||
|
||
#### Agent Rules
|
||
|
||
The `agent` policy controls access to the utility operations in the [Agent API](/api/agent.html),
|
||
such as join and leave. All of the catalog-related operations are covered by the [`node`](#node-rules)
|
||
and [`service`](#service-rules) policies instead.
|
||
|
||
Agent rules look like this:
|
||
|
||
```text
|
||
agent "" {
|
||
policy = "read"
|
||
}
|
||
agent "foo" {
|
||
policy = "write"
|
||
}
|
||
agent "bar" {
|
||
policy = "deny"
|
||
}
|
||
```
|
||
|
||
Agent rules are keyed by the node name prefix they apply to, using the longest prefix match rule. In
|
||
the example above, the rules allow read-only access to any node name with the empty prefix, allow
|
||
read-write access to any node name that starts with "foo", and deny all access to any node name that
|
||
starts with "bar".
|
||
|
||
Since [Agent API](/api/agent.html) utility operations may be required before an agent is joined to
|
||
a cluster, or during an outage of the Consul servers or ACL datacenter, a special token may be
|
||
configured with [`acl_agent_master_token`](/docs/agent/options.html#acl_agent_master_token) to allow
|
||
write access to these operations even if no ACL resolution capability is available.
|
||
|
||
#### Event Rules
|
||
|
||
The `event` policy controls access to event operations in the [Event API](/api/event.html), such as
|
||
firing events and listing events.
|
||
|
||
Event rules look like this:
|
||
|
||
```text
|
||
event "" {
|
||
policy = "read"
|
||
}
|
||
event "deploy" {
|
||
policy = "write"
|
||
}
|
||
```
|
||
|
||
Event rules are keyed by the event name prefix they apply to, using the longest prefix match rule.
|
||
In the example above, the rules allow read-only access to any event, and firing of any event that
|
||
starts with "deploy".
|
||
|
||
The [`consul exec`](/docs/commands/exec.html) command uses events with the "_rexec" prefix during
|
||
operation, so to enable this feature in a Consul environment with ACLs enabled, you will need to
|
||
give agents a token with access to this event prefix, in addition to configuring
|
||
[`disable_remote_exec`](/docs/agent/options.html#disable_remote_exec) to `false`.
|
||
|
||
#### Key/Value Rules
|
||
|
||
The `key` policy controls access to key/value store operations in the [KV API](/api/kv.html). Key
|
||
rules look like this:
|
||
|
||
```text
|
||
key "" {
|
||
policy = "read"
|
||
}
|
||
key "foo" {
|
||
policy = "write"
|
||
}
|
||
key "bar" {
|
||
policy = "deny"
|
||
}
|
||
```
|
||
|
||
Key rules are keyed by the key name prefix they apply to, using the longest prefix match rule. In
|
||
the example above, the rules allow read-only access to any key name with the empty prefix, allow
|
||
read-write access to any key name that starts with "foo", and deny all access to any key name that
|
||
starts with "bar".
|
||
|
||
#### Keyring Rules
|
||
|
||
The `keyring` policy controls access to keyring operations in the
|
||
[Keyring API](/api/operator/keyring.html).
|
||
|
||
Keyring rules look like this:
|
||
|
||
```text
|
||
keyring = "write"
|
||
```
|
||
|
||
There's only one keyring policy allowed per rule set, and its value is set to one of the policy
|
||
dispositions. In the example above, the keyring may be read and updated.
|
||
|
||
#### Node Rules
|
||
|
||
The `node` policy controls node-level registration and read access to the [Catalog API](/api/catalog.html),
|
||
service discovery with the [Health API](/api/health.html), and filters results in [Agent API](/api/agent.html)
|
||
operations like fetching the list of cluster members.
|
||
|
||
Node rules look like this:
|
||
|
||
```text
|
||
node "" {
|
||
policy = "read"
|
||
}
|
||
node "app" {
|
||
policy = "write"
|
||
}
|
||
node "admin" {
|
||
policy = "deny"
|
||
}
|
||
```
|
||
|
||
Node rules are keyed by the node name prefix they apply to, using the longest prefix match rule. In
|
||
the example above, the rules allow read-only access to any node name with the empty prefix, allow
|
||
read-write access to any node name that starts with "app", and deny all access to any node name that
|
||
starts with "admin".
|
||
|
||
Agents need to be configured with an [`acl_agent_token`](/docs/agent/options.html#acl_agent_token)
|
||
with at least "write" privileges to their own node name in order to register their information with
|
||
the catalog, such as node metadata and tagged addresses. If this is configured incorrectly, the agent
|
||
will print an error to the console when it tries to sync its state with the catalog.
|
||
|
||
Consul's DNS interface is also affected by restrictions on node rules. If the
|
||
[`acl_token`](/docs/agent/options.html#acl_token) used by the agent does not have "read" access to a
|
||
given node, then the DNS interface will return no records when queried for it.
|
||
|
||
When reading from the catalog or retrieving information from the health endpoints, node rules are
|
||
used to filter the results of the query. This allows for configurations where a token has access
|
||
to a given service name, but only on an allowed subset of node names.
|
||
|
||
Node rules come into play when using the [Agent API](/api/agent.html) to register node-level
|
||
checks. The agent will check tokens locally as a check is registered, and Consul also performs
|
||
periodic [anti-entropy](/docs/internals/anti-entropy.html) syncs, which may require an
|
||
ACL token to complete. To accommodate this, Consul provides two methods of configuring ACL tokens
|
||
to use for registration events:
|
||
|
||
1. Using the [acl_token](/docs/agent/options.html#acl_token) configuration
|
||
directive. This allows a single token to be configured globally and used
|
||
during all check registration operations.
|
||
2. Providing an ACL token with service and check definitions at
|
||
registration time. This allows for greater flexibility and enables the use
|
||
of multiple tokens on the same agent. Examples of what this looks like are
|
||
available for both [services](/docs/agent/services.html) and
|
||
[checks](/docs/agent/checks.html). Tokens may also be passed to the
|
||
[HTTP API](/api/index.html) for operations that require them.
|
||
|
||
In addition to ACLs, in Consul 0.9.0 and later, the agent must be configured with
|
||
[`enable_script_checks`](/docs/agent/options.html#_enable_script_checks) set to `true` in order to enable
|
||
script checks.
|
||
|
||
#### Operator Rules
|
||
|
||
The `operator` policy controls access to cluster-level operations in the
|
||
[Operator API](/api/operator.html), other than the [Keyring API](/api/operator/keyring.html).
|
||
|
||
Operator rules look like this:
|
||
|
||
```text
|
||
operator = "read"
|
||
```
|
||
|
||
There's only one operator policy allowed per rule set, and its value is set to one of the policy
|
||
dispositions. In the example above, the token could be used to query the operator endpoints for
|
||
diagnostic purposes but not make any changes.
|
||
|
||
#### Prepared Query Rules
|
||
|
||
The `query` policy controls access to create, update, and delete prepared queries in the
|
||
[Prepared Query API](/api/query.html). Executing queries is subject to `node` and `service`
|
||
policies, as will be explained below.
|
||
|
||
Query rules look like this:
|
||
|
||
```text
|
||
query "" {
|
||
policy = "read"
|
||
}
|
||
query "foo" {
|
||
policy = "write"
|
||
}
|
||
```
|
||
|
||
Query rules are keyed by the query name prefix they apply to, using the longest prefix match rule. In
|
||
the example above, the rules allow read-only access to any query name with the empty prefix, and allow
|
||
read-write access to any query name that starts with "foo". This allows control of the query namespace
|
||
to be delegated based on ACLs.
|
||
|
||
There are a few variations when using ACLs with prepared queries, each of which uses ACLs in one of two
|
||
ways: open, protected by unguessable IDs or closed, managed by ACL policies. These variations are covered
|
||
here, with examples:
|
||
|
||
* Static queries with no `Name` defined are not controlled by any ACL policies.
|
||
These types of queries are meant to be ephemeral and not shared to untrusted
|
||
clients, and they are only reachable if the prepared query ID is known. Since
|
||
these IDs are generated using the same random ID scheme as ACL Tokens, it is
|
||
infeasible to guess them. When listing all prepared queries, only a management
|
||
token will be able to see these types, though clients can read instances for
|
||
which they have an ID. An example use for this type is a query built by a
|
||
startup script, tied to a session, and written to a configuration file for a
|
||
process to use via DNS.
|
||
|
||
* Static queries with a `Name` defined are controlled by the `query` ACL policy.
|
||
Clients are required to have an ACL token with a prefix sufficient to cover
|
||
the name they are trying to manage, with a longest prefix match providing a
|
||
way to define more specific policies. Clients can list or read queries for
|
||
which they have "read" access based on their prefix, and similar they can
|
||
update any queries for which they have "write" access. An example use for
|
||
this type is a query with a well-known name (eg. `prod-master-customer-db`)
|
||
that is used and known by many clients to provide geo-failover behavior for
|
||
a database.
|
||
|
||
* [Template queries](/api/query.html#templates)
|
||
queries work like static queries with a `Name` defined, except that a catch-all
|
||
template with an empty `Name` requires an ACL token that can write to any query
|
||
prefix.
|
||
|
||
When prepared queries are executed via DNS lookups or HTTP requests, the ACL
|
||
checks are run against the service being queried, similar to how ACLs work with
|
||
other service lookups. There are several ways the ACL token is selected for this
|
||
check:
|
||
|
||
* If an ACL Token was captured when the prepared query was defined, it will be
|
||
used to perform the service lookup. This allows queries to be executed by
|
||
clients with lesser or even no ACL Token, so this should be used with care.
|
||
|
||
* If no ACL Token was captured, then the client's ACL Token will be used to
|
||
perform the service lookup.
|
||
|
||
* If no ACL Token was captured and the client has no ACL Token, then the
|
||
anonymous token will be used to perform the service lookup.
|
||
|
||
In the common case, the ACL Token of the invoker is used
|
||
to test the ability to look up a service. If a `Token` was specified when the
|
||
prepared query was created, the behavior changes and now the captured
|
||
ACL Token set by the definer of the query is used when looking up a service.
|
||
|
||
Capturing ACL Tokens is analogous to
|
||
[PostgreSQL’s](http://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/static/sql-createfunction.html)
|
||
`SECURITY DEFINER` attribute which can be set on functions, and using the client's ACL
|
||
Token is similar to the complementary `SECURITY INVOKER` attribute.
|
||
|
||
Prepared queries were originally introduced in Consul 0.6.0, and ACL behavior remained
|
||
unchanged through version 0.6.3, but was then changed to allow better management of the
|
||
prepared query namespace.
|
||
|
||
These differences are outlined in the table below:
|
||
|
||
<table class="table table-bordered table-striped">
|
||
<tr>
|
||
<th>Operation</th>
|
||
<th>Version <= 0.6.3 </th>
|
||
<th>Version > 0.6.3 </th>
|
||
</tr>
|
||
<tr>
|
||
<td>Create static query without `Name`</td>
|
||
<td>The ACL Token used to create the prepared query is checked to make sure it can access the service being queried. This token is captured as the `Token` to use when executing the prepared query.</td>
|
||
<td>No ACL policies are used as long as no `Name` is defined. No `Token` is captured by default unless specifically supplied by the client when creating the query.</td>
|
||
</tr>
|
||
<tr>
|
||
<td>Create static query with `Name`</td>
|
||
<td>The ACL Token used to create the prepared query is checked to make sure it can access the service being queried. This token is captured as the `Token` to use when executing the prepared query.</td>
|
||
<td>The client token's `query` ACL policy is used to determine if the client is allowed to register a query for the given `Name`. No `Token` is captured by default unless specifically supplied by the client when creating the query.</td>
|
||
</tr>
|
||
<tr>
|
||
<td>Manage static query without `Name`</td>
|
||
<td>The ACL Token used to create the query, or a management token must be supplied in order to perform these operations.</td>
|
||
<td>Any client with the ID of the query can perform these operations.</td>
|
||
</tr>
|
||
<tr>
|
||
<td>Manage static query with a `Name`</td>
|
||
<td>The ACL token used to create the query, or a management token must be supplied in order to perform these operations.</td>
|
||
<td>Similar to create, the client token's `query` ACL policy is used to determine if these operations are allowed.</td>
|
||
</tr>
|
||
<tr>
|
||
<td>List queries</td>
|
||
<td>A management token is required to list any queries.</td>
|
||
<td>The client token's `query` ACL policy is used to determine which queries they can see. Only management tokens can see prepared queries without `Name`.</td>
|
||
</tr>
|
||
<tr>
|
||
<td>Execute query</td>
|
||
<td>Since a `Token` is always captured when a query is created, that is used to check access to the service being queried. Any token supplied by the client is ignored.</td>
|
||
<td>The captured token, client's token, or anonymous token is used to filter the results, as described above.</td>
|
||
</tr>
|
||
</table>
|
||
|
||
#### Service Rules
|
||
|
||
The `service` policy controls service-level registration and read access to the [Catalog API](/api/catalog.html)
|
||
and service discovery with the [Health API](/api/health.html).
|
||
|
||
Service rules look like this:
|
||
|
||
```text
|
||
service "" {
|
||
policy = "read"
|
||
}
|
||
service "app" {
|
||
policy = "write"
|
||
}
|
||
service "admin" {
|
||
policy = "deny"
|
||
}
|
||
```
|
||
|
||
Service rules are keyed by the service name prefix they apply to, using the longest prefix match rule. In
|
||
the example above, the rules allow read-only access to any service name with the empty prefix, allow
|
||
read-write access to any service name that starts with "app", and deny all access to any service name that
|
||
starts with "admin".
|
||
|
||
Consul's DNS interface is affected by restrictions on service rules. If the
|
||
[`acl_token`](/docs/agent/options.html#acl_token) used by the agent does not have "read" access to a
|
||
given service, then the DNS interface will return no records when queried for it.
|
||
|
||
When reading from the catalog or retrieving information from the health endpoints, service rules are
|
||
used to filter the results of the query.
|
||
|
||
Service rules come into play when using the [Agent API](/api/agent.html) to register services or
|
||
checks. The agent will check tokens locally as a service or check is registered, and Consul also
|
||
performs periodic [anti-entropy](/docs/internals/anti-entropy.html) syncs, which may require an
|
||
ACL token to complete. To accommodate this, Consul provides two methods of configuring ACL tokens
|
||
to use for registration events:
|
||
|
||
1. Using the [acl_token](/docs/agent/options.html#acl_token) configuration
|
||
directive. This allows a single token to be configured globally and used
|
||
during all service and check registration operations.
|
||
2. Providing an ACL token with service and check definitions at
|
||
registration time. This allows for greater flexibility and enables the use
|
||
of multiple tokens on the same agent. Examples of what this looks like are
|
||
available for both [services](/docs/agent/services.html) and
|
||
[checks](/docs/agent/checks.html). Tokens may also be passed to the
|
||
[HTTP API](/api/index.html) for operations that require them.
|
||
|
||
In addition to ACLs, in Consul 0.9.0 and later, the agent must be configured with
|
||
[`enable_script_checks`](/docs/agent/options.html#_enable_script_checks) set to `true` in order to enable
|
||
script checks.
|
||
|
||
#### Session Rules
|
||
|
||
The `session` policy controls access to [Session API](/api/session.html) operations.
|
||
|
||
Session rules look like this:
|
||
|
||
```text
|
||
session "" {
|
||
policy = "read"
|
||
}
|
||
session "app" {
|
||
policy = "write"
|
||
}
|
||
session "admin" {
|
||
policy = "deny"
|
||
}
|
||
```
|
||
|
||
Session rules are keyed by the node name prefix they apply to, using the longest prefix match rule. In
|
||
the example above, the rules allow read-only access to sessions on node name with the empty prefix, allow
|
||
creating sessions on any node name that starts with "app", and deny all access to any sessions on a node
|
||
name that starts with "admin".
|
||
|
||
## Advanced Topics
|
||
|
||
<a name="replication"></a>
|
||
#### Outages and ACL Replication
|
||
|
||
The Consul ACL system is designed with flexible rules to accommodate for an outage
|
||
of the [`acl_datacenter`](/docs/agent/options.html#acl_datacenter) or networking
|
||
issues preventing access to it. In this case, it may be impossible for
|
||
agents in non-authoritative datacenters to resolve tokens. Consul provides
|
||
a number of configurable [`acl_down_policy`](/docs/agent/options.html#acl_down_policy)
|
||
choices to tune behavior. It is possible to deny or permit all actions or to ignore
|
||
cache TTLs and enter a fail-safe mode. The default is to ignore cache TTLs
|
||
for any previously resolved tokens and to deny any uncached tokens.
|
||
|
||
Consul 0.7 added an ACL Replication capability that can allow non-authoritative
|
||
datacenter agents to resolve even uncached tokens. This is enabled by setting an
|
||
[`acl_replication_token`](/docs/agent/options.html#acl_replication_token) in the
|
||
configuration on the servers in the non-authoritative datacenters. With replication
|
||
enabled, the servers will maintain a replica of the authoritative datacenter's full
|
||
set of ACLs on the non-authoritative servers. The ACL replication token needs to be
|
||
a valid ACL token with management privileges, it can also be the same as the master
|
||
ACL token.
|
||
|
||
Replication occurs with a background process that looks for new ACLs approximately
|
||
every 30 seconds. Replicated changes are written at a rate that's throttled to
|
||
100 updates/second, so it may take several minutes to perform the initial sync of
|
||
a large set of ACLs.
|
||
|
||
If there's a partition or other outage affecting the authoritative datacenter,
|
||
and the [`acl_down_policy`](/docs/agent/options.html#acl_down_policy)
|
||
is set to "extend-cache", tokens will be resolved during the outage using the
|
||
replicated set of ACLs. An [ACL replication status](/api/acl.html#acl_replication_status)
|
||
endpoint is available to monitor the health of the replication process.
|
||
|
||
Locally-resolved ACLs will be cached using the [`acl_ttl`](/docs/agent/options.html#acl_ttl)
|
||
setting of the non-authoritative datacenter, so these entries may persist in the
|
||
cache for up to the TTL, even after the authoritative datacenter comes back online.
|
||
|
||
ACL replication can also be used to migrate ACLs from one datacenter to another
|
||
using a process like this:
|
||
|
||
1. Enable ACL replication in all datacenters to allow continuation of service
|
||
during the migration, and to populate the target datacenter. Verify replication
|
||
is healthy and caught up to the current ACL index in the target datacenter
|
||
using the [ACL replication status](/api/acl.html#acl_replication_status)
|
||
endpoint.
|
||
2. Turn down the old authoritative datacenter servers.
|
||
3. Rolling restart the agents in the target datacenter and change the
|
||
`acl_datacenter` servers to itself. This will automatically turn off
|
||
replication and will enable the datacenter to start acting as the authoritative
|
||
datacenter, using its replicated ACLs from before.
|
||
3. Rolling restart the agents in other datacenters and change their `acl_datacenter`
|
||
configuration to the target datacenter.
|
||
|
||
<a name="version_8_acls"></a>
|
||
#### Complete ACL Coverage in Consul 0.8
|
||
|
||
Consul 0.8 added many more ACL policy types and brought ACL enforcement to Consul
|
||
agents for the first time. To ease the transition to Consul 0.8 for existing ACL
|
||
users, there's a configuration option to disable these new features. To disable
|
||
support for these new ACLs, set the
|
||
[`acl_enforce_version_8`](/docs/agent/options.html#acl_enforce_version_8) configuration
|
||
option to `false` on Consul clients and servers.
|
||
|
||
Here's a summary of the new features:
|
||
|
||
* Agents now check [`node`](#node-rules) and [`service`](#service-rules) ACL policies
|
||
for catalog-related operations in `/v1/agent` endpoints, such as service and check
|
||
registration and health check updates.
|
||
* Agents enforce a new [`agent`](#agent-rules) ACL policy for utility operations in
|
||
`/v1/agent` endpoints, such as joins and leaves.
|
||
* A new [`node`](#node-rules) ACL policy is enforced throughout Consul, providing a
|
||
mechanism to restrict registration and discovery of nodes by name. This also applies
|
||
to service discovery, so provides an additional dimension for controlling access to
|
||
services.
|
||
* A new [`session`](#session-rules) ACL policy controls the ability to create session
|
||
objects by node name.
|
||
* Anonymous prepared queries (non-templates without a `Name`) now require a valid
|
||
session, which ties their creation to the new [`session`](#session-rules) ACL policy.
|
||
* The existing [`event`](#event-rules) ACL policy has been applied to the
|
||
`/v1/event/list` endpoint.
|
||
|
||
Two new configuration options are used once version 8 ACLs are enabled:
|
||
|
||
* [`acl_agent_master_token`](/docs/agent/options.html#acl_agent_master_token) is used as
|
||
a special access token that has `agent` ACL policy `write` privileges on each agent where
|
||
it is configured, as well as `node` ACL policy `read` privileges for all nodes. This token
|
||
should only be used by operators during outages when Consul servers aren't available to
|
||
resolve ACL tokens. Applications should use regular ACL tokens during normal operation.
|
||
* [`acl_agent_token`](/docs/agent/options.html#acl_agent_token) is used internally by
|
||
Consul agents to perform operations to the service catalog when registering themselves
|
||
or sending network coordinates to the servers. This token must at least have `node` ACL
|
||
policy `write` access to the node name it will register as in order to register any
|
||
node-level information like metadata or tagged addresses.
|
||
|
||
Since clients now resolve ACLs locally, the [`acl_down_policy`](/docs/agent/options.html#acl_down_policy)
|
||
now applies to Consul clients as well as Consul servers. This will determine what the
|
||
client will do in the event that the servers are down.
|
||
|
||
Consul clients must have [`acl_datacenter`](/docs/agent/options.html#acl_datacenter) configured
|
||
in order to enable agent-level ACL features. If this is set, the agents will contact the Consul
|
||
servers to determine if ACLs are enabled at the cluster level. If they detect that ACLs are not
|
||
enabled, they will check at most every 2 minutes to see if they have become enabled, and will
|
||
start enforcing ACLs automatically. If an agent has an `acl_datacenter` defined, operators will
|
||
need to use the [`acl_agent_master_token`](/docs/agent/options.html#acl_agent_master_token) to
|
||
perform agent-level operations if the Consul servers aren't present (such as for a manual join
|
||
to the cluster), unless the [`acl_down_policy`](/docs/agent/options.html#acl_down_policy) on the
|
||
agent is set to "allow".
|
||
|
||
Non-server agents do not need to have the
|
||
[`acl_master_token`](/docs/agent/options.html#acl_master_token) configured; it is not
|
||
used by agents in any way.
|