diff --git a/cluster/common.sh b/cluster/common.sh
index 6c64946399..0f26e7be44 100755
--- a/cluster/common.sh
+++ b/cluster/common.sh
@@ -663,6 +663,7 @@ MULTIZONE: $(yaml-quote ${MULTIZONE:-})
 NON_MASQUERADE_CIDR: $(yaml-quote ${NON_MASQUERADE_CIDR:-})
 KUBE_UID: $(yaml-quote ${KUBE_UID:-})
 ENABLE_DEFAULT_STORAGE_CLASS: $(yaml-quote ${ENABLE_DEFAULT_STORAGE_CLASS:-})
+ENABLE_APISERVER_BASIC_AUDIT: $(yaml-quote ${ENABLE_APISERVER_BASIC_AUDIT:-})
 EOF
   if [ -n "${KUBELET_PORT:-}" ]; then
     cat >>$file <<EOF
diff --git a/cluster/gce/container-linux/configure-helper.sh b/cluster/gce/container-linux/configure-helper.sh
index de7f9aab69..a37189f1f5 100755
--- a/cluster/gce/container-linux/configure-helper.sh
+++ b/cluster/gce/container-linux/configure-helper.sh
@@ -760,6 +760,7 @@ function remove-salt-config-comments {
 function start-kube-apiserver {
   echo "Start kubernetes api-server"
   prepare-log-file /var/log/kube-apiserver.log
+  prepare-log-file /var/log/kube-apiserver-audit.log
 
   # Calculate variables and assemble the command line.
   local params="${API_SERVER_TEST_LOG_LEVEL:-"--v=2"} ${APISERVER_TEST_ARGS:-} ${CLOUD_CONFIG_OPT}"
@@ -799,6 +800,21 @@ function start-kube-apiserver {
     params+=" --etcd-quorum-read=${ETCD_QUORUM_READ}"
   fi
 
+  if [[ "${ENABLE_APISERVER_BASIC_AUDIT:-}" == "true" ]]; then
+    # We currently only support enabling with a fixed path and with built-in log
+    # rotation "disabled" (large value) so it behaves like kube-apiserver.log.
+    # External log rotation should be set up the same as for kube-apiserver.log.
+    params+=" --audit-log-path=/var/log/kube-apiserver-audit.log"
+    params+=" --audit-log-maxage=0"
+    params+=" --audit-log-maxbackup=0"
+    # Lumberjack doesn't offer any way to disable size-based rotation. It also
+    # has an in-memory counter that doesn't notice if you truncate the file.
+    # 2000000000 (in MiB) is a large number that fits in 31 bits. If the log
+    # grows at 10MiB/s (~30K QPS), it will rotate after ~6 years if apiserver
+    # never restarts. Please manually restart apiserver before this time.
+    params+=" --audit-log-maxsize=2000000000"
+  fi
+
   local admission_controller_config_mount=""
   local admission_controller_config_volume=""
   local image_policy_webhook_config_mount=""
diff --git a/cluster/gce/gci/configure-helper.sh b/cluster/gce/gci/configure-helper.sh
index 4ca94669a5..aa8f52d5c2 100644
--- a/cluster/gce/gci/configure-helper.sh
+++ b/cluster/gce/gci/configure-helper.sh
@@ -817,6 +817,7 @@ function remove-salt-config-comments {
 function start-kube-apiserver {
   echo "Start kubernetes api-server"
   prepare-log-file /var/log/kube-apiserver.log
+  prepare-log-file /var/log/kube-apiserver-audit.log
 
   # Calculate variables and assemble the command line.
   local params="${API_SERVER_TEST_LOG_LEVEL:-"--v=2"} ${APISERVER_TEST_ARGS:-} ${CLOUD_CONFIG_OPT}"
@@ -860,6 +861,21 @@ function start-kube-apiserver {
     params+=" --etcd-quorum-read=${ETCD_QUORUM_READ}"
   fi
 
+  if [[ "${ENABLE_APISERVER_BASIC_AUDIT:-}" == "true" ]]; then
+    # We currently only support enabling with a fixed path and with built-in log
+    # rotation "disabled" (large value) so it behaves like kube-apiserver.log.
+    # External log rotation should be set up the same as for kube-apiserver.log.
+    params+=" --audit-log-path=/var/log/kube-apiserver-audit.log"
+    params+=" --audit-log-maxage=0"
+    params+=" --audit-log-maxbackup=0"
+    # Lumberjack doesn't offer any way to disable size-based rotation. It also
+    # has an in-memory counter that doesn't notice if you truncate the file.
+    # 2000000000 (in MiB) is a large number that fits in 31 bits. If the log
+    # grows at 10MiB/s (~30K QPS), it will rotate after ~6 years if apiserver
+    # never restarts. Please manually restart apiserver before this time.
+    params+=" --audit-log-maxsize=2000000000"
+  fi
+
   local admission_controller_config_mount=""
   local admission_controller_config_volume=""
   local image_policy_webhook_config_mount=""
diff --git a/cluster/gce/trusty/configure-helper.sh b/cluster/gce/trusty/configure-helper.sh
index ce48a7a704..9a4404f6ed 100644
--- a/cluster/gce/trusty/configure-helper.sh
+++ b/cluster/gce/trusty/configure-helper.sh
@@ -573,6 +573,7 @@ remove_salt_config_comments() {
 #   DOCKER_REGISTRY
 start_kube_apiserver() {
   prepare_log_file /var/log/kube-apiserver.log
+  prepare_log_file /var/log/kube-apiserver-audit.log
   # Load the docker image from file.
   echo "Try to load docker image file kube-apiserver.tar"
   timeout 30 docker load -i /home/kubernetes/kube-docker-files/kube-apiserver.tar
@@ -612,6 +613,21 @@ start_kube_apiserver() {
     params="${params} --etcd-quorum-read=${ETCD_QUORUM_READ}"
   fi
 
+  if [[ "${ENABLE_APISERVER_BASIC_AUDIT:-}" == "true" ]]; then
+    # We currently only support enabling with a fixed path and with built-in log
+    # rotation "disabled" (large value) so it behaves like kube-apiserver.log.
+    # External log rotation should be set up the same as for kube-apiserver.log.
+    params="${params} --audit-log-path=/var/log/kube-apiserver-audit.log"
+    params="${params} --audit-log-maxage=0"
+    params="${params} --audit-log-maxbackup=0"
+    # Lumberjack doesn't offer any way to disable size-based rotation. It also
+    # has an in-memory counter that doesn't notice if you truncate the file.
+    # 2000000000 (in MiB) is a large number that fits in 31 bits. If the log
+    # grows at 10MiB/s (~30K QPS), it will rotate after ~6 years if apiserver
+    # never restarts. Please manually restart apiserver before this time.
+    params="${params} --audit-log-maxsize=2000000000"
+  fi
+
   local admission_controller_config_mount=""
   local admission_controller_config_volume=""
   local image_policy_webhook_config_mount=""
diff --git a/cluster/saltbase/salt/kube-apiserver/init.sls b/cluster/saltbase/salt/kube-apiserver/init.sls
index 2be836f7be..f22067b877 100644
--- a/cluster/saltbase/salt/kube-apiserver/init.sls
+++ b/cluster/saltbase/salt/kube-apiserver/init.sls
@@ -31,6 +31,12 @@
     - group: root
     - mode: 644
 
+/var/log/kube-apiserver-audit.log:
+  file.managed:
+    - user: root
+    - group: root
+    - mode: 644
+
 # Copy kube-apiserver manifest to manifests folder for kubelet.
 # Current containervm image by default has both docker and kubelet
 # running. But during cluster creation stage, docker and kubelet
diff --git a/cluster/saltbase/salt/kube-apiserver/kube-apiserver.manifest b/cluster/saltbase/salt/kube-apiserver/kube-apiserver.manifest
index de62d4dbaa..58c1c78cdf 100644
--- a/cluster/saltbase/salt/kube-apiserver/kube-apiserver.manifest
+++ b/cluster/saltbase/salt/kube-apiserver/kube-apiserver.manifest
@@ -170,7 +170,12 @@
   {% set etcd_quorum_read = "--etcd_quorum_read=" + pillar['etcd_quorum_read'] -%}
 {% endif -%}
 
-{% set params = address + " " + storage_backend + " " + etcd_servers + " " + etcd_servers_overrides + " " + cloud_provider + " " + cloud_config + " " + runtime_config + " " + feature_gates + " " + admission_control + " " + max_requests_inflight + " " + target_ram_mb + " " + service_cluster_ip_range + " " + client_ca_file + basic_auth_file + " " + min_request_timeout + " " + enable_garbage_collector + " " + etcd_quorum_read -%}
+{% set audit_log = "" -%}
+{% if pillar['enable_apiserver_basic_audit'] is defined and pillar['enable_apiserver_basic_audit'] in ['true']  -%}
+  {% set audit_log = "--audit-log-path=/var/log/kube-apiserver-audit.log --audit-log-maxage=0 --audit-log-maxbackup=0 --audit-log-maxsize=2000000000" -%}
+{% endif -%}
+
+{% set params = address + " " + storage_backend + " " + etcd_servers + " " + etcd_servers_overrides + " " + cloud_provider + " " + cloud_config + " " + runtime_config + " " + feature_gates + " " + admission_control + " " + max_requests_inflight + " " + target_ram_mb + " " + service_cluster_ip_range + " " + client_ca_file + basic_auth_file + " " + min_request_timeout + " " + enable_garbage_collector + " " + etcd_quorum_read + " " + audit_log -%}
 {% set params = params + " " + cert_file + " " + key_file + " " + kubelet_cert_file + " " + kubelet_key_file + " --secure-port=" + secure_port + token_auth_file + " " + bind_address + " " + log_level + " " + advertise_address  + " " + proxy_ssh_options + authz_mode + abac_policy_file + webhook_authentication_config + webhook_authorization_config + image_review_config -%}
 
 # test_args has to be kept at the end, so they'll overwrite any prior configuration
@@ -235,6 +240,9 @@
         { "name": "logfile",
         "mountPath": "/var/log/kube-apiserver.log",
         "readOnly": false},
+        { "name": "auditlogfile",
+        "mountPath": "/var/log/kube-apiserver-audit.log",
+        "readOnly": false},
         { "name": "etcssl",
         "mountPath": "/etc/ssl",
         "readOnly": true},
@@ -271,6 +279,10 @@
     "hostPath": {
         "path": "/var/log/kube-apiserver.log"}
   },
+  { "name": "auditlogfile",
+    "hostPath": {
+        "path": "/var/log/kube-apiserver-audit.log"}
+  },
   { "name": "etcssl",
     "hostPath": {
         "path": "/etc/ssl"}
diff --git a/cluster/saltbase/salt/logrotate/init.sls b/cluster/saltbase/salt/logrotate/init.sls
index 61ca91486b..6a3a9e1e0a 100644
--- a/cluster/saltbase/salt/logrotate/init.sls
+++ b/cluster/saltbase/salt/logrotate/init.sls
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ logrotate:
   pkg:
     - installed
 
-{% set logrotate_files = ['kube-scheduler', 'kube-proxy', 'kubelet', 'kube-apiserver', 'kube-controller-manager', 'kube-addons', 'docker'] %}
+{% set logrotate_files = ['kube-scheduler', 'kube-proxy', 'kubelet', 'kube-apiserver', 'kube-apiserver-audit', 'kube-controller-manager', 'kube-addons', 'docker'] %}
 {% for file in logrotate_files %}
 /etc/logrotate.d/{{ file }}:
   file:
diff --git a/hack/verify-flags/exceptions.txt b/hack/verify-flags/exceptions.txt
index 8af6cf7862..07d8d593b7 100644
--- a/hack/verify-flags/exceptions.txt
+++ b/hack/verify-flags/exceptions.txt
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ cluster/saltbase/salt/cluster-autoscaler/cluster-autoscaler.manifest:{% set para
 cluster/saltbase/salt/etcd/etcd.manifest:        "value": "{{ pillar.get('storage_backend', 'etcd3') }}"
 cluster/saltbase/salt/etcd/etcd.manifest:{% if pillar.get('storage_backend', 'etcd3') == 'etcd3' -%}
 cluster/saltbase/salt/kube-admission-controls/init.sls:{% if 'LimitRanger' in pillar.get('admission_control', '') %}
-cluster/saltbase/salt/kube-apiserver/kube-apiserver.manifest:{% set params = address + " " + storage_backend + " " + etcd_servers + " " + etcd_servers_overrides + " " + cloud_provider + " " + cloud_config + " " + runtime_config + " " + feature_gates + " " + admission_control + " " + max_requests_inflight + " " + target_ram_mb + " " + service_cluster_ip_range + " " + client_ca_file + basic_auth_file + " " + min_request_timeout + " " + enable_garbage_collector + " " + etcd_quorum_read -%}
+cluster/saltbase/salt/kube-apiserver/kube-apiserver.manifest:{% set params = address + " " + storage_backend + " " + etcd_servers + " " + etcd_servers_overrides + " " + cloud_provider + " " + cloud_config + " " + runtime_config + " " + feature_gates + " " + admission_control + " " + max_requests_inflight + " " + target_ram_mb + " " + service_cluster_ip_range + " " + client_ca_file + basic_auth_file + " " + min_request_timeout + " " + enable_garbage_collector + " " + etcd_quorum_read + " " + audit_log -%}
 cluster/saltbase/salt/kube-controller-manager/kube-controller-manager.manifest:{% if pillar.get('enable_hostpath_provisioner', '').lower() == 'true' -%}
 cluster/saltbase/salt/kube-controller-manager/kube-controller-manager.manifest:{% set params = "--master=127.0.0.1:8080" + " " + cluster_name + " " + cluster_cidr + " " + allocate_node_cidrs + " " + service_cluster_ip_range + " " + terminated_pod_gc + " " + enable_garbage_collector + " " + cloud_provider  + " " + cloud_config + " " + service_account_key + " " + log_level + " " + root_ca_file -%}
 cluster/saltbase/salt/kube-controller-manager/kube-controller-manager.manifest:{% set params = params + " " + feature_gates -%}