OpenSearch/docs/en/security/authentication/pki-realm.asciidoc

[[pki-realm]]
=== PKI User Authentication

You can configure {security} to use Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) certificates
to authenticate users. This requires clients to present X.509 certificates. To
use PKI, you configure a PKI realm, enable client authentication on the desired
network layers (transport or http), and map the Distinguished Names (DNs) from
the user certificates to {security} roles in the <<mapping-roles, role mapping file>>.

You can also use a combination of PKI and username/password authentication. For
example, you can enable SSL/TLS on the transport layer and define a PKI realm to
require transport clients to authenticate with X.509 certificates, while still
authenticating HTTP traffic using username and password credentials. You can also set
`xpack.security.transport.ssl.client_authentication` to `optional` to allow clients without
certificates to authenticate with other credentials.

IMPORTANT:  You must enable SSL/TLS and enabled client authentication to use PKI.
            For more information, see <<ssl-tls, Setting Up SSL/TLS on a Cluster>>.

==== PKI Realm Configuration

Like other realms, you configure options for a `pki` realm under the
`xpack.security.authc.realms` namespace in `elasticsearch.yml`.

To configure `pki` realm:

. Add a realm configuration of type `pki` to `elasticsearch.yml` under the
`xpack.security.authc.realms` namespace. At a minimum, you must set the realm `type` to
`pki`. If you are configuring multiple realms, you should also explicitly set
the `order` attribute. See <<pki-settings>> for all of the options you can set
for a `pki` realm.
+
For example, the following snippet shows the most basic `pki` realm configuration:
+
[source, yaml]
------------------------------------------------------------
xpack:
  security:
    authc:
      realms:
        pki1:
          type: pki
------------------------------------------------------------
+
With this configuration, any certificate trusted by the SSL/TLS layer is accepted
for authentication. The username is the common name (CN) extracted from the DN
of the certificate.
+
IMPORTANT: When you configure realms in `elasticsearch.yml`, only the 
realms you specify are used for authentication. If you also want to use the 
`native` or `file` realms, you must include them in the realm chain. 
+
If you want to use something other than the CN of the DN as the username, you
can specify a regex to extract the desired username. For example, the regex in
the following configuration extracts the email address from the DN:
+
[source, yaml]
------------------------------------------------------------
xpack:
  security:
    authc:
      realms:
        pki1:
          type: pki
          username_pattern: "EMAILADDRESS=(.*?)(?:,|$)"
------------------------------------------------------------
+
You can also specify which truststore to use for authentication. This is useful
when the SSL/TLS layer trusts clients with certificates that are signed by a
different CA than the one that signs your users' certificates. To specify the
location of the truststore, specify the `truststore.path` option:
+
[source, yaml]
------------------------------------------------------------
xpack:
  security:
    authc:
      realms:
        pki1:
          type: pki
          truststore:
            path: "/path/to/pki_truststore.jks"
            password: "changeme"
------------------------------------------------------------

. Restart Elasticsearch.

[[pki-settings]]
===== PKI Realm Settings

[cols="4,^3,10"]
|=======================
| Setting                 | Required  | Description
| `type`                  | yes       | Indicates the realm type. Must be set to `pki`.
| `order`                 | no        | Indicates the priority of this realm within the realm
                                        chain. Realms with a lower order are consulted first.
                                        Although not required, we recommend explicitly
                                        setting this value when you configure multiple realms.
                                        Defaults to `Integer.MAX_VALUE`.
| `enabled`               | no        | Indicates whether this realm is enabled or disabled.
                                        Enables you to disable a realm without removing its
                                        configuration. Defaults to `true`.
| `username_pattern`      | no        | Specifies the regular expression pattern used to extract
                                        the username from the certificate DN. The first match
                                        group is used as the username. Defaults to `CN=(.*?)(?:,\|$)`.
| `truststore.path`       | no        | The path to the truststore. Defaults to the path
                                        defined by <<ssl-tls-settings,SSL/TLS settings>>.
| `truststore.password`   | no/yes    | Specifies the password for the truststore. Must be
                                        provided if `truststore.path` is set.
| `truststore.algorithm`  | no        | Specifies the algorithm used for the truststore.
                                        Defaults to `SunX509`.
| `files.role_mapping`    | no        | Specifies the <<security-files-location,location>>
                                        for the <<pki-role-mapping, YAML role mapping configuration file>>.
                                        Defaults to `CONFIG_DIR/x-pack/role_mapping.yml`.
|=======================

[[assigning-roles-pki]]
==== Mapping Roles for PKI Users

You map roles for PKI users in the role mapping file stored on each node. You
identify a user by the distinguished name in their certificate. For example, the
following mapping configuration maps `John Doe` to the `user` role:

[source, yaml]
------------------------------------------------------------
user: <1>
  - "cn=John Doe,ou=example,o=com" <2>
------------------------------------------------------------
<1> The name of a role.
<2> The distinguished name (DN) of a PKI user.

For more information, see <<mapping-roles, Mapping Users and Groups to Roles>>.