Overview

Managing secrets in a production environment is critical for security and operational efficiency. The docker/go-events project handles secrets management using some foundational practices that any production-grade application must consider.

Storing Secrets

Environment Variables

A common approach is utilizing environment variables to store sensitive information such as API keys, database passwords, or any other secret. This method benefits from being easily configurable across different environments. In the Go applications, you can retrieve environment variables using the os package.

package main

import (
    "fmt"
    "os"
)

func main() {
    dbPassword := os.Getenv("DB_PASSWORD")

    if dbPassword == "" {
        fmt.Println("DB_PASSWORD environment variable is not set.")
        return
    }

    fmt.Println("DB_PASSWORD retrieved successfully.")
}

Source: docker/go-events

Configuration Files

Another approach is using configuration files, typically in JSON or YAML formats. Sensitive data should be encrypted or stored in a way that limits access.

Example YAML configuration (config.yaml):

database:
  user: "db_user"
  password: "db_password"
  host: "localhost"

In your Go application, you can use the gopkg.in/yaml.v2 package to read and parse the configuration.

package main

import (
    "fmt"
    "io/ioutil"

    "gopkg.in/yaml.v2"
)

type Config struct {
    Database struct {
        User     string `yaml:"user"`
        Password string `yaml:"password"`
        Host     string `yaml:"host"`
    } `yaml:"database"`
}

func main() {
    cfg := Config{}
    data, err := ioutil.ReadFile("config.yaml")
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }

    err = yaml.Unmarshal(data, &cfg)
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }

    fmt.Println("Database User:", cfg.Database.User)
}

Source: docker/go-events

Managing Secrets

Using Secret Management Tools

For robust secret management, tools like HashiCorp Vault can be employed to securely store and access secrets. The Go application can communicate with Vault to retrieve secrets as necessary.

Example of fetching a secret from Vault:

package main

import (
    "fmt"
    "log"

    "github.com/hashicorp/vault/api"
)

func main() {
    client, err := api.NewClient(api.DefaultConfig())
    if err != nil {
        log.Fatalf("Error creating Vault client: %v", err)
    }

    secret, err := client.Logical().Read("secret/myapp")
    if err != nil {
        log.Fatalf("Error reading secret: %v", err)
    }

    if secret != nil {
        fmt.Println("Secret value:", secret.Data["value"])
    } else {
        fmt.Println("No secret found")
    }
}

Source: docker/go-events

Access Control

Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)

Implementing RBAC ensures that only authorized components of the application can access specific secrets. This can typically be managed through the secret management tool being used (e.g., Vault). Define policies that restrict access based on roles.

Example Policy in Vault:

path "secret/myapp" {
  capabilities = ["read"]
}

Ensure that your application only runs with the required permission level to minimize exposure of sensitive information.

Conclusion

Managing secrets effectively in a production environment is essential to safeguard sensitive data. Utilizing environment variables, encrypted configuration files, secret management tools, and adhering to access control principles ensures that secrets are maintained securely throughout the application’s lifecycle.

Source: docker/go-events