Overview

In helixml/docs, the management of secrets in production is critical for the security and integrity of application components. This page outlines the approaches and patterns used for storing and accessing these secrets safely.

Secrets Storage Strategy

File-based Secrets Management

One common approach is the use of .env files that contain key-value pairs of secrets. This method allows for easy loading of environment-specific configurations.

Example .env file:

DATABASE_URL=mysql://user:password@localhost:3306/db_name
SECRET_API_KEY=your_secret_api_key
JWT_SECRET=your_jwt_secret_key

Loading Secrets

To load the secrets from the .env file, a JavaScript library like dotenv can be utilized. This library makes it simple to access environment variables in Node.js applications.

Example code for loading secrets:

require('dotenv').config();

const dbUrl = process.env.DATABASE_URL;
const apiKey = process.env.SECRET_API_KEY;
const jwtSecret = process.env.JWT_SECRET;

console.log('Database URL:', dbUrl);

Secrets in Environment Variables

While file-based management is useful, environment variables are often preferred in production environments due to security reasons. They eliminate the risk of accidentally exposing secrets in version control.

Setting environment variables can be performed directly in the shell:

export DATABASE_URL=mysql://user:password@localhost:3306/db_name
export SECRET_API_KEY=your_secret_api_key
export JWT_SECRET=your_jwt_secret_key

Subsequently, the application can access these variables without the need for an external library:

const dbUrl = process.env.DATABASE_URL;
const apiKey = process.env.SECRET_API_KEY;
const jwtSecret = process.env.JWT_SECRET;

Secrets Management with Cloud Providers

When utilizing cloud services, there are built-in solutions for secrets management.

AWS Secrets Manager

For AWS users, AWS Secrets Manager can securely store and retrieve secrets.

Example of using AWS SDK to retrieve a secret:

const AWS = require('aws-sdk');
const client = new AWS.SecretsManager();

const getSecret = async (secretName) => {
    try {
        const data = await client.getSecretValue({ SecretId: secretName }).promise();
        if ('SecretString' in data) {
            return data.SecretString;
        }
    } catch (err) {
        console.error(`Error retrieving secret: ${err}`);
    }
};

getSecret('my_secret_name').then(secret => {
    console.log('Retrieved secret:', secret);
});

Azure Key Vault

For Azure environments, Azure Key Vault serves a similar purpose as AWS Secrets Manager.

Example code to retrieve a secret from Azure Key Vault:

const { SecretClient } = require('@azure/keyvault-secrets');
const { DefaultAzureCredential } = require('@azure/identity');

const credential = new DefaultAzureCredential();
const client = new SecretClient('https://<YOUR-KEY-VAULT-NAME>.vault.azure.net', credential);

async function getSecret(secretName) {
    const secret = await client.getSecret(secretName);
    console.log('Retrieved secret:', secret.value);
}

getSecret('my-secret-name');

Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)

Implementing RBAC is essential to ensure that only authorized components can access the secrets. This can be performed using IAM policies in AWS or role assignments in Azure.

Example AWS IAM policy that grants access to a specific secret:

{
    "Version": "2012-10-17",
    "Statement": [
        {
            "Effect": "Allow",
            "Action": "secretsmanager:GetSecretValue",
            "Resource": "arn:aws:secretsmanager:<region>:<account-id>:secret:my_secret_name"
        }
    ]
}

Best Practices

1. Avoid hard-coding secrets: Always keep secrets in environment variables or secure vaults.

2. Restrict permissions: Use the principle of least privilege when granting access to secrets.

3. Use encryption: Ensure that secrets are encrypted at rest and in transit.

4. Regularly rotate secrets: Implement automatic rotation of secrets to enhance security.

5. Audit access: Monitor and log access to secrets for compliance and security reviews.

By following these strategies and practices, helixml/docs provides a robust framework for managing production secrets securely and efficiently.

Source: Guidelines on Production Secrets Management within helixml/docs