Managing Secrets in Production

The jaegertracing/jaeger-lib repository does not explicitly mention a dedicated approach for handling production secrets within the code. Nevertheless, best practices from general Go development and industry standards can be inferred for managing sensitive information.

Environment Variables

A common method to securely manage secrets in Go applications is through the use of environment variables. Secrets such as database connection strings, API keys, and other sensitive data can be stored in the system’s environment.

Example of Accessing Environment Variables

package main

import (
    "fmt"
    "os"
)

func main() {
    dbPassword := os.Getenv("DB_PASSWORD") // Retrieve the database password from environment variables
    if dbPassword == "" {
        fmt.Println("DB_PASSWORD environment variable not set.")
        return
    }
    
    // Use the dbPassword in database connection logic
    fmt.Println("Database password retrieved successfully.")
}

Environment variables can be set in your production environment directly (through cloud services, Docker, etc.) or managed via configuration files that are environment-specific.

Configuration Management Tools

Many organizations utilize configuration management tools such as HashiCorp Vault, AWS Secrets Manager, or similar services to handle secrets safely. These tools provide APIs from which application components can fetch their secrets securely at runtime.

Example with HashiCorp Vault in Go

package main

import (
    "context"
    "fmt"
    "log"

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

func main() {
    vaultClient, err := api.NewClient(api.DefaultConfig())
    if err != nil {
        log.Fatalln(err)
    }

    vaultClient.SetToken("your-vault-token") // Set your Vault token
    secret, err := vaultClient.Logical().Read("secret/mysecret") // Path in Vault
    if err != nil {
        log.Fatalln(err)
    }
    if secret == nil {
        log.Fatalln("No secret found")
    }

    // Use a key from the secret
    fmt.Println(secret.Data["password"]) // Access the password from the secret
}

Secure Code Practices

Using libraries that promote security best practices is crucial. Ensure that error handling does not leak sensitive information:

_, err := someOperation()
if err != nil {
    log.Printf("Error occurred: %v", err) // Avoid logging sensitive data
}

Gopkg.toml and Dependency Management

When managing dependencies, ensure that sensitive configuration related to those dependencies is not hard-coded directly in code bases. Use the Gopkg.toml for version management of libraries securely, without committing sensitive information.

[[constraint]]
  name = "github.com/uber-go/tally"
  version = ">=2.1.0, <4.0.0"

Always ensure that sensitive information such as API keys or database connection strings are set through environment variables or configuration management tools, rather than being directly embedded in your source files or committed to the repository.

Conclusion

The jaegertracing/jaeger-lib does not provide an out-of-the-box mechanism for secret management in production environments. Instead, developers should leverage environment variables, configuration management tools, and secure coding practices to manage secrets effectively. Always adhere to best practices to prevent any potential security vulnerabilities related to secret management.