---
layout: docs
page_title: Use Vault as a service mesh certificate authority
description: >-
  You can use a Vault PKI secrets engine as the Consul service mesh's certificate authority to secure your service mesh. Learn how to configure the Vault CA as a root CA or an intermediate CA connected to an existing PKI system, and how to manage PKI paths with either Vault or Consul.
---

# Use Vault as a service mesh certificate authority

This page describes the use HashiCorp Vault as the certificate authority for the Consul service mesh.

## Introduction

You can configure Consul to use [Vault](/vault) as the certificate authority (CA) so that Vault can manage and sign certificates distributed to services in the mesh.
The Vault CA provider uses the [Vault PKI secrets engine](/vault/docs/secrets/pki) to generate and sign certificates.
This page describes how configure the Vault CA provider.

> **Tutorial:** Complete the [Vault as Consul Service Mesh Certification Authority](/consul/tutorials/vault-secure/vault-pki-consul-connect-ca) tutorial for hands-on guidance on how to configure Vault as the Consul service mesh certification authority.

## Requirements

- Vault 0.10.3 or higher

~> **Compatibility note:** If you use Vault 1.11.0+ as Consul's service mesh CA, versions of Consul released before Dec 13, 2022 will develop an issue with Consul control plane or service mesh communication ([GH-15525](https://github.com/hashicorp/consul/pull/15525)). Use or upgrade to a [Consul version that includes the fix](https://support.hashicorp.com/hc/en-us/articles/11308460105491#01GMC24E6PPGXMRX8DMT4HZYTW) to avoid this problem.

## Recommendations

- Refer to [Service Mesh Certificate Authority Overview](/consul/docs/secure-mesh/certificate) for important background information about how Consul manages certificates with configurable CA providers.

- For best performance and resiliency, every datacenter should have a Vault cluster local to its Consul cluster.

- If your Consul datacenters are WAN-federated and the secondary datacenter uses Vault Enterprise
  [performance secondaries](/vault/docs/enterprise/replication#performance-replication), we recommend
  configuring [`local`](/vault/docs/enterprise/replication#local) mounts for their [`intermediate_pki_path`](/consul/docs/connect/ca/vault#intermediatepkipath).

## Enable Vault as the CA

You can enable Vault as the CA by configuring Consul to use `"vault"` as the CA provider
and including the required provider configuration options.
You can provide the CA configuration in the server agents' configuration file
or in the body of a `PUT` request to the
[`/connect/ca/configuration`](/consul/api-docs/connect/ca#update-ca-configuration) API endpoint.
Refer to the [Configuration Reference](#configuration-reference) for details about configuration options and for example use cases.

The following example shows the required configurations for a default implementation:

<CodeTabs heading="Service mesh CA configuration" tabs={["Agent configuration", "API"]}>

<CodeBlockConfig filename="/etc/consul.d/config.hcl" highlight="4,6-9">

```hcl
# ...
connect {
  enabled = true
  ca_provider = "vault"
  ca_config {
    address = "http://localhost:8200"
    token = "<vault-token-with-necessary-policy>"
    root_pki_path = "connect-root"
    intermediate_pki_path = "connect-dc1-intermediate"
  }
}
```

</CodeBlockConfig>

<CodeBlockConfig highlight="2,4-7">

```json
{
  "Provider": "vault",
  "Config": {
    "Address": "http://localhost:8200",
    "Token": "<vault-token-with-necessary-policy>",
    "RootPKIPath": "connect-root",
    "IntermediatePKIPath": "connect-dc1-intermediate"
  }
}
```

</CodeBlockConfig>

</CodeTabs>

## Configuration Reference

You can specify the following configuration options.
Note that a configuration option's name may differ between API calls and the agent configuration file.
The first key refers to the option name for use in API calls.
The key after the slash refers to the corresponding option name in the agent configuration file.

- `Address` / `address` (`string: <required>`) - The address of the Vault
  server.

- `Token` / `token` (`string: ""`) - A token for accessing Vault.
  This is write-only and will not be exposed when reading the CA configuration.
  This token must have [proper privileges](#vault-acl-policies) for the PKI
  paths configured. In Consul 1.8.5 and later, if the token has the [renewable](/vault/api-docs/auth/token#renewable)
  flag set, Consul will attempt to renew its lease periodically after half the
  duration has expired.

  !> **Warning:** You must either provide a token or configure an auth method below.

- `AuthMethod` / `auth_method` (`map: nil`) - Vault auth method to use for logging in to Vault.
  Please see [Vault Auth Methods](/vault/docs/auth) for more information
  on how to configure individual auth methods. If auth method is provided, Consul will obtain
  a new token from Vault when the token can no longer be renewed.

   - `Type`/ `type` (`string: ""`) - The type of Vault auth method. Valid options are "approle", "aws", "azure", "gcp", "jwt" and "kubernetes".

   - `MountPath`/ `mount_path` (`string: <AuthMethod.Type>`) - The mount path of the auth method.
      If not provided the auth method type will be used as the mount path.

   - `Params`/`params` (`map: nil`) - The parameters to configure the auth method. The required configuration parameters depend on which auth type you are using. Refer to the Vault Agent auto-auth method documentation for details on their configuration options: [AppRole](/vault/docs/agent-and-proxy/autoauth/methods/approle#configuration), [AWS](/vault/docs/agent-and-proxy/autoauth/methods/aws#configuration), [Azure](/vault/docs/agent-and-proxy/autoauth/methods/azure#configuration), [GCP](/vault/docs/agent-and-proxy/autoauth/methods/gcp#configuration), [JWT](/vault/docs/agent-and-proxy/autoauth/methods/jwt#configuration), [Kubernetes](/vault/docs/agent-and-proxy/autoauth/methods/kubernetes#configuration).

   Only the authentication related fields (for example, JWT's `path` and `role`) are supported. The optional management fields (for example: `remove_jwt_after_reading`) are not supported.

- `RootPKIPath` / `root_pki_path` (`string: <required>`) - The path to
  a PKI secrets engine for the root certificate. Required for primary
  datacenters. Secondary datacenters do not use this path.

  If the path does not
  exist, Consul will mount a new PKI secrets engine at the specified path with the
  `RootCertTTL` value as the root certificate's TTL. If the `RootCertTTL` is not set,
  a [`max_lease_ttl`](/vault/api-docs/system/mounts)
  of 87600 hours, or 10 years is applied by default as of Consul 1.11 and later. Prior to Consul 1.11,
  the root certificate TTL was set to 8760 hour, or 1 year, and was not configurable.
  The root certificate will expire at the end of the specified period.

  To use an intermediate certificate as the primary CA in Consul, initialize the
  `RootPKIPath` in Vault with a PEM bundle. The first certificate in the bundle
  must be the intermediate certificate that Consul will use as the primary CA.
  The last certificate in the bundle must be a root certificate. The bundle
  must contain a valid chain, where each certificate is followed by the certificate
  that authorized it.

- `RootPKINamespace` / `root_pki_namespace` (`string: <optional>`) - The absolute namespace
  that the `RootPKIPath` is in. Setting this parameter overrides the `Namespace` option for the `RootPKIPath`. Introduced in 1.12.3.

- `IntermediatePKIPath` / `intermediate_pki_path` (`string: <required>`) -
  The path to a PKI secrets engine for the generated intermediate certificate.
  This certificate will be signed by the configured root PKI path. If this
  path does not exist, Consul will attempt to mount and configure this
  automatically.

  When WAN federation is enabled, every secondary datacenter that shares a common Vault cluster
  must specify a unique `intermediate_pki_path`. If a Vault cluster is not used by more than one Consul datacenter,
  then you do not need to specify a unique value for the `intermediate_pki_path`. We still recommend using a
  unique `intermediate_pki_path` for each datacenter, however, to improve operational and diagnostic clarity.

- `IntermediatePKINamespace` / `intermediate_pki_namespace` (`string: <optional>`) - The absolute namespace
  that the `IntermediatePKIPath` is in. Setting this parameter overrides the `Namespace` option for the `IntermediatePKIPath`. Introduced in 1.12.3.

- `CAFile` / `ca_file` (`string: ""`) - Specifies an optional path to the CA
  certificate used for Vault communication. If unspecified, this will fallback
  to the default system CA bundle, which varies by OS and version.

- `CAPath` / `ca_path` (`string: ""`) - Specifies an optional path to a folder
  containing CA certificates to be used for Vault communication. If
  unspecified, this will fallback to the default system CA bundle, which
  varies by OS and version.

- `CertFile` / `cert_file` (`string: ""`) - Specifies the path to the
  certificate used for Vault communication. If this is set, then you also need to
  set `key_file`.

- `KeyFile` / `key_file` (`string: ""`) - Specifies the path to the private
  key used for Vault communication. If this is set, then you also need to set
  `cert_file`.

- `TLSServerName` / `tls_server_name` (`string: ""`) - Specifies an optional
  string used to set the SNI host when connecting to Vault via TLS.

- `TLSSkipVerify` / `tls_skip_verify` (`bool: false`) - Specifies if SSL peer
  validation should be enforced.

- `Namespace` / `namespace` (`string: <optional>`) - The Vault Namespace that
  the `Token` and PKI Certificates are a part of. Vault Namespaces are a Vault
  Enterprise feature. Added in Consul 1.11.0

@include 'legacy/http_api_connect_ca_common_options.mdx'

### Root and Intermediate PKI Paths

The Vault CA provider uses two separately configured
[PKI secrets engines](/vault/docs/secrets/pki)
for managing Consul service mesh certificates.

The `RootPKIPath` is the PKI engine for the root certificate.
Consul uses this root certificate to sign the intermediate certificate.
Consul does not attempt to write or modify any data within the root PKI path.

The `IntermediatePKIPath` is the PKI engine used for storing the intermediate
signed with the root certificate. The intermediate signs all leaf
certificates, and Consul may periodically generate new intermediates for
automatic rotation. Therefore, Consul requires write access to this path.

For each path, if the path does not exist, Consul attempts to mount and initialize
a PKI secrets engine at that path. For this operation to succeed,
the provided [Vault token](#token) must have the [required Vault privileges](#vault-acl-policies).
If the path does already exist, Consul uses the PKI secrets engine at that path as configured.

### Configure Vault ACL policies ((#vault-acl-policies))

The Vault CA provider requires a [Vault token](#token) with a specific set of Vault privileges
depending on whether you would prefer to control mount configuration from Vault or to delegate
that responsibility to Consul.

Use [Vault-managed PKI paths](#vault-managed-pki-paths) to obtain the following benefits:
- Enables use of a root CA external to Consul by instantiating the PKI secrets engine at
  [`RootPKIPath`](#rootpkipath) with an intermediate certificate
- Retain full control over PKI mount creation, and over `RootPKIPath` mount configuration

Otherwise, use [Consul-managed PKI paths](#consul-managed-pki-paths) to let Consul fully automate PKI management.

The following sections describe the Vault policy needed for both options.
The policy snippets use placeholder values for `RootPKIPath` and `IntermediatePKIPath`.
Replace them to match the path values in your CA provider configuration.

#### Define a policy for Vault-managed PKI paths ((#vault-managed-pki-paths))

To use Vault-managed PKI paths, you must first instantiate and configure PKI secrets engines at
`RootPKIPath` and `IntermediatePKIPath`.

Then, attach the following Vault ACL policy to the CA provider's
[Vault token](#token) or [auth method](#authmethod):

1. Allow Consul to read both PKI mounts and to manage the intermediate PKI mount configuration:

  <CodeBlockConfig filename="vault-managed-pki-policy.hcl">

  ```hcl
  path "/sys/mounts/<root_pki_path>" {
    capabilities = [ "read" ]
  }

  path "/sys/mounts/<intermediate_pki_path>" {
    capabilities = [ "read" ]
  }

  path "/sys/mounts/<intermediate_pki_path>/tune" {
    capabilities = [ "update" ]
  }
  ```

  </CodeBlockConfig>

1. Allow Consul read-only access to the root PKI engine, to automatically rotate
   intermediate CAs as needed, and full use of the intermediate PKI engine:

  <CodeBlockConfig filename="vault-managed-pki-policy.hcl">

  ```hcl
  path "/<root_pki_path>/" {
    capabilities = [ "read" ]
  }

  path "/<root_pki_path>/root/sign-intermediate" {
    capabilities = [ "update" ]
  }

  path "/<intermediate_pki_path>/*" {
    capabilities = [ "create", "read", "update", "delete", "list" ]
  }
  ```
  </CodeBlockConfig>

1. Allow Consul to renew its Vault token if the token is renewable.
   The rule enables the token to be renewed whether it is provided
   [directly](#token) in the CA provider configuration or presented in an [auth method](#authmethod).

  <CodeBlockConfig filename="vault-managed-pki-policy.hcl">

  ```hcl
  path "auth/token/renew-self" {
    capabilities = [ "update" ]
  }

  path "auth/token/lookup-self" {
    capabilities = [ "read" ]
  }
  ```

  </CodeBlockConfig>

#### Define a policy for Consul-managed PKI paths ((#consul-managed-pki-paths))

To use Consul-managed PKI paths, ensure no PKI secrets engines are mounted at
`RootPKIPath` and `IntermediatePKIPath`.

Then, attach the following Vault ACL policy to the CA provider's
[Vault token](#token) or [auth method](#authmethod):

1. Allow Consul to create and manage both PKI engines:

  <CodeBlockConfig filename="consul-managed-pki-policy.hcl">

  ```hcl
  path "/sys/mounts/<root_pki_path>" {
    capabilities = [ "create", "read", "update", "delete", "list" ]
  }

  path "/sys/mounts/<intermediate_pki_path>" {
    capabilities = [ "create", "read", "update", "delete", "list" ]
  }

  path "/sys/mounts/<intermediate_pki_path>/tune" {
    capabilities = [ "update" ]
  }
  ```
  </CodeBlockConfig>

1. Allow Consul full use of both PKI engines:

  <CodeBlockConfig filename="consul-managed-pki-policy.hcl">

  ```hcl
  path "/<root_pki_path>/*" {
    capabilities = [ "create", "read", "update", "delete", "list" ]
  }

  path "/<intermediate_pki_path>/*" {
    capabilities = [ "create", "read", "update", "delete", "list" ]
  }
  ```

  </CodeBlockConfig>

1. Allow Consul to renew its Vault token if the token is renewable.
   The rule enables the token to be renewed whether it is provided
   [directly](#token) in the CA provider configuration or presented in an [auth method](#authmethod).

  <CodeBlockConfig filename="consul-managed-pki-policy.hcl">

  ```hcl
  path "auth/token/renew-self" {
    capabilities = [ "update" ]
  }

  path "auth/token/lookup-self" {
    capabilities = [ "read" ]
  }
  ```

  </CodeBlockConfig>

#### Additional Vault ACL policies for sensitive operations

Additional Vault permissions are required while you perform the
following CA provider configuration changes:
- Changing the provider from Vault to a different provider, such as Consul's built-in provider
- Changing the `RootPKIPath`

Those configuration modifications trigger a root CA change that requires an
extremely privileged root cross-sign operation.
For that operation to succeed, the CA provider's [Vault token](#token) or
[auth method](#authmethod) must contain the following rule:

<CodeBlockConfig filename="temporary-sensitive-operation-pki-policy.hcl">

```hcl
path "<root_pki_path>/root/sign-self-issued" {
  capabilities = [ "sudo", "update" ]
}
```
</CodeBlockConfig>

We recommend using the following process when performing such a CA provider
configuration change to minimize the time that a privileged Vault token is in use:
1. Create a new Vault token that includes both the `root/sign-self-issued`
   permission and the standard permissions for the current Consul or Vault
   managed PKI paths.
1. Modify the CA provider configuration to use that new Vault token.
1. Perform the CA provider configuration change that triggers the extremely privileged
   root cross-sign operation. If the configuration change maintains Vault
   as the provider but modifies `RootPKIPath`, the configuration change must
   include a Vault token or auth method with standard permissions for the new
   Consul or Vault managed PKI paths.
