38 lines
2.1 KiB
Markdown
38 lines
2.1 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: "TLS Certificates in Multi‑Tenant Kubernetes"
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description: "Isolate TLS certificates in multi‑tenant clusters by keeping Secrets and routes in the same namespace and disabling cross‑namespace look‑ups in Traefik. Read the technical guidelines."
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---
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# TLS Certificates in Multi‑Tenant Kubernetes
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In a shared cluster, different teams can create `Ingress` or `IngressRoute` objects that Traefik consumes.
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Traefik does not support multi-tenancy when using the Kubernetes `Ingress` or `IngressRoute` specifications due to the way TLS certificate management is handled.
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At the core of this limitation is the TLS Store, which holds all the TLS certificates used by Traefik.
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As this Store is global in Traefik, it is shared across all namespaces, meaning any `Ingress` or `IngressRoute` in the cluster can potentially reference or affect TLS configurations intended for other tenants.
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This lack of isolation poses a risk in multi-tenant environments where different teams or applications require strict boundaries between resources, especially around sensitive data like TLS certificates.
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In contrast, the [Kubernetes Gateway API](../providers/kubernetes-gateway.md) provides better primitives for secure multi-tenancy.
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Specifically, the `Listener` resource in the Gateway API allows administrators to explicitly define which Route resources (e.g., `HTTPRoute`) are permitted to bind to which domain names or ports.
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This capability enforces stricter ownership and isolation, making it a safer choice for multi-tenant use cases.
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## Recommended setup
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When strict boundaries are required between resources and teams, we recommend using one Traefik instance per tenant.
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In Kubernetes one way to isolate a tenant is to restrict it to a namespace.
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In that case, the namespace options from the Kubernetes [CRD](../providers/kubernetes-crd.md#namespaces) and [Ingress](../providers/kubernetes-ingress.md#namespaces) providers can be leveraged.
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!!! tip "Dedicate one Traefik instance per tenant using the Helm Chart"
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```yaml
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providers:
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kubernetesCRD:
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namespaces:
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- tenant
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kubernetesIngress:
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namespaces:
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- tenant
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```
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