Set Up API Authentication
For security, you should only allow authenticated and authorized consumers to access your APIs. API7 Gateway provides several plugins to enable authentication and authorization.
Authentication plugins enabled on services act as locks on your APIs, while consumer credentials serve as the keys to unlock them. In API7 Gateway, you need a unique username and at least one credential to set up a consumer.
Consumers can utilize multiple credentials of different types, all are treated equally for authentication purposes.
Prerequisite(s)
Avoid configuring multiple authentication plugins on the same service/route to prevent conflicts.
Enable Key Authentication for APIs
For a Service
To use key authentication for all routes in a service, enable the Key Auth Plugin on the service.
- Dashboard
- ADC
- Ingress Controller
- Select Published Services of your gateway group from the side navigation bar, then select the service you want to modify, for example,
httpbin
with version1.0.0
. - Select Plugins from the side navigation bar, then click Enable Plugin.
- Search for the
key-auth
plugin, then click Enable. - In the dialog box do the following:
Add the following configuration to the JSON Editor:
{
}Click Enable.
Update the service configuration to use key authentication:
services:
- name: httpbin
upstream:
name: default
scheme: http
nodes:
- host: httpbin.org
port: 80
weight: 100
plugins:
key-auth:
_meta:
disable: false
routes:
- uris:
- /ip
name: get-ip
methods:
- GET
Synchronize the configuration to API7 Enterprise:
adc sync -f adc-consumer.yaml -f adc-service.yaml
ADC uses the configuration files as the single source of truth. So make sure to pass both the consumer and service configuration files to the adc sync
command for both configurations to take effect.
ApisixService custom resource is not yet available.
For a Single Route
- Dashboard
- ADC
- Ingress Controller
To use key authentication for a specific route, enable the Key Auth Plugin on the route instead of the service.
- Select Published Services of your gateway group from the side navigation bar, then select the service you want to modify, for example,
httpbin
with version1.0.0
. - Under the published service, select Routes from the side navigation bar.
- Select your target route, for example,
get-ip
. - In the Plugin field, click Enable Plugin.
- Search for the
key-auth
plugin, then click Enable. - In the dialog box do the following:
Add the following configuration to the JSON Editor:
{
}Click Enable.
Update the route configuration to use key authentication:
services:
- name: httpbin
upstream:
name: default
scheme: http
nodes:
- host: httpbin.org
port: 80
weight: 100
routes:
- uris:
- /ip
name: get-ip
methods:
- GET
plugins:
key-auth:
_meta:
disable: false
Synchronize the configuration to API7 Gateway:
adc sync -f adc-consumer.yaml -f adc-route.yaml
ADC uses the configuration files as the single source of truth. So make sure to pass both the consumer and service configuration files to the adc sync
command for both configurations to take effect.
Create a Kubernetes manifest file for a route, where key authentication is enabled:
apiVersion: apisix.apache.org/v2
kind: ApisixRoute
metadata:
name: get-ip
# namespace: api7 # replace with your namespace
spec:
http:
- name: get-ip
match:
paths:
- /ip
methods:
- GET
backends:
- serviceName: httpbin
servicePort: 80
authentication:
enable: true
type: keyAuth
Apply the configurations to your cluster:
kubectl apply -f httpbin-route.yaml
Validate Key Authentication
Create a consumer with key authentication credentials by following configure key authentication credentials.
Then follow the steps below to validate the key authentication.
- Send a request without the
apikey
header:
curl -i "http://127.0.0.1:9080/ip"
Since the key is not provided, you will receive an HTTP/1.1 401 Unauthorized
response with the following request body:
{"message":"Missing API key found in request"}
- Send a request with a wrong key in the
apikey
header:
curl -i "http://127.0.0.1:9080/ip" -H "apikey: wrongkey"
Since the key is wrong, you will receive an HTTP/1.1 401 Unauthorized
response with the following request body:
{"message":"Invalid API key in request"}
- Send a request with the correct key in the
apikey
header:
curl -i "http://127.0.0.1:9080/ip" -H "apikey: alice-primary-key"
With the correct key in the request, you will receive an HTTP/1.1 200 OK
response.
Enable Basic Authentication for APIs
For a Service
To use basic authentication for all routes in a service, enable the Basic Auth Plugin on the service.
- Dashboard
- ADC
- Ingress Controller
- Select Published Services of your gateway group from the side navigation bar, then select the service you want to modify, for example,
httpbin
with version1.0.0
. - Select Plugins from the side navigation bar, then click Enable Plugin.
- Search for the
basic-auth
plugin, then click Enable. - In the dialog box do the following:
Add the following configuration to the JSON Editor:
{
}Click Enable.
Update the service configuration to use basic authentication:
services:
- name: httpbin
upstream:
name: default
scheme: http
nodes:
- host: httpbin.org
port: 80
weight: 100
plugins:
basic-auth:
_meta:
disable: false
routes:
- uris:
- /ip
name: get-ip
methods:
- GET
Synchronize the configuration to API7 Enterprise:
adc sync -f adc-consumer.yaml -f adc-service.yaml
ADC uses the configuration files as the single source of truth. So make sure to pass both the consumer and service configuration files to the adc sync
command for both configurations to take effect.
ApisixService custom resource is not yet available.
For a Single Route
- Dashboard
- ADC
- Ingress Controller
To use basic authentication for a specific route, enable the Basic Auth Plugin on the route instead of the service.
- Select Published Services of your gateway group from the side navigation bar, then select the service you want to modify, for example,
httpbin
with version1.0.0
. - Under the published service, select Routes from the side navigation bar.
- Select your target route, for example,
get-ip
. - In the Plugin field, click Enable Plugin.
- Search for the
basic-auth
plugin, then click Enable. - In the dialog box do the following:
Add the following configuration to the JSON Editor:
{
}Click Enable.
Update the route configuration to use basic authentication:
services:
- name: httpbin
upstream:
name: default
scheme: http
nodes:
- host: httpbin.org
port: 80
weight: 100
routes:
- uris:
- /ip
name: get-ip
methods:
- GET
plugins:
basic-auth:
_meta:
disable: false
Synchronize the configuration to API7 Gateway:
adc sync -f adc-consumer.yaml -f adc-route.yaml
ADC uses the configuration files as the single source of truth. So make sure to pass both the consumer and service configuration files to the adc sync
command for both configurations to take effect.
Create a Kubernetes manifest file for a route, where basic authentication is enabled:
apiVersion: apisix.apache.org/v2
kind: ApisixRoute
metadata:
name: get-ip
# namespace: api7 # replace with your namespace
spec:
http:
- name: get-ip
match:
paths:
- /ip
methods:
- GET
backends:
- serviceName: httpbin
servicePort: 80
authentication:
enable: true
type: basicAuth
Apply the configurations to your cluster:
kubectl apply -f httpbin-route.yaml
Validate Basic Authentication
Create a consumer with basic authentication credentials by following configure basic authentication credentials.
Follow the steps below to validate the basic authentication.
- Send a request without a basic authentication credential in the header:
curl -i "http://127.0.0.1:9080/ip"
Since the credential is not provided, you will receive an HTTP/1.1 401 Unauthorized
response with the following request body:
{"message":"Missing authorization in request"}
- Send a request with an invalid basic authentication credential(username and password do not match, or username does not exist) in the header:
curl -i "http://127.0.0.1:9080/ip" -u alice:wrong-password
Since the password does not match any consumer credential, you will receive an HTTP/1.1 401 Unauthorized
response with the following request body:
{"message":"Invalid user authorization"}
- Send a request with the correct basic authentication credential:
curl -i "http://127.0.0.1:9080/ip" -u alice:alice-password
With the correct credential in the request, you will receive an HTTP/1.1 200 OK
response.
Enable JWT Authentication for APIs
For a Service
To use JWT authentication for all routes in a service, enable the JWT Auth Plugin on the service.
- Dashboard
- ADC
- Ingress Controller
- Select Published Services of your gateway group from the side navigation bar, then select the service you want to modify, for example,
httpbin
with version1.0.0
. - Select Plugins from the side navigation bar, then click Enable Plugin.
- Search for the
jwt-auth
plugin, then click Enable. - In the dialog box do the following:
Add the following configuration to the JSON Editor:
{
}Click Enable.
Update the service configuration to use basic authentication:
services:
- name: httpbin
upstream:
name: default
scheme: http
nodes:
- host: httpbin.org
port: 80
weight: 100
plugins:
jwt-auth:
_meta:
disable: false
routes:
- uris:
- /ip
name: get-ip
methods:
- GET
Synchronize the configuration to API7 Enterprise:
adc sync -f adc-consumer.yaml -f adc-service.yaml
ADC uses the configuration files as the single source of truth. So make sure to pass both the consumer and service configuration files to the adc sync
command for both configurations to take effect.
ApisixService custom resource is not yet available.
For a Single Route
- Dashboard
- ADC
- Ingress Controller
To use JWT authentication for a specific route, enable the JWT Auth Plugin on the route instead of the service.
- Select Published Services of your gateway group from the side navigation bar, then select the service you want to modify, for example,
httpbin
with version1.0.0
. - Under the published service, select Routes from the side navigation bar.
- Select your target route, for example,
get-ip
. - In the Plugin field, click Enable Plugin.
- Search for the
jwt-auth
plugin, then click Enable. - In the dialog box do the following:
Add the following configuration to the JSON Editor:
{
}Click Enable.
Update the route configuration to use JWT authentication:
services:
- name: httpbin
upstream:
name: default
scheme: http
nodes:
- host: httpbin.org
port: 80
weight: 100
routes:
- uris:
- /ip
name: get-ip
methods:
- GET
plugins:
jwt-auth:
_meta:
disable: false
Synchronize the configuration to API7 Gateway:
adc sync -f adc-consumer.yaml -f adc-route.yaml
ADC uses the configuration files as the single source of truth. So make sure to pass both the consumer and service configuration files to the adc sync
command for both configurations to take effect.
Create a Kubernetes manifest file for a route, where JWT authentication is enabled:
apiVersion: apisix.apache.org/v2
kind: ApisixRoute
metadata:
name: get-ip
# namespace: api7 # replace with your namespace
spec:
http:
- name: get-ip
match:
paths:
- /ip
methods:
- GET
backends:
- serviceName: httpbin
servicePort: 80
authentication:
enable: true
type: jwtAuth
Apply the configurations to your cluster:
kubectl apply -f httpbin-route.yaml
Expose JWT Signing Endpoint
This is a preliminary step to expose the JWT signing endpoint in API7 Enterprise. If you are using symmetric algorithms such as HS256 (default) or HS512 where API7 Enterprise will be both the JWT issuer and validator, this step is mandatory. If you are using asymmetric algorithms such as RS256 or ES256, this step is optional as the issuer and validator can be different parties.
The jwt-auth plugin creates an internal endpoint at /apisix/plugin/jwt/sign to sign JWT. Expose the endpoint with the Public API Plugin:
- Add a published service named
jwt-auth-api
, and a route with namejwt-auth-api
and path/api7/plugin/jwt/sign
- Select Plugins from the side navigation bar, then click Enable Plugin.
- Search for the
public-api
plugin, then click Enable. - In the dialog box do the following:
Add an empty configuration to the JSON Editor:
{
}Click Enable.
Validate JWT Authentication
Create a consumer with JWT credentials by following configure JWT authentication credentials.
Follow the steps below to validate the JWT authentication.
- Send a request without the credential:
curl -i "http://127.0.0.1:9080/ip"
Since the credential is not provided, you will receive an HTTP/1.1 401 Unauthorized
response with the following request body:
{"message":"Missing authorization in request"}
- Get JWT token with
key
from the consumer's JWT credential:
jwt_token=$(curl -s "http://127.0.0.1:9080/apisix/plugin/jwt/sign?key=john-jwt-key") && echo $jwt_token
- Send a request to your API with
jwt_token
in the header:
curl -i "http://127.0.0.1:9080/ip" -H "Authorization: ${jwt_token}"
With the correct credential in the request, you will receive an HTTP/1.1 200 OK
response.
In 30 seconds, the token should expire. Send a request with the same token to verify, you will receive an HTTP/1.1 401 Unauthorized
response with the following request body:
{"message":"failed to verify jwt"}
Enable HMAC Authentication for APIs
For a Service
To use HMAC authentication for all routes in a service, enable the HMAC Auth Plugin on the service.
- Dashboard
- ADC
- Ingress Controller
- Select Published Services of your gateway group from the side navigation bar, then select the service you want to modify, for example,
httpbin
with version1.0.0
. - Select Plugins from the side navigation bar, then click Enable Plugin.
- Search for the
hmac-auth
plugin, then click Enable. - In the dialog box do the following:
Add the following configuration to the JSON Editor:
{
}Click Enable.
Update the service configuration to use HMAC authentication:
services:
- name: httpbin
upstream:
name: default
scheme: http
nodes:
- host: httpbin.org
port: 80
weight: 100
plugins:
jwt-auth:
_meta:
disable: false
routes:
- uris:
- /ip
name: get-ip
methods:
- GET
Synchronize the configuration to API7 Enterprise:
adc sync -f adc-consumer.yaml -f adc-service.yaml
ADC uses the configuration files as the single source of truth. So make sure to pass both the consumer and service configuration files to the adc sync
command for both configurations to take effect.
ApisixService custom resource is not yet available.
For a Single Route
- Dashboard
- ADC
- Ingress Controller
To use HMAC authentication for a specific route, enable the HMAC Auth Plugin on the route instead of the service.
- Select Published Services of your gateway group from the side navigation bar, then select the service you want to modify, for example,
httpbin
with version1.0.0
. - Under the published service, select Routes from the side navigation bar.
- Select your target route, for example,
get-ip
. - In the Plugin field, click Enable Plugin.
- Search for the
hmac-auth
plugin, then click Enable. - In the dialog box do the following:
Add the following configuration to the JSON Editor:
{
}Click Enable.
Update the route configuration to use HMAC authentication:
services:
- name: httpbin
upstream:
name: default
scheme: http
nodes:
- host: httpbin.org
port: 80
weight: 100
routes:
- uris:
- /ip
name: get-ip
methods:
- GET
plugins:
jwt-auth:
_meta:
disable: false
Synchronize the configuration to API7 Gateway:
adc sync -f adc-consumer.yaml -f adc-route.yaml
ADC uses the configuration files as the single source of truth. So make sure to pass both the consumer and service configuration files to the adc sync
command for both configurations to take effect.
Create a Kubernetes manifest file for a route, where HMAC authentication is enabled:
apiVersion: apisix.apache.org/v2
kind: ApisixRoute
metadata:
name: get-ip
# namespace: api7 # replace with your namespace
spec:
http:
- name: get-ip
match:
paths:
- /ip
methods:
- GET
backends:
- serviceName: httpbin
servicePort: 80
authentication:
enable: true
type: hmacAuth
Apply the configurations to your cluster:
kubectl apply -f httpbin-route.yaml
Validate HMAC Authentication
Create a consumer with HMAC credentials by following configure HMAC authentication credentials.
Follow the steps below to validate the HMAC authentication.
- Generate a signature
You can use the below Python snippet or other stack of your choice:
import hmac
import hashlib
import base64
from datetime import datetime, timezone
key_id = "john-key" # key id
secret_key = b"john-hmac-key" # secret key
request_method = "GET" # HTTP method
request_path = "/headers" # route URI
algorithm= "hmac-sha256" # can use other algorithms in allowed_algorithms
# get current datetime in GMT
# note: the signature will become invalid after the clock skew (default 300s)
# you can regenerate the signature after it becomes invalid, or increase the clock
# skew to prolong the validity within the advised security boundary
gmt_time = datetime.now(timezone.utc).strftime('%a, %d %b %Y %H:%M:%S GMT')
# construct the signing string (ordered)
# the date and any subsequent custom headers should be lowercased and separated by a
# single space character, i.e. `<key>:<space><value>`
# https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-cavage-http-signatures-12#section-2.1.6
signing_string = (
f"{key_id}\n"
f"{request_method} {request_path}\n"
f"date: {gmt_time}\n"
)
# create signature
signature = hmac.new(secret_key, signing_string.encode('utf-8'), hashlib.sha256).digest()
signature_base64 = base64.b64encode(signature).decode('utf-8')
# construct the request headers
headers = {
"Date": gmt_time,
"Authorization": (
f'Signature keyId="{key_id}",algorithm="{algorithm}",'
f'headers="@request-target date",'
f'signature="{signature_base64}"'
)
}
# print headers
print(headers)
Run the Script:
python3 hmac-sig-header-gen.py
- Send a request without the headers:
curl -i "http://127.0.0.1:9080/ip"
Since the credential is not provided, you will receive an HTTP/1.1 401 Unauthorized
response with the following request body:
{"message":"Missing authorization in request"}
- Send a request to your API with the headers:
curl -X GET "http://127.0.0.1:9080/ip" \
-H "Date: Fri, 06 Sep 2024 06:41:29 GMT" \
-H 'Authorization: Signature keyId="alice-keyid",algorithm="hmac-sha256",headers="@request-target date",signature="wWfKQvPDr0wHQ4IHdluB4IzeNZcj0bGJs2wvoCOT5rM="'
With the correct credential in the request, you will receive an HTTP/1.1 200 OK
response similar to the following:
{
"headers":{
"Accept": "*/*",
"Authorization": "Signature keyId=\"john-key\",aigorithm=\'hmac-sha256\",headers=\"@reques
t-target date\", signature=\'HtQm1m8kGvnVlztZ59)XokweovFqQN04Ui6P6NfzjRr4=\'"
"Date": "Tue, 24 Sep 2024 10:28:41 GMT",
"Host": "127.0.0.1",
"User-Agent":"curl/8.7.1",
"X-Amzn-Trace-Id": "Root=1-66f29481-7355340a05778cbb21e9b25a",
"X-Consumer-Username": "John",
"X-Credential-Identifier": "4130bb4a-0fdc-461d-be8d-2bba8a1e36dc",
"X-Forwarded-Host": "127.0.0.1"
}
}
Additional Resources
- Key Concepts
- API Consumption