Security Server Installation Guide for RHEL
Security Server Installation Guide for Red Hat Enterprise Linux
X-ROAD 7
Version: 1.23 Doc. ID: IG-SS-RHEL
Version history
25.10.2018
1.0
Initial version
Petteri Kivimäki
16.11.2018
1.1
Update link to Ubuntu installation guide
Jarkko Hyöty
28.01.2018
1.2
Update port 2080 documentation
Petteri Kivimäki
11.09.2019
1.3
Remove Ubuntu 14.04 from supported platforms
Jarkko Hyöty
12.09.2019
1.4
Add instruction for remote database usage
Ilkka Seppälä
10.10.2019
1.5
Add instructions for binding xroad-proxy to ports 80,443
Jarkko Hyöty
30.04.2020
1.6
Add instructions how to use remote database located in Microsoft Azure
Ilkka Seppälä
12.06.2020
1.7
Update reference data regarding JMX listening ports
Petteri Kivimäki
24.06.2020
1.8
Petteri Kivimäki
24.06.2020
1.9
Petteri Kivimäki
09.08.2020
1.10
Petteri Kivimäki
17.08.2020
1.11
Update for RHEL 8. Document id and name changed.
Jarkko Hyöty
16.09.2020
1.12
Describe deployment options and database customization options.
Ilkka Seppälä
29.09.2020
1.13
Add instructions for creating database structure and roles manually.
Ilkka Seppälä
16.04.2021
1.14
Update remote database installation instructions
Jarkko Hyöty
18.05.2021
1.15
Add error handling section
Ilkka Seppälä
01.07.2021
1.16
Update 3rd party key server
Petteri Kivimäki
11.08.2021
1.17
Add backup encryption information
Petteri Kivimäki
18.08.2021
1.18
Minor updates to Annex D
Ilkka Seppälä
25.08.2021
1.19
Update X-Road references from version 6 to 7
Caro Hautamäki
26.08.2021
1.20
Caro Hautamäki
03.09.2021
1.21
Minor fixes
Ilkka Seppälä
06.09.2021
1.22
Update list of running services
Jarkko Hyöty
23.05.2023
1.23
Minor backup encryption configuration fixes
Eneli Reimets
License
This document is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Table of Contents
1 Introduction
1.1 Target Audience
The intended audience of this Installation Guide are X-Road Security server system administrators responsible for installing and using X-Road software. The daily operation and maintenance of the security server is covered by its User Guide [UG-SS].
The document is intended for readers with a moderate knowledge of Linux server management, computer networks, and the X-Road working principles.
1.2 Terms and abbreviations
See X-Road terms and abbreviations documentation [TA-TERMS].
1.3 References
[UG-SS] X-Road 7. Security Server User Guide. Document ID: UG-SS
[TA-TERMS] X-Road Terms and Abbreviations. Document ID: TA-TERMS.
2 Installation
2.1 Prerequisites to Installation
There are multiple alternatives how the security server can be deployed. The options are described in Annex C Deployment Options.
The security server runs on the following platforms:
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) versions 7 and 8 on a x86-64 platform.
Ubuntu Server 20.04 and 22.04 on a x86-64 platform. See IG-SS for more information.
The software can be installed both on physical and virtualized hardware (of the latter, Xen and Oracle VirtualBox have been tested).
2.2 Reference Data
Note: The information in empty cells should be determined before the server’s installation, by the person performing the installation.
Caution: Data necessary for the functioning of the operating system is not included.
1.0
RHEL (7.3 or newer; 8.0 or newer), x86-64 CPU, 4 GB RAM, 10 GB free disk space
Minimum requirements
1.1
https://artifactory.niis.org/xroad-release-rpm
X-Road package repository
1.2
https://artifactory.niis.org/api/gpg/key/public
1.3
Account name in the user interface
1.4
Inbound ports from external network
Ports for inbound connections from the external network to the security server
TCP 5500
Message exchange between security servers
TCP 5577
Querying of OCSP responses between security servers
1.5
Outbound ports to external network
Ports for outbound connections from the security server to the external network
TCP 5500
Message exchange between security servers
TCP 5577
Querying of OCSP responses between security servers
TCP 4001
Communication with the central server
TCP 80
Downloading global configuration from the central server
TCP 80,443
Most common OCSP and time-stamping services
1.6
Inbound ports from internal network
Ports for inbound connections from the internal network to the security server
TCP 4000
User interface and management REST API (local network). Must not be accessible from the internet!
TCP 8080 (or TCP 80), 8443 (or TCP 443)
Information system access points (in the local network). Must not be accessible from the external network without strong authentication. If open to the external network, IP filtering is strongly recommended.
1.7
Outbound ports to internal network
Ports for inbound connections from the internal network to the security server
TCP 80, 443, other
Producer information system endpoints
TCP 2080
Message exchange between security server and operational data monitoring daemon (by default on localhost)
1.8
Security server internal IP address(es) and hostname(s)
1.9
Security server public IP address, NAT address
It is strongly recommended to protect the security server from unwanted access using a firewall (hardware or software based). The firewall can be applied to both incoming and outgoing connections depending on the security requirements of the environment where the security server is deployed. It is recommended to allow incoming traffic to specific ports only from explicitly defined sources using IP filtering. Special attention should be paid with the firewall configuration since incorrect configuration may leave the security server vulnerable to exploits and attacks.
2.2.1 Network Diagram
The network diagram below provides an example of a basic Security Server setup. Allowing incoming connections from the Monitoring Security Server on ports 5500/tcp and 5577/tcp is necessary for the X-Road Operator to be able to monitor the ecosystem and provide statistics and support for Members.
The table below lists the required connections between different components.
Out
Security Server
Central Server
80, 4001
tcp
Out
Security Server
Management Security Server
5500, 5577
tcp
Out
Security Server
OCSP Service
80 / 443
tcp
Out
Security Server
Timestamping Service
80 / 443
tcp
Out
Security Server
Data Exchange Partner Security Server (Service Producer)
5500, 5577
tcp
Out
Security Server
Producer Information System
80, 443, other
tcp
Target in the internal network
In
Monitoring Security Server
Security Server
5500, 5577
tcp
In
Data Exchange Partner Security Server (Service Consumer)
Security Server
5500, 5577
tcp
In
Consumer Information System
Security Server
8080, 8443
tcp
Source in the internal network
In
Admin
Security Server
4000
tcp
Source in the internal network
2.3 Requirements for the Security Server
Minimum recommended hardware parameters:
the server’s hardware (motherboard, CPU, network interface cards, storage system) must be supported by RHEL in general;
a x86-64 dual-core Intel, AMD or compatible CPU; AES instruction set support is highly recommended;
2 CPU;
4 GB RAM;
10 GB free disk space (OS partition), 20-40 GB free disk space (
/var
partition);a 100 Mbps network interface card.
Requirements to software and settings:
an installed and configured RHEL (v7.3 or newer; 8.0 or newer;) x86-64 operating system;
if the security server is separated from other networks by a firewall and/or NAT, the necessary connections to and from the security server are allowed (reference data: 1.4; 1.5; 1.6; 1.7). The enabling of auxiliary services which are necessary for the functioning and management of the operating system (such as DNS, NTP, and SSH) stay outside the scope of this guide;
if the security server has a private IP address, a corresponding NAT record must be created in the firewall (reference data: 1.9).
2.4 Preparing OS
Set the operating system locale. Add following line to the
/etc/environment
file.Install
yum-utils
, a collection of utilities that integrate with yum to extend its native features.
2.5 Setup Package Repository
Add X-Road package repository (reference data: 1.1) and Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux (EPEL) repository:
The following packages are fetched from EPEL: crudini
, and rlwrap
.
Add the X-Road repository’s signing key to the list of trusted keys (reference data: 1.2):
If you are installing the default setup with local PostgreSQL database and want to enable the messagelog addon, continue at section 2.8. If you need to customize database properties and e.g. use a remote database or disable the messagelog addon, read on.
2.6 Remote Database Setup (optional)
This is an optional step.
Optionally, the security server can use a remote database server. To avoid installing the default local PostgreSQL server during security server installation, install the xroad-database-remote
-package, which will also install the PostgreSQL client and create the xroad
system user and configuration directories (/etc/xroad
).
For the application level backup and restore feature to work correctly, it is important to verify that the local PostgreSQL client has the same or later major version than the remote database server and, if necessary, install a different version of the postgresql
package (see https://www.postgresql.org/download/linux/redhat/)
The security server installer can create the database and users for you, but you need to create a configuration file containing the database administrator credentials.
For advanced setup, e.g. when using separate instances for the different databases, sharing a database with several security servers, or if storing the database administrator password on the security server is not an option, you can create the database users and structure manually as described in Annex D Create Database Structure Manually and then continue to section 2.7. Otherwise, perform the following steps:
Create the property file for database credentials:
Edit /etc/xroad.properties
. See the example below. Replace parameter values with your own.
Note. If Microsoft Azure database for PostgreSQL is used, the connection user needs to be in format username@hostname
.
For additional security, the postgresql.connection.*
properties can be removed from the /etc/xroad.properties
file after installation (keep the other properties added by the installer).
Create the /etc/xroad/db.properties
file
Add the following properties to the /etc/xroad/db.properties
file (replace parameters with your own):
If installing the optional xroad-opmonitor component, also add the following line
Before continuing, test that the connection to the database works, e.g.
2.7 Disable the Messagelog Addon before Installation (optional)
It is possible to preconfigure the Security Server installation so that the messagelog addon will be automatically disabled after the installation process is done. This also skips the creation of the messagelog database.
In order to skip messagelog database creation and disable the messagelog addon, run the following command to create a configuration file before installing the Security Server
2.8 Security Server Installation
Issue the following command to install the security server packages (use package xroad-securityserver-ee
to include configuration specific to Estonia; use package xroad-securityserver-fi
to include configuration specific to Finland; use package xroad-securityserver-is
to include configuration specific to Iceland):
Add system user (reference data: 1.3) whom all roles in the user interface are granted to. Add a new user with the command
User roles are discussed in detail in X-Road Security Server User Guide [UG-SS].
2.8.1 Configure Proxy Ports
This is an optional step. Change xroad-proxy
to use ports 80 and 443.
By default, xroad-proxy
listens for consumer information system connections on ports 8080 (HTTP) and 8443 (HTTPS). To use standard HTTP(S) ports 80 and 443, verify that the ports are free, and make the following modifications:
Edit /etc/xroad/conf.d/local.ini
and add the following properties in the [proxy]
section:
2.8.2 Start Security Server
Once the installation is completed, start the security server
2.9 Post-Installation Checks
The installation is successful if system services are started and the user interface is responding.
Ensure from the command line that X-Road services are in the
running
state (example output follows):Ensure that the security server user interface at https://SECURITYSERVER:4000/ (reference data: 1.8; 1.6) can be opened in a Web browser. To log in, use the account name chosen during the installation (reference data: 1.3). While the user interface is still starting up, the Web browser may display a connection refused -error.
2.10 Installing the Support for Hardware Tokens
Hardware security tokens (smartcard, USB token, Hardware Security Module) have not been tested on RHEL. Therefore, support is not provided.
2.11 Installing the Support for Environmental Monitoring
The support for environmental monitoring functionality on a security server is provided by package xroad-monitor that is installed by default. The package installs and starts the xroad-monitor
process that will gather and make available the monitoring information.
3 Security Server Initial Configuration
During the security server initial configuration, the server’s X-Road membership information and the software token’s PIN are set.
3.1 Prerequisites
Configuring the security server assumes that the security server owner is a member of the X-Road.
3.2 Reference Data
ATTENTION: Reference items 2.1 - 2.3 in the reference data are provided to the security server owner by the X-Road central’s administrator.
The security server code and the software token’s PIN will be determined during the installation at the latest, by the person performing the installation.
2.1
<global configuration anchor file> or <URL>
Global configuration anchor file
2.2
E.g. GOV - government COM - commercial
Member class of the security server's owner
2.3
<security server owner register code>
Member code of the security server's owner
2.4
<choose security server identificator name>
Security server's code
2.5
<choose PIN for software token>
Software token’s PIN
3.3 Configuration
To perform the initial configuration, open the address
in a Web browser (reference data: 1.8; 1.6). To log in, use the account name chosen during the installation (reference data: 1.3).
Upon first log-in, the system asks for the following information.
The global configuration anchor file (reference data: 2.1).
Please verify anchor hash value with the published value.
If the configuration is successfully downloaded, the system asks for the following information.
The security server owner’s member class (reference data: 2.2).
The security server owner’s member code (reference data: 2.3).
If the member class and member code are correctly entered, the system displays the security server owner’s name as registered in the X-Road center.
Security server code (reference data: 2.4), which is chosen by the security server administrator and which has to be unique across all the security servers belonging to the same X-Road member.
Software token’s PIN (reference data: 2.5). The PIN will be used to protect the keys stored in the software token. The PIN must be stored in a secure place, because it will be no longer possible to use or recover the private keys in the token once the PIN has been lost.
3.4 Configuring configuration backup encryption
It is possible to automatically encrypt security server configuration backups. Security server uses The GNU Privacy Guard (https://www.gnupg.org) for backup encryption and verification. Backups are always signed, but backup encryption is initially turned off. To turn encryption on, please override the default configuration in the file /etc/xroad/conf.d/local.ini
, in the [proxy]
section (add or edit this section).
To turn backup encryption on, please change the backup-encryption-enabled
property value to true
. By default, backups are encrypted using security server's backup encryption key. Additional encryption keys can be imported in the /etc/xroad/gpghome keyring and key identifiers listed using the backup-encryption-keyids parameter. It is recommended to set up at least one additional key, otherwise the backups will be unusable in case security server's private key is lost. It is up to security server's administrator to check that keys used are sufficiently strong, there are no automatic checks.
Warning. All keys listed in backup-encryption-keyids must be present in the gpg keyring or backup fails.
All these keys are used to encrypt backups so that ANY of these keys can decrypt the backups. This is useful both for verifying encrypted backups' consistency and decrypting backups in case security server's backup encryption key gets lost for whatever reason.
To externally verify a backup archive's consistency, security server's backup encryption public key has to be exported and imported into external GPG keyring. Note that this can be done only after security server has been initialised - the security server backup encryption key is generated during initialisation.
To export security server's backup encryption public key use the following command:
where AA/GOV/TS1OWNER/TS1
is the security server id.
The key can then be moved to an external host and imported to GPG keyring with the following command:
4 Installation Error handling
4.1 ERROR: Upgrade supported from version X.Y.Z or newer.
The following error message may come up during the security server upgrade.
ERROR: Upgrade supported from version X.Y.Z or newer.
Upgrading the packages from the current version to the target version is not supported directly. The fix is to upgrade the security server to the target version step by step.
For example, the following security server packages are currently installed.
The following packages are available in the repository.
Now trying to upgrade the central server packages directly will produce the following error.
The fix is to upgrade the security server in two separate steps. First, upgrade to 7.1.x with the following command.
An alternative approach to the previous command is to temporarily configure the server to use a repository that contains only the specific version of X-Road software we want to upgrade to. For example, configure the repository as https://artifactory.niis.org/xroad-release-rpm/rhel/7/7.1.0
and then use the yum update xroad-securityserver
command.
Finally, we can upgrade to our target version 7.3.x as follows.
Annex A Security Server Default Database Properties
/etc/xroad/db.properties
Annex B Database Users
serverconf
serverconf
TEMPORARY,CONNECT
The database user used to read/write the serverconf database during application runtime.
serverconf_admin
serverconf
CREATE,TEMPORARY,CONNECT
The database user used to create/update the serverconf schema.
messagelog
messagelog
TEMPORARY,CONNECT
The database user used to read/write the messagelog database during application runtime.
messagelog_admin
messagelog
CREATE,TEMPORARY,CONNECT
The database user used to create/update the messagelog schema.
opmonitor
op-monitor
TEMPORARY,CONNECT
The database user used to read/write the op-monitor database during application runtime.
opmonitor_admin
op-monitor
CREATE,TEMPORARY,CONNECT
The database user used to create/update the op-monitor schema.
postgres
ALL
ALL
PostgreSQL database default superuser.
Annex C Deployment Options
C.1 General
X-Road security server has multiple deployment options. The simplest choice is to have a single security server with local database. This is usually fine for majority of the cases, but there are multiple reasons to tailor the deployment.
C.2 Local Database
The simplest deployment option is to use a single security server with local database. For development and testing purposes there is rarely need for anything else, but for production the requirements may be stricter.
C.3 Remote Database
It is possible to use a remote database with security server. This option is sometimes used in development and testing when there's need to externalize the database state.
Security server supports a variety of cloud databases including AWS RDS and Azure Database for PostgreSQL. This deployment option is useful when doing development in cloud environment, where use of cloud native database is the first choice.
C.4 High Availability Setup
In production systems it's rarely acceptable to have a single point of failure. Security server supports provider side high availability setup via so called internal load balancing mechanism. The setup works so that the same member / member class / member code / subsystem / service code is configured on multiple security servers and X-Road will then route the request to the server that responds the fastest. Note that this deployment option does not provide performance benefits, just redundancy.
C.5 Load Balancing Setup
Busy production systems may need scalable performance in addition to high availability. X-Road supports external load balancing mechanism to address both of these problems simultaneously. A load balancer is added in front of a security server cluster to route the requests based on selected algorithm. This deployment option is extensively documented in [IG-XLB].
C.6 Summary
The following table lists a summary of the security server deployment options and indicates whether they are aimed for development or production use.
Local database
x
Remote database
x
High-availability Setup
x
Load Balancing Setup
x
Annex D Create Database Structure Manually
Depending on installed components, the security server uses one to three databases (catalogs):
serverconf for storing security server configuration (required)
messagelog for storing message records (optional, but installed by default)
op-monitor for operational monitoring data (optional)
These databases can be hosted on one database server (default setup), or you can use several servers.
Login to the database server(s) as the superuser (postgres
by default) to run the commands, e.g.
Run the following commands to create the necessary database structures. If necessary, customize the database and role names to suit your environment (e.g when the same database server is shared between several security server instances, it is necessary to have separate database names and roles for each server). By default, the database, database user, and schema use the same name (e.g. serverconf), and the admin user is named with _admin prefix (e.g. serverconf_admin).
serverconf (required)
messagelog (required by xroad-addon-messagelog)
op-monitor (optional, required by xroad-opmonitor)
If operational monitoring is going to be installed, run additionally the following commands. Again, the database and role names can be customized to suit your environment.
Lastly, customize the database connection properties to match the values used when creating the database.
Note. When using Microsoft Azure PostgreSQL, the user names need to be in format username@hostname
in the properties files.
Create the configuration file /etc/xroad.properties
.
Edit /etc/xroad.properties
and add/update the following properties (if you customized the role names, use your own). The admin users are used to run database migrations during the install and upgrades.
Create the /etc/xroad/db.properties
file
Edit the /etc/xroad/db.properties
file and add/update the following connection properties (if you customized the database, user, and/or role names, use the customized values). The database connection url format is jdbc:postgresql://<database host>:<port>/<database name>
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