To achieve unified identity authentication in multi-cloud cluster access, you need a centralized identity management system that can authenticate users across different cloud environments consistently. This ensures secure and seamless access without requiring multiple logins or separate credentials for each cloud cluster.
Key Approaches:
-
Single Sign-On (SSO) with Identity Providers (IdP)
- Use an IdP like OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect (OIDC), or SAML to centralize authentication.
- Users log in once, and the IdP issues tokens for accessing multiple cloud clusters.
- Example: A company uses Azure AD (or another IdP) to authenticate engineers accessing Kubernetes clusters on different clouds.
-
Federated Identity Management
- Federate identities across clouds by integrating with a central IdP.
- Cloud clusters (e.g., Kubernetes, VMs) trust the IdP for authentication.
- Example: Engineers authenticate via Okta or Tencent Cloud CAM (Cloud Access Management) and access clusters on AWS, GCP, and Tencent Cloud without separate logins.
-
Centralized Kubernetes RBAC with External Identity Sources
- For Kubernetes clusters, integrate RBAC (Role-Based Access Control) with external IdPs like OIDC.
- Example: Configure Tencent Cloud TKE (Tencent Kubernetes Engine) to use CAM or OIDC for unified access control.
-
Service Mesh & API Gateway Authentication
- Use Istio, Linkerd, or API gateways (like Tencent Cloud API Gateway) to enforce authentication at the network layer.
- Example: All multi-cloud API calls pass through a gateway that validates tokens from a central IdP.
Recommended Tencent Cloud Services:
- Tencent Cloud CAM (Cloud Access Management) – Centralized identity and access control for Tencent Cloud resources.
- Tencent Cloud TKE (Tencent Kubernetes Engine) – Supports OIDC for SSO with external IdPs.
- Tencent Cloud API Gateway – Manages authentication for APIs across multi-cloud environments.
By implementing these methods, you ensure that users authenticate once and gain secure access to all cloud clusters seamlessly.