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How does credential rotation integrate with automated operations tools?

Credential rotation integrates with automated operations tools by enabling secure, scheduled, or event-driven updates of sensitive credentials (e.g., API keys, passwords, certificates) without manual intervention. This integration ensures credentials remain valid while minimizing the risk of compromise.

How it works:

  1. Scheduled Rotation: Automated tools (like Ansible, Terraform, or custom scripts) trigger credential updates at predefined intervals.
  2. Event-Driven Rotation: Tools rotate credentials in response to events (e.g., a security breach, role change, or expiration).
  3. Secret Management Integration: Tools fetch rotated credentials from secret managers (e.g., Tencent Cloud Secrets Manager) and inject them into applications or services dynamically.
  4. Validation: Post-rotation, automated tests verify the new credentials work before deprecating the old ones.

Example:
A Kubernetes cluster uses Tencent Cloud Secrets Manager to store database passwords. An automated CI/CD pipeline (e.g., Jenkins or GitLab CI) triggers a script to rotate the password daily. The script updates the secret in Tencent Cloud Secrets Manager, then restarts pods with the new credential via a sidecar container or environment variable injection.

Tencent Cloud Services:

  • Tencent Cloud Secrets Manager: Securely stores and rotates credentials automatically.
  • Tencent Cloud CAM (Cloud Access Management): Manages permissions for automated tools accessing secrets.
  • Tencent Cloud API Gateway: Integrates with rotated credentials for secure service-to-service communication.

This approach ensures operational efficiency while maintaining security best practices.