[Bug]: X5C provisioner is not enabled

[hydratlas]

Steps to Reproduce

sudo apt-get install -y podman &&
if ! id "step-ca" &>/dev/null; then
  sudo useradd --system --no-create-home --user-group --shell /usr/sbin/nologin "step-ca"
fi &&
STEPCA_CONTAINER_DATAPATH="/home/step" &&
PROVISIONER_PASSWORD_FILENAME="provisioner-password" &&
PASSWORD_FILENAME="password" &&
sudo install -o "root" -g "step-ca" -m 775 -d "/opt/step-ca" &&
sudo install -o "step-ca" -g "step-ca" -m 700 -d "/opt/step-ca/secrets" &&
OUT_FILEPATH="/opt/step-ca/secrets/${PROVISIONER_PASSWORD_FILENAME}" &&
sudo -u "step-ca" openssl rand -base64 -out "${OUT_FILEPATH}" 32 &&
sudo chmod 600 "${OUT_FILEPATH}" &&
sudo chown "step-ca:step-ca" "${OUT_FILEPATH}" &&
OUT_FILEPATH="/opt/step-ca/secrets/${PASSWORD_FILENAME}" &&
sudo -u "step-ca" openssl rand -base64 -out "${OUT_FILEPATH}" 32 &&
sudo chmod 600 "${OUT_FILEPATH}" &&
sudo chown "step-ca:step-ca" "${OUT_FILEPATH}" &&
sudo podman run \
  --user "$(id -u step-ca):$(id -g step-ca)" \
  --interactive --tty \
  --userns=keep-id \
  --volume "/opt/step-ca:${STEPCA_CONTAINER_DATAPATH}:Z" \
  docker.io/smallstep/step-ca \
    step ca init \
    --deployment-type="standalone" \
    --name="Private $(hostname)" \
    --dns="$(hostname -A | tr ' ' '\n' | grep -F '.' | paste -sd ',' -),localhost" \
    --address=":8443" \
    --password-file="${STEPCA_CONTAINER_DATAPATH}/secrets/${PASSWORD_FILENAME}" \
    --provisioner="admin" \
    --provisioner-password-file="${STEPCA_CONTAINER_DATAPATH}/secrets/${PROVISIONER_PASSWORD_FILENAME}" \
    --acme \
    --ssh \
    --remote-management &&
sudo podman run \
  --user "$(id -u step-ca):$(id -g step-ca)" \
  --interactive --tty \
  --userns=keep-id \
  --volume "/opt/step-ca:${STEPCA_CONTAINER_DATAPATH}:Z" \
  docker.io/smallstep/step-ca \
    step ca provisioner add x5c-provisioner \
      --type=X5C \
      --x5c-roots "${STEPCA_CONTAINER_DATAPATH}/certs/root_ca.crt" &&
sudo podman run \
  --user "$(id -u step-ca):$(id -g step-ca)" \
  --interactive --tty \
  --userns=keep-id \
  --volume "/opt/step-ca:${STEPCA_CONTAINER_DATAPATH}:Z" \
  docker.io/smallstep/step-ca \
    step version &&
sudo tee "/etc/containers/systemd/step-ca.container" << EOS > /dev/null &&
[Container]
Image=docker.io/smallstep/step-ca
ContainerName=step-ca
AutoUpdate=registry
LogDriver=journald

PublishPort=8443:8443
Volume=/opt/step-ca:${STEPCA_CONTAINER_DATAPATH}:Z
User=$(id -u step-ca)
Group=$(id -g step-ca)
UserNS=keep-id

[Service]
Restart=on-failure

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
EOS
sudo systemctl daemon-reload &&
sudo systemctl start step-ca.service &&
wget --no-check-certificate -O - https://localhost:8443/provisioners

Your Environment

• OS - Ubuntu 24.04
• step-ca Version - Smallstep CLI/0.28.2 (linux/amd64) Release Date: 2024-11-20 19:14 UTC

Expected Behavior

The information displayed at https://localhost:8443/provisioners includes X5C provisioner.

Actual Behavior

The information displayed at https://localhost:8443/provisioners does not include X5C provisioner.

Additional Context

{"provisioners":[{"type":"ACME","name":"acme","options":{"x509":{},"ssh":{}}},{"type":"SSHPOP","name":"sshpop","claims":{"enableSSHCA":true,"disableRenewal":false,"allowRenewalAfterExpiry":false,"disableSmallstepExtensions":false}},{"type":"JWK","name":"admin","key":{"use":"sig","kty":"EC","kid":"kw9de20b1cQCYgdX8-y6LbUyTD1CrISEVcSG06fDsVk","crv":"P-256","alg":"ES256","x":"v5V2DvuKzCxZYtc9TOxRo8bXsCLCpiD2HtX_rTNsVTc","y":"-uSWMw4PjC34uGOTmdynql4356CkzMBxXJXx9D2PmyY"},"encryptedKey":"eyJhbGciOiJQQkVTMi1IUzI1NitBMTI4S1ciLCJjdHkiOiJqd2sranNvbiIsImVuYyI6IkEyNTZHQ00iLCJwMmMiOjYwMDAwMCwicDJzIjoiN0ZPam9HNWdnbnRsZU9sUlhBUVhPQSJ9.BcB3UY2Im1-3SD4rLR-fWipi2rZuGStT8NkgFnuMLc-V2rLnLck7rQ.uMadBxpjeepySQ5_.zQvKbCFiXc1I8STCrwmp1QaI8yU9w7WchupH2pYOoqvQu9Tc-kjtpe0RS2WKf9y7rHuAVEb8zkh43cPtsE3WFrrU9dCmbJ-ivkyCa3kxe-dk1v8fZRzNadIDog6152bPyxULQnIeA0nsUcUurlJ-T4NgS9O49zJjOZTkYYcoxmOJhZ5dsqIFtExradMKMzOJTUm5GgQ-By0FZ9OEvcLmxQWe534Tiyqra67Vr1vZY7Ay0Pg-Udf4EVHhqACP-KtieIBim5HVtJ5BIOWxuc410FuQeuG7EYEnfEaeEswNUn_nkoqaq5iaeioQlGvr9fEI1AeBEQg_sM8gem77Jxo.vojOeMfR3x1xUcG4afoPCA","claims":{"enableSSHCA":true,"disableRenewal":false,"allowRenewalAfterExpiry":false,"disableSmallstepExtensions":false},"options":{"x509":{},"ssh":{}}}],"nextCursor":""}

Contributing

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[hslatman]

Hey @hydratlas,

Have you tried performing the operations manually before scripting them? I suspect the step ca provisioner add x5c-provisioner operation fails because the command is not authenticated. When you run it manually, you'll have to pick an admin provisioner (a JWK by default), use step as the admin username, and provide the JWK password. To use it in an unattended mode, such as using your script, see https://smallstep.com/docs/step-ca/provisioners/index.html#unattended-remote-provisioner-management on how to obtain a certificate to use as authentication.

[hydratlas]

The settings themselves seem to be working fine, because the ca.json file already has the following line. Is this not good enough?

                "provisioners": [
                        {
                                "type": "X5C",
                                "name": "x5c-provisioner",
                                "roots": "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",
                                "claims": {
                                        "enableSSHCA": true,
                                        "disableRenewal": false,
                                        "allowRenewalAfterExpiry": false,
                                        "disableSmallstepExtensions": false
                                },
                                "options": {
                                        "x509": {},
                                        "ssh": {}
                                }
                        }
                ],

[hslatman]

When are those the contents? Because it looks like the X5C provisioner isn't added using remote administration if it ends up in ca.json; it's supposed to exist in the database.

Have you tried running the steps locally, manually; not using your script? Because I still think you're missing the proper authentication for doing remote management.

[hslatman]

Oh, I think I know what's going on:

When you initialize the CA with Remote Management enabled, and then add the X5C provisioner (but without the CA running), it's likely added to the ca.json, whereas with Remote Management enabled all provisioners are only read from the database. So even though the provisioner is listed in ca.json, it will not be returned as an active provisioner.

If you want the X5C provisioner to be added, it has to be added either 1) after the CA is running, or 2) before enabling Remote Management. In the latter case the X5C provisioner will be migrated to the database automatically.

[hydratlas]

Thank you. The problem has been resolved by not using the “--remote-management” option with the “step ca init” command.

[hslatman]

Great 😄

Now, with step-ca running in a container it generally is useful to enable Remote Management, as the container in which step-ca runs is effectively remote. In this case you'll have to do that after adding the X5C provisioner. That is documented here: https://smallstep.com/docs/step-ca/provisioners/#on-an-existing-ca.