Kubernetes RBAC Guide

RBAC (Role-Based Access Control) is critical for securing Kubernetes clusters. It controls who can access what resources within the cluster.

RBAC Concepts

• Role: Permissions within a namespace
• ClusterRole: Cluster-wide permissions
• RoleBinding: Connects users to Roles
• ClusterRoleBinding: Connects users to ClusterRoles

Example: Developer Role

apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
kind: Role
metadata:
  namespace: development
  name: developer
rules:
- apiGroups: [""]
  resources: ["pods", "services", "configmaps"]
  verbs: ["get", "list", "watch", "create", "update", "delete"]
- apiGroups: ["apps"]
  resources: ["deployments"]
  verbs: ["get", "list", "watch", "create", "update"]

---
apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
kind: RoleBinding
metadata:
  name: developer-binding
  namespace: development
subjects:
- kind: User
  name: [email protected]
  apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
roleRef:
  kind: Role
  name: developer
  apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io

Read-Only ClusterRole

apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
kind: ClusterRole
metadata:
  name: cluster-viewer
rules:
- apiGroups: [""]
  resources: ["*"]
  verbs: ["get", "list", "watch"]
- apiGroups: ["apps", "extensions"]
  resources: ["*"]
  verbs: ["get", "list", "watch"]

December 2024