Q: Developers launching new microservices frequently forget to request SSL certificates or submit manual DNS tickets to IT, leading to 'Certificate Expired' or 'NXDOMAIN' outages. How do you automate zero-touch DNS and TLS vending using cert-manager, ExternalDNS, and Let's Encrypt / AWS Private CA?
Automating zero-touch TLS certificate generation and DNS record binding for newly provisioned microservice endpoints.
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🛠️ Production Runbook & Step-by-Step Resolution
Deploy ClusterIssuer with AWS Route53 DNS01 Challenge
Configure a `ClusterIssuer` utilizing Route53 DNS-01 challenges via IAM Roles for Service Accounts (IRSA). This allows issuing wildcard and internal domain certificates without exposing HTTP ports.
apiVersion: cert-manager.io/v1
kind: ClusterIssuer
metadata:
name: letsencrypt-prod
spec:
acme:
server: https://acme-v02.api.letsencrypt.org/directory
email: security@acme.com
privateKeySecretRef: { name: letsencrypt-prod-key }
solvers:
- dns01:
route53:
region: us-east-1
role: arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/cert-manager-route53Configure ExternalDNS for Automated Record Lifecycle
Deploy ExternalDNS with `--source=ingress` and `--provider=aws`. When an Ingress resource is created, ExternalDNS automatically provisions Route53 A/ALIAS records pointing to the Ingress LoadBalancer.
# ExternalDNS Deployment args
- --source=ingress
- --domain-filter=acme.internal
- --provider=aws
- --registry=txt
- --txt-owner-id=eks-platform-prodEmbed Automated Annotations in Golden Path Ingress Template
Provide developers with an Ingress template containing `cert-manager.io/cluster-issuer: letsencrypt-prod` and `external-dns.alpha.kubernetes.io/hostname`. Deploying the chart automatically issues the certificate and maps the DNS record in under 60 seconds.
- Configure cert-manager ClusterIssuers with DNS-01 challenges for automated certificate renewal.
- Deploy ExternalDNS to sync Kubernetes Ingress hostnames to cloud DNS zones automatically.
- Standardize Ingress annotations in Golden Path templates for 60-second zero-touch endpoint provisioning.