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Generate K8s Audit Logs

By default, the Kubernetes cluster does not generate audit log information. Through the following configuration, you can enable the audit log feature of Kubernetes.

Note

In a public cloud environment, it may not be possible to control the output and output path of Kubernetes audit logs.

  1. Prepare the Policy file for the audit log
  2. Configure the API server, and enable audit logs
  3. Reboot and verify

Prepare audit log Policy file

Click to view Policy YAML for audit log
policy.yaml
apiVersion: audit.k8s.io/v1
kind: Policy
# Don't generate audit events for all requests in RequestReceived stage.
omitStages:
  - "ResponseStarted"
  - "RequestReceived"
  - "Panic"
rules:
  # The following requests were manually identified as high-volume and low-risk,
  # so drop them.
  - level: None
    users: ["system:kube-proxy"]
    verbs: ["watch"]
    resources:
      - group: "" # core
        resources: ["endpoints", "services", "services/status"]
  - level: None
    # Ingress controller reads `configmaps/ingress-uid` through the unsecured port.
    # TODO(#46983): Change this to the ingress controller service account.
    users: ["system:unsecured"]
    namespaces: ["kube-system"]
    verbs: ["get"]
    resources:
      - group: "" # core
        resources: ["configmaps"]
  - level: None
    users: ["kubelet"] # legacy kubelet identity
    verbs: ["get"]
    resources:
      - group: "" # core
        resources: ["nodes", "nodes/status"]
  - level: None
    userGroups: ["system:nodes"]
    verbs: ["get"]
    resources:
      - group: "" # core
        resources: ["nodes", "nodes/status"]
  - level: None
    users:
      - system:kube-controller-manager
      - system:kube-scheduler
      - system:serviceaccount:kube-system:endpoint-controller
    verbs: ["get", "update"]
    namespaces: ["kube-system"]
    resources:
      - group: "" # core
        resources: ["endpoints"]
  - level: None
    users: ["system:apiserver"]
    verbs: ["get"]
    resources:
      - group: "" # core
        resources: ["namespaces", "namespaces/status", "namespaces/finalize"]
  # Don't log HPA fetching metrics.
  - level: None
    users:
      - system:kube-controller-manager
    verbs: ["get", "list"]
    resources:
      - group: "metrics.k8s.io"
  # Don't log these read-only URLs.
  - level: None
    nonResourceURLs:
      - /healthz*
      - /version
      - /swagger*
  # Don't log events requests.
  - level: None
    resources:
      - group: "" # core
        resources: ["events"]

  # new start
  # Ignore all APIs accessing non-authenticated ports, usually system components such as Kube-Controller
  - level: None
    users: ["system:unsecured"]

  # Ignore audit log from kube-admin
  - level: None
    users: ["kube-admin"]
  # Ignore all APIs to update resource status
  - level: None
    resources:
    - group: "" # core
      resources: ["events", "nodes/status", "pods/status", "services/status"]
    - group: "authorization.k8s.io"
      resources: ["selfsubjectrulesreviews"]
  # Ignore leases need add
  - level: None
    resources:
    - group: "coordination.k8s.io"
      resources: ["leases"]
  - level: Request
    verbs: ["create", "update", "patch", "delete"]
    users: ["kube-admin"]
  #new end

  # Secrets, ConfigMaps, and TokenReviews can contain sensitive & binary data,
  # so only log at the Metadata level.
  - level: Metadata
    resources:
      - group: "" # core
        resources: ["secrets", "configmaps"]
      - group: authentication.k8s.io
        resources: ["tokenreviews"]
    omitStages:
      - "RequestReceived"
  # Get responses can be large; skip them.
  - level: Request
    verbs: ["get", "list", "watch"]
    resources:
      - group: "" # core
      - group: "admissionregistration.k8s.io"
      - group: "apiextensions.k8s.io"
      - group: "apiregistration.k8s.io"
      - group: "apps"
      - group: "authentication.k8s.io"
      - group: "authorization.k8s.io"
      - group: "autoscaling"
      - group: "batch"
      - group: "certificates.k8s.io"
      - group: "extensions"
      - group: "metrics.k8s.io"
      - group: "networking.k8s.io"
      - group: "policy"
      - group: "rbac.authorization.k8s.io"
      - group: "settings.k8s.io"
      - group: "storage.k8s.io"
    omitStages:
      - "RequestReceived"
  # Default level for known APIs
  - level: RequestResponse
    resources:
      - group: "" # core
      - group: "admissionregistration.k8s.io"
      - group: "apiextensions.k8s.io"
      - group: "apiregistration.k8s.io"
      - group: "apps"
      - group: "authentication.k8s.io"
      - group: "authorization.k8s.io"
      - group: "autoscaling"
      - group: "batch"
      - group: "certificates.k8s.io"
      - group: "extensions"
      - group: "metrics.k8s.io"
      - group: "networking.k8s.io"
      - group: "policy"
      - group: "rbac.authorization.k8s.io"
      - group: "settings.k8s.io"
      - group: "storage.k8s.io"
    omitStages:
      - "RequestReceived"
  # Default level for all other requests.
  - level: Metadata
    omitStages:
      - "RequestReceived"

Put the above audit log file in /etc/kubernetes/audit-policy/ folder, and name it apiserver-audit-policy.yaml .

Configure the API server

Open the configuration file kube-apiserver.yaml of the API server, usually in the /etc/kubernetes/manifests/ folder, and add the following configuration information:

Please back up kube-apiserver.yaml before this step. The backup file cannot be placed in the /etc/kubernetes/manifests/ , and it is recommended to put it in the /etc/kubernetes/tmp .

  1. Add the command under spec.containers.command :

    --audit-log-maxage=30
--audit-log-maxbackup=1
--audit-log-maxsize=100
--audit-log-path=/var/log/audit/kube-apiserver-audit.log
--audit-policy-file=/etc/kubernetes/audit-policy/apiserver-audit-policy.yaml

  2. Add the command under spec.containers.volumeMounts :

    - mountPath: /var/log/audit
  name: audit-logs
- mountPath: /etc/kubernetes/audit-policy
  name: audit-policy

  3. Add the command under spec.volumes :

    - hostPath:
  path: /var/log/kubernetes/audit
  type: ""
  name: audit-logs
- hostPath:
  path: /etc/kubernetes/audit-policy
  type: ""
  name: audit-policy

Test and verify

After a while, the API server will automatically restart, and run the following command to check whether there is an audit log generated in the /var/log/kubernetes/audit directory. If so, it means that the K8s audit log is successfully enabled.

ls /var/log/kubernetes/audit

If you want to close it, just remove the relevant commands in spec.containers.command .

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