This topic describes how to list and rotate TLS certificates for Kubernetes clusters provisioned by VMware Tanzu Kubernetes Grid Integrated Edition (TKGI).
You can use the TKGI CLI to rotate the certificates for the NSX-T load balancer and the certificate for the NSX-T Principal Identity for the NSX Manager for the specified Kubernetes cluster provisioned by TKGI. To rotate other cluster certificates using the TKGI CLI, see Rotate Kubernetes Cluster Certificates.
WARNING: During NSX-T TLS certificate rotation, the system will update the Principal Identity certificate to access the NSX Manager API (for the specified TKGI cluster instance). The rotation process will impact network related operations (for the specified TKGI cluster instance), but will not impact existing cluster workloads.
To list the TLS certificates created for a TKGI-provisioned Kubernetes cluster:
Run the following:
tkgi certificates CLUSTER-NAME -d EXPIRATION-WINDOW
Where:
CLUSTER-NAME
is the name of your cluster.EXPIRATION-WINDOW
is the expiration range for the listed certificates. The listed certificates will expire within the designated number of days.The returned list of certificates includes TLS certificates used by TKGI for the specified cluster and the certificates named tls-nsx-lb
and tls-nsx-t
, which are used for NSX-T.
For example:
tkgi certificates tkgi-cluster-01 -d 10000
NAME Type Days Left Valid until
/p-bosh/service-instance_62e2a43a-dc2a-47a8-a361-3911589e60aa/tls-nsx-lb Leaf 1803 2025-12-14T06:47:46Z
/p-bosh/service-instance_62e2a43a-dc2a-47a8-a361-3911589e60aa/tls-nsx-kube-proxy-2018 Leaf 1439 2024-12-15T06:47:41Z
/p-bosh/service-instance_62e2a43a-dc2a-47a8-a361-3911589e60aa/tls-ncp-2018 Leaf 1439 2024-12-15T06:47:41Z
/p-bosh/service-instance_62e2a43a-dc2a-47a8-a361-3911589e60aa/tls-nsx-t Leaf 708 2022-12-15T06:47:40Z
/p-bosh/service-instance_62e2a43a-dc2a-47a8-a361-3911589e60aa/tls-kube-controller-manager-2018 Leaf 1439 2024-12-15T06:47:40Z
/p-bosh/service-instance_62e2a43a-dc2a-47a8-a361-3911589e60aa/tls-metrics-server-2018 Leaf 1439 2024-12-15T06:47:39Z
/p-bosh/service-instance_62e2a43a-dc2a-47a8-a361-3911589e60aa/tls-etcdctl-flanneld-2018-2 Leaf 1439 2024-12-15T06:47:39Z
/p-bosh/service-instance_62e2a43a-dc2a-47a8-a361-3911589e60aa/tls-etcdctl-root-2018-2 Leaf 1439 2024-12-15T06:47:38Z
/p-bosh/service-instance_62e2a43a-dc2a-47a8-a361-3911589e60aa/tls-etcdctl-2018-2 Leaf 1439 2024-12-15T06:47:37Z
/p-bosh/service-instance_62e2a43a-dc2a-47a8-a361-3911589e60aa/tls-etcd-2018-2 Leaf 1439 2024-12-15T06:47:36Z
/p-bosh/service-instance_62e2a43a-dc2a-47a8-a361-3911589e60aa/tls-kubelet-client-2018 Leaf 1439 2024-12-15T06:47:36Z
/p-bosh/service-instance_62e2a43a-dc2a-47a8-a361-3911589e60aa/tls-kubelet-2018 Leaf 1439 2024-12-15T06:47:35Z
/p-bosh/service-instance_62e2a43a-dc2a-47a8-a361-3911589e60aa/etcd_ca_2018 Root 1439 2024-12-15T06:47:35Z
/p-bosh/service-instance_62e2a43a-dc2a-47a8-a361-3911589e60aa/tls-kubernetes-2018 Leaf 1439 2024-12-15T06:47:34Z
/p-bosh/service-instance_62e2a43a-dc2a-47a8-a361-3911589e60aa/monitoring-metric-cert Leaf 1439 2024-12-15T06:47:34Z
/p-bosh/service-instance_62e2a43a-dc2a-47a8-a361-3911589e60aa/kubo_ca_2018 Root 1439 2024-12-15T06:47:34Z
To rotate the TLS certificates for NSX-T:
To skip SSL verification during the certificate rotation, you must first deactivate SSL verification on the TKGI tile. For more information, see the Disable SSL certification verification configuration instructions in Networking.
Run the following:
tkgi rotate-certs | rotate-certificates CLUSTER-NAME [flags]
Where CLUSTER-NAME
is the name of your cluster.
Flags:
--all Rotate all certs, not implemented yet, will be available in future releases.
-h, --help help for rotate-certs
--json Return the PKS-API output as json
--non-interactive Don't ask for user input
--only-nsx Rotate the tls-nsx-lb and tls-nsx-t certificates.
--wait Wait for the operation to finish
For example:
tkgi rotate-certs tkgi-cluster-01 --only-nsx
You are about to rotate nsx related certificates for cluster tkgi-cluster-01. This operation requires bosh deployment, and will take a significant time. Are you sure you want to continue? (y/n):
WARNING: Rotate cluster certificates only on a TKGI cluster that has been upgraded to the current TKGI version. For more information, see Tasks Supported Following a TKGI Control Plane Upgrade in About Tanzu Kubernetes Grid Integrated Edition Upgrades.
If running tkgi rotate-certs
fails to rotate the certificates, you must manually rotate the certificates. To manually rotate certificates, see How to rotate Tanzu Kubernetes Grid Integrated Edition tls-nsx-t cluster certificate in the VMware Tanzu Knowledge Base.
For more information, see Rotate Kubernetes Cluster Certificates.