Certificate key bundle in NetScaler by using the NetScaler Kubernetes Gateway Controller

NetScaler Kubernetes Gateway Controller now supports certificate bundle (certkeybundle) functionality, which is supported on starting from release 14.1 build 21.x. With this functionality, the issue with the certificate chain and the additional handling that is required when two certificates share an intermediate CA are resolved. For more information on certificate key bundle support in NetScaler, see Support for SSL certificate key bundle.

NetScaler Kubernetes Gateway Controller creates a certificate bundle for certificates provided in Gateway Resource.

To enable this feature, a new environment variable CERT_BUNDLE is added in the NetScaler Kubernetes Gateway Controller, which can be set by using the certBundle argument from the Helm Charts. For more information on setting the certBundle, see Helm Charts of NetScaler Kubernetes Gateway Controller. NetScaler Kubernetes Gateway Controller adds the certificate bundle to the content switching virtual server of type SSL.

Certificate Bundle creation in does not work in the following scenarios:

  • A secure back end (service group of type SSL) is configured.
  • Self-signed certificates are present.

Points to note

  1. Certificate bundle creation in fails if the following order is not met:

    • Server certificate (SC) must be placed at the top of the bundle file.

    • IC[1-9] are intermediate certificates. IC[i] is issued by IC[i+1]. The certificates must be placed in a sequence, and all the intermediate certificates must be present in the bundle.

    • Certificates must be of PEM format only.

    • Server certificate key (SCK) can be placed anywhere in the bundle.

    • A maximum of 9 intermediate certificates are supported

  2. If you upgrade the Controllers with the CERT_BUNDLE feature, the previous certificate key bindings get removed and a new certkeybundle gets created. The new certkeybundle gets bound to the context switching virtual server of type SSL.

Certificate key bundle in NetScaler by using the NetScaler Kubernetes Gateway Controller