Certificate Management in AKS with Cert-Manager

Learn how to automate SSL/TLS certificate rotation in Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) using Cert-Manager and custom scripts for seamless security.

Automating the rotation of SSL/TLS certificates in an AKS (Azure Kubernetes Service) environment can be achieved through a combination of Kubernetes Secrets, external certificate management tools (like Cert-Manager or Let’s Encrypt), and automation scripts or Kubernetes Jobs/CronJobs.

Here’s a guide to set up automated certificate rotation:

1. Using Cert-Manager for Automated Certificate Management

Cert-Manager is a popular Kubernetes add-on that automates the management and issuance of TLS certificates from various sources, including Let’s Encrypt.

Step 1: Install Cert-Manager

You can install Cert-Manager in your AKS cluster using Helm:

# Add the Jetstack Helm repository
helm repo add jetstack https://charts.jetstack.io

# Update your local Helm chart repository cache
helm repo update

# Install Cert-Manager
kubectl create namespace cert-manager
helm install cert-manager jetstack/cert-manager --namespace…