Authentication and Authorization – User Access Control

It gives grounds for access control in ensuring that only authenticated and authorized users can use Kubernetes resources. Authentication verifies the identity of a user, while authorization decides what an authenticated user is allowed to do within the cluster. Kubernetes offers flexibility in authenticating via X509 certificates, OpenID Connect, token-based, and other approaches. Coupled with the verification process, RBAC does offer fine granular control over what users can do, thus helping administrators manage a wide range of permissions efficiently – a subject that will be dealt with in further detail in the following sections.

Let us start with authentication in the next section.

Authentication and User Management

The Kubernetes API server provides RESTful endpoints for managing the Kubernetes cluster and acts as the frontend to the shared state of the cluster. All interactions with the cluster...