TLS User Authentication

SSL Modes

CCX currently supports connections to MariaDB in two SSL modes:

1. REQUIRED: This mode requires an SSL connection. If a client attempts to connect without SSL, the server rejects the connection.

2. VERIFY_CA: This mode requires an SSL connection and the server must verify the client's certificate against the CA certificates that it has.

CA Certificate

The Certificate Authority (CA) certificate required for VERIFY_CA mode can be downloaded from your datastore on CCX using an API call or through the user interface on page https://{your_ccx_domain}/projects/default/data-stores/{datastore_id}/settings. This certificate is used for the VERIFY_CA SSL mode.

Example Commands

Here are example commands for connecting to the MySQL server using the two supported SSL modes:

1. REQUIRED mode:

mysql --ssl-mode=REQUIRED -u username -p -h hostname

2. VERIFY_CA mode:

mysql --ssl-mode=VERIFY_CA --ssl-ca=ca.pem -u username -p -h hostname

require_secure_transport

This is a MariaDB setting that governs if connections to the datastore are required to use SSL. You can change this setting in CCX in Settings -> DB Parameters

Scenario	Server Parameter Settings	Description
Disable SSL enforcement	require_secure_transport = OFF	This is the default to support legacy applications. If your legacy application doesn't support encrypted connections, you can disable enforcement of encrypted connections by setting require_secure_transport=OFF. However, connections are encrypted unless SSL is disabled on the client. See examples
Enforce SSL	require_secure_transport = ON	This is the recommended configuratuion.

Examples

ssl-mode=DISABLED and require_secure_transport=OFF

mysql -uccxadmin -p -h...  -P3306 ccxdb --ssl-mode=disabled
...
mysql> \s
--------------
...
Connection id:		52
Current database:	ccxdb
Current user:		ccxadmin@...
*SSL:			Not in use*
Current pager:		stdout
...

ssl-mode=PREFERRED and require_secure_transport=OFF

mysql -uccxadmin -p -h...  -P3306 ccxdb --ssl-mode=preferred
...
mysql> \s
--------------
...
Connection id:		52
Current database:	ccxdb
Current user:		ccxadmin@...
SSL:			Cipher in use is TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384
Current pager:		stdout
...

ssl-mode=DISABLED and require_secure_transport=ON

mysql -uccxadmin -p -h...  -P3306 ccxdb --ssl-mode=disabled
mysql: [Warning] Using a password on the command line interface can be insecure.
ERROR 3159 (08004): Connections using insecure transport are prohibited while --require_secure_transport=ON.

ssl-mode=PREFERRED|REQUIRED and require_secure_transport=ON

mysql -uccxadmin -p -h...  -P3306 ccxdb --ssl-mode=preferred|required
mysql> \s
--------------
...
Connection id:		52
Current database:	ccxdb
Current user:		ccxadmin@...
SSL:			Cipher in use is TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384
Current pager:		stdout
...

tls_version

The tls_version is set to the following by default:

Variable_name	Value
tls_version	TLSv1.2,TLSv1.3