Skip to main content

Creating authentication keys in ONTAP 9.5 and earlier

You can use the security key-manager create-key command to create the authentication keys for a node and store them on the configured KMIP servers.

Before you begin

You must be a cluster administrator to perform this task.

About this task

If your security setup requires you to use different keys for data authentication and FIPS 140-2 authentication, you should create a separate key for each. If that is not the case, you can use the same authentication key for FIPS compliance that you use for data access.

ONTAP creates authentication keys for all nodes in the cluster.

  • This command is not supported when onboard key management is enabled.

  • You receive a warning if the configured key management servers are already storing more than 128 authentication keys.

    You can use the key management server software to delete any unused keys, then run the command again.

  1. Create the authentication keys for cluster nodes: security key-manager create-key

    For complete command syntax, see the man page for the command.
    Note
    The key ID displayed in the output is an identifier used to refer to the authentication key. It is not the actual authentication key or the data encryption key.

    Example

    The following example creates the authentication keys for cluster1 :

    cluster1::> security key-manager create-key 
    (security key-manager create-key)
    Verifying requirements...

    Node: node1
    Creating authentication key...
    Authentication key creation successful.
    Key ID: F1CB30AFF1CB30B00101000000000000A68B167F92DD54196297159B5968923C

    Node: node1
    Key manager restore operation initialized.
    Successfully restored key information.

    Node: node2
    Key manager restore operation initialized.
    Successfully restored key information.
  2. Verify that the authentication keys have been created: security key-manager query

    For complete command syntax, see the man page.

    Example

    The following example verifies that authentication keys have been created for cluster1 :

    cluster1::> security key-manager query

    (security key-manager query)

    Node: node1
    Key Manager: 20.1.1.1
    Server Status: available

    Key Tag Key Type Restored
    ------------- -------- --------
    node1 NSE-AK yes
    Key ID: F1CB30AFF1CB30B00101000000000000A68B167F92DD54196297159B5968923C


    Node: node2
    Key Manager: 20.1.1.1
    Server Status: available

    Key Tag Key Type Restored
    ------------- -------- --------
    node2 NSE-AK yes
    Key ID: F1CB30AFF1CB30B00101000000000000A68B167F92DD54196297159B5968923C