Scheduling Operations
CCKM allows you to periodically refresh keys, rotate keys, or add KMS containers in the background. To refresh keys, rotate keys, or add KMS containers, you need to create schedule configuration. A schedule configuration defines when to run a refresh, rotation, or KMS container job. You can use either the basic or cron format to specify when the rotation, refresh, or KMS container job will run.
Specify basic format in the following order:
[Repeats, at]
Where,
Repeats: frequency of the scheduler. Possible values are daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly.
at: specific time at which the rotation or refresh operation will be performed. Possible value lies between 12:00-11:00 AM/PM UTC.
Specify cron format in the following order:
"* * * * *"
These five values indicate when the job should be executed. These values are mandatory and must be specified in order of minute, hour, day of month, month, and day of week.
The following table lists the accepted values:
Field | Allowed values | Allowed special characters |
---|---|---|
Minute | 0-59 | * / , - |
Hour | 0-23 | * / , - |
Day of month | 1-31 | * / , - ? |
Month | 1-12 or JAN-DEC | * / , - |
Day of week | 0-6 or SUN-SAT | * / , - ? |
Adding Key Rotation Schedule
A key rotation schedule replaces selected keys with new cryptographic keys at the specified time.
o add key rotation schedule:
Open the Cloud Key Manager application.
In the left pane, click Schedules. The list of available schedules is displayed.
Click Add Schedule. The Add New Schedule wizard is displayed.
Select Schedule Type as Key Rotation.
Click Next.
On the General Info screen, enter or select following details:
Enter a unique Scheduler Name.
Select Azure from the Cloud Name drop-down list.
Add Description for the scheduler in a maximum of 250 characters.
Select Enable Schedule to enable the schedule.
Click Next.
Set the values on the Schedule Config screen.
You can schedule configuration for:
All Keys: Refer to Configuring Rotation Schedule for All Keys for details.
Only Expiring Keys: Refer to Configuring Rotation Schedule for Expiring Keys for details.
All Keys Based on Creation/Last Rotation Date: Refer to Configuring Rotation Schedule for All Keys Based on Creation or Last Rotation Date for details.
Configuring Rotation Schedule for All Keys
To configure rotation schedule for all keys:
Configure DURATION for the scheduler. Specify the following values:
Schedule Starts
Schedule Ends
If you select the Never check box, the scheduler configuration will never expire, and the Schedule Ends field becomes unavailable.
Configure FREQUENCY of the scheduler. The frequency determines how often the scheduler will rotate keys. Select either the Basic or the Raw (Cron) format to specify the value.
(Optional) Set the expiry of the new key that will be created through rotation. If not specified, the new key material never expires. For example, if you set the expiry time to 6 Hours, the key material of the new key will expire in 6 hours.
Click Save.
A message Schedule successfully created is displayed on the screen.
Configuring Rotation Schedule for Expiring Keys
To configure rotation schedule for expiring keys:
In the SELECTION section, select the keys to be rotated based on their expiry time. In the Only rotate keys within _ of material expiration field, select or enter the key expiry time. For example, if the value of Only rotate keys within _ of material expiration field is set to 4 Days, then the rotation schedule is created for all the keys that will expire in 4 days.
Configure DURATION for scheduler. Specify the following values:
Schedule Starts
Schedule Ends
If you select the Never check box, the scheduler configuration will never expire, and the Schedule Ends field becomes unavailable.
(Optional) Set the expiry of the new key that will be created through rotation. If not specified, the new key material never expires. For example, if you set the expiry time to 6 Hours, the key material of the new key will expire in 6 hours.
Click Save.
A message Schedule successfully created is displayed on the screen.
Configuring Rotation Schedule for All Keys Based on Creation or Last Rotation Date
To configure rotation schedule for all keys based on their creation or last rotation date:
In the SELECTION section, select the keys to be rotated based on their creation or last rotation date.
In the Only rotate keys after _ of creation/last rotation date field, select or enter the number of days, weeks, months, or years. For example, if the value of Only rotate keys after _ of creation/last rotation date field is set to 4 Days, then all the keys will rotate after 4 days of their creation or last rotation date. The default duration is 7 Days.
Configure DURATION for scheduler. Specify the following values:
Schedule Starts
Schedule Ends
If you select the Never check box, the scheduler configuration will never expire, and the Schedule Ends field becomes unavailable.
(Optional) Set the expiry of the new key that will be created through rotation. If not specified, the new key material never expires. For example, if you set the expiry time to 6 Hours, the key material of the new key will expire in 6 hours.
Click Save.
A message Schedule successfully created is displayed on the screen.
Adding Key Refresh Schedule
To add a key refresh schedule:
Open the Cloud Key Manager application.
In the left pane, click Schedules. The list of available schedules is displayed.
Click Add Schedule. The Add New Schedule wizard is displayed.
Select Schedule Type as Key Refresh.
Click Next.
On the General Info screen, enter or select following details:
Enter a unique Scheduler Name.
Select Azure from the Cloud Name drop-down list.
Add Description for the scheduler in a maximum of 250 characters.
Select Enable Schedule to enable the schedule.
Click Next.
On the Schedule Config screen, enter or select the following details.
Configure DURATION for the scheduler. Specify the following values:
Schedule Starts
Schedule Ends
If you select the Never check box, the scheduler configuration will never expire, and the Schedule Ends field becomes unavailable.
Configure FREQUENCY of the scheduler. The frequency determines how often the scheduler will rotate keys. Select either Basic or Raw (Cron) format to specify the value.
Click Next.
On the Add Vaults screen:
Select the vault name from the Refresh Keys, Certificates and Secrets from Selected Vault(s) drop-down list. The list shows the available Azure key vaults with their types specified in parenthesis. The Azure key vault types can be Standard, Premium, and ManagedHSM.
Click + button.
Similarly, you can add more vaults.
Select the Refresh All Vaults option if you want to refresh all the existing vaults.
Click Save.
A message Schedule successfully created is displayed on the screen.
Automatic Cloud Key Discovery
A KMS container schedule automatically detects the KMS containers based on the Azure Cloud connection and adds them to the CipherTrust Cloud Key Manager.
Adding a KMS container (vault or subscription) to CCKM consumes one CCKM license count.
To add a KMS container schedule:
Open the Cloud Key Manager application.
In the left pane, click Schedules. The list of available schedules is displayed.
Click Add Schedule. The Select Schedule Type screen of the Add New Schedule wizard is displayed.
Schedule Type
Select Schedule Type as Add KMS Container.
Click Next. The General Info screen is displayed.
General Info
Enter a unique Schedule Name.
Select Azure from the Cloud Name drop-down list.
(Optional) Add Description for the scheduler in a maximum of 250 characters.
(Optional) Select Enable Schedule to enable the schedule.
Select a Define Job Type. You can select either Discover Only or Discover and Add.
Note
Discover Only lists all the discovered containers. Discover and Add adds all the discovered containers to the CCKM.
Click Next. The Connection & ACL Info screen is displayed.
Select a Connection.
In the ACCESS CONTROL section.
Click Keys, Certificates, Secrets, or Reports tab.
Click Assign User/Group. The Assign User/Group dialog box is displayed.
Select the desired user or group from the User/Group drop-down list.
Click Save. The newly added user/group is displayed under Name in the ACCESS CONTROL section.
Grant the permissions to the user/group, as appropriate.
Granting additional permisions
To grant the additional permissions, select the check box under the desired operation corresponding to the desired users or groups. The following permissions can be granted.
Keys: View, Add Key, Edit Key, Recover Key, Purge Key, Upload Key, Restore Key, Soft Delete Key, Delete Key Backup, Refresh Key
Certificates: View, Add, Upload, Edit, Soft Delete, Recover, Purge, Restore, Delete Backup, Refresh
Secrets: View, Add, Edit, Soft Delete, Recover, Purge, Restore, Delete Backup, Refresh
Reports: View Report, Add Report, Download Report, Delete Report
To remove a permission, clear the check box under the desired operation.
Remove a user or group.
Under Unassign, click X corresponding to the desired user/group. The Remove Group dialog box is displayed.
Click Remove.
Click Next. The Schedule Config screen is displayed.
Configure DURATION for the scheduler. Specify the schedule start and end time:
Schedule Starts: Specify time when the schedule starts.
Schedule Ends: Unavailable by default, that is, the scheduler never expires.
Never: Selected by default, that is, the scheduler configuration never expires.
To set an end time for the scheduler, clear the Never check box, and specify the Scheduler Ends time.
Configure FREQUENCY of the scheduler. The frequency determines how often the scheduler will rotate keys. Select either Basic or Raw (Cron) format to specify the value.
Click Save.
A message Schedule successfully created is displayed on the screen. The newly created schedule is displayed in the schedules list.
After the schedule is run successfully, Azure Key Vaults and Azure Subscriptions will be added to the CCKM. You can see them in the Vaults and Subscriptions sections, of the Azure Key Vaults page in the CCKM.
Adding Key Backup (Azure only) Schedule
A key backup schedule downloads and saves encrypted cloud key backup blobs at specified time intervals. These backups can be used to restore keys.
Warning
The Physical and Virtual storage appliances have storage limits. Ensure that you have sufficient storage before enabling scheduled backup.
If you do have sufficient storage, you can extend the storage, refer to Resizing the Virtual Hard Disk After Deployment for details.
To add a Key Backup (Azure only) schedule:
Open the Cloud Key Manager application.
In the left pane, click Schedules. The list of available schedules is displayed.
Click Add Schedule. The Select Schedule Type screen of the Add New Schedule wizard is displayed.
Schedule Type
Select Schedule Type as Key Backup (Azure only).
Click Next. The General Info screen is displayed.
General Info
Enter a unique Schedule Name.
(Optional) Add Description for the scheduler in a maximum of 250 characters.
(Optional) Select Enable Schedule to enable the schedule.
Click Next. The Schedule Config screen is displayed.
Schedule Config
Note
Backup Limit: If the sum of Scheduled and Manual Backups exceeds the maximum allowance of 30 instances, older backups will be deleted automatically.
Configure DURATION for the scheduler. Specify the schedule start and end time:
Schedule Starts: Specify time when the schedule starts.
Schedule Ends: Unavailable by default, that is, the scheduler never expires.
Never: Selected by default, that is, the scheduler configuration never expires.
To set an end time for the scheduler, clear the Never check box, and specify the Scheduler Ends time.
Configure FREQUENCY of the scheduler. The frequency determines how often the scheduler will rotate keys. Select either Basic or Raw (Cron) format to specify the value.
Click Save.
A message Schedule successfully created is displayed on the screen. The newly created schedule is displayed in the schedules list.
Viewing/Editing Schedules
To view/edit a schedule:
Open the Cloud Key Manager application.
In the left pane, click Schedules. The Schedules page displays following details:
Field Description Name Unique name of the scheduler configuration. Schedule Type Type of the schedule. Possible types are:
• Key Rotation
• Key Refresh
• Add KMS Container (GCP and Azure only)
• Cloud Key BackupCloud Name Name of the cloud. Last Modified Time when the schedule is modified. Frequency Frequency of the scheduler configuration. Start Date Creation time of the scheduler configuration. End Date Expiry time of the scheduler configuration. Status Status of the scheduler configuration. Possible values are:
• Enabled
• DisabledClick the overflow icon (
) corresponding to the desired schedule and click View/Edit.
Edit or configure the following fields:
Description.
Status of the scheduler configuration.
(For KMS Container schedule) Define Job Type.
CONNECTION & ACL INFO details, refer to the add KMS container Connection & ACL Info section.
Scheduler configuration parameters such as duration, frequency, and expiry time of the key. Refer to the key rotation Schedule Config screen, key refresh Schedule Config screen, or KMS container Schedule Config screen for details, as appropriate.
Click Update to save the changes.
JOB HISTORY
The Schedules page also contains a section named JOB HISTORY. Every time a schedule is run, a Job is created.
This section displays information related to a job such as Run Date, Job ID, Status, and Errors.
To view the details of the job, click the Job ID link corresponding to the desired job. The Job details page is displayed. It shows the list of Subscriptions and Vaults along with their details.
To download the reports of Subscriptions and Vaults, go to the top left of the Job details page, click Download, and select a report from the drop-down menu. The options are Subscriptions Only, Vaults Only, and Subscriptions and Vaults.
Note
You can download the report after the schedule has run successfully.
Disabling Schedules
To disable a schedule configuration:
Open the Cloud Key Manager application.
In the left pane, click Schedules. The list of available schedules is displayed.
Click the overflow icon (
) corresponding to the desired schedule and click Disable. The Disable Schedule message is displayed.
Click Disable Schedule.
A message Successfully disabled the schedule is displayed on the screen.
Enabling Schedules
To enable a schedule configuration:
Open the Cloud Key Manager application.
In the left pane, click Schedules. The list of available schedules is displayed.
Click the overflow icon (
) corresponding to the desired schedule and click Enable. The Enable Schedule message is displayed.
Click Enable Schedule.
A message Successfully enabled the schedule is displayed on the screen.
Manually Running Schedules
To manually run a schedule:
Open the Cloud Key Manager application.
In the left pane, click Schedules. The list of available schedules is displayed.
Click the overflow icon (
) corresponding to the desired schedule and click Run Now.
The Run Now schedule is started in the background. A message Schedule is running now. It will take a few seconds to finish. is displayed on the screen. After the schedule is run successfully, a message Successfully finished running the schedule is displayed.
Deleting Schedules
Open the Cloud Key Manager application.
In the left pane, click Schedules. The list of available schedules is displayed.
Click the overflow icon (
) corresponding to the desired schedule and click Delete Schedule. The Delete Schedule message is displayed.
Click Delete.
A message Successfully deleted schedule is displayed on the screen.