Using the STC Admin Channel
Secure Trusted Channel (STC) can protect all communications to the HSM, including those originating on the Luna Network HSM 7 appliance. The STC admin channel is local to the appliance, and is used to encrypt data transmitted between the HSM and the local services running on the appliance (such as LunaSH, NTLS, and the STC service). The STC admin channel link is configured separately from the client-partition links, and can be enabled or disabled as required by the HSM SO.
NOTE The STC admin channel is configurable using Luna Appliance Software 7.4.0 and older, and Luna HSM Firmware 7.4.2 and older. This feature is not available in Luna HSM Firmware 7.7.0 and newer.
Unique STC identities, each defined by a 2048-bit RSA asymmetric public/private key pair, exist on the HSM and the Luna Network HSM 7 appliance operating system. When you enable the STC admin channel, the HSM and the appliance create a trust link by exchanging public keys, and the private keys are used to encrypt all communications between them.
NOTE Enabling the STC admin channel forces all client-partition links (NTLS or STC) to use STC for communications between the appliance and the HSM. This may affect NTLS link performance.
Enabling the STC Admin Channel
When enabled, all communications from the appliance operating system to the HSM are transmitted over the STC admin channel.
NOTE When you enable HSM policy 39: Allow Secure Trusted Channel on Luna HSM Firmware 7.4.2 or earlier, the following LunaSH commands are blocked to protect the integrity of any STC links that are created:
>hsm stc identity partition deregister
If you plan to use STC on the admin channel and want to recreate the HSM identity first, see Configuring STC Identities and Settings before continuing.
To enable the STC admin channel
1.Open a LunaSH session on the appliance and log in as the HSM SO.
lunash:> hsm login
2.If you have not already done so, enable HSM Policy 39: Allow Secure Trusted Channel.
lunash:> hsm changePolicy -policy 39 -value 1
3.Enable the STC admin channel.
CAUTION! Enabling the STC admin channel is service-affecting. It causes an STC service restart, which temporarily terminates all existing STC links to the appliance. It also terminates the existing HSM login session.
lunash:> hsm stc enable
Disabling the STC Admin Channel
When disabled, all communications from the appliance operating system to the HSM are transmitted, unencrypted, over the local bus.
NOTE Disabling the STC admin channel is service affecting. It causes an STC service restart, which temporarily terminates all existing STC links to the appliance. It also terminates the existing HSM login session.
To disable the STC admin channel
1.Open a LunaSH session on the appliance and log in as HSM SO.
lunash:> hsm login
2.Disable the STC admin channel.
lunash:> hsm stc disable
Configuring the STC Admin Channel
STC provides several configurable options that define the network settings for an STC link, and the security settings for the messages transmitted over the link. Although default values are provided that provide the optimal balance between security and performance, you can override the defaults, if desired. See Configuring STC Identities and Settings for more information.
