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terraform-vault/policies/netbox/creds/vault-user-mgmt.yaml
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unkinben 9e7687fccb
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Mint the netbox user-management credential dynamically from the single admin token (#119)
## Why

netbox_user_management authenticates to NetBox to reconcile service users + permissions on every apply. It must not depend on a second static admin token, and it must not break when the engine rotates its admin seed (`netbox/config/rotate` mints a fresh admin token and deletes the old one). The durable shape: keep exactly ONE static admin token, and have the netbox engine mint an ephemeral, user-admin-capable token that the e-breuninger provider uses to manage users.

## How

- `module.netbox_user_mgmt_role` creates `netbox/roles/vault-user-mgmt`, a write-enabled role for a pre-existing NetBox superuser named by `user_mgmt_username`. Minted tokens authenticate AS that superuser (NetBox tokens carry no scope beyond `write_enabled`; the user's permissions apply), so they can create users.
- `netbox_user_management` reads `netbox/creds/vault-user-mgmt` and configures the netbox provider with the minted token. When `user_mgmt_username` is unset it falls back to the single static `admin_token` (a `check` block warns that rotation would then break it) - a bootstrap/degraded path, never a second static token.
- Grant the deployer `read` on `netbox/creds/vault-user-mgmt` (the one deliberate exception to the admin policy's `netbox/creds/*` exclusion).
- Keep the bare-token + `token_version`-match postconditions on the single static admin token.

## Feasibility constraints (worked through, documented in-module)

1. **The engine CAN mint a user-admin token** - roles map to a pre-existing user with only a `write_enabled` gate (`vault-plugin-secrets-netbox` `path_roles.go`, `client.go` `MintToken`); point it at a superuser and minted tokens can manage users.
2. **Token transits state.** The hashicorp/vault provider (5.6.0) exposes ephemeral resources for KV only, not dynamic engine creds, so the mint is read via the `vault_generic_secret` DATA source: the short-lived token is written to state (sensitive, lease-revoked) and re-minted each plan. Migrate to an ephemeral resource once the vault provider ships a dynamic-secret one.
3. **A clean single fresh apply is not possible.** A provider cannot be configured from a role created in the same run (data sources don't defer; OpenTofu 1.11 defers only ephemeral resources, which the vault provider doesn't offer here). So enabling the dynamic path on a backend needs a one-time targeted bootstrap of the mount + role, then normal applies. Documented in `config/netbox_secret_backend/netbox.yaml`.

## Operator follow-up

- Repair the live mount first (unchanged): `vault write netbox/config token=<BARE>` (the mount uses `ignore_changes=[token]`), keep `token_version=2`.
- To enable dynamic minting: set `user_mgmt_username` to the pre-existing superuser, apply the deployer creds policy, then bootstrap once: `tofu apply -target=...netbox_secret_backend -target=...netbox_user_mgmt_role`, then apply normally. Until then user management stays on the static token (non-breaking, with a warning).

Reviewed-on: #119
Co-authored-by: Ben Vincent <ben@unkin.net>
Co-committed-by: Ben Vincent <ben@unkin.net>
2026-08-12 00:03:13 +10:00

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YAML

# Allow the vault deployer to mint the ephemeral user-admin token that
# netbox_user_management authenticates with (netbox/creds/vault-user-mgmt). The
# engine mints it from the single static admin token, so the deployer never holds
# a second static NetBox credential.
#
# The netbox admin policy (policies/netbox/admin.yaml) deliberately excludes
# netbox/creds/* - minting is normally for consumers, not the deployer. This is
# the one deliberate exception: the deployer needs a user-admin token during the
# run to reconcile NetBox users. Scoped to the single vault-user-mgmt role only.
#
# Bound to the same principals as the admin policy: the tf_vault AppRole and its
# Woodpecker k8s auth role.
---
rules:
- path: "netbox/creds/vault-user-mgmt"
capabilities:
- read
auth:
approle:
- tf_vault
k8s/au/syd1:
- woodpecker_terraform_vault