Walkthrough: Configuring Always Encrypted for the Sitecore Cortex Processing databases using Azure Key Vault
Applies to |
Sitecore Cortex™ Processing Storage database, Sitecore Cortex Processing Tasks database |
---|---|
Sitecore Installation Framework |
Always Encrypted is not enabled by default. |
Sitecore Azure Toolkit |
Always Encrypted is not enabled by default. |
The Sitecore Cortex Processing Tasks database and the Sitecore Cortex Processing Storage database support the Always Encrypted feature for columns that contain sensitive data. You can enable Always Encrypted for existing databases using Azure Key Vault.
This walkthrough tells you how to perform the following tasks:
-
Create keys
-
Configure Cortex Processing roles
-
Configure Always Encrypted for the Tasks and Storage database
Create keys
Refer to Microsoft’s Azure Key Vault documentation for information about setting up Azure Key Vault. The overall steps are:
-
Register applications (xConnect roles) in Azure Active Directory.
-
Authorize the applications to use the key/secret.
-
Create a Column Master Key (CMK) and Column Encryption Key (CEK) based on the Azure Key Vault. For information on how to do this, see the Master Key Configuration section in Microsoft's documentation.
Configure Cortex Processing roles
You must complete the following steps on every instance of the roles that access the Cortex Processing Tasks and Cortex Processing Storage databases:
-
Cortex Processing Engine
-
Cortex Processing Table and Blob Storage service
To configure the Cortex Processing roles to use Always Encrypted:
-
Set the
SqlCommandColumnEncryptionEnabled
element totrue
in the following configuration files for the Cortex Processing Table and Blob Storage service roles:-
<role-root>\App_Data\Config\Sitecore\Processing\sc.Processing.Engine.Storage.Sql.xml
(enables encryption of blob storage)
-
-
Set the
SqlCommandColumnEncryptionEnabled
element totrue
in the following configuration files for the Cortex Processing Engine:-
<role-root>\App_Data\Config\Sitecore\Processing\sc.Processing.Engine.Cursors.Sql.xml
(enables encryption of cursors) -
<role-root>\App_Data\Config\Sitecore\Processing\sc.Processing.Engine.Storage.Sql.xml
(enables encryption of blob storage) -
<role-root>\App_Data\Config\Sitecore\Processing\sc.Processing.Engine.Tasks.Sql.xml
(enables encryption of tasks)
NoteIn the default topologies, the Cortex Processing Engine is bundled with the Cortex Processing roles. All Cortex Processing Engine configuration files are located under:
<processing-service-root>\App_data\jobs\continuous\ProcessingEngine\App_Data\Config\Sitecore\Processing
-
-
Enable
<role-root>\App_Data\Config\Sitecore\CoreServices\sc.Xdb.Sql.Common.Encryption.AzureKeyVault.xml.disabled
. You must perform this step on both the Cortex Processing Engine and the Cortex Processing Table and Storage service.NoteThis file defines the names of the
ClientIdAppSettingsKey
(devault value:AzureKeyVaultClientId
) andClientSecretAppSettingsKey
(default value:AzureKeyVaultClientSecret
) settings. You do not need to change these settings. -
In
<role-root>\App_Config\AppSettings.config
(), add the following app settings. You must perform this step on both the Cortex Processing Engine and the Cortex Processing Table and Storage service. Copy values for it from the Azure Key Vault (ClientId
andSecretId
):RequestResponseshell<add key="AzureKeyVaultClientId" value="1fb143e0-b103-472b-a281-c8727d3dfb2f" /> <add key="AzureKeyVaultClientSecret" value="mfCEb0z5r3UOIBMG38tpbdi1OvC9NvUSJV9u+VwpGEg="" />
Configure Always Encrypted for the Tasks and Storage database
These instructions do not apply to the xDB Processing Tasks and xDB Processing Pools databases.
To configure Always Encrypted for the Sitecore Cortex™ Processing Storage and Sitecore Cortex Processing Tasks databases:
-
Configure Always Encrypted for the following columns with the corresponding encryption types: ·
Database
Column
Encryption Type
Cortex Processing Tasks database
[Cursors].[Bookmark]
RANDOMIZED
[Tasks].[Options]
RANDOMIZED
Cortex Processing Storage database
[Blobs].[Value]
RANDOMIZED
-
Grant the following permissions to the restricted user (
processingengineuser
by default):RequestResponseshellGRANT VIEW ANY COLUMN MASTER KEY DEFINITION TO [<restricted_user>] GRANT VIEW ANY COLUMN ENCRYPTION KEY DEFINITION TO [restricted_user]