Configuring connection security between clusters

When copying data between clusters, Vertica can encrypt both data and plan metadata.

Data is encrypted if you configure internode encryption (see Internode TLS).

For metadata, by default Vertica tries TLS first and falls back to plaintext. You can configure Vertica to require TLS and to fail if the connection cannot be made. You can also have Vertica verify the certificate and hostname before connecting.

Enabling TLS between clusters

To use TLS between clusters, you must first configure TLS between nodes:

1. Set the EncryptSpreadComms parameter.

2. Configure the data_channel TLS CONFIGURATION.

3. Set the ImportExportTLSMode parameter.

To specify the level of strictness when connecting to another cluster, set the ImportExportTLSMode configuration parameter. This parameter applies for both importing and exporting data. The possible values are:

• PREFER: Try TLS but fall back to plaintext if TLS fails.

• REQUIRE: Use TLS and fail if the server does not support TLS.

• VERIFY_CA: Require TLS (as with REQUIRE), and also validate the other server's certificate using the CA specified by the "server" TLS CONFIGURATION's CA certificates (in this case, "ca_cert" and "ica_cert"):

  => SELECT name, certificate, ca_certificate, mode FROM tls_configurations WHERE name = 'server';
    name  |   certificate    |   ca_certificate   |   mode
  --------+------------------+--------------------+-----------
   server | server_cert      | ca_cert,ica_cert   | VERIFY_CA
  (1 row)
  

• VERIFY_FULL: Require TLS and validate the certificate (as with VERIFY_CA), and also validate the server certificate's hostname.

• REQUIRE_FORCE, VERIFY_CA_FORCE, and VERIFY_FULL_FORCE: Same behavior as REQUIRE, VERIFY_CA, and VERIFY_FULL, respectively, and cannot be overridden by CONNECT TO VERTICA.

ImportExportTLSMode is a global parameter that applies to all import and export connections you make using CONNECT TO VERTICA. You can override it for an individual connection.

For more information about these and other configuration parameters, see Security parameters.