- Security Features and Setup >
- Encryption at Rest using Customer Key Management
Encryption at Rest using Customer Key Management¶
Atlas encrypts all cluster storage and snapshot volumes, securing all cluster data on disk: a concept known as encryption at rest.
Atlas Project Owners can configure an
additional layer of encryption on their data using their
Atlas-compatible customer key management provider with the MongoDB
encrypted storage engine.
Configuring Encryption at Rest using your Key Management incurs additional charges for the Atlas project. To learn more, see Advanced Security.
Atlas Project Owners can
use one or more of the following customer key management providers
when configuring Encryption at Rest for the Atlas project:
- Amazon Web Services Key Management Service
- Azure Key Vault
- Google Cloud Platform Key Management Service
After configuring at least one key management provider for the
Atlas project, Project Owners can
enable customer key management for each Atlas cluster for which
they require encryption. The key management provider does not have to
match the cluster cloud service provider.
Atlas cannot rotate customer-managed encryption keys. Refer to your key management provider’s documentation for guidance on key rotation. When you set customer key management in a project, Atlas creates a 365-day key rotation alert.
Configure Atlas with Customer Key Management¶
Encryption at Rest using Key Management requires valid key management provider credentials and an encryption key. To provide these details and enable Customer Key Management:
- Select your project from the Atlas context menu.
- Under the Security section of the left navigation bar, click Advanced.
- Toggle Encryption at Rest using your Key Management on.
- Enter your key management provider account credentials and provide an encryption key.
- Click Save.
Validate your KMS Configuration¶
Atlas validates your KMS configuration:
- When you add or update credentials.
- Every 15 minutes.
- On-demand with the Encryption at Rest API endpoint.
If your key management provider credentials become invalid or if your
encryption key is disabled or deleted, Atlas shuts down all
mongod and mongos processes on the next scheduled validity
check. Atlas sends an email to the Project Owner
listing all affected clusters. The Atlas Clusters page
reflects that your clusters are disabled due to invalid Encryption at
Rest settings.
You can’t read or write data on disabled clusters. You can submit updates to disabled clusters, such as disk and instance size changes, that are processed when your encryption key is restored. Atlas will continue to perform maintenance and apply security patches. Disabled clusters retain all your data, so billing continues.
Virtual Machine Power
While a cluster is disabled, Atlas does not stop the Virtual Machine (VM) the cluster is running on. Atlas may perform patches that reboot the server, but VM power is not cycled.
To regain access to your data:
- Update your credentials if they have changed since configuring Atlas with Customer Key Management.
- Restore your key if it has been disabled or deleted.
After updating your configuration, click Try Again to
validate it. If you don’t, Atlas validates on its next scheduled
check. All mongod and mongos processes restart after Atlas
determines your configuration to be valid.
Warning
If your key was deleted, restore that key to regain access to your clusters. You cannot change a key or disable Encryption at Rest using Customer Key Management without a valid key.
Restore a Deleted Key¶
To restore a deleted key, see your key management provider’s documentation:
- AWS KMS: Deleting Customer Master Keys
- Azure Key Vault: Recover Deleted Key
- GCP KMS: Destroying and restoring key versions
Encrypted Backups¶
Atlas encrypts all snapshot volumes. This secures your cluster data on disk. Using your cloud provider’s KMS, you can:
- Encrypt your snapshot storage volumes where you store your backups.
- Encrypt the data files in your snapshots.
- Restore snapshots with the key that was active at the time the snapshot was taken.
You cannot restore snapshots encrypted with keys that have become invalid.
You cannot enable Continuous Backups on clusters encrypted with keys that you manage. You can specify a base snapshot schedule that backs up every 6 hours.
To learn more about customer key management and cloud provider snapshots, see CPS with Encryption at Rest using Customer Key Management and Restore a Snapshot of a Cluster with Encryption at Rest.