ops-warden/history/2026-06-17-openbao-production-verify.md

OpenBao Production Verification — 2026-06-17

Workplan: WARDEN-WP-0007-T01
Endpoint: https://bao.coulomb.social
Operator: codex (automated probe, no secrets recorded)

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Health probe

curl -s "https://bao.coulomb.social/v1/sys/health" | python3 -m json.tool

Result (2026-06-17):

Field	Value
initialized	true
sealed	false
standby	false
version	2.5.4
cluster_name	vault-cluster-ebe7da39
replication_performance_mode	primary

OpenBao is reachable, initialized, and unsealed. Suitable as the production platform secrets endpoint for ops-warden backend: vault.

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Authenticated API (blocked without token)

curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" "https://bao.coulomb.social/v1/sys/mounts"

Result: HTTP 403 (expected without X-Vault-Token).

Full SSH engine verification (bao secrets list, role TTL alignment, live warden sign) requires a scoped operator token with permission to:

1. List mounts and confirm ssh/ engine is enabled
2. Read ssh/roles/{adm,agt,atm}-role TTL limits
3. Call POST /v1/ssh/sign/<role> for each actor type

See wiki/OpenBaoSshEngineChecklist.md for the step-by-step checklist.

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Operator session (2026-06-17) — WP-0008 T2

Check	Result
warden.yaml + inventory.yaml on workstation	Done (operator)
Test keypair agt-state-hub-bridge_ed25519	Done (operator)
OpenBao UI login	netkingdom / platform-admin — OK
ssh/ secrets engine	Not enabled — confirmed by operator
Legacy SSH	Predates OpenBao and ops-warden (file/static-key era)

Conclusion: T2 cannot complete until the OpenBao SSH engine is bootstrapped and host trust is planned (see migration paths below). Token and warden config are not the blocker.

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Blockers for end-to-end warden sign

Blocker	Owner	Status
SSH secrets engine not mounted	railiance-platform / operator	Confirmed missing
Host TrustedUserCAKeys for OpenBao SSH CA	railiance-infra	Not started (legacy CA on hosts today)
Workstation warden.yaml	Operator	Done
Scoped VAULT_TOKEN in shell	Operator	UI login OK; CLI bao login still needed for warden
flex-auth ssh-certificate policies	flex-auth	Future (T5)

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Migration paths (legacy SSH → OpenBao SSH engine)

Path	When	Host impact
A — New OpenBao CA	Greenfield or willing to rotate trust	OpenBao generates new CA; distribute new .pub via railiance-infra
B — Dual trust	Gradual migration	Hosts trust legacy CA and OpenBao SSH CA during transition
C — Import legacy CA	Keep same host trust file	Import existing CA private key into SSH engine (custody ceremony)
D — Defer	Prove warden only	backend: local + legacy ca_key until platform ready

ops-warden signs either way; hosts only accept certs from CAs they trust.

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NET-WP-0020 T5 artifacts (2026-06-18)

Automation is implemented; live cluster apply is the remaining gate.

Artifact	Repo	Status
openbao/ssh/roles-spec.yaml	railiance-platform	Ready
openbao/policies/warden-sign.hcl	railiance-platform	Ready
scripts/openbao-apply-ssh-engine.sh	railiance-platform	Ready (--dry-run OK)
scripts/openbao-verify-ssh-engine.sh	railiance-platform	Ready
make openbao-configure-ssh / openbao-verify-ssh	railiance-platform	Ready
ansible/roles/ssh_ca_host + bootstrap-ssh-ca.yaml	railiance-infra	Ready
ansible/inventory/ssh_principals.yaml	railiance-infra	Ready (synced with warden principals)
make bootstrap-ssh-ca	railiance-infra	Ready

Live cluster check (2026-06-18): OpenBao initialized and unsealed; ssh/ mount, roles, and warden-sign policy not yet applied (no operator token in session).

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Recommended next operator steps

1. Create production warden.yaml — done on workstation.
2. Apply SSH engine automation — railiance-platform/docs/openbao.md § SSH Secrets Engine: OPENBAO_TOKEN_FILE=~/.local/openbao/platform-admin.token make openbao-configure-ssh
3. Deploy host CA trust — make bootstrap-ssh-ca SSH_CA_PUBKEY=/tmp/openbao-ssh-ca.pub (path A migration).
4. Create warden-sign token → export VAULT_TOKEN=... → warden sign smoke test.
5. Enable policy.enabled: true only after flex-auth policies exist.

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Cross-repo assessment

Full bootstrap + custody + SSH gap navigation map: net-kingdom/history/2026-06-17-openbao-ssh-custody-and-bootstrap-assessment.md

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See also

• wiki/OpsWardenConfig.md — production config examples
• wiki/OpenBaoSshEngineChecklist.md — SSH engine validation
• wiki/PolicyGatedSigning.md — opt-in flex-auth gate (implemented WP-0007)