Rekeying existing data

Create a new local encryption key, change the table key filename, and re-encrypt the SSTables using the new key.

Create a new local encryption key, change the table key filename, and re-encrypt the SSTables using the new key. When changing the system key, all existing data must be re-encrypted before removing the old key.

dse.yaml

The location of the dse.yaml file depends on the type of installation:
Package installations /etc/dse/dse.yaml
Tarball installations installation_location/resources/dse/conf/dse.yaml

Prerequisites

These steps require the following privileges:
  • DataStax Enterprise node administrator or superuser account with read/write/modify permission on DSE resources and configuration directories.
  • If DSE database authentication and authorization is enabled, a database account with ALTER TABLE permission on the encrypted tables.

Procedure

  1. Back up SSTables.
  2. Create a new local encryption key and distribute to nodes in the cluster:
    1. Go to the key file directory, which is defined in the setting of the dse.yaml.
    2. Use to create a new system key in the key file directory:
      dsetool createsystemkey 'AES/ECB/PKCS5Padding' 128 new_system_key
      Warning: Both the new and old key are required for re-encryption. Do NOT remove the old key until after changing the table schema and rekeying the existing SSTables.
    3. Verify that the database account has read and write access to the files:
      la -l
      In this example DSE is the account that runs the database.
      -rw------- 1 dse dse 50 May 19 10:54 system_key
      -rw------- 1 dse dse 50 May 19 11:20 new_system_key
    4. Copy the new key to the system key directory on all nodes in the cluster.
      Note: Ensure that the new key has the correct permissions.
  3. Change the key filename in the table schemas:
    1. Get a list of all the encrypted tables that you want to change.
      Note: Use the DESC KEYSPACE keyspace_name cqlsh command to show all table properties in a keyspace.
    2. For each table where you want use the new encryption key, change the key filename in the table schema:
      ALTER TABLE keyspace_name.table_name
      WITH compression = { 'sstable_compression' : 'EncryptingSnappyCompressor',
        'cipher_algorithm' : 'AES/ECB/PKCS5Padding',
        'secret_key_strength' : 128,
        'chunk_length_kb' : 128,
        'system_key_file':'new_system_key' }
      
    3. Ensure that the schema change has replicated to all nodes in the cluster:
      nodetool describecluster
      The following example shows a small three node cluster where all three nodes have the same schema. If any of the nodes have a different schema, wait until the schema changes are propagated before going onto the next step.
      	Name: Cluster1
      	Snitch: org.apache.cassandra.locator.DynamicEndpointSnitch
      	Partitioner: org.apache.cassandra.dht.Murmur3Partitioner
      	Schema versions:
      		25743512-6b6f-3f76-96bc-1122d441f539: [node1_IP, node2_IP, node3_IP]
  4. Use to rewrite the encrypted SSTables using the new key. Run the following command on every node in the cluster:
    • Target only specific tables:
      nodetool upgradesstables --include-all-sstables keyspace_name table_name [table_name …]
    • Target specific keyspace:
      nodetool upgradesstables --include-all-sstables keyspace_name
    • All keyspaces and tables:
      nodetool upgradesstables --include-all-sstables
  5. After completing the above steps, remove the old key and ensure that the old key is not used for any tables or configuration file property encryption.
    Note: The old key is required to access the backed up SSTables created in the first step.