Pass the CyberArk Secrets Manager SECRET-SEN Questions and answers with ExamsMirror

This is the correct answer because the message indicates that the audit retention process has successfully completed and deleted the specified number of rows from the audit database (audit.db). The audit retention process is a scheduled task that runs periodically to delete old audit records from the audit database based on the retention period configured in the Conjur UI. The audit retention process also performs a vacuum operation to reclaim the disk space and optimize the database performance. The message does not require any action from the user, as it is a normal and expected outcome of the audit retention process. This answer is based on the CyberArk Secrets Manager documentation1 and the CyberArk Secrets Manager training course2.

The other options are not correct statements about the message. The message does not imply that the user specified for Conjur does not have the appropriate permissions to retrieve the audit database, as the message is not an error or a warning, but a confirmation of the audit retention process. The user specified for Conjur is the user that is used to connect to the Conjur server and perform operations on the Conjur resources, such as roles, policies, secrets, and audit records. The user specified for Conjur needs to have the appropriate permissions to access the audit database, but the message does not indicate any problem with the user permissions.

The message does not imply that when audit retention was performed, the query on the UI audit database generated an error, as the message is not an error or a warning, but a confirmation of the audit retention process. The query on the UI audit database is the query that is used to display the audit records in the Conjur UI. The query on the UI audit database is not related to the audit retention process, which is a background task that runs on the Conjur server and deletes the old audit records from the audit database. The message does not indicate any problem with the query on the UI audit database.

The message does not imply that the Vault Conjur Synchronizer successfully deleted the password objects that were marked for deletion in the PVWA, as the message is not related to the Vault Conjur Synchronizer or the password objects. The Vault Conjur Synchronizer is a service that synchronizes secrets from the CyberArk Vault to the Conjur database. The password objects are the accounts in the CyberArk Vault that store the credentials for various platforms and devices. The message is related to the audit retention process, which deletes the old audit records from the audit database. The message does not indicate any problem or action with the Vault Conjur Synchronizer or the password objects.

ServiceAccount and StatefulSet are two of the Kubernetes resources/objects that can be used as Conjur identities, in addition to Namespace and Deployment. Conjur identities are the entities that can authenticate with Conjur and retrieve secrets from it. Conjur supports authenticating Kubernetes resources/objects using the Conjur Kubernetes Authenticator, which is a sidecar or init container that runs alongside the application container and injects the Conjur access token into a shared volume. The application container can then use the access token to fetch secrets from Conjur.

A ServiceAccount is a Kubernetes resource that represents an identity for processes that run in a pod. ServiceAccounts can be used to grant specific privileges and permissions to the pod, and to enable communication with the Kubernetes API server. A ServiceAccount can be used as a Conjur identity by annotating it with the Conjur authentication policy branch ID, and by creating a Conjur host entity that matches the ServiceAccount name and namespace. The Conjur Kubernetes Authenticator will then use the ServiceAccount token to authenticate the pod with Conjur and obtain the Conjur access token.

A StatefulSet is a Kubernetes resource that manages the deployment and scaling of a set of pods, and provides guarantees about the ordering and uniqueness of these pods. StatefulSets are useful for applications that require stable and persistent identities, such as databases, message brokers, or distributed systems. A StatefulSet can be used as a Conjur identity by annotating it with the Conjur authentication policy branch ID, and by creating a Conjur host entity that matches the StatefulSet name and namespace. The Conjur Kubernetes Authenticator will then use the pod name and namespace to authenticate the pod with Conjur and obtain the Conjur access token.

The other options are not valid Kubernetes resources/objects that can be used as Conjur identities. Replica sets are a lower-level resource that are usually managed by higher-level resources such as Deployments or StatefulSets, and do not have their own identity or annotations. Secrets are a Kubernetes resource that store sensitive information such as passwords, tokens, or keys, and are not meant to be used as identities. Tokenreviews are a Kubernetes resource that are used to verify the validity of a ServiceAccount token, and are not meant to be used as identities either. References:

Securing Secrets in Kubernetes - CyberArk Developer, Section “Conjur Kubernetes Authentication: A Hands-On Demonstration”

GitHub - cyberark/secrets-provider-for-k8s: Cyberark secrets provider …, Section “Consuming Secrets from CyberArk Secrets Provider”

Secure your Kubernetes-deployed applications with CyberArk Conjur, Section “How it works”

Simplify and Improve Container Security Using New CyberArk Conjur …, Section “CyberArk Conjur Enterprise”

Keeping Secrets Secure on Kubernetes - CyberArk Developer, Section “The Solution”

Line of business (LOB) is a term used by CyberArk Secrets Manager to describe the services that Conjur offers and typically refers to a group of application identities in Conjur. A LOB can be defined by a Conjur policy that grants permissions and access to secrets for a specific set of applications. For example, a LOB can represent a business unit, a project, a product, or a team within an organization. A LOB can also have sub-LOBs that inherit the permissions and secrets from the parent LOB, but can also have their own specific policies and secrets. A LOB can help organize and manage secrets for different applications in a hierarchical and scalable way. References: CyberArk Secrets Manager - Line of Business; CyberArk Secrets Manager - Policy Management; CyberArk Secrets Manager - Application Identity Management

 The error message “psql: server closed the connection unexpectedly” means that the server terminated abnormally before or while processing the request. This is likely due to the Leader Load Balancer not being available on the port and replication cannot be established. The port that is the problem is 5432, which is the default port for PostgreSQL database connections. The Follower needs to connect to the Leader Load Balancer on this port to receive the replication data from the Leader. If the port is blocked or unreachable, the Follower will fail to sync with the Leader and display the error message. References: [Set up Follower], [Troubleshoot Follower]

The appropriate Secrets Manager solution for each scenario is as follows:

token based retrieval of secrets, such as OIDC or JWT: Conjur

workloads requiring the fastest secrets delivery performance possible: ASCP

agentless workload authentication that relies on OS User: CCP

These solutions are described in the Secrets Management Tools page of the CyberArk website

The exhibit shows a JSON object that contains the replication status of a database in a Secrets Manager cluster. Secrets Manager is a secrets management solution that securely stores and manages secrets and credentials used by applications, DevOps tools, and other systems. Secrets Manager can be deployed in a cluster mode, which consists of a Leader node and one or more Follower nodes. The Leader node is the primary node that handles all write operations and coordinates the replication of data to the Follower nodes. The Follower nodes are read-only nodes that replicate data from the Leader node and serve requests from clients and applications that need to retrieve secrets or perform other read-only operations.

To confirm that the Follower has a current copy of the database, you can compare the pgcurrentxlog_locationlocation from the Leader to the Follower you need to validate against. The pgcurrentxlog_locationlocation is a property that indicates the current position of the write-ahead log (WAL) in the database. The WAL is a mechanism that records all changes made to the database in a sequential log file, before they are applied to the actual data files. The WAL ensures the durability and consistency of the database in case of a crash or a power failure. The WAL also enables the replication of data from the Leader node to the Follower nodes, by streaming the WAL records to the Follower nodes and applying them to their local databases.

By comparing the pgcurrentxlog_locationlocation from the Leader to the Follower, you can determine how far behind the Follower is from the Leader in terms of the WAL records. If the pgcurrentxlog_locationlocation values are identical or very close, it means that the Follower has a current copy of the database, and that the replication is working properly. If the pgcurrentxlog_locationlocation values are different or far apart, it means that the Follower has an outdated copy of the database, and that there is a replication lag or a replication failure. In that case, you may need to troubleshoot the replication issue and resolve it as soon as possible.

References = Secrets Manager Cluster Installation; Secrets Manager Cluster Configuration; Write-Ahead Logging - PostgreSQL Documentation

This is the correct answer because a minimal Conjur deployment that integrates with an existing CyberArk PAM Vault environment, supports high availability, and is redundant across two geographically disparate regions requires the following servers:

2 Linux servers for the Conjur master cluster, one in each region. The master cluster consists of a leader and a standby node that can automatically failover in case of a leader failure. The leader node performs read/write operations on the Conjur database and policy engine, while the standby node replicates the leader data and can be promoted to leader if needed. The master cluster also hosts the Conjur UI and API endpoints.

4 Linux servers for the Conjur follower clusters, two in each region. The follower clusters consist of one or more follower nodes that perform read-only operations on the Conjur database and policy engine, such as authentication, authorization, and secret retrieval. The follower clusters are horizontally scalable and can be configured behind a load balancer to handle high volumes of requests from applications and clients. The follower clusters also host the Conjur Synchronizer service, which synchronizes secrets from the CyberArk PAM Vault to the Conjur database.

2 Linux servers for the Conjur seed fetcher service, one in each region. The seed fetcher service is a utility that runs on a separate server and periodically fetches the Conjur seed files from the master cluster and distributes them to the follower clusters. The seed files contain the configuration and encryption keys that are required to join a follower node to the Conjur cluster. The seed fetcher service ensures that the follower clusters are always updated with the latest seed files and can join the Conjur cluster without manual intervention.

2 Windows servers for the CyberArk Central Credential Provider (CCP), one in each region. The CCP is a component that provides secure and centralized credential management for applications and clients that need to access secrets from the CyberArk PAM Vault. The CCP exposes a web service interface that allows applications and clients to request credentials based on their identity and permissions. The CCP integrates with the Conjur Synchronizer service to retrieve the secrets from the Conjur database and cache them locally for faster access.

Therefore, the total number of servers required for this deployment is 9 Linux servers and 2 Windows servers. This deployment architecture is based on the Conjur documentation1 and the Conjur training course2.

Conjur Followers are read-only replicas of the Leader that can serve client requests for authentication, authorization, and secret retrieval. However, Followers cannot perform write operations, such as creating or updating secrets, policies, or roles. If the Leader becomes unavailable, the Followers will not be able to sync with the latest data and will eventually become stale. To ensure high availability and data consistency, the customer should extend the auto-failover cluster to include Standbys in each data center. Standbys are also replicas of the Leader, but they can participate in replication and promotion. One Standby is configured for synchronous replication, which means it receives the same updates as the Leader at the same time. The other Standbys are configured for asynchronous replication, which means they receive updates from the Leader periodically, but not in real time. In case of Leader failure, the synchronous Standby can be automatically promoted to become the new Leader, and one of the asynchronous Standbys can become the new synchronous Standby. This way, the customer can ensure that there is always an up-to-date Leader that can serve write requests and sync with the Followers in different data centers. References: Set up Follower, Set up auto-failover cluster, Conjur architecture and deployment reference

The correct sequence of installation steps for a Credential Provider on a Linux host is as follows:

Download the correct install package to a directory on the Linux host and decompress1.

Copy the aimparms.sample file to /var/tmp/aimparms. Create a Credential File with an account with sufficient permissions to install. Modify the Vault.ini file to point to the correct vault2.

Install the correct Credential Provider package for the distribution of Linux using the command: rpm -ivh CARKaim-..rpm2.

Check that the aimprv service is running using the command: service aimprv status2.

References: 1: Download the Credential Provider 2: Install Credential Provider on Linux / AIX

The cause of the issue is A. The certificate based on the Follower DNS name is not present on the Leader. This means that the Leader does not have a certificate file that matches the Follower DNS name used in the seed request, and therefore cannot generate a valid seed file for the Follower. This results in a 500 error in the Seed Fetcher container log. To resolve the issue, you need to import a certificate with the Follower DNS name as the subject alt name on the Leader, and create a copy of the certificate file with a name that matches the Follower DNS name used in the seed request1.