Deploying NGINX App Protect WAF on Kubernetes

Prerequisites

  • An active F5 NGINX App Protect WAF subscription in MyF5 (purchased or trial).
  • A functional Kubernetes cluster.
  • kubectl command-line tool, properly configured.

Build the NGINX Image

Follow the instructions below to build a Docker image containing the NGINX and the NGINX App Protect module.

Download Certificates

Log in to My F5 and download the following two files from your active NGINX App Protect WAF subscription:

nginx-repo.key
nginx-repo.crt

Proceed, by creating a Dockerfile using one of the examples provided below.

Dockerfile Based on the Official NGINX Image

While this example utilizes the official NGINX Open Source image as a base, the crucial requirement is that NGINX must be installed as a package from the official NGINX repository, rather than being compiled from source.
# syntax=docker/dockerfile:1

# Base image
FROM nginx:1.25.5-bookworm

# Install NGINX App Protect WAF v5 module
RUN --mount=type=secret,id=nginx-crt,dst=/etc/ssl/nginx/nginx-repo.crt,mode=0644 \
    --mount=type=secret,id=nginx-key,dst=/etc/ssl/nginx/nginx-repo.key,mode=0644 \
    apt-get update \
    && apt-get install --no-install-recommends --no-install-suggests -y \
       apt-transport-https \
       lsb-release \
       ca-certificates \
       wget \
       gnupg \
    && wget https://cs.nginx.com/static/keys/nginx_signing.key \
    && gpg --no-default-keyring --keyring gnupg-ring:/etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/nginx.gpg \
       --import nginx_signing.key \
    && chmod 644 /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/nginx.gpg \
    && printf "deb https://pkgs.nginx.com/app-protect-x-oss/debian `lsb_release -cs` nginx-plus\n" | \
       tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/nginx-app-protect.list \
    && wget -P /etc/apt/apt.conf.d https://cs.nginx.com/static/files/90pkgs-nginx \
    && apt-get update \
    && apt-get install --no-install-recommends --no-install-suggests -y nginx=1.25.5-1~bookworm app-protect-module-oss  \
    && apt-get remove --purge --auto-remove -y apt-transport-https lsb-release gnupg wget \
    && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/* /etc/apt/sources.list.d/nginx-app-protect.list

NGINX Open Source Dockerfile 

# syntax=docker/dockerfile:1

# Supported OS_VER's are 3.16/3.17/3.19
ARG OS_VER="3.19"

# Base image
FROM alpine:${OS_VER}

# Install NGINX OSS and NGINX App Protect WAF v5 module
RUN --mount=type=secret,id=nginx-crt,dst=/etc/apk/cert.pem,mode=0644 \
    --mount=type=secret,id=nginx-key,dst=/etc/apk/cert.key,mode=0644 \
    apk add openssl curl ca-certificates \
    && printf "%s%s%s%s\n" \
        "http://nginx.org/packages/mainline/alpine/v" \
        `egrep -o '^[0-9]+\.[0-9]+' /etc/alpine-release` \
        "/main" \
        | tee -a /etc/apk/repositories \
    && wget -O /etc/apk/keys/nginx_signing.rsa.pub https://cs.nginx.com/static/keys/nginx_signing.rsa.pub \
    && printf "https://pkgs.nginx.com/app-protect-x-oss/alpine/v`egrep -o '^[0-9]+\.[0-9]+' /etc/alpine-release`/main\n" | \
        tee -a /etc/apk/repositories \
    && apk update \
    && apk add app-protect-module-oss \
    && ln -sf /dev/stdout /var/log/nginx/access.log \
    && ln -sf /dev/stderr /var/log/nginx/error.log \
    && rm -rf /var/cache/apk/*

# Expose port
EXPOSE 80

# Define stop signal
STOPSIGNAL SIGQUIT

# Set default command
CMD ["nginx", "-g", "daemon off;"]