Gateway Deployment

Complete guide to deploying Infisical Gateways including network configuration and firewall requirements

Infisical Gateways enables secure communication between your private resources and the Infisical platform without exposing inbound ports in your network. This guide covers everything you need to deploy and configure Infisical Gateways.

Deployment Steps

To successfully deploy an Infisical Gateway for use, follow these steps in order.

1. Provision a Machine Identity

   Create a machine identity with the correct permissions to create and manage gateways. This identity is used by the gateway to authenticate with Infisical and should be provisioned in advance. The gateway supports several machine identity auth methods, as listed below. Choose the one that best fits your environment and set the corresponding environment variables when deploying the gateway.

   Universal Auth

   Simple and secure authentication using client ID and client secret.

   Environment Variables:

   • INFISICAL_AUTH_METHOD=universal-auth
   • INFISICAL_UNIVERSAL_AUTH_CLIENT_ID=<client-id>
   • INFISICAL_UNIVERSAL_AUTH_CLIENT_SECRET=<client-secret>

   Token Auth

   Direct authentication using a machine identity access token.

   Environment Variables:

   • INFISICAL_TOKEN=<token>

   Native Kubernetes

   Authentication using Kubernetes service account tokens.

   Environment Variables:

   • INFISICAL_AUTH_METHOD=kubernetes
   • INFISICAL_MACHINE_IDENTITY_ID=<machine-identity-id>

   Native AWS IAM

   Authentication using AWS IAM roles.

   Environment Variables:

   • INFISICAL_AUTH_METHOD=aws-iam
   • INFISICAL_MACHINE_IDENTITY_ID=<machine-identity-id>

   Native GCP ID Token

   Authentication using GCP identity tokens.

   Environment Variables:

   • INFISICAL_AUTH_METHOD=gcp-id-token
   • INFISICAL_MACHINE_IDENTITY_ID=<machine-identity-id>

   GCP IAM

   Authentication using GCP service account keys.

   Environment Variables:

   • INFISICAL_AUTH_METHOD=gcp-iam
   • INFISICAL_MACHINE_IDENTITY_ID=<machine-identity-id>
   • INFISICAL_GCP_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_KEY_FILE_PATH=<path-to-key-file>

   Native Azure

   Authentication using Azure managed identity.

   Environment Variables:

   • INFISICAL_AUTH_METHOD=azure
   • INFISICAL_MACHINE_IDENTITY_ID=<machine-identity-id>

   OIDC Auth

   Authentication using OIDC identity tokens.

   Environment Variables:

   • INFISICAL_AUTH_METHOD=oidc-auth
   • INFISICAL_MACHINE_IDENTITY_ID=<machine-identity-id>
   • INFISICAL_JWT=<oidc-jwt>

   JWT Auth

   Authentication using JWT tokens.

   Environment Variables:

   • INFISICAL_AUTH_METHOD=jwt-auth
   • INFISICAL_MACHINE_IDENTITY_ID=<machine-identity-id>
   • INFISICAL_JWT=<jwt>
2. Set Up a Relay Server

   Ensure a relay server is running and accessible before you deploy any gateways. You have two options:

   • Managed relay (Infisical Cloud, US/EU only): Managed relays are only available for Infisical Cloud instances in the US and EU regions. If you are using Infisical Cloud in these regions, you can use the provided managed relay.
   • Self-hosted relay: For all other cases, including all self-hosted and dedicated enterprise instances of Infisical, you must deploy your own relay server. You can also choose to deploy your own relay server when using Infisical Cloud if you require reduced geographic proximity to your target resources for lower latency or to reduce network congestion. For setup instructions, see the Relay Deployment Guide.
3. Install the Infisical CLI

   Make sure the Infisical CLI is installed on the machine or environment where you plan to deploy the gateway. The CLI is required for gateway installation and management.

   See the CLI Installation Guide for instructions.

   If you are running a self-hosted Infisical instance using the infisical-core Linux package on the same machine where you want to deploy the gateway, do not install the infisical CLI package via apt-get or yum. The infisical CLI package conflicts with the infisical-core package and will remove your Infisical server installation.

   Instead, use one of the following alternative methods to install the CLI alongside infisical-core:

   • NPM: npm install -g @infisical/cli
   • Separate machine: Deploy the gateway on a different machine from your Infisical server, which is the recommended approach for production environments.
4. Configure Network & Firewall

   Ensure your network and firewall settings allow the gateway to connect to all required services. All connections are outbound only; no inbound ports need to be opened.

   Protocol	Destination	Port	Purpose
   TCP	Relay Server IP/Hostname	2222	SSH reverse tunnel establishment
   TCP	Infisical instance host (US/EU, other)	443	API communication and certificate requests

   For managed relays, allow outbound traffic to the provided relay server IP/hostname. For self-hosted relays, allow outbound traffic to your own relay server address.

   If you are in a corporate environment with strict egress filtering, ensure outbound TCP 2222 to relay servers and outbound HTTPS 443 to Infisical API endpoints are allowed.

5. Select a Deployment Method

   The Infisical CLI is used to install and start the gateway in your chosen environment. The CLI provides commands for both production and development scenarios, and supports a variety of options/flags to configure your deployment.

   To view all available flags and equivalent environment variables for gateway deployment, see the Gateway CLI Command Reference.

   Linux Server (Production)

   For production deployments on Linux servers, install the Gateway as a systemd service so that it runs securely in the background and automatically restarts on failure or system reboot:

   sudo infisical gateway systemd install --token <your-machine-identity-token> --domain <your-infisical-domain> --name <gateway-name>
   sudo systemctl start infisical-gateway
   

   By default, the gateway connects to the most optimal relay. Use the --target-relay-name flag to manually specify a different relay server.

   The systemd install command requires a Linux operating system with root/sudo privileges.

   Kubernetes (Production)

   For production deployments on Kubernetes clusters, install the Gateway using the Infisical Helm chart:

   Install the latest Helm Chart repository

   helm repo add infisical-helm-charts 'https://dl.cloudsmith.io/public/infisical/helm-charts/helm/charts/'
   helm repo update
   

   Create a Kubernetes Secret

   The gateway supports all identity authentication methods through environment variables:

   kubectl create secret generic infisical-gateway-environment \
     --from-literal=INFISICAL_AUTH_METHOD=universal-auth \
     --from-literal=INFISICAL_UNIVERSAL_AUTH_CLIENT_ID=<client-id> \
     --from-literal=INFISICAL_UNIVERSAL_AUTH_CLIENT_SECRET=<client-secret> \
     --from-literal=INFISICAL_GATEWAY_NAME=<gateway-name>
   

   By default, the gateway connects to the most optimal relay. Use the --from-literal=INFISICAL_RELAY_NAME=<relay-name> flag to manually specify a different relay server.

   Install the Gateway

   helm install infisical-gateway infisical-helm-charts/infisical-gateway
   

   Development & Testing

   For development or testing environments:

   sudo infisical gateway start --token <token> --name=<gateway-name>
   

   By default, the gateway connects to the most optimal relay. Use the --target-relay-name flag to manually specify a different relay server.

6. Verify Your Gateway Deployment

   After deployment, verify your gateway is working:

   1. Check logs for “Gateway started successfully” message indicating the gateway is running and connected to the relay

   2. Verify registration in the Infisical by visiting the Gateways section of your organization. The new gateway should appear with a recent heartbeat timestamp.

   3. Test connectivity by creating a resource in Infisical that uses the gateway to access a private service. Verify the resource can successfully connect through the gateway.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to open any inbound ports on my firewall?

No inbound ports need to be opened for gateways. The gateway only makes outbound connections:

• Outbound SSH to relay servers on port 2222
• Outbound HTTPS to Infisical API endpoints on port 443
• SSH reverse tunnels handle all communication - no return traffic configuration needed

This design maintains security by avoiding the need for inbound firewall rules that could expose your network to external threats.

How do I test network connectivity from the gateway?

Test relay connectivity and outbound API access from the gateway:

1. Test SSH port to relay:

nc -zv <relay-ip> 2222

2. Test outbound API access (replace with your Infisical domain if different):

curl -I https://app.infisical.com

How do I troubleshoot relay connectivity issues?

If the gateway cannot connect to the relay:

1. Verify the relay server is running and accessible
2. Check firewall rules allow outbound connections on port 2222
3. Confirm the relay name matches exactly
4. Test SSH port to relay:

nc -zv <relay-ip> 2222

How do I troubleshoot authentication failures?

If you encounter authentication failures:

1. Verify machine identity credentials are correct
2. Check token expiration and renewal
3. Ensure authentication method is properly configured

Where can I find gateway logs?

Check gateway logs for detailed error information:

• systemd service:
  sudo journalctl -u infisical-gateway -f
  
• Kubernetes:
  kubectl logs deployment/infisical-gateway
  
• Local installation: Logs appear in the terminal where you started the gateway

Where is the gateway configuration file stored?

For systemd-based installations, the gateway’s configuration file is stored at /etc/infisical/gateway.conf. You may reference or inspect this file for troubleshooting advanced configuration issues.

Can I run the gateway on the same machine as my self-hosted Infisical server?

Yes, but with a caveat. The infisical CLI package (used for gateway and relay commands) conflicts with the infisical-core Linux package (the self-hosted server). Installing the CLI via apt-get or yum will remove infisical-core.

To run both on the same machine, install the CLI using an alternative method such as NPM (npm install -g @infisical/cli). This avoids the package conflict and allows you to use both the Infisical server and the gateway CLI on the same host.

For production environments, we recommend deploying the gateway on a separate machine from your Infisical server for better isolation and reliability.

What happens if there is a network interruption?

The gateway is designed to handle network interruptions gracefully:

• Automatic reconnection: The gateway will automatically attempt to reconnect to relay servers if the SSH connection is lost
• Connection retry logic: Built-in retry mechanisms handle temporary network outages without manual intervention
• Persistent SSH tunnels: SSH connections are automatically re-established when connectivity is restored
• Certificate rotation: The gateway handles certificate renewal automatically during reconnection
• Graceful degradation: The gateway logs connection issues and continues attempting to restore connectivity

No manual intervention is typically required during network interruptions.