New server unable to fetch configuration from Puppetmaster due to some ssl error

Solution 1:

Concise answer

The issue CRL is not yet valid for indicates that the time between the Puppet-agent and the Puppetmaster is out of sync. Sync the time (NTP). Remove the certificate from the Puppet-agent and Puppetmaster as well and run Puppet on the agent.

---

Comprehensive answer

CRL is not yet valid for resides in the following snippet.

The following test code snippet describes what causes the issue:

it 'includes the CRL issuer in the verify error message' do
  crl = OpenSSL::X509::CRL.new
  crl.issuer = OpenSSL::X509::Name.new([['CN','Puppet CA: puppetmaster.example.com']])
  crl.last_update = Time.now + 24 * 60 * 60
  ssl_context.stubs(:current_crl).returns(crl)

  subject.call(false, ssl_context)
  expect(subject.verify_errors).to eq(["CRL is not yet valid for /CN=Puppet CA: puppetmaster.example.com"])
end

ssl_context

let(:ssl_context) do
  mock('OpenSSL::X509::StoreContext')
end

subject

subject do
  described_class.new(ssl_configuration,
  ssl_host)
end

The code includes snippets from the OpenSSL::X509::CRL class.

issuer=(p1)

               static VALUE
ossl_x509crl_set_issuer(VALUE self, VALUE issuer)
{
    X509_CRL *crl;

    GetX509CRL(self, crl);

    if (!X509_CRL_set_issuer_name(crl, GetX509NamePtr(issuer))) { /* DUPs name */
        ossl_raise(eX509CRLError, NULL);
    }
    return issuer;
}

last_update=(p1)

               static VALUE
ossl_x509crl_set_last_update(VALUE self, VALUE time)
{
    X509_CRL *crl;
    time_t sec;

    sec = time_to_time_t(time);
    GetX509CRL(self, crl);
    if (!X509_time_adj(crl->crl->lastUpdate, 0, &sec)) {
        ossl_raise(eX509CRLError, NULL);
    }

    return time;
}

The last_updated time will be the current time plus an additional day and will be passed to the subject function that calls the call function that resides in the default_validator class.

class Puppet::SSL::Validator::DefaultValidator #< class Puppet::SSL::Validator
  attr_reader :peer_certs
  attr_reader :verify_errors
  attr_reader :ssl_configuration

  FIVE_MINUTES_AS_SECONDS = 5 * 60

  def initialize(
    ssl_configuration = Puppet::SSL::Configuration.new(
    Puppet[:localcacert], {
      :ca_auth_file => Puppet[:ssl_client_ca_auth]
    }),

    ssl_host = Puppet::SSL::Host.localhost)
    reset!
    @ssl_configuration = ssl_configuration
    @ssl_host = ssl_host
  end

  def call(preverify_ok, store_context)
    if preverify_ok
      ...
    else
      ...
      crl = store_context.current_crl
      if crl
        if crl.last_update && crl.last_update < Time.now + FIVE_MINUTES_AS_SECONDS
          ...
        else
          @verify_errors << "#{error_string} for #{crl.issuer}"
        end
        ...
      end
    end
  end

If preverify_ok is false the else clause is applicable. As if crl.last_update && crl.last_update < Time.now + FIVE_MINUTES_AS_SECONDS results in false because the time has been stubbed with an additional day the else statement will be applicable. The evaluation of @verify_errors << "#{error_string} for #{crl.issuer}" results in CRL is not yet valid for /CN=Puppet CA: puppetmaster.example.com.

In order to solve the issue:

1. Sync the time between the Puppet-agent and the Puppetmaster. Does the NTP server run (well) on both nodes?
2. Remove or rename the complete ssl folder (/var/lib/puppet/ssl) from the agent.
3. Revoke the cert from the master by issuing sudo puppet cert clean <fqdn-puppet-agent>
4. Sign the cert if autosign is disabled
5. Run puppet on the agent

In conclusion, the time on Puppet-agents and Puppetmaster should be synced all the time. Exceeding the maximum allowed deviation of 5 minutes will cause the issue.

Solution 2:

Ran into the same issue.

Our puppet setup is version controlled using GitHub, so every time we provision a new puppetmaster, we run into cert issues. Normally puppet ca --clean --all works, but we have found the following more reliable:

rm -rf $(puppet master --configprint ssldir)