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+# SPIRE Self-Signed CA Expiration on Cluster Restart
+
+## Overview
+
+When the ZTVP pattern is deployed with SPIRE's default self-signed CA (no upstream authority configured), a cluster shutdown/restart that exceeds the CA TTL will break SPIRE agent attestation. This results in all SPIFFE-dependent workloads (e.g., qtodo) failing to start until manual intervention is performed.
+
+> **Note:** This issue does not affect production deployments that use an external/upstream CA (e.g., customer PKI, Vault PKI backend, cert-manager). In those configurations, the trust anchor persists across restarts.
+
+## Problem Description
+
+### SPIRE Server Default CA Configuration
+
+The SPIRE server is configured with a self-signed CA with the following TTLs (from the `spire-server` ConfigMap in the `zero-trust-workload-identity-manager` namespace):
+
+| Parameter | Value | Description |
+|---|---|---|
+| `ca_ttl` | `24h` | Lifetime of the self-signed X509 CA certificate |
+| `default_x509_svid_ttl` | `1h` | Lifetime of X509 SVIDs issued to workloads |
+| `default_jwt_svid_ttl` | `5m` | Lifetime of JWT SVIDs issued to workloads |
+
+The CA rotates approximately every 12 hours (half of `ca_ttl`), and the `k8sbundle` notifier plugin pushes the current trust bundle to the `spire-bundle` ConfigMap.
+
+### What Happens During Cluster Shutdown
+
+1. The cluster shuts down — all pods (including SPIRE server and agents) stop
+2. The X509 CA certificate continues to age while the cluster is offline
+3. If the cluster is offline for longer than `ca_ttl` (24 hours), the CA expires
+
+### What Happens on Cluster Restart
+
+1. **SPIRE server** starts first, detects all CA slots are expired, and generates a **new self-signed CA** with a new key pair
+2. **SPIRE agents** (DaemonSet) start and attempt to re-attest against the server
+3. Agents still have the **old trust bundle** cached — they do not trust the server's new CA
+4. Agent attestation fails with:
+
+   ```bash
+   transport: authentication handshake failed: x509svid: could not verify leaf certificate:
+   x509: certificate signed by unknown authority
+   ```
+
+5. Agents enter `CrashLoopBackOff` or `Error` state
+6. **All SPIFFE-dependent workloads** (e.g., qtodo) cannot obtain SVIDs and remain stuck in init or fail health checks
+
+### Symptoms
+
+- SPIRE agent pods in `CrashLoopBackOff` or `Error` state across all nodes
+- SPIRE server logs showing `X509CA slot unusable — slot expired` for all slots
+- SPIRE server logs showing a new CA was prepared and activated
+- Workload pods stuck in `Init` state (SPIFFE helper init containers cannot connect to the agent)
+- SPIFFE OIDC discovery provider restarting repeatedly
+
+## Recovery Procedure
+
+### Step 1: Verify the Issue
+
+Check the SPIRE server logs for expired CA slots and new CA generation:
+
+```bash
+oc logs spire-server-0 -n zero-trust-workload-identity-manager -c spire-server | grep -E "slot unusable|CA prepared|CA activated"
+```
+
+Expected output showing expired old slots and a newly activated CA:  
+
+```bash
+level=warning msg="X509CA slot unusable" error="slot expired" ...
+level=info msg="X509 CA prepared" ...
+level=info msg="X509 CA activated" ...
+```
+
+Check SPIRE agent logs for the trust failure:
+
+```bash
+oc logs <spire-agent-pod> -n zero-trust-workload-identity-manager | grep "unknown authority"
+```
+
+### Step 2: Restart SPIRE Agents
+
+Restart the SPIRE agent DaemonSet so agents pick up the new trust bundle from the `spire-bundle` ConfigMap (which the server's `k8sbundle` notifier has already updated):
+
+```bash
+oc rollout restart daemonset/spire-agent -n zero-trust-workload-identity-manager
+```
+
+Wait for all agents to become ready:
+
+```bash
+oc rollout status daemonset/spire-agent -n zero-trust-workload-identity-manager
+```
+
+### Step 3: Restart Affected Workloads
+
+Any workload pods that were stuck in init or crash-looping due to SVID acquisition failure need to be restarted:
+
+```bash
+# Example: restart qtodo
+oc delete pod -l app=qtodo -n qtodo
+
+# Check all namespaces for stuck pods with SPIFFE init containers
+oc get pods --all-namespaces | grep -E 'Init|Error|CrashLoop'
+```
+
+### Step 4: Verify Recovery
+
+Confirm SPIRE agents are healthy:
+
+```bash
+oc get pods -n zero-trust-workload-identity-manager | grep spire-agent
+# All should show 1/1 Running with 0 restarts
+```
+
+Confirm workloads are running:
+
+```bash
+oc get pods -n qtodo
+# qtodo pod should show 3/3 Running
+```
+
+## Production Consideration
+
+This issue is specific to the **self-signed CA** configuration used in the default ZTVP deployment. In production environments, customers should configure SPIRE with an **UpstreamAuthority plugin** pointing to their organization's PKI infrastructure. With an upstream CA:
+
+- The trust anchor remains stable across SPIRE server restarts
+- SPIRE agents always trust the server's certificate chain because it chains back to the persistent upstream CA
+- No manual intervention is required after cluster restart regardless of downtime duration
+
+Supported upstream authority plugins include:
+
+- **Vault PKI** (`upstream_authority "vault"`) — integrates with HashiCorp Vault's PKI secrets engine
+- **cert-manager** (`upstream_authority "cert_manager"`) — uses Kubernetes cert-manager as the CA
+- **AWS PCA** (`upstream_authority "aws_pca"`) — uses AWS Private Certificate Authority
+- **Disk-based** (`upstream_authority "disk"`) — uses a CA certificate and key stored on disk