Two-Factor Authentication via Yubikey

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1. Prerequisite

This method requires the purchase of the hardware token YubiKey and installation of the YubiKey Manager on your local computer in order to initialize the YubiKey with a private key ("seed"). This so-called AES secret must be written to the device as well as registered in the SIM-MFA portal. Using this key, the YubiKey will be able to generate one-time passwords (OTPs) needed as a second factor to login to the Linux Cluster.

Use a single YubiKey for multiple purposes

As the YubiKey may have two slots, it can be used for two different purposes! If you already use such a YubiKey, you may not need to buy a new one. You only have to configure a free slot for 2FA access to LRZ systems.

2. Configure YubiKey

Installation of the Yubikey manager and configuration of the YubiKey via commandline (Ubuntu / Debian / other Linux OS / macOS)

Step 1 for Linux (Ubuntu/Debian): Install YubiKey Manager

The YubiKey packages are available by default in recent releases of Debian and Ubuntu. You may use apt to perform the most comfortable installation:

$ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt install yubikey-manager
$ sudo apt install yubikey-personalization

Step 1 for macOS: Install YubiKey Manager

The installation is done via Homebrew. This may require administrator privileges.

$ brew install ykman

Step 1 for other Linux OS (e. g. SUSE): Install YubiKey Manager
The installation may be done by building the YubiKey manger source code, which can be downloaded here:
https://www.yubico.com/products/services-software/download/yubikey-manager/
Step 2: Test YubiKey

Connect the YubiKey to the USB-port of your computer and run following commands:

$ ykman list
$ ykman info
YubiKey 5 NFC (5.2.7) [OTP+FIDO+CCID] Serial: 12345678
Device type: YubiKey 5 NFC
Serial number: 12345678
Firmware version: 5.2.7
Form factor: Keychain (USB-A)
Enabled USB interfaces: OTP, FIDO, CCID
NFC transport is enabled.

Applications	USB    	NFC    
OTP     	Enabled	Enabled	
FIDO U2F	Enabled	Enabled	
OpenPGP 	Enabled	Enabled	
PIV     	Enabled	Enabled	
OATH    	Enabled	Enabled	
FIDO2   	Enabled	Enabled
Step 3: Configure YubiKey

The YubiKey has two slots for storage of AES secrets with different usage:

  • Slot 1: OTP generation after touching the button approx. 1-2 seconds
  • Slot 2: OTP generation after touching the button at least 3 seconds

Run the YubiKey Manager CLI in order to write the AES secret to the according slot of the YubiKey and answer the questions as shown below:

Slot 1
Configuration command
$ ykman otp yubiotp --serial-public-id --generate-private-id --generate-key 1
exemplary output and interactive configuration steps
Using YubiKey serial as public ID: vvccccvblhlu
Using a randomly generated private ID: a4b67dc931a1
Using a randomly generated secret key: c157d96a6b551f8b9414ab6d94b6a54c
Upload credential to YubiCloud? [y/N]: N
Program an OTP credential in slot 1? [y/N]: Y

or

Slot 2
Configuration command
$ ykman otp yubiotp --serial-public-id --generate-private-id --generate-key 2
exemplary output and interactive configuration steps
Using YubiKey serial as public ID: vvccccvblhlu
Using a randomly generated private ID: a4b67dc931a1
Using a randomly generated secret key: c157d96a6b551f8b9414ab6d94b6a54c
Upload credential to YubiCloud? [y/N]: N
Program an OTP credential in slot 2? [y/N]: Y

Copy the output of line "Using a randomly generated secret key"! This is the secret AES key which you will need to complete the rollout of the YubiKey token.


Installation of the Yubikey manager GUI (Linux / Windows / macOS)

Please visit the Yubico download page and select your operating system. You may be redirected to further instructions or direct software downloads.

Please refer to the Yubico documentation for installation details on various operating systems:

Configuration of the YubiKey via GUI (Linux / Windows / macOS)

Step 1: Start YubiKey Manager GUI
Connect the YubiKey to your computer and run the YubiKey Manager executable. The home screen of the program will show the hardware version of the YubiKey and its serial number (Fig. 1).
Fig. 1: YubiKey Manager - Home screen (click on image for large view)

Step 2: Configure YubiKey
  1. Select OTP from the Applications menu (Fig. 2).

  2. The YubiKey has two slots for storage of AES secrets with different usage:

    • Slot 1: OTP generation after touching the button approx. 1-2 seconds
    • Slot 2: OTP generation after touching the button at least 3 seconds

    We choose slot 1 in this manual. We recommend that the YubiKey is empty, as shown by the YubiKey Manager (Fig. 3). Click Configure to set up slot 1.

  3. Select credential type: Yubico OTP (Fig. 4)

  4. Yubico OTP settings (Fig. 5)

    (A) Define a Public ID of your choice with a length of 12 characters. But, you have to use so-called ModHex characters:
    c b d e f g h i j k l n r t u v

    (B) Click Generate to create a Private ID.

    (C) Click Generate to create Secret key.

    Copy the Secret key! This is the secret AES key which you will need to complete the rollout of the YubiKey token.


  5. Click Finish to write the AES key to your YubiKey. The YubiKey Manager confirms that data has been written to slot 1 (Fig. 6).

Fig. 2: YubiKey Manager - Applications menu (click on image for large view)

Fig. 3: YubiKey Manager - Slot selection (click on image for large view)

Fig. 4: YubiKey Manager - OTP: Select Credential Type (click on image for large view)

Fig. 5: YubiKey Manager - Yubico OTP settings (click on image for large view)

Fig. 6: YubiKey Manager - YubiKey configuration finished (click on image for large view)

 

NOTE

Use secret keys only once! If the procedure fails or you lose the secret key, generate a new one. Never save the secret key on your local computer or the HPC system.

3. Rollout YubiKey Token

  1. Open SIM-MFA web portal and select "Enroll Token" ("Token ausrollen") (Fig. 7).

  2. Select 2FA method "Yubikey AES mode: One Time Passwords with Yubikey" (Fig. 7).


  3. Token data

    • OTP Key: Insert the secret AES key from the YubiKey configuration here!

    • OTP length:
      • Please consider the difference between AES key and OTP key!
      • Both the YubiKey Manager commandline interface and the YubiKey Manager GUI generate AES keys of length 32!
      • However, the OTP key might have a different length! A common value for a YubiKey is
                       44
      • You may click to the "Test Yubikey" field and touch the YubiKey. The SIM-MFA portal will count the length and automatically fill in the "OTP length" field
      • The correct OTP length is mandatory in order to access to the HPC system!
    • Description: optional
  4. Roll out the new token via button "Enroll Token" (Fig. 7).

  5. The token has been rolled out successfully (Fig. 8).
Fig. 7: Steps 1-4 of YubiKey token rollout (click on image for large view)

 

Fig. 8: Rollout finished (click on image for large view)

 

4. Manage Tokens

Two-Factor Authentication: Token Management in SIM-MFA web portal