How are Users and Groups typically managed in Kubernetes?

How are Users and Groups typically managed in Kubernetes?

• A. Stored in etcd
• B. Defined as in-cluster resources
• C. Managed externally
• D. Created with kubectl

Answer: (C)

Identity management in Kubernetes is external to the cluster. Kubernetes does not store human users or group objects in etcd, nor does it provide in-cluster resources to define them. Instead, authentication is handled by external identity providers (certificates, tokens, OpenID Connect, LDAP, etc.), and RBAC uses those authenticated identities to grant permissions. Kubectl simply uses credentials from your kubeconfig to access the cluster; it doesn’t create users within Kubernetes. Service accounts exist as in-cluster resources, but they’re separate from human users. So, users and groups are typically managed outside the cluster.

Identity management in Kubernetes is external to the cluster. Kubernetes does not store human users or group objects in etcd, nor does it provide in-cluster resources to define them. Instead, authentication is handled by external identity providers (certificates, tokens, OpenID Connect, LDAP, etc.), and RBAC uses those authenticated identities to grant permissions. Kubectl simply uses credentials from your kubeconfig to access the cluster; it doesn’t create users within Kubernetes. Service accounts exist as in-cluster resources, but they’re separate from human users. So, users and groups are typically managed outside the cluster.