---
title: Securing ClearML Server
---

:::important
This documentation page applies to deploying your own open source ClearML Server. It does not apply to ClearML Hosted Service users.
:::

To ensure deployment is properly secure, we recommend you follow the following best practices.

## Network Security

If the deployment is in an open network that allows public access, only allow access to the specific ports used by 
**ClearML Server** (see [ClearML Server configurations](clearml_server_config.md#clearml-server-deployment-configuration)).

If HTTPS access is configured for the instance, allow access to port `443`. 

For improved security, the ports for **ClearML Server** Elasticsearch, MongoDB, and Redis servers are not exposed by 
default; they are only open internally in the docker network.

## User Access Security

Configure **ClearML Server** to use Web Login authentication, which requires a username and password for user access 
(see [Web Login Authentication](clearml_server_config.md#web-login-authentication)).

## File Server Security

By default, the File Server is not secured even if [Web Login Authentication](clearml_server_config.md#web-login-authentication)
has been configured. We recommend using an [object storage solution](../integrations/storage.md) that has built-in security.

## Server Credentials and Secrets

By default, **ClearML Server** comes with default values that are designed to allow to set it up quickly and to start working 
with the ClearML SDK.

However, this also means that the **server must be secured** by either preventing any external access, or by changing 
defaults so that the server's credentials are not publicly known.

The **ClearML Server** default secrets can be found [here](https://github.com/allegroai/clearml-server/blob/master/apiserver/config/default/secure.conf), and can be changed using the `secure.conf` configuration file or using environment variables
(see [ClearML Server Feature Configurations](clearml_server_config.md#clearml-server-feature-configurations)).

Specifically, the relevant settings are:
* `secure.http.session_secret.apiserver`
* `secure.auth.token_secret`
* `secure.credentials.apiserver.user_key`
* `secure.credentials.apiserver.user_secret`
* `secure.credentials.webserver.user_key` (automatically revoked by the server if using [Web Login Authentication](clearml_server_config.md#web-login-authentication))
* `secure.credentials.webserver.user_secret` (automatically revoked by the server if using [Web Login Authentication](./clearml_server_config.md#web-login-authentication))
* `secure.credentials.tests.user_key`
* `secure.credentials.tests.user_secret`


:::note
Securing the ClearML Server means also using [Web Login Authentication](clearml_server_config.md#web-login-authentication), 
since the default "free access" login is inherently unsecure (and will not work once ``secure.credentials.webserver.user_key`` 
and ``secure.credentials.webserver.user_secret`` values are changed) 
:::


### Example: Using Environment Variables 

To set new values for these settings, use the following environment variables:

* `CLEARML__SECURE__HTTP__SESSION_SECRET__APISERVER="new-secret-string"`
* `CLEARML__SECURE__AUTH__TOKEN_SECRET="new-secret-string"`
* `CLEARML__SECURE__CREDENTIALS__APISERVER__USER_KEY="new-key-string"`
* `CLEARML__SECURE__CREDENTIALS__APISERVER__USER_SECRET="new-secret-string"`
* `CLEARML__SECURE__CREDENTIALS__WEBSERVER__USER_KEY="new-key-string"`
* `CLEARML__SECURE__CREDENTIALS__WEBSERVER__USER_SECRET="new-secret-string"`
* `CLEARML__SECURE__CREDENTIALS__TESTS__USER_KEY="new-key-string"`
* `CLEARML__SECURE__CREDENTIALS__TESTS__USER_SECRET="new-secret-string"`

### Example: Using Docker Compose

If used in `docker-compose.yml`, these variables should be specified for the `apiserver` service, under the `environment` section as follows:
```yaml
version: "3.6"
services:
  apiserver:
    ...
    environment:
      ...
      CLEARML__SECURE__HTTP__SESSION_SECRET__APISERVER: "new-secret-string"
      CLEARML__SECURE__AUTH__TOKEN_SECRET: "new-secret-string"
      CLEARML__SECURE__CREDENTIALS__APISERVER__USER_KEY: "new-key-string"
      CLEARML__SECURE__CREDENTIALS__APISERVER__USER_SECRET: "new-secret-string"
      CLEARML__SECURE__CREDENTIALS__WEBSERVER__USER_KEY: "new-key-string"
      CLEARML__SECURE__CREDENTIALS__WEBSERVER__USER_SECRET: "new-secret-string"
      CLEARML__SECURE__CREDENTIALS__TESTS__USER_KEY: "new-key-string"
      CLEARML__SECURE__CREDENTIALS__TESTS__USER_SECRET: "new-secret-string"
  ...
```


:::important
When generating new user keys and secrets, make sure to use sufficiently long strings (we use 30 chars for keys and 50-60 
chars for secrets). See [here](https://github.com/allegroai/clearml-server/blob/master/apiserver/service_repo/auth/utils.py)
for Python example code to generate these strings.
:::