ActorContextAfterAwaitTests asserted that a ConfigureAwait(false) continuation on the shared thread pool always throws NotSupportedException when reading Self/Context. That property is a timing accident, not an Akka guarantee: pool threads are exactly where Akka and the TestKit legitimately install the [ThreadStatic] actor cell during mailbox runs and async continuations, and Akka 1.5.62 has two non-throwing states besides — a cleared cell makes ActorBase.Context return null (NullReferenceException on .Self, not NotSupportedException) and ActorBase.Self return _clearedSelf without any throw. Under parallel suite load the assertion failed once at exactly that seam (2026-07-18); ironically the test's own doc comment said the behaviour "does not reliably throw" and then asserted reliability. The illegal reads now run on a dedicated new thread (LongRunning), the one place the no-context state is guaranteed, while the realistic ConfigureAwait(false) escape from the mailbox is kept. If the reads ever unexpectedly succeed again, the failure message reports whose context the thread was carrying. Verified 3 consecutive full-project runs green (38/38) after 8 instrumented runs hunting the original repro. Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01BL2Vu1ESDQ9SCN4gVKkdts
ZB.MOM.WW.Secrets
A reusable, envelope-encrypted secrets manager for the ZB.MOM.WW.* SCADA family:
store secrets (SQL passwords, API tokens, connection strings) encrypted at rest and get the
plaintext back on demand — from application code, from configuration, or from an operator UI.
Packages
| Package | Purpose |
|---|---|
ZB.MOM.WW.Secrets.Abstractions |
Contracts only (ISecretStore, ISecretResolver, IMasterKeyProvider, ISecretCipher, ISecretReplicator, ISecretCacheInvalidator, ISecretActorAccessor), value types, exceptions. Dependency-light. |
ZB.MOM.WW.Secrets |
Implementation: AES-256-GCM envelope cipher, env/file/DPAPI master-key providers, SQLite store, TTL resolver (audited), ${secret:} config expander, AddZbSecrets. |
ZB.MOM.WW.Secrets.Ui |
Blazor RCL on ZB.MOM.WW.Theme: list / add / rotate / delete + policy-gated, audited reveal. |
ZB.MOM.WW.Secrets.Replicator.SqlServer |
Cluster-wide secrets via SQL Server — as one shared store, or as a hub each node syncs against. |
ZB.MOM.WW.Secrets.Replicator.AkkaDotNet |
Peer-to-peer replication over an Akka.NET cluster — partition-tolerant, no shared database. |
A secret CLI (set / get / list / rm / rotate / rewrap-all) ships in the repo (not packed).
How it protects secrets
Each value is encrypted with a fresh data key (DEK) using AES-256-GCM; the DEK is then
wrapped by a master KEK that never touches the database. The AAD binds the ciphertext
to the secret's name and the wrapped DEK to the KEK id, so rows can't be swapped and a
tampered/mis-keyed row fails closed (SecretDecryptionException) rather than returning a
wrong value. The master KEK is resolved through a pluggable IMasterKeyProvider
(environment variable, key file, or Windows DPAPI).
Wiring it up
builder.Services.AddZbSecrets(builder.Configuration, "Secrets");
// After config load, BEFORE options validation — expand ${secret:...} references:
var expander = new SecretReferenceExpander(app.Services.GetRequiredService<ISecretResolver>());
await expander.ExpandConfigurationAsync((IConfigurationRoot)builder.Configuration, ct);
// appsettings.json
"Secrets": {
"SqlitePath": "secrets.db",
"MasterKey": { "Source": "Environment", "EnvVarName": "ZB_SECRETS_MASTER_KEY" },
"RunMigrationsOnStartup": true,
"ResolveCacheTtl": "00:00:30"
},
// Keep plaintext out of config — reference a stored secret instead:
"ConnectionStrings": {
"Historian": "Server=...;User Id=sa;Password=${secret:sql/historian-password}"
}
The master key is 32 bytes, provided base64 in ZB_SECRETS_MASTER_KEY (Environment source).
A missing/invalid key fails closed at startup (MasterKeyUnavailableException).
Rotating the master KEK
Because each row is a body sealed under a per-secret DEK that is wrapped by the KEK, rotating
the master key only re-wraps DEKs — bodies are never re-encrypted and no value history changes.
The secret rewrap-all CLI verb (backed by KekRotationService) migrates every row from the
old KEK to the new one; it is idempotent and safe to re-run:
# New KEK defaults to the configured Secrets:MasterKey; supply the OLD key by env-var name or path.
ZB_SECRETS_MASTER_KEY=<new-base64> ZB_SECRETS_OLD_KEY=<old-base64> \
secret rewrap-all --old-key-env ZB_SECRETS_OLD_KEY
# → {"action":"rewrap-all","total":N,"rewrapped":N,"alreadyCurrent":0}
Run it with resolve traffic quiesced and once per independent store (once for a shared
SQL-Server store; once per node for per-node SQLite on a shared KEK). See the operator runbook:
docs/operations/kek-rotation.md.
Runtime + human access
- App code: inject
ISecretResolverand callGetAsync(name, ct). Every resolve is audited viaZB.MOM.WW.Audit(name + outcome only — the value is never logged). - Operators: mount the
ZB.MOM.WW.Secrets.Ui/admin/secretspage. The list shows metadata only; revealing a value requires thesecrets:revealauthorization policy and is audited. Add/rotate/delete requiresecrets:manage.
Clustered deployments
Storage is local SQLite by default, which is correct for a single-process app and wrong the moment a secret written on one node has to be readable on another. Three topologies are supported; pick the least complicated one that meets the requirement.
Every topology requires the same master KEK on every node. The database and the wire carry ciphertext only, so a node with a different key cannot decrypt what another wrote — it fails closed on a
kek_idmismatch, which looks like corruption but is a deployment mistake. Mount the same key file, or supply the same key environment variable, everywhere.
1. Shared SQL-Server store — the default choice
Every node points at one database. There is exactly one copy of each row, so there is no replication, no reconciliation, no split-brain, and no clock skew to reason about.
builder.Services.AddZbSecretsSqlServerStore(builder.Configuration);
"Secrets": {
"MasterKey": { "Source": "File", "FilePath": "/run/secrets/zb-kek" },
"SqlServer": {
"ConnectionString": "Server=sql01;Database=ZbSecrets;...",
"SchemaName": "zbsecrets"
}
}
Trade-off: availability is coupled to that database. A node cut off from it falls back only to
the resolver's short in-memory cache. Rotation (rewrap-all) runs once, against the one store.
2. SQL-Server hub replication
Each node keeps its local store and stays converged with a shared hub: writes publish immediately, and a background sweep reconciles both directions on an interval (default 30s).
builder.Services.AddZbSecretsSqlServerReplication(builder.Configuration);
Choose this over (1) when a node must keep resolving secrets while cut off from the hub — reads never leave the node, so a hub outage degrades propagation rather than availability.
3. Akka cluster peer-to-peer
No shared database at all. Nodes broadcast writes over distributed pub/sub and repair divergence with a periodic manifest exchange.
builder.Services.AddZbSecretsAkkaReplication(builder.Configuration);
// Recommended — pins the serializer that carries ciphertext:
Config config = AkkaSecretsReplication.SerializationConfig.WithFallback(myAppConfig);
Requires the application to register its ActorSystem in DI. The local store is SQLite. This is
the right answer for air-gapped or intermittently-connected sites; it is the wrong answer if every
node can always reach a shared database, because you pay real distributed-systems behaviour for it.
What replication costs you (2 and 3)
- Eventual consistency. Rows converge within the sweep interval, not instantly.
- Last-writer-wins. Two nodes writing the same secret concurrently: the later
updated_utcwins and the other write is discarded. There is no merge and no conflict report. - Publishing is best-effort. A failed broadcast is logged, not thrown — the local write is already durable and anti-entropy repairs it. Writes never fail because a peer was unreachable.
- KEK rotation does not replicate. A re-wrap deliberately leaves the revision untouched so it
stays invisible to last-writer-wins. Run
rewrap-allagainst each independent store.
See docs/operations/clustered-secrets.md for operator
setup, and docs/operations/kek-rotation.md for rotation.