// Module included in the following assemblies:
//
// * installing/installing_aws/manually-creating-iam.adoc
// * installing/installing_azure/manually-creating-iam-azure.adoc
// * installing/installing_gcp/manually-creating-iam-gcp.adoc

[id="mint-mode_{context}"]
= Mint Mode

Mint Mode is supported for AWS, GCP, and Azure.

The default and recommended best practice for running {product-title} is to run
the installer with an administrator-level cloud credential. The `admin` credential is
stored in the `kube-system` namespace, and then used by the Cloud Credential
Operator to process the `CredentialRequests` in the cluster and create new users
for each with specific permissions.

The benefits of Mint Mode include:

* Each cluster component only has the permissions it requires.
* Automatic, on-going reconciliation for cloud credentials including upgrades,
which might require additional credentials or permissions.

One drawback is that Mint Mode requires `admin` credential storage in a cluster
`kube-system` secret.