New Jenkins instance running on kubernetes in google cloud; Setting up security through Jenkins breaks it

I set up a new instance of Jenkins in the gcloud via these instructions:

https://github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kube-jenkins-imager#quick-deploy

I followed the details to get SSL set up using a based64'ed .htaccess file.

Upon running cluster-up.sh, I'm able to log in with the creds that I specified in the .htaccess file.

The moment I go to secure Jenkins:

Create Credentials

Optional: Configure a Jenkins login (in addition to the basic access authentication at the reverse proxy) by navigating to Manage Jenkins -> Configure Global Security and configuring authentication and authorization settings to your requirements

, I can no longer hit it. ( I never see a screen after hitting the 'save' button. ) It doesn't matter if I try to use a local db to Jenkins, install the Roles plugin, or try to secure it by matrix. Any type of action on my part to secure it breaks it -- until I forcefully kill the container. .. When Kubernetes brings it back up, it's lost the changes (the security settings for Jenkins, not the .htaccess file that resides in the nginx container), so I'm able to authenticate via the .htaccess file again.

Does anyone know what's going on? I've googled all day to try to figure this out ...