HashiCorp Vault

Master Vault: secrets management, dynamic credentials, encryption as a service, and security automation.

40 min read•Advanced

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What is Vault?

HashiCorp Vault is a secrets management platform that secures, stores, and tightly controls access to tokens, passwords, certificates, API keys, and other secrets in modern computing. Vault provides a unified interface to any secret while providing tight access control and recording a detailed audit log.

Core Capabilities

• Secret Storage & Retrieval
• Dynamic Secret Generation
• Encryption as a Service
• Identity & Access Management
• Audit & Compliance

Security Features

• Zero-trust architecture
• End-to-end encryption
• Fine-grained policies
• Automated secret rotation
• Comprehensive auditing

Core Features

Secret Storage

Encrypted storage for sensitive data with fine-grained access control

Use Case: Store API keys, passwords, certificates, and other sensitive configuration

Configuration Example

# Write a secret
vault kv put secret/myapp/config \
  db_password="super-secret" \
  api_key="abc123xyz"

# Read a secret
vault kv get secret/myapp/config

# Read specific field
vault kv get -field=db_password secret/myapp/config

Key Benefits

✓Encrypted at rest and in transit

✓Versioned secret storage

✓Audit logging

✓TTL-based leases

✓Fine-grained policies

Secret Access Monitor

Access Control Status

Success Rate: 80%

Authorized Requests

Denied Requests

Audited Events

Authentication Methods

🔑Token Auth

☸️Kubernetes

☁️AWS IAM

👤LDAP/AD

Implementation Patterns

Application Integration

Seamless secret injection into applications using agents and templates

Implementation: Vault Agent handles authentication and secret retrieval automatically

Example Configuration

# vault-agent.hcl
pid_file = "./pidfile"

vault {
  address = "https://vault.example.com:8200"
}

auto_auth {
  method "kubernetes" {
    mount_path = "auth/kubernetes"
    config = {
      role = "myapp-role"
    }
  }
  
  sink "file" {
    config = {
      path = "/home/vault/.vault-token"
    }
  }
}

template {
  source      = "/etc/vault/templates/config.tpl"
  destination = "/etc/app/config.json"
  command     = "systemctl reload myapp"
}

# config.tpl template
{
  "database": {
    "username": "{{ with secret "database/creds/my-role" }}{{ .Data.username }}{{ end }}",
    "password": "{{ with secret "database/creds/my-role" }}{{ .Data.password }}{{ end }}"
  },
  "api_key": "{{ with secret "secret/data/myapp/config" }}{{ .Data.data.api_key }}{{ end }}"
}

Key Considerations

→Token renewal automation
→Secret template rendering
→Application restart handling
→Error recovery patterns
→Security boundary enforcement

Secret Engines Overview

Engine	Purpose	Secret Type	Rotation
KV v2	Static secret storage	Static	Manual
Database	DB credentials	Dynamic	Auto
AWS	AWS API credentials	Dynamic	Auto
SSH	SSH certificates	Dynamic	Auto
PKI	X.509 certificates	Dynamic	Auto
Transit	Encryption service	Crypto	Key Rotation

Best Practices

Security

•Enable auto-unsealing with cloud KMS
•Use least-privilege policies
•Enable comprehensive audit logging
•Rotate tokens and secrets regularly

High Availability

•Deploy cluster with 3-5 nodes
•Use integrated Raft storage
•Configure disaster recovery
•Monitor cluster health

Performance

•Use performance standby nodes
•Implement client-side caching
•Tune secret engine configurations
•Monitor response times

Operations

•Automate secret rotation
•Use Vault Agent for integration
•Implement proper backup strategy
•Test disaster recovery procedures

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