HashiCorp Vault

Vault is a tool for securely accessing secrets. A secret is anything that you want to tightly control access to, such as API keys, passwords, or certificates. Vault provides a unified interface to any secret while providing tight access control and recording a detailed audit log.

When to Use

• Centralized Secrets Management: Securely storing and accessing API keys, database credentials, certificates, and encryption keys.
• Dynamic On-Demand Credentials: Generating short-lived, unique database credentials that expire automatically after task completion.
• Data Encryption as a Service (Transit Engine): Encrypting sensitive data in transit and at rest without exposing cryptographic keys to applications.
• PKI & Certificate Authority Automation: Issuing short-lived X.509 certificates for microservices and internal domains.

Quick Start

vault server -dev
export VAULT_ADDR='http://127.0.0.1:8200'

# Write a secret
vault kv put secret/hello foo=world