Vault for Beginners
Tags: devops, opensource, security, development
Published: 2023-06-02 07:22:06

 Let's dive into a story-like narrative to help us understand Vault in a more engaging way.


![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/m4kldqerwe8sgyet0n89.png)

Once upon a time, in a world where sensitive information held great power, there existed a kingdom known as Vault. Vault was a fortress designed to safeguard valuable secrets like API keys, passwords, and database credentials.

The king of the kingdom understood the importance of protecting these secrets from falling into the wrong hands. To ensure the security of the kingdom, he summoned the expertise of HashiCorp, a renowned master of secrets management.

The HashiCorp team introduced Vault, a powerful tool that would serve as the guardian of the kingdom's secrets. They began by installing Vault within the fortified walls of the kingdom, setting up a stronghold dedicated to secrets management.

To start their journey with Vault, the king's team launched a development server. This allowed them to experiment and learn without risking the security of the actual secrets. The development server simulated the real Vault environment, providing them with a safe space to explore its capabilities.

With the server up and running, the team initiated Vault by executing a special ritual known as initialization. Vault generated a set of initial root tokens and presented them to the team. These tokens granted unparalleled access and control over the secrets within Vault.

However, Vault was sealed shut to protect the secrets from unauthorized access. To unlock the vault's doors, the team used the unseal keys obtained during initialization. Each key acted as a unique piece of a puzzle, and combining them unsealed the fortress, making the secrets accessible.

Now that Vault was unsealed, the team embarked on their quest to interact with the kingdom's secrets. They leveraged Vault's command-line interface (CLI) and RESTful API to authenticate, store, retrieve, and manage secrets. Vault provided them with the tools and capabilities to ensure the secrets remained secure and accessible only to authorized users.

The team discovered that Vault employed **_secrets engines_**, magical entities responsible for managing different types of secrets. They enabled and configured secrets engines based on their specific needs. Each secrets engine possessed unique powers, allowing the team to generate secrets on the fly, store them securely, and retrieve them when needed.

To maintain order within the kingdom, Vault introduced access control. The team defined **_policies_** using a special language known as HCL (HashiCorp Configuration Language). These policies granted or restricted access to specific secrets and operations. They assigned policies to users, groups, or tokens, ensuring that only those with the right permissions could unlock the secrets' potential.

As the team delved deeper into their journey, they discovered that Vault's powers extended beyond the kingdom's borders. Vault seamlessly integrated with external platforms like Kubernetes, databases, and cloud providers. These integrations allowed the team to extend their secrets management practices beyond the boundaries of their kingdom, ensuring a holistic approach to security.

With time, the kingdom flourished under Vault's protection. Secrets remained secure, access was granted to those who deserved it, and the kingdom's sensitive information remained safe from harm. Vault had become an invaluable asset, empowering the kingdom and its people to harness the power of secrets responsibly.

And so, the story of Vault continued, empowering organizations far and wide to protect their secrets, maintain control, and keep their sensitive information away from prying eyes.

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Vault is a popular open-source tool developed by HashiCorp that provides secrets management, secure storage, and access control for applications and infrastructure. It helps in safeguarding sensitive information such as API keys, passwords, certificates, and database credentials.

- Installation and Setup:

Download and install Vault from the official HashiCorp website (https://www.vaultproject.io/). Choose the appropriate version for your operating system.
Follow the installation instructions provided in the documentation.

- Running a Development Server:

Vault has a development mode that allows us to run it locally for testing and learning purposes. Start a development server by running the following command in our terminal:


`vault server -dev`

- Initializing Vault:

Once the development server is running, initialize Vault by executing the following 

`vault operator init`

Vault will generate a set of initial root tokens and provide you with unseal keys. These keys are crucial for managing and accessing Vault.

- Unsealing Vault:

Vault is initially sealed to protect the sensitive data stored within it. Unseal Vault using the unseal keys generated during initialization. Run the following command for each unseal key:

`vault operator unseal <unseal_key>`

- Interacting with Vault:

Vault provides a command-line interface (CLI) and a RESTful HTTP API for interacting with its services.
Use the CLI or API to authenticate, store secrets, and perform various operations.
Explore the available commands and capabilities by referring to the Vault documentation.

- Secrets and Secrets Engines:

Vault uses the concept of secrets engines to manage different types of secrets.
Enable and configure secrets engines based on your requirements. Examples include KeyValue, AWS, Azure, Database, and more.
Secrets engines allow you to generate, store, and access secrets securely.

- Access Control:

Vault provides robust access control mechanisms to manage who can perform specific operations and access certain secrets.
Define policies using the HashiCorp Configuration Language (HCL) to enforce fine-grained access control.
Assign policies to users, groups, or tokens to control their permissions.

- Integrations:

Vault integrates with various tools and platforms, such as Kubernetes, databases, cloud providers, and more.
Explore Vault's documentation to learn about specific integrations and how to configure them.

_Vault has many features and capabilities beyond the basic steps outlined here. As a beginner, it's recommended to read the official Vault documentation _