Vault + External Secrets: Secure Kubernetes Secrets

Secure Kubernetes Secrets Management with Vault and External Secrets Operator

What You'll Learn

  • Set up HashiCorp Vault with key-value secret engines for centralized secrets management
  • Install and configure External Secrets Operator to bridge Vault and Kubernetes securely
  • Deploy cluster secret stores and external secrets for automated Kubernetes secret generation
  • Implement automatic secret rotation with refresh intervals for continuous security updates
  • Apply DevSecOps practices by eliminating hardcoded secrets from Git repositories

Description

Master enterprise-grade secrets management by integrating HashiCorp Vault with Kubernetes using the External Secrets Operator. This comprehensive tutorial eliminates the security risk of storing sensitive data in plain text within Git repositories, implementing a centralized secrets management system with encryption at rest and automatic rotation capabilities.

Start by setting up a HashiCorp Vault server locally with key-value secret engines that organize sensitive data like API keys, passwords, and tokens by environment and application. Learn to configure versioned secrets that allow you to maintain multiple versions of sensitive data while supporting rollback scenarios. Understand how Vault serves as a single source of truth for all sensitive data across development, staging, and production environments.

Implement the External Secrets Operator as the bridge between Vault and Kubernetes. This operator acts as an intelligent agent that fetches secrets from Vault and automatically generates native Kubernetes secrets in your cluster. Configure cluster secret stores that establish secure connections to Vault using proper authentication methods and secret engines.

Deploy external secret resources that reference specific paths in Vault and automatically generate corresponding Kubernetes secrets. Learn to implement refresh intervals for automatic secret rotation, ensuring your applications always use the latest credentials without manual intervention. This approach enables true DevSecOps practices by automating security from a centralized management perspective.

Test the complete workflow by deploying applications that consume the automatically generated secrets, demonstrating how this system works in real-world scenarios. Understand versioning capabilities that allow you to reference specific versions of secrets for rollback scenarios or environment-specific configurations.

This hands-on approach to secrets management represents modern DevSecOps practices, providing the security and automation needed for production environments. By the end, you'll have implemented a complete centralized secrets management system that scales across multiple environments while maintaining security best practices.