ansible-vault lookup module

This is a lookup module for secrets stored in HashiCorp Vault. Supports Ansible 1.9.x and 2.x

Installation

lookup plugins can be loaded from several different locations similar to $PATH, see lookup_plugins.

The source for the plugin can be pointed to via a requirements.yml file, and accessed via ansible-galaxy.

Configuration

The address to the Vault server:

export VAULT_ADDR=http://192.168.33.10:8200/

The plugin supports both Vault auth token and GitHub auth token. To use Vault auth token:

export VAULT_TOKEN=56f48aef-8ad3-a0c4-447b-8e96990776ff

If your Vault server is configured to use GitHub auth token:

export VAULT_GITHUB_API_TOKEN=56f48aef-8ad3-a0c4-447b-8e96990776ff

The plugin also supports Vault's CA-related environment variables, to enable use of a server certificate issued by a not-widely-trusted Certificate Authority. Use of this feature in the plugin requires Python 2.7.9.

export VAULT_CACERT=/etc/ssl/certs/localCA.pem
export VAULT_CAPATH=/etc/ssl/localCA

The Vault address, CA certificate, and path can also be set via the Ansible variables vault_addr, vault_cacert, and vault_capath, respectively.

export VAULT_CAHOSTVERIFY="no"

This avoid the hostname check for Vault certificate (useful with self-signed certicates). This option can also be set via the Ansible variable vault_cahostverify.

For more information on setting variables in Ansible, see the variables docs.

The Vault token intentionally can not be set via an Ansible variable, as this is generally checked into revision control and would be a bad security practice somewhat defeating the purpose of using Vault. The token can be read from the file $HOME/.vault-token, as documented at Vault environment variables.

If any such parameter is set by both an environment variable and an alternative means, the environment variable takes precedence.

Caching

By default secrets fetched from Vault will be cached in memory, unless you specify

export ANSIBLE_HASHICORP_VAULT_USE_CACHE=no

Note that secrets will be fetched once per fork (defaults to 5). If you turn off this feature by toggling above variable, all lookups will be done per node instead.

Usage

ansible-vault works as any other lookup plugin.

- debug: msg="{{ lookup('vault', 'secret/foo', 'value') }}"

# templates/example.j2

# Generic secrets
{{ lookup('vault', 'secret/hello').value }} # world
# Generic secrets with parameters
{{ lookup('vault', 'pki/issue/example-dot-com common_name=foo.example.com format=pem_bundle').certificate }}
# Specify field inside lookup
{{ lookup('vault', 'secret/hello', 'value') }} # world
# This syntax for Ansible 1.9.x
{{ lookup('vault', ['secret/hello', 'value']) }} # world

# Dynamic secrets
{% set aws = lookup('vault', 'aws/creds/deploy') %}
access_key = {{ aws.access_key }} # AKSCAIZSFSYHFGA
secret_key = {{ aws.secret_key }} # 4XSLxDUS+hyXgoIHEhCKExHDGAJDHFiUA/adi

If the desired value is stored within Vault with the key 'value' (like 'value=world' shown above), within a task, the lookup can be performed with:

with_vault:
- secret/hello

And then referenced with "{{ item.value }}"

Alternatively, the lookup can be performed with:

with_vault:
- secret/hello
- value

And then referenced with "{{ item }}"

Both of these forms work with both Ansible 1.9.x and 2.x. They only work within tasks, though. You can not use the with_vault: syntax within a variable definition file.

What's the difference between `ansible-vault` and `hashi_vault`

(Ansible Vault) No external dependencies; (hashi_vault) requires hvac
(Ansible Vault) Uses the same environment variables as vault itself
(Ansible Vault) Quicker update cycle
(Ansible Vault) Supports dynamic secrets
(Ansible Vault) Supports custom fields