argocd-vault-plugin VS kubernetes-external-secrets

ArgoCD supports SOPS with the vault Plugin.

repoServer: rbac: - verbs: - get - list - watch apiGroups: - '' resources: - secrets - configmaps initContainers: - name: download-tools image: registry.access.redhat.com/ubi8 env: - name: AVP_VERSION value: 1.11.0 command: [sh, -c] args: - >- curl -L https://github.com/argoproj-labs/argocd-vault-plugin/releases/download/v$(AVP_VERSION)/argocd-vault-plugin_$(AVP_VERSION)_linux_amd64 -o argocd-vault-plugin && chmod +x argocd-vault-plugin && mv argocd-vault-plugin /custom-tools/ volumeMounts: - mountPath: /custom-tools name: custom-tools extraContainers: - name: avp-helm command: [/var/run/argocd/argocd-cmp-server] image: quay.io/argoproj/argocd:v2.4.8 securityContext: runAsNonRoot: true runAsUser: 999 volumeMounts: - mountPath: /var/run/argocd name: var-files - mountPath: /home/argocd/cmp-server/plugins name: plugins - mountPath: /tmp name: tmp-dir - mountPath: /home/argocd/cmp-server/config name: cmp-plugin - name: custom-tools subPath: argocd-vault-plugin mountPath: /usr/local/bin/argocd-vault-plugin volumes: - configMap: name: cmp-plugin name: cmp-plugin - name: custom-tools emptyDir: {} - name: tmp-dir emptyDir: {} # If you face issue with ArgoCD CRDs installation, then uncomment below section to disable it #crds: # install: false

argoproj-labs/argocd-vault-plugin

We’re using https://github.com/argoproj-labs/argocd-vault-plugin which allows you to define secrets in git (works with more backends than just hashicorp vault despite the name). The documentation took me a bit to figure out, but so far it works.

Argo CD Vault plugin

I used argocd vault plugin https://github.com/IBM/argocd-vault-plugin

$ helm repo add external-secrets https://external-secrets.github.io/kubernetes-external-secrets/ "external-secrets" has been added to your repositories $ helm install k8s-external-secrets external-secrets/kubernetes-external-secrets -f values.yaml NAME: k8s-external-secrets LAST DEPLOYED: Wed Mar 23 22:50:35 2022 NAMESPACE: default STATUS: deployed REVISION: 1 TEST SUITE: None NOTES: The kubernetes external secrets has been installed. Check its status by running: $ kubectl --namespace default get pods -l "app.kubernetes.io/name=kubernetes-external-secrets,app.kubernetes.io/instance=k8s-external-secrets" Visit https://github.com/external-secrets/kubernetes-external-secrets for instructions on how to use kubernetes external secrets

I’m reading above that you weren’t aware of sealed-secrets. So I guess that you are not familiar with ExternalSecrets secrets neither. Very solid project

They probably should merge with https://github.com/external-secrets/kubernetes-external-secr...

I do not recommend vault if you are not experienced. It is a heavy infra to manage. I suggest looking into https://github.com/external-secrets/kubernetes-external-secrets and selecting the tool offered by your cloud providers.

This is where things like the vault agent sidecar or projects like external secrets come in and allow you to inject / sync your secrets backend and your Kubernetes workloads :)

Depending on what platform you are on, you could use the AWS SDK or a tool like external-secrets (for Kubernetes).

We don't keep anything sensitive inside of Helm charts. We use AWS Secrets Manager and external-secrets