argocd-vault-plugin VS secrets-store-csi-driver

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'm not a fan of this approach. I think the Secrets Store CSI Driver (https://secrets-store-csi-driver.sigs.k8s.io/) has a better approach.

If you deploy on k8s, keep your eye on https://secrets-store-csi-driver.sigs.k8s.io/

Considering the major limitations of using Kubernetes Secrets, there are many new approaches being developed by the Kubernetes community. Kubernetes SIGs like the Secrets Store CSI Driver and solutions like the external secrets operator that works with third-party secret managers, and options to seal secrets through tools like bitnami’s sealed-secrets. To skip the tools and move directly to best practices, click here.

Just to clarify, CSI secret driver is from cncf not Microsoft. Only msft piece is the portion that integrates with key vault. https://secrets-store-csi-driver.sigs.k8s.io/

https://secrets-store-csi-driver.sigs.k8s.io/ and https://developer.hashicorp.com/vault/tutorials/kubernetes/kubernetes-secret-store-driver

The Secrets Store CSI Driver is a native upstream Kubernetes driver that can be used to abstract where the secret is stored from the workload. If you want to use a cloud provider's secret manager without exposing the secrets as Kubernetes Secret objects, you can use the CSI Driver to mount secrets as volumes in your pods. This is a great option if you use a cloud provider to host your Kubernetes cluster. The driver supports many cloud providers and can be used with different secret managers.

A relatively new and emerging method uses a Kubernetes Secrets Store CSI Driver, which allows secrets stored in secret managers to be mounted into pods as a volume. Once the Volume is attached to the Pod, the data is mounted into the container's file system.