vault-k8s VS sealed-secrets-web

enabled: true # Use the Vault K8s Image https://github.com/hashicorp/vault-k8s/ image: repository: "hashicorp/vault-k8s" tag: "latest" resources: requests: memory: 256Mi cpu: 250m limits: memory: 256Mi cpu: 250m server: # These Resource Limits are in line with node requirements in the # Vault Reference Architecture for a Small Cluster resources: requests: memory: 8Gi cpu: 2000m limits: memory: 16Gi cpu: 2000m # For HA configuration and because we need to manually init the vault, # we need to define custom readiness/liveness Probe settings readinessProbe: enabled: true path: "/v1/sys/health?standbyok=true&sealedcode=204&uninitcode=204" livenessProbe: enabled: true path: "/v1/sys/health?standbyok=true" initialDelaySeconds: 60 # extraEnvironmentVars is a list of extra environment variables to set with the stateful set. These could be # used to include variables required for auto-unseal. extraEnvironmentVars: VAULT_CACERT: /vault/userconfig/tls-ca/ca.crt # extraVolumes is a list of extra volumes to mount. These will be exposed # to Vault in the path \/vault/userconfig//`. extraVolumes: - type: secret name: tls-ca - type: secret name: tls-listener-1 - type: secret name: tls-server # This configures the Vault Statefulset to create a PVC for audit logs. # See https://www.vaultproject.io/docs/audit/index.html to know more auditStorage: enabled: true storageClass: solidfire-gold dataStorage: enabled: true storageClass: solidfire-gold standalone: enabled: false # Run Vault in "HA" mode. ha: enabled: true replicas: 3 raft: enabled: true setNodeId: true config: |          ui = true          listener "tcp" {            address = "0.0.0.0:8200"            cluster_address = "0.0.0.0:8201"            tls_cert_file = "/vault/userconfig/tls-listener-1/server.crt"            tls_key_file = "/vault/userconfig/tls-listener-1/server.key"            tls_client_ca_file = "/vault/userconfig/tls-ca/ca.crt"          }          storage "raft" {            path = "/vault/data"            retry_join {              leader_api_addr = "https://vault-0.vault-internal:8200"`               leader_ca_cert_file = "/vault/userconfig/tls-ca/ca.crt"               leader_client_cert_file = "/vault/userconfig/tls-server/server.crt"               leader_client_key_file = "/vault/userconfig/tls-server/server.key"             }             retry_join {               leader_api_addr = "https://vault-1.vault-internal:8200"               leader_ca_cert_file = "/vault/userconfig/tls-ca/ca.crt"               leader_client_cert_file = "/vault/userconfig/tls-server/server.crt"               leader_client_key_file = "/vault/userconfig/tls-server/server.key"             }             retry_join {               leader_api_addr = "https://vault-2.vault-internal:8200"               leader_ca_cert_file = "/vault/userconfig/tls-ca/ca.crt"               leader_client_cert_file = "/vault/userconfig/tls-server/server.crt"               leader_client_key_file = "/vault/userconfig/tls-server/server.key"             }             autopilot {               cleanup_dead_servers = "true"               last_contact_threshold = "200ms"               last_contact_failure_threshold = "10m"               max_trailing_logs = 250000               min_quorum = 3               server_stabilization_time = "10s"             }           }           service_registration "kubernetes" {} # Vault UI ui: enabled: true serviceType: "LoadBalancer" externalPort: 8443 loadBalancerIP: 10.193.124.70 loadBalancerSourceRanges: - 0.0.0.0/0

vault: global: enabled: true tlsDisable: false injector: enabled: true # Use the Vault K8s Image https://github.com/hashicorp/vault-k8s/ image: repository: "hashicorp/vault-k8s" tag: "latest" resources: requests: memory: 256Mi cpu: 250m limits: memory: 256Mi cpu: 250m server: # These Resource Limits are in line with node requirements in the # Vault Reference Architecture for a Small Cluster resources: requests: memory: 8Gi cpu: 2000m limits: memory: 16Gi cpu: 2000m # For HA configuration and because we need to manually init the vault, # we need to define custom readiness/liveness Probe settings readinessProbe: enabled: true path: "/v1/sys/health?standbyok=true&sealedcode=204&uninitcode=204" livenessProbe: enabled: true path: "/v1/sys/health?standbyok=true" initialDelaySeconds: 60 # extraEnvironmentVars is a list of extra environment variables to set with the stateful set. These could be # used to include variables required for auto-unseal. extraEnvironmentVars: VAULT_CACERT: /vault/userconfig/tls-ca/ca.crt # extraVolumes is a list of extra volumes to mount. These will be exposed # to Vault in the path \/vault/userconfig//`. extraVolumes: - type: secret name: tls-listener - type: secret name: tls-server - type: secret name: tls-ca # This configures the Vault Statefulset to create a PVC for audit logs. # See https://www.vaultproject.io/docs/audit/index.html to know more auditStorage: enabled: true storageClass: solidfire-gold dataStorage: enabled: true storageClass: solidfire-gold standalone: enabled: false # Run Vault in "HA" mode. ha: enabled: true replicas: 3 raft: enabled: true setNodeId: true config: |          ui = true          listener "tcp" {            address = "[::]:8200"            cluster_address = "[::]:8201"            tls_cert_file = "/vault/userconfig/tls-listener/server.crt"            tls_key_file = "/vault/userconfig/tls-listener/server.key"            tls_client_ca_file = "/vault/userconfig/tls-ca/ca.crt"          }          storage "raft" {            path = "/vault/data"            retry_join {              leader_api_addr = "https://vault-0.vault-internal:8200"`               leader_ca_cert_file = "/vault/userconfig/tls-ca/ca.crt"               leader_client_cert_file = "/vault/userconfig/tls-server/server.crt"               leader_client_key_file = "/vault/userconfig/tls-server/server.key"             }             retry_join {               leader_api_addr = "https://vault-1.vault-internal:8200"               leader_ca_cert_file = "/vault/userconfig/tls-ca/ca.crt"               leader_client_cert_file = "/vault/userconfig/tls-server/server.crt"               leader_client_key_file = "/vault/userconfig/tls-server/server.key"             }             retry_join {               leader_api_addr = "https://vault-2.vault-internal:8200"               leader_ca_cert_file = "/vault/userconfig/tls-ca/ca.crt"               leader_client_cert_file = "/vault/userconfig/tls-server/server.crt"               leader_client_key_file = "/vault/userconfig/tls-server/server.key"             }             autopilot {               cleanup_dead_servers = "true"               last_contact_threshold = "200ms"               last_contact_failure_threshold = "10m"               max_trailing_logs = 250000               min_quorum = 5               server_stabilization_time = "10s"             }           }           service_registration "kubernetes" {} # Vault UI ui: enabled: true serviceType: "LoadBalancer" serviceNodePort: null externalPort: 8200

Hashicorp Vault k8s is an operator that modifies pods via a mutating webhook to connect between vault and pod via sidecars (additional containers) to provide secrets. This has the major advantage that no secret objects are created in Kubernetes here. The disadvantage is that this way only works with Vault.

They’ve made it so you can define the order that the vault sidecar starts in, so that the proxy will be running first. https://github.com/hashicorp/vault-k8s/issues/53

An option that easily works with GitOps is the Operator Sealed Secrets from Bitnami. Secrets encrypted with it can only be decrypted by operators running inside the cluster, not even by the original author. For encryption, there is a CLI (and a third-party web UI) that requires a connection to the cluster. The disadvantage of this is that the key material is stored in the cluster, the secrets are bound to the cluster and one has to take care of backups and operation.