How to login to vault UI after installing helm chart in dev mode

7/21/2020

I have installed vault in kubernetes following the guide: https://learn.hashicorp.com/vault/kubernetes/sidecar

helm repo add hashicorp https://helm.releases.hashicorp.com
helm install vault hashicorp/vault --set "server.dev.enabled=true"

This document shows that I should use the root access token: https://learn.hashicorp.com/vault/getting-started/ui

But how do I get the root access token if the installation and auto unwrap was done inside of k8s?

There does not appear to be any secrets created to store this credential. I guess hashicorp team would label that as insecure.

But how then does one get the root token?

-- Josh Woodcock
hashicorp-vault
kubernetes
kubernetes-helm

1 Answer

7/21/2020

When you run the vault in dev mode, the vault is initialized and unsealed automatically. You can see the logs by running

$ kubectl logs -f vault-0
==> Vault server configuration:

             Api Address: http://172.18.0.9:8200
                     Cgo: disabled
         Cluster Address: https://vault-0.vault-internal:8201
              Listener 1: tcp (addr: "0.0.0.0:8200", cluster address: "0.0.0.0:8201", max_request_duration: "1m30s", max_request_size: "33554432", tls: "disabled")
               Log Level: info
                   Mlock: supported: true, enabled: false
           Recovery Mode: false
                 Storage: inmem
                 Version: Vault v1.4.2

WARNING! dev mode is enabled! In this mode, Vault runs entirely in-memory
and starts unsealed with a single unseal key. The root token is already
authenticated to the CLI, so you can immediately begin using Vault.

You may need to set the following environment variable:

    $ export VAULT_ADDR='http://0.0.0.0:8200'

The unseal key and root token are displayed below in case you want to
seal/unseal the Vault or re-authenticate.

Unseal Key: NINZtDfRBIogOqHQx1hRNhTXTzhAVf9ZqKxNcEKiMyo=
Root Token: root <-- this is the root token
-- hoque
Source: StackOverflow