---
title: Store secrets in Vault
description: Use Vault as an InfluxDB secret store and manage secrets through the in InfluxDB API.
url: https://docs.influxdata.com/influxdb/v2/admin/secrets/use-vault/
estimated_tokens: 1500
product: InfluxDB OSS v2
version: v2
---

# Store secrets in Vault

This page documents an earlier version of InfluxDB OSS. [InfluxDB 3 Core](/influxdb3/core/) is the latest stable version.

#### API token hashing is enabled by default in InfluxDB OSS 2.9.0

Stronger token security: tokens are stored as hashes on disk, so a copy of the database file doesn’t expose usable tokens. Existing tokens are hashed on first startup and the original strings can’t be recovered afterward — **capture any plaintext tokens you still need before you upgrade**.

For more information, see [Token hashing](/influxdb/v2/admin/tokens/#token-hashing).

[Vault](https://www.vaultproject.io/) secures, stores, and controls access to tokens, passwords, certificates, and other sensitive secrets. Store sensitive secrets in Vault using InfluxDB’s built-in Vault integration.

To store secrets in Vault, complete the following steps:

1. [Start a Vault server](#start-a-vault-server).
2. [Provide Vault server address and token](#provide-vault-server-address-and-token).
3. [Start InfluxDB](#start-influxdb).
4. [Manage secrets through the InfluxDB API](#manage-secrets-through-the-influxdb-api).

## Start a Vault server

Start a Vault server and ensure InfluxDB has network access to the server.

The following links provide information about running Vault in both development and production:

-   [Install Vault](https://learn.hashicorp.com/vault/getting-started/install)
-   [Start a Vault dev server](https://learn.hashicorp.com/vault/getting-started/dev-server)
-   [Deploy Vault](https://learn.hashicorp.com/vault/getting-started/deploy)

InfluxDB supports the [Vault KV Secrets Engine Version 2 API](https://www.vaultproject.io/api/secret/kv/kv-v2.html) only. When you create a secrets engine, enable the `kv-v2` version by running:

```js
vault secrets enable kv-v2
```

For this example, install Vault on your local machine and start a Vault dev server.

```bash
vault server -dev
```

## Provide Vault server address and token

Use `influxd` Vault-related tags or [Vault environment variables](https://www.vaultproject.io/docs/commands/index.html#environment-variables) to provide connection credentials and other important Vault-related information to InfluxDB.

### Required credentials

#### Vault address

Provide the API address of your Vault server *(available in the Vault server output)* using the [`--vault-addr` flag](/influxdb/v2/reference/config-options/#vault-addr) when starting `influxd` or with the `VAULT_ADDR` environment variable.

#### Vault token

Provide your [Vault token](https://learn.hashicorp.com/vault/getting-started/authentication) (required to access your Vault server) using the [`--vault-token` flag](/influxdb/v2/reference/config-options/#vault-token) when starting `influxd` or with the `VAULT_TOKEN` environment variable.

*Your Vault server configuration may require other Vault settings.*

## Start InfluxDB

Start the [`influxd` service](/influxdb/v2/reference/cli/influxd/) with the `--secret-store` option set to `vault` and any other necessary flags–for example, enter the following command:

```bash
influxd --secret-store vault \
  --vault-addr=http://127.0.0.1:8200 \
  --vault-token=$VAULT_TOKEN
```

`influxd` includes the following Vault configuration options. If set, these flags override any [Vault environment variables](https://www.vaultproject.io/docs/commands/index.html#environment-variables):

-   `--vault-addr`
-   `--vault-cacert`
-   `--vault-capath`
-   `--vault-client-cert`
-   `--vault-client-key`
-   `--vault-max-retries`
-   `--vault-client-timeout`
-   `--vault-skip-verify`
-   `--vault-tls-server-name`
-   `--vault-token`

For more information, see [InfluxDB configuration options](/influxdb/v2/reference/config-options/).

## Manage secrets through the InfluxDB API

Use the InfluxDB `/org/{orgID}/secrets` API endpoint to add tokens to Vault. For details, see [Secrets](/influxdb/v2/admin/secrets/).

[secrets](/influxdb/v2/tags/secrets/) [security](/influxdb/v2/tags/security/)