--- layout: docs page_title: KV - Secrets Engines description: The KV secrets engine can store arbitrary secrets. --- # KV Secrets Engine - Version 2 The `kv` secrets engine is used to store arbitrary secrets within the configured physical storage for Vault. Key names must always be strings. If you write non-string values directly via the CLI, they will be converted into strings. However, you can preserve non-string values by writing the key/value pairs to Vault from a JSON file or using the HTTP API. This secrets engine honors the distinction between the `create` and `update` capabilities inside ACL policies. The `patch` capability is also supported which is used to represent partial updates whereas the `update` capability represents full overwrites. ## Setup Most secrets engines must be configured in advance before they can perform their functions. These steps are usually completed by an operator or configuration management tool. A v2 `kv` secrets engine can be enabled by: ```shell-session $ vault secrets enable -version=2 kv ``` Or, you can pass `kv-v2` as the secrets engine type: ```shell-session $ vault secrets enable kv-v2 ``` Additionally, when running a dev-mode server, the v2 `kv` secrets engine is enabled by default at the path `secret/` (for non-dev servers, it is currently v1). It can be disabled, moved, or enabled multiple times at different paths. Each instance of the KV secrets engine is isolated and unique. ## Upgrading from Version 1 An existing version 1 kv store can be upgraded to a version 2 kv store via the CLI or API, as shown below. This will start an upgrade process to upgrade the existing key/value data to a versioned format. The mount will be inaccessible during this process. This process could take a long time, so plan accordingly. Once upgraded to version 2, the former paths at which the data was accessible will no longer suffice. You will need to adjust user policies to add access to the version 2 paths as detailed in the [ACL Rules section below](/docs/secrets/kv/kv-v2#acl-rules). Similarly, users/applications will need to update the paths at which they interact with the kv data once it has been upgraded to version 2. An existing version 1 kv can be upgraded to a version 2 KV store with the CLI command: ```shell-session $ vault kv enable-versioning secret/ Success! Tuned the secrets engine at: secret/ ``` or via the API: ```shell-session $ cat payload.json { "options": { "version": "2" } } $ curl \ --header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \ --request POST \ --data @payload.json \ http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/sys/mounts/secret/tune ``` ## ACL Rules The version 2 kv store uses a prefixed API, which is different from the version 1 API. Before upgrading from a version 1 kv the ACL rules should be changed. Also different paths in the version 2 API can be ACL'ed differently. Writing and reading versions are prefixed with the `data/` path. This policy that worked for the version 1 kv: ``` path "secret/dev/team-1/*" { capabilities = ["create", "update", "read"] } ``` Should be changed to: ``` path "secret/data/dev/team-1/*" { capabilities = ["create", "update", "read"] } ``` There are different levels of data deletion for this backend. To grant a policy the permissions to delete the latest version of a key: ``` path "secret/data/dev/team-1/*" { capabilities = ["delete"] } ``` To allow the policy to delete any version of a key: ``` path "secret/delete/dev/team-1/*" { capabilities = ["update"] } ``` To allow a policy to undelete data: ``` path "secret/undelete/dev/team-1/*" { capabilities = ["update"] } ``` To allow a policy to destroy versions: ``` path "secret/destroy/dev/team-1/*" { capabilities = ["update"] } ``` To allow a policy to list keys: ``` path "secret/metadata/dev/team-1/*" { capabilities = ["list"] } ``` To allow a policy to view metadata for each version: ``` path "secret/metadata/dev/team-1/*" { capabilities = ["read"] } ``` To allow a policy to permanently remove all versions and metadata for a key: ``` path "secret/metadata/dev/team-1/*" { capabilities = ["delete"] } ``` The `allowed_parameters`, `denied_parameters`, and `required_parameters` fields are not supported for policies used with the version 2 kv store. See the [Policies Concepts](/docs/concepts/policies) for a description of these parameters. See the [API Specification](/api-docs/secret/kv/kv-v2) for more information. ## Usage After the secrets engine is configured and a user/machine has a Vault token with the proper permission, it can generate credentials. The `kv` secrets engine allows for writing keys with arbitrary values. The path-like KV-v1 syntax for referencing a secret (`secret/foo`) can still be used in KV-v2, but we recommend using the `-mount=secret` flag syntax to avoid mistaking it for the actual path to the secret (`secret/data/foo` is the real path). ### Writing/Reading arbitrary data 1. Write arbitrary data: ```shell-session $ vault kv put -mount=secret my-secret foo=a bar=b Key Value --- ----- created_time 2019-06-19T17:20:22.985303Z custom_metadata deletion_time n/a destroyed false version 1 ``` 1. Read arbitrary data: ```shell-session $ vault kv get -mount=secret my-secret ====== Metadata ====== Key Value --- ----- created_time 2019-06-19T17:20:22.985303Z custom_metadata deletion_time n/a destroyed false version 1 ====== Data ====== Key Value --- ----- foo a bar b ``` 1. Write another version, the previous version will still be accessible. The `-cas` flag can optionally be passed to perform a check-and-set operation. If not set the write will be allowed. In order for a write to be successful, `cas` must be set to the current version of the secret. If set to 0 a write will only be allowed if the key doesn’t exist as unset keys do not have any version information. Also remember that soft deletes do not remove any underlying version data from storage. In order to write to a soft deleted key, the cas parameter must match the key's current version. ```shell-session $ vault kv put -mount=secret -cas=1 my-secret foo=aa bar=bb Key Value --- ----- created_time 2019-06-19T17:22:23.369372Z custom_metadata deletion_time n/a destroyed false version 2 ``` 1. Reading now will return the newest version of the data: ```shell-session $ vault kv get -mount=secret my-secret ====== Metadata ====== Key Value --- ----- created_time 2019-06-19T17:22:23.369372Z custom_metadata deletion_time n/a destroyed false version 2 ====== Data ====== Key Value --- ----- foo aa bar bb ``` 1. Partial updates can be accomplished using the `vault kv patch` command. A command will initially attempt an HTTP `PATCH` request which requires the `patch` ACL capability. The `PATCH` request will fail if the token used is associated with a policy that does not contain the `patch` capability. In this case the command will perform a read, local update, and subsequent write which require both the `read` and `update` ACL capabilities. The `-cas` flag can optionally be passed to perform a check-and-set operation. It will only be used in the case of the initial `PATCH` request. The read-then-write flow will use the `version` value from the secret returned by the read to perform a check-and-set operation in the subsequent write. ```shell-session $ vault kv patch -mount=secret -cas=2 my-secret bar=bbb Key Value --- ----- created_time 2019-06-19T17:23:49.199802Z custom_metadata deletion_time n/a destroyed false version 3 ``` 1. The `vault kv patch` command also supports a `-method` flag which can be used to specify HTTP `PATCH` or read-then-write. The supported values are `patch` and `rw` for HTTP `PATCH` and read-then-write, respectively. Perform a patch using the `patch` method: ```shell-session $ vault kv patch -mount=secret -method=patch -cas=2 my-secret bar=bbb Key Value --- ----- created_time 2019-06-19T17:23:49.199802Z custom_metadata deletion_time n/a destroyed false version 3 ``` Perform a patch using the read-then-write method: ```shell-session $ vault kv patch -mount=secret -method=rw my-secret bar=bbb Key Value --- ----- created_time 2019-06-19T17:23:49.199802Z custom_metadata deletion_time n/a destroyed false version 3 ``` 2. Reading after a patch will return the newest version of the data in which only the specified fields were updated: ```shell-session $ vault kv get -mount=secret my-secret ====== Metadata ====== Key Value --- ----- created_time 2019-06-19T17:23:49.199802Z custom_metadata deletion_time n/a destroyed false version 3 ====== Data ====== Key Value --- ----- foo aa bar bbb ``` 3. Previous versions can be accessed with the `-version` flag: ```shell-session $ vault kv get -mount=secret -version=1 my-secret ====== Metadata ====== Key Value --- ----- created_time 2019-06-19T17:20:22.985303Z custom_metadata deletion_time n/a destroyed false version 1 ====== Data ====== Key Value --- ----- foo a bar b ``` ### Deleting and Destroying Data When deleting data the standard `vault kv delete` command will perform a soft delete. It will mark the version as deleted and populate a `deletion_time` timestamp. Soft deletes do not remove the underlying version data from storage, which allows the version to be undeleted. The `vault kv undelete` command handles undeleting versions. A version's data is permanently deleted only when the key has more versions than are allowed by the max-versions setting, or when using `vault kv destroy`. When the destroy command is used the underlying version data will be removed and the key metadata will be marked as destroyed. If a version is cleaned up by going over max-versions the version metadata will also be removed from the key. See the commands below for more information: 1. The latest version of a key can be deleted with the delete command, this also takes a `-versions` flag to delete prior versions: ```shell-session $ vault kv delete -mount=secret my-secret Success! Data deleted (if it existed) at: secret/data/my-secret ``` 1. Versions can be undeleted: ```shell-session $ vault kv undelete -mount=secret -versions=2 my-secret Success! Data written to: secret/undelete/my-secret $ vault kv get -mount=secret my-secret ====== Metadata ====== Key Value --- ----- created_time 2019-06-19T17:23:21.834403Z custom_metadata deletion_time n/a destroyed false version 2 ====== Data ====== Key Value --- ----- my-value short-lived-s3cr3t ``` 1. Destroying a version permanently deletes the underlying data: ```shell-session $ vault kv destroy -mount=secret -versions=2 my-secret Success! Data written to: secret/destroy/my-secret ``` ### Key Metadata All versions and key metadata can be tracked with the metadata command & API. Deleting the metadata key will cause all metadata and versions for that key to be permanently removed. See the commands below for more information: 1. All metadata and versions for a key can be viewed: ```shell-session $ vault kv metadata get -mount=secret my-secret ========== Metadata ========== Key Value --- ----- cas_required false created_time 2019-06-19T17:20:22.985303Z current_version 2 custom_metadata delete_version_after 0s max_versions 0 oldest_version 0 updated_time 2019-06-19T17:22:23.369372Z ====== Version 1 ====== Key Value --- ----- created_time 2019-06-19T17:20:22.985303Z deletion_time n/a destroyed false ====== Version 2 ====== Key Value --- ----- created_time 2019-06-19T17:22:23.369372Z deletion_time n/a destroyed true ``` 1. The metadata settings for a key can be configured: ```shell-session $ vault kv metadata put -mount=secret -max-versions 2 -delete-version-after="3h25m19s" my-secret Success! Data written to: secret/metadata/my-secret ``` Delete-version-after settings will apply only to new versions. Max versions changes will be applied on next write: ```shell-session $ vault kv put -mount=secret my-secret my-value=newer-s3cr3t Key Value --- ----- created_time 2019-06-19T17:31:16.662563Z custom_metadata deletion_time 2019-06-19T20:56:35.662563Z destroyed false version 4 ``` Once a key has more versions than max versions the oldest versions are cleaned up: ```shell-session $ vault kv metadata get -mount=secret my-secret ========== Metadata ========== Key Value --- ----- cas_required false created_time 2019-06-19T17:20:22.985303Z current_version 4 custom_metadata delete_version_after 3h25m19s max_versions 2 oldest_version 3 updated_time 2019-06-19T17:31:16.662563Z ====== Version 3 ====== Key Value --- ----- created_time 2019-06-19T17:23:21.834403Z deletion_time n/a destroyed true ====== Version 4 ====== Key Value --- ----- created_time 2019-06-19T17:31:16.662563Z deletion_time 2019-06-19T20:56:35.662563Z destroyed false ``` A secret's key metadata can contain custom metadata used to describe the secret. The data will be stored as string-to-string key-value pairs. The `-custom-metadata` flag can be repeated to add multiple key-value pairs. The `vault kv metadata put` command can be used to fully overwrite the value of `custom_metadata`: ```shell-session $ vault kv metadata put -mount=secret -custom-metadata=foo=abc -custom-metadata=bar=123 my-secret Success! Data written to: secret/metadata/my-secret $ vault kv get -mount=secret my-secret ====== Metadata ====== Key Value --- ----- created_time 2019-06-19T17:22:23.369372Z custom_metadata map[bar:123 foo:abc] deletion_time n/a destroyed false version 2 ====== Data ====== Key Value --- ----- foo aa bar bb ``` The `vault kv metadata patch` command can be used to partially overwrite the value of `custom_metadata`. The following invocation will update `custom_metadata` sub-field `foo` but leave `bar` untouched: ```shell-session $ vault kv metadata patch -mount=secret -custom-metadata=foo=def my-secret Success! Data written to: secret/metadata/my-secret $ vault kv get -mount=secret my-secret ====== Metadata ====== Key Value --- ----- created_time 2019-06-19T17:22:23.369372Z custom_metadata map[bar:123 foo:def] deletion_time n/a destroyed false version 2 ====== Data ====== Key Value --- ----- foo aa bar bb ``` 1. Permanently delete all metadata and versions for a key: ```shell-session $ vault kv metadata delete -mount=secret my-secret Success! Data deleted (if it existed) at: secret/metadata/my-secret ``` ## Tutorial Refer to the [Versioned Key/Value Secrets Engine](https://learn.hashicorp.com/vault/secrets-management/sm-versioned-kv) tutorial to learn how to use KV secrets engine v2 to version or roll back secrets. ## API The KV secrets engine has a full HTTP API. Please see the [KV secrets engine API](/api-docs/secret/kv/kv-v2) for more details.