Deploy Securely With Ansible Vault

Securing your infrastructure is a must, it’s not a maybe. You work hard to build robust systems, but are they truly safe from unwanted access? It’s time to talk about how you can make your Ansible playbooks more secure. Many teams now use Ansible for automation, but what if the secrets used by Ansible were exposed? What if that gave a bad actor a wide-open path to mess with your work? Ansible Vault offers a way to lock down these sensitive bits. We’ll show you how you can safeguard your automation. We’ll walk you through how to use Ansible Vault to protect your Ansible Vault secrets. Let’s get started.

What is Ansible Vault?

Ansible Vault is a tool within the Ansible automation platform, a core feature, not an add-on. It’s designed to encrypt sensitive data in Ansible projects. Think of it as a digital safe for your passwords, API keys, and other private stuff you must use in your automation code.

You may wonder, why not just store secrets plainly in the Ansible code, or in environment variables? Well, that can lead to trouble. If secrets are out in the open, anyone with access to your code has access to your whole system. Ansible Vault fixes this by encrypting the secrets, making them unreadable without the right key. Even if bad actors manage to sneak a peek at your files, the secrets will stay safe.

You might ask, what data can you store in Ansible Vault? The answer is: anything that needs to stay hidden. This includes but is not limited to:

Passwords for databases
API keys for cloud services
Private SSH keys for server access
TLS/SSL certificates
Any other sensitive information needed by your Ansible automation

Why use Ansible Vault?

Using Ansible Vault adds a strong layer of security to your automation setup. Here’s why it’s important:

Protection Against Data Breaches: Plain-text secrets are easy targets for hackers. Ansible Vault encrypts these secrets, so they are useless if stolen without the encryption key.
Secure Collaboration: When your team shares Ansible code, it’s vital to keep secrets safe. Ansible Vault lets you share code without exposing sensitive data.
Compliance: Many industries must meet strict rules for data safety. Ansible Vault helps you stick to these rules by properly managing your secrets.
Better Secret Management: Storing secrets plainly in code makes it hard to control and track. Ansible Vault offers a focused way to manage secrets, making things simpler and safer.
Automation with Peace of Mind: You can automate with confidence, knowing that your secrets are protected every step of the way. This safety makes the whole automation process better.

In short, Ansible Vault is not just a fancy add-on. It’s a fundamental tool to build security into your automation workflow. By using it, you make sure your infrastructure is strong, safe, and compliant.

How does Ansible Vault work?

Ansible Vault works by using strong encryption methods to protect your data. It uses the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) algorithm, a widely trusted and safe method, specifically AES-256. This means your secrets are encrypted with a 256-bit key, making it very hard to break. Here’s a breakdown of how it works:

Encryption: When you encrypt a file or data with Ansible Vault, the tool uses the AES-256 algorithm, paired with a password you set. This encryption turns your sensitive information into unreadable code.
Storage: The encrypted data can then be saved into a regular Ansible file, like a YAML file. Since it is encrypted, even if someone were to find these files, they wouldn’t be able to read or use your secrets without the correct password.
Decryption: When Ansible needs to use the encrypted data during a playbook run, you must provide the password or the vault key file to Ansible Vault. The vault then uses this password to decrypt the data, turning it back into readable secrets. This decryption happens in memory and is never written to disk, making it a secure process.
Access control: Ansible Vault provides granular control on a file-by-file basis. Each file can have a different password or use the same, allowing you to tailor the security to different parts of your automation.
Vault IDs: You may have several sets of vault passwords, and that’s where vault IDs come in. Vault IDs let you manage several vault passwords, each for its own use case. For instance, you might have a vault ID for your development environment and a separate vault ID for production.

In essence, Ansible Vault uses the vault password, or a key file, as the basis for encrypting and decrypting your data. This ensures that only those with the right password or key file can access your secrets, providing a strong layer of security for your automation environment.

Getting Started With Ansible Vault

Before you can start using Ansible Vault, you need to have Ansible set up and running. If you have not set up Ansible yet, you must do that before you proceed.

You must also have these items before you can get started with Ansible Vault:

Ansible Installed: Make sure Ansible is installed on your control machine.
Text Editor: Pick your favorite text editor for writing Ansible code and managing vault files.
Password Management: Set up a good way to keep track of your vault passwords.
Understanding Ansible Basics: Some basic knowledge of Ansible playbooks and variables will come in handy as you proceed.

Once you have these items set up, you can then start using Ansible Vault.

Creating a Vault File

You can create an encrypted file to store your secrets using the ansible-vault create command. This command takes a filename as an argument and prompts you for a vault password.

For example:

ansible-vault create secrets.yml

After you run this command, Ansible Vault will ask for a password. Choose a strong one. Once you input the password, your chosen text editor will open with a blank file. You can then add your secrets to this file using YAML syntax. Like so:

database_password: "your_database_password"
api_key: "your_api_key"

Save the file once you are finished. The contents of secrets.yml will be encrypted and unreadable by just looking at the file.

Encrypting Existing Files

If you have an existing file that contains secrets, you can encrypt it using the ansible-vault encrypt command. This can be useful to secure already built Ansible projects. For example:

ansible-vault encrypt my_variables.yml

Like with the create command, Ansible Vault will prompt you for a password and then encrypt the entire contents of the file. The original file is then replaced with an encrypted version, which ensures your secrets are protected.

Viewing Encrypted Files

You can’t just open the encrypted file and see its contents using a regular text editor. To see the content of the file you must use the ansible-vault view command.

For example:

ansible-vault view secrets.yml

This command will ask you for the vault password. Once you input the password, it will display the contents of the file. However, the file is only displayed temporarily. Once you exit the view, the content is no longer visible. The file stays encrypted.

Editing Encrypted Files

To edit an encrypted file, use the ansible-vault edit command. Like so:

ansible-vault edit secrets.yml

This will ask for the vault password, open the file in a text editor, and then re-encrypt the file once you save your changes.

Decrypting Files

If you need to fully decrypt a file for whatever reason, you can use the ansible-vault decrypt command:

ansible-vault decrypt secrets.yml

This will ask for the vault password and then decrypt the file, so you can read the contents.

Changing Vault Passwords

You should change your vault password regularly, or if you think that it has been compromised. To change a vault password, use the ansible-vault rekey command.

ansible-vault rekey secrets.yml

This will prompt you for the current vault password and then the new password. This is an important command to keep your data safe, and you should consider doing this regularly.

Using Ansible Vault with Playbooks

Ansible Vault is useful for protecting secrets, but how do you actually use those secrets in your Ansible playbooks? Let’s explore that.

Referencing Vault Variables in Playbooks

After encrypting your secret variables, you can reference them in your playbooks just like any other variable. Here is an example playbook:

---
- hosts: all
  tasks:
    - name: Connect to database
      command: "mysql -u root -p{{ database_password }} -e 'show databases;'"

In this playbook, {{ database_password }} refers to the variable database_password from your vault file secrets.yml.

Providing the Vault Password

You can’t just run a playbook that contains vault variables. Ansible needs a way to decrypt your secrets at runtime. There are several ways to do this:

--ask-vault-pass Option: When running a playbook, you can use the --ask-vault-pass option. This will prompt you for the vault password before the playbook begins to execute. For example:

bash ansible-playbook my_playbook.yml --ask-vault-pass
2. --vault-password-file Option: You can also store the vault password in a file and use the --vault-password-file option when running your playbook. You should make sure the file containing the password has the right permissions, so other users can’t read it. For example:

bash ansible-playbook my_playbook.yml --vault-password-file vault_pass.txt
3. ANSIBLE_VAULT_PASSWORD Environment Variable: You can also set the ANSIBLE_VAULT_PASSWORD environment variable before you run the playbook. Like so:

bash export ANSIBLE_VAULT_PASSWORD='your_vault_password' ansible-playbook my_playbook.yml

This approach will skip having to enter the password when running the playbook. But, make sure you unset this environment variable once you’re done using it, as you don’t want the password just sitting there in your environment.
4. Vault IDs: Vault IDs offer a sophisticated method for handling different passwords for different parts of your automation. You can specify vault IDs when creating or editing encrypted files. To use a vault ID, use the --vault-id parameter. For example:
bash ansible-playbook my_playbook.yml --vault-id dev@vault_pass.txt
The dev part of dev@vault_pass.txt specifies the vault ID to use, and the vault_pass.txt is the location of the vault password file used for the dev ID.

Vault IDs improve security by making it easier to use different passwords for various parts of your setup. This way, even if a password for one vault ID gets compromised, the other parts of your automation will stay secure.
5. Ansible Configuration File: You can also specify your vault password file in the Ansible configuration file. By doing this, you won’t need to specify the vault password on the command line every time. You would need to update the configuration file ansible.cfg using the vault_password_file setting, like so:
ini [defaults] vault_password_file = vault_pass.txt

Using Multiple Vault Files

You may need to handle secrets in different parts of your organization. You can use multiple vault files in a single project. In this case, you might have a file called db_secrets.yml for database passwords, and cloud_secrets.yml for cloud API keys.

In your playbook, simply reference all the variables you need in your playbooks. Ansible will automatically decrypt these variables at runtime if you provide the vault password when you run the playbook. You can use multiple vault files and vault IDs at the same time if needed.

Best Practices for Using Ansible Vault

Using Ansible Vault effectively involves more than just encrypting data. There are some best practices that can help you to improve the security of your vault setup:

Strong Passwords: Always use strong, unique passwords for your vaults. A long, random password is the best option to ensure the security of your secrets. Use a password manager to create and manage these passwords.
Keep Passwords Safe: Do not save vault passwords in your source code, in plain text files, or anywhere that other people can access them. Use environment variables, password files with proper file permissions, or a vault password manager.
Vault Key Files: Use vault key files instead of passwords when possible. Key files can be easier to manage, and they are harder to break. You should store these key files safely.
Regular Rotation: Change your vault passwords regularly, especially if you suspect any security breaches. Use the ansible-vault rekey command regularly to change the vault passwords for your secrets.
Granular Permissions: Limit who can access and modify your vault files. Implement strict access control to ensure that only authorized users can manage the secrets. You can do this using file system permissions or other access control mechanisms.
Avoid Committing Encrypted Files: Do not add vault files to Git repositories in plain text. Ensure that you are only adding the encrypted versions of your vault files to your source control.
Regular Audits: Review your use of Ansible Vault regularly to find areas for improvement. Check that your secrets are managed securely, and update your practices whenever needed to ensure proper management of your secrets.
Use Vault IDs: Using vault IDs can improve your security setup by creating isolated parts to the overall setup. If you need to set up different vault passwords for different use cases, you should always use vault IDs to ensure proper use of each password.

Following these best practices will greatly improve the security of your Ansible automation. You will be able to keep your secrets safe, and you will be able to automate your infrastructure with confidence.

Common Mistakes to Avoid With Ansible Vault

Even though Ansible Vault is easy to use, people often make mistakes that can hurt its security. Here are some of these mistakes, so you can avoid making them:

Plain Text Passwords: A very common mistake is to store vault passwords in plain text files or within the Ansible code. This can totally defeat the purpose of using Ansible Vault and is a huge security risk, as other people can easily find these passwords.
Weak Passwords: A weak password, like a common word or phrase, makes it easy for others to break into your vault. This makes the entire setup insecure. Always use a long, random password.
Leaving Environment Variables Set: When setting vault passwords as environment variables, they might stay set after use. Make sure to unset these variables after your Ansible playbook is complete to avoid exposing the password to other processes.
Ignoring Vault Key Files: Key files are a safer way to manage vault secrets, but some users ignore them in favor of passwords. If possible, always use key files for improved security.
Over-Sharing Secrets: Sharing vault passwords or vault key files without proper access controls can lead to security breaches. It can allow unauthorized people to access your secrets.
Neglecting Regular Maintenance: Not rotating vault passwords or auditing vault configurations can lead to stale secrets and potential security vulnerabilities. Make sure to change passwords often, especially if you suspect any breaches.
Not Encrypting All Sensitive Data: Sometimes, people only encrypt some of their sensitive data and leave other secrets in plain text. It is best to encrypt all of your secrets to make sure they are safe.
Committing Unencrypted Files: Accidentally adding unencrypted vault files to Git repositories can expose your secrets to other developers. This is a major security risk.

By avoiding these mistakes, you can make the most of Ansible Vault, and you can make sure that you keep your environment safe. Always review your setup to find and correct any potential issues that you can find in your workflow.

When Should You Not Use Ansible Vault?

While Ansible Vault is a great tool for protecting secrets, it’s not a perfect fit for every situation. There are specific cases where other tools or methods may be better. Here are some scenarios when you might consider avoiding Ansible Vault:

Large-Scale Secret Management: For very large setups, where you have many secrets, you may want to look at other secret management tools. Tools like HashiCorp Vault or CyberArk are built to handle many more secrets and provide fine-grained access control.
Dynamic Secrets: Ansible Vault works best with static secrets, secrets that stay the same and rarely change. If you are dealing with dynamic secrets, secrets that change often, such as those made by cloud providers on a regular basis, you might want to use specialized tools like AWS Secrets Manager or Azure Key Vault.
Complex Access Control: While Ansible Vault provides some access control, it might not be enough for large setups. If you need more control over who can access each secret, you may want to look at dedicated secret management tools.
Automated Rotation: Ansible Vault doesn’t have built-in features for automatic secret rotation. If you need to rotate your secrets automatically, you may need to look at other tools.
Integration with Other Tools: If you need to integrate with other tools outside the Ansible ecosystem, you may find other secret management tools easier to use, as some of them provide an easier way to integrate with third-party tools.

In these cases, other secret management tools may provide better ways to handle your secrets. Ansible Vault is great for most common use cases, but it’s not the best tool for every situation. Understanding these limitations can help you choose the best tools for the job.

Ansible Vault vs Other Secret Management Solutions

Ansible Vault is one tool in a big family of solutions. How does it stack up against others? Let’s compare it to a couple of popular alternatives:

Ansible Vault vs HashiCorp Vault

HashiCorp Vault is a powerful secret management tool designed for complex setups. Here’s how it compares to Ansible Vault:

Scope: Ansible Vault is for encrypting data within Ansible projects, while HashiCorp Vault is a complete solution for all your secret needs, regardless of which tool you use.
Complexity: Ansible Vault is simpler to use and get started with. HashiCorp Vault has much more features, but is harder to use.
Dynamic Secrets: HashiCorp Vault is designed to manage dynamic secrets. Ansible Vault is designed for static secrets.
Access Control: HashiCorp Vault provides very granular access control. Ansible Vault provides basic file-based access control.
Integration: HashiCorp Vault works with a very wide range of tools and platforms. Ansible Vault is limited to Ansible automation setups.
Scalability: HashiCorp Vault is better for large setups. Ansible Vault works well for most common setups.

In short, HashiCorp Vault is more of a complete secret management solution, while Ansible Vault is a basic tool integrated into Ansible. Use HashiCorp Vault if you have a very complex setup, and use Ansible Vault if you only need to protect secrets inside your Ansible playbooks.

Ansible Vault vs AWS Secrets Manager

AWS Secrets Manager is a fully-managed secrets service offered by Amazon Web Services (AWS). Here’s how it measures up against Ansible Vault:

Scope: Ansible Vault is designed for local Ansible projects. AWS Secrets Manager is a cloud-based solution made for AWS.
Dynamic Secrets: AWS Secrets Manager works well with dynamic secrets like database passwords and API keys that change often. Ansible Vault works best with static secrets.
Integration: AWS Secrets Manager integrates well with other AWS services. Ansible Vault is mainly for Ansible automation.
Scalability: AWS Secrets Manager scales very well with AWS services. Ansible Vault works for small to medium setups.
Management: AWS Secrets Manager is a managed service so you don’t have to handle the backend. Ansible Vault must be set up and managed locally.

In brief, AWS Secrets Manager is a cloud-based solution. Use AWS Secrets Manager if you mostly use AWS, and use Ansible Vault if you use Ansible for most of your automation.

Making the Right Choice

The best secret management tool depends on what you need and your specific requirements. Ansible Vault is easy to use and works well for securing secrets within Ansible setups, especially for small or medium setups. However, you must look at dedicated secret management solutions like HashiCorp Vault or AWS Secrets Manager if you need a better, more powerful solution.

Tips For Troubleshooting Ansible Vault Issues

While Ansible Vault is reliable, issues can happen. Here are common problems and how to fix them:

Incorrect Password: The most common problem is putting in the wrong vault password. Double-check your password, or if you’re using a vault password file, make sure it’s the correct one, and that it exists. You should also make sure that the file has the right permissions.
Vault File Not Found: If Ansible can’t find your vault file, make sure the file path is correct in your playbook. Double check if the file is where Ansible expects it to be.
File Encryption Issues: If Ansible cannot decrypt a vault file, check to make sure the file has not been corrupted. You should also make sure that you’re using the correct vault password, as a wrong password might result in an encryption failure.
Permission Errors: If you encounter permission issues while trying to access a vault file, make sure the permissions for the vault file are set up correctly. For example, ensure that the user running the Ansible playbook has read permissions to the file.
Version Conflicts: Problems may happen if the version of Ansible Vault on your machine does not match with the version used to encrypt the vault file. Make sure your versions of Ansible are aligned.
Incorrect Vault ID: When using vault IDs, a common problem is using an incorrect vault ID when you’re running the playbook. Double check the vault ID that you specified in your playbook, and the one that you set up for your vault.
Key File Issues: If you’re using a vault key file, make sure the file path is correct, and ensure that the key file is valid and not corrupted. Also, double check the file permissions.

If you get errors using Ansible Vault, always look at these common issues. If you get a more complex error, you should check Ansible’s documentation for specific guidance, or you can check out online forums to find how other people solved the issue.

Should You Protect Your Ansible Secrets With Ansible Vault?

You’ve learned about Ansible Vault, and how it can protect your secrets. So, should you use it? The answer is, most likely, yes. If you use Ansible for automation, Ansible Vault is a must. It brings a vital layer of security, and it can protect your automation workflows from various threats. It is also a very easy to use tool and it is a core part of Ansible, and that makes it a very reliable tool.

If you are still not sure if you need Ansible Vault, ask these questions:

Do you have secrets, like passwords or API keys, in your Ansible setup?
Do you want to stop unauthorized access to your sensitive information?
Do you want a simple yet effective way to handle your secrets within Ansible?
Do you need to follow specific data protection rules?

If you said yes to any of these, Ansible Vault is the right tool for you. It provides a robust, easy-to-use way to protect your secrets. There’s really no good reason to skip using it if you are using Ansible. It’s not just about following best practices, but it’s also about adding a layer of safety to your infrastructure.

In short, Ansible Vault is not a “nice-to-have”, it is a core part of how you should handle secrets within Ansible. You can use other tools for more complex setups, but Ansible Vault is a great tool for the vast majority of people.