note: this was updated in Sept-2026 with docker compose file changes for Vault 2.1. I considered re-writing to OpenBao, but i didnt fancy all the dangling references being weird.

Recently I have spent a reasonable amount of time in Hashicorp vault. As part of a mini series on how to make better use of it in Network Automation, I started writing this as a “intro” to a post on the subject.