Generate Root Tokens Using Unseal Keys

It is generally considered a best practice to not persist root tokens. Instead a root token should be generated using Vault's operator generate-root command only when absolutely necessary. This tutorial demonstrates regenerating a root token.

First, make sure to unseal the vault using the existing quorum of unseal keys. You do not need to be authenticated to generate a new root token, but the Vault must be unsealed and a quorum of unseal keys must be available.

$ vault operator unseal
Unseal Key (will be hidden):

»Use one-time password (OTP)

1. Initialize a root token generation.

   $ vault operator generate-root -init
   
   A One-Time-Password has been generated for you and is shown in the OTP field.
   You will need this value to decode the resulting root token, so keep it safe.
   Nonce         15565c79-cc9e-5e64-b986-8506e7bd1918
   Started       true
   Progress      0/1
   Complete      false
   OTP           5JFQaH76Ky2TIuSt4SPvO1CGkx
   OTP Length    26
   

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   Nonce and one-time password (OTP) are generated. The nonce value should be distributed to all unseal key (recovery key if auto-unseal is used) holders.

   NOTE: You will need the OTP value later to decode the generated root token.

2. Each unseal key holder provides their unseal key.

   $ vault operator generate-root
   
   Root generation operation nonce: f67f4da3-4ae4-68fb-4716-91da6b609c3e
   Unseal Key (will be hidden):
   

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   If there is a tty, Vault will prompt for the key and automatically complete the nonce value. If there is no tty, or if the value is piped from stdin, the user must specify the nonce value from the -init operation.

   $ echo $UNSEAL_KEY | vault operator generate-root -nonce=f67f4da3... -
   

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3. When the quorum of unseal keys (or recovery keys) are supplied, the final user will also get the encoded root token.

   $ vault operator generate-root
   
   Root generation operation nonce: f67f4da3-4ae4-68fb-4716-91da6b609c3e
   Unseal Key (will be hidden):
   
   Nonce            f67f4da3-4ae4-68fb-4716-91da6b609c3e
   Started          true
   Progress         5/5
   Complete         true
   Encoded Token    IxJpyqxn3YafOGhqhvP6cQ==
   

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4. Decode the encoded token using the OTP generated during the initialization.

   $ vault operator generate-root \
     -decode=IxJpyqxn3YafOGhqhvP6cQ== \
     -otp=mOXx7iVimjE6LXQ2Zna6NA==
   
   24bde68f-3df3-e137-cf4d-014fe9ebc43f
   

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NOTE: An interactive tutorial is also available if you do not have a Vault environment to perform the steps described in this tutorial. Click the Show Terminal button to start.

»Use PGP

1. Initialize a root token generation, providing the path to a GPG public key or keybase username of a user to encrypted the resulting token.

   $ vault operator generate-root -init -pgp-key=keybase:sethvargo
   
   Nonce              e24dec5e-f1ea-2dfe-ecce-604022006976
   Started            true
   Progress           0/5
   Complete           false
   PGP Fingerprint    e2f8e2974623ba2a0e933a59c921994f9c27e0ff
   

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   The nonce value should be distributed to all unseal key holders.

2. Each unseal key holder providers their unseal key.

   $ vault operator generate-root
   
   Root generation operation nonce: e24dec5e-f1ea-2dfe-ecce-604022006976
   Unseal Key (will be hidden): ...
   

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   If there is a tty, Vault will prompt for the key and automatically complete the nonce value. If there is no tty, or if the value is piped from stdin, the user must specify the nonce value from the -init operation.

   $ echo $UNSEAL_KEY | vault operator generate-root -nonce=f67f4da3... -
   

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3. When the quorum of unseal keys are supplied, the final user will also get the encoded root token.

   $ vault operator generate-root
   
   Root generation operation nonce: e24dec5e-f1ea-2dfe-ecce-604022006976
   Unseal Key (will be hidden):
   
   Nonce                 e24dec5e-f1ea-2dfe-ecce-604022006976
   Started               true
   Progress              1/1
   Complete              true
   PGP Fingerprint       e2f8e2974623ba2a0e933a59c921994f9c27e0ff
   Encoded Token         wcFMA0RVkFtoqzRlARAAI3Ux8kdSpfgXdF9mg...
   

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4. Decrypt the encrypted token using associated private key.

   $ echo "wcFMA0RVkFtoqzRlARAAI3Ux8kdSpfgXdF9mg..." | base64 --decode | gpg --decrypt
   
   d0f71e9b-ebff-6d8a-50ae-b8859f2e5671
   

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   or via keybase:

   $ echo "wcFMA0RVkFtoqzRlARAAI3Ux8kdSpfgXdF9mg..." | base64 --decode | keybase pgp decrypt
   
   d0f71e9b-ebff-6d8a-50ae-b8859f2e5671
   

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