Newly Released HashiCorp Vault-Associate Exam PDF

The payload.json file that has the correct contents is C. This file contains a JSON object with a single key, “plaintext”, and a value that is the base64-encoded string of the data to be encrypted. This is the format that the Vault API expects for the transit encrypt endpoint1. The other files are not correct because they either have the wrong key name, the wrong value format, or the wrong JSON syntax.

References:

• Encrypt Data - Transit Secrets Engine | Vault | HashiCorp Developer

The three policies that exist in Vault are:

• admins: This policy grants full access to all secrets and operations in Vault. It can be used by administrators or operators who need to manage all aspects of Vault.
• default: This policy grants access to all secrets and operations in Vault except for those that require specific policies. It can be used as a fallback policy when no other policy matches.
• transit: This policy grants access only to the transit secrets engine, which handles cryptographic functions on data in-transit. It can be used by applications or services that need to encrypt or decrypt data using Vault.

These policies allow an organization to perform useful tasks such as:

• Encrypting, decrypting, and rewrapping data using the transit engine all in one policy: This policy grants access to both the transit secrets engine and the default policy, which allows performing any operation on any secret in Vault.
• Creating a transit encryption key for encrypting, decrypting, and rewrapping encrypted data: This policy grants access only to the transit secrets engine and its associated keys, which are used for encrypting and decrypting data in transit using AES-GCM with a 256-bit AES key or other supported key types.
• Separating permissions allowed on actions associated with the transit secret engine: This policy grants access only to specific actions related to the transit secrets engine, such as creating keys or wrapping requests. It does not grant access to other operations or secrets in Vault.

The CLI command vault login -method ldap username=mitchellh generates a token that is response wrapped. This means that the token contains a base64-encoded response wrapper, which is a JSON object that contains information about the token, such as its policies, metadata, and expiration time. The response wrapper is used to verify the authenticity and integrity of the token, and to prevent replay attacks. The response wrapper also allows Vault to automatically renew the token when it expires, or to revoke it if it is compromised. The -method ldap option specifies that the authentication method is LDAP, which requires a username andpassword to be provided. The username mitchellh is an example of an LDAP user name, and the password will be hidden when entered. References: Vault CLI Reference | Vault | HashiCorp Developer, Vault CLI Reference | Vault | HashiCorp Developer

The Vault seal configuration can be set in two ways: through the Vault configuration file or through environment variables. The Vault configuration file is a text file that contains the settings and options for Vault, such as the storage backend, the listener, the telemetry, and the seal. The seal stanza in the configuration file specifies the seal type and the parameters to use for additional data protection, such as using HSM or Cloud KMS solutions to encrypt and decrypt the root key. The seal configuration can also be set through environment variables, which will take precedence over the values in the configuration file. The environment variables are prefixed with VAULT_SEAL_ and followed by the seal type and the parameter name. For example, VAULT_SEAL_AWSKMS_REGION sets the region for the AWS KMS seal. References: Seals - Configuration | Vault | HashiCorp Developer, Environment Variables | Vault | HashiCorp Developer