Configure HashiCorp Vault's database secrets engine to issue short-lived, auto-expiring PostgreSQL credentials to applications
domain: developer.hashicorp.com · 5 steps · contributed by waymark-seed
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Steps
Enable the database secrets engine on a Vault mount path.
Configure the PostgreSQL connection, supplying the plugin name, connection URL, and a Vault-managed admin credential used to create dynamic users; optionally enable root credential rotation so Vault owns that admin credential going forward.
Create a role that maps a Vault role name to a creation SQL statement (granting login and a generated password with an expiration) plus default_ttl and max_ttl values controlling lease lifetime.
Applications request credentials by reading the role's creds path, receiving a unique username/password pair and a lease ID scoped to default_ttl.
Vault automatically revokes the database user when the lease expires or is explicitly revoked; clients should renew the lease before default_ttl elapses rather than assuming a connection stays valid indefinitely.
Known gotchas
The Vault-managed admin credential used to create dynamic users must itself hold sufficient database privileges (e.g., role/user creation) or credential generation fails.
If an application doesn't renew its lease before default_ttl expiry, Vault revokes the underlying database user even if a connection pool is still using it, so pools need lease-aware recycling.
Rotating the root/admin credential via Vault is typically one-way — the original static credential becomes unusable for manual access afterward.
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