Course Introduction

Welcome to the HashiCorp Vault training series. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to install, configure, and operate Vault in production—all while preparing you for the HashiCorp Certified Vault Associate exam.

About Your Instructor

I’m Bryan Krausen, a Principal Solutions Architect based in Central Kentucky. With over 20 years in IT and 4.5 years specializing in Vault, I work directly with HashiCorp partners to implement Vault at customer sites and develop certification content. I co-authored Running HashiCorp Vault in Production and have taught more than 12,000 students, maintaining a 4.62 rating across my courses.

Stay in Touch

Connect with me for updates, code samples, and ongoing Vault discussions:

• Twitter: @bryankrausen
• GitHub: btkrausen
• Course Repository: github.com/btkrausen/HashiCorp

Course Objectives

By the end of this course, you will:

• Grasp core Vault concepts, use cases, and architecture
• Deploy and manage a highly available Vault cluster with multi-datacenter replication
• Integrate Vault with on-premises and public cloud environments
• Secure Vault using policies (RBAC) and audit devices
• Perform Day 2 operations, monitoring, and backups
• Apply Vault in DevOps workflows and CI/CD pipelines

Training Format

1. Lectures & Slides

   • High-level concepts, terminology, and architecture diagrams
   • Downloadable PDF slide decks

2. Hands-On Labs

   • Live demos using Vault CLI, UI, and API on AWS clusters
   • Single-region fundamentals; multi-region replication scenarios

Course Content Structure

Each module includes:

• Slides (PDF) – Lecture material for reference
• Resource Links – GitHub repos, HashiCorp Learn tutorials, and official docs
• Mind Maps – Visual outlines of workflows and data flows
• Lab Guides (PDF) – Step-by-step commands and configuration examples
• Quizzes – 5–10 questions to reinforce learning
• Practice Exam – Comprehensive test covering all key objectives

Course Updates & Feedback

• Content updated regularly (latest: 2024)
• Aligned with current Vault releases and exam changes
• Announcements posted on the learning platform
• Feedback welcome in the course discussion area

Exam Overview

Exam Objectives

You will be assessed on Vault 1.4+ across these core topics:

1. Compare and configure authentication methods
2. Create and manage policies (RBAC)
3. Generate and inspect Vault tokens
4. Manage leases and renewals
5. Enable and configure secrets engines
6. Operate with the Vault CLI
7. Navigate the Vault UI
8. Consume the Vault API
9. Explain the Vault architecture
10. Describe encryption as a service (Transit engine)

We’ll also cover installing Vault, writing configuration files, and setting up audit devices—essential skills for production environments.

Additional Resources

• Official Exam Page: HashiCorp Vault Associate
• HashiCorp Learn Vault Collection: learn.hashicorp.com/collections/vault
• Vault Documentation: vaultproject.io/docs
• Vault API Reference: vaultproject.io/api
• Practice Exam: Nearly 200 questions (included in this course)

With the introduction complete, let’s begin with General Introduction and Use Cases.