Part 2: Using Secrets

This is Part 2 of a multi-part, self-paced quick start exercise.

Note

This exercise requires MicroK8s and uses alias kubectl='microk8s kubectl'. If you do not have these already installed and running, see "Prerequisites".

What Will You Do¶

In part 2, you will:

Use a Secret to store a password.

Estimated Time

Estimated time for this exercise is 5 minutes. Watch a video of this exercise.

Using Secrets¶

Kubernetes Secrets let you store and manage sensitive information, such as passwords, OAuth tokens, and SSH keys. Strong confidential information in a Secret is safer and more flexible than putting it verbatim in a Pod definition or in a container image.

Secret YAML file¶

Create a secret using a YAML file, which is a configuration file. You could create a YAML file from the command line, but for this exercise, you can just use a text editor. Or you can download the secret YAML file from this public Git repository.

macOSWindowsUbuntu

Open the Terminal.
Navigate to the Downloads folder.
```
cd ./Downloads
```
Use the following command to create an empty YAML file in your Downloads folder.
```
touch secret.yaml
```
Use the nano text editor in the Terminal.
```
nano secret.yaml
```
Copy and paste the configuration below into the text editor.
Press Cmd + X, then type Y and press Return to save the secret.yaml file.

Open the command prompt.
Navigate to the Downloads folder.
```
cd ./Downloads
```
Use the following command to create an empty YAML file in your Downloads folder.
```
copy NUL secret.yaml
```
Open the secret.yaml file with a text editor. For example, use Notepad++ to edit the YAML file.
Copy and paste the configuration below into the text editor.
Save the secret.yaml file.

Open the Terminal.
Navigate to the Downloads folder.
```
cd ./Downloads
```
Use the following command to create an empty YAML file in your Downloads folder.
```
touch secret.yaml
```
Use the nano text editor in the Terminal.
```
nano secret.yaml
```
Copy and paste the configuration below into the text editor.
Press Ctrl + X, then type Y and press Enter to save the secret.yaml file.

Add a Secret¶

In the Terminal or Command Prompt, add the secret to your environment using a YAML file.
```
kubectl create -f secret.yaml
```
List the secrets.
```
kubectl get secrets
```

secret.yaml¶

This YAML file contains: - A metadata name, mysql-pass, that is used in the MySQL and WordPress deployments. - A type set to Opaque, which means it is arbitrary, user-defined data. - A password, admin123, that is encoded in base64.

apiVersion: v1
kind: Secret
metadata:
  name: mysql-pass
type: Opaque
data:
  password: YWRtaW4xMjM= # echo -n "admin123" | base64 -