Secrets in Kubernetes

A Secret is an object that contains a small amount of sensitive data such as a password, a token, or a key. Such information might otherwise be put in a Pod specification or in an image. Using Secrets gives you control over how sensitive data is used and reduces the risk of accidental exposure.

Table of Contents

• Secrets in Kubernetes
  • Table of Contents
  • Why Use a Secret?
  • Creating Secrets
  • Using Secrets
  • Secret Limitations
  • Cheat Sheets

Why Use a Secret?

Secrets offer a more secure and flexible way to store and manage sensitive information, such as passwords, OAuth tokens, and ssh keys, in Kubernetes.

Creating Secrets

You can create Secrets using the kubectl create secret command, kubectl apply -f with a Secret YAML, or via the Kubernetes API.

Using Secrets

You can use a Secret in a Pod spec wherever sensitive data is called for, or as a file in a Pod’s volume.

Secret Limitations

Secrets are stored in TempFS on a node and are sent to a node only if a Pod on that node requires it. It remains until the Pod is deleted.

Cheat Sheets

Name	Command
Create a new Secret	kubectl create secret generic <NAME> --from-literal=key=value
Create a new Secret from a file	kubectl create secret generic <NAME> --from-file=path/to/file
Get Secrets	kubectl get secrets
Describe a Secret	kubectl describe secret <NAME>
Delete a Secret	kubectl delete secret <NAME>
Get a Secret’s data field	kubectl get secret <NAME> -o jsonpath='{.data}'
Get a Secret’s specific data field	kubectl get secret <NAME> -o jsonpath='{.data.<KEY>}'
Patch a Secret	kubectl patch secret <NAME> -p '{"data":{"key":"new value"}}'
Replace a Secret	kubectl replace -f secret.yaml