| layout | page_title | sidebar_current | description |
|---|---|---|---|
docs |
Auth Methods |
docs-auth |
Auth methods are mountable methods that perform authentication for Vault. |
Auth methods are the components in Vault that perform authentication and are responsible for assigning identity and a set of policies to a user.
Having multiple auth methods enables you to use an auth method that makes the sense for your use case of Vault and your organization.
For example, on developer machines, the GitHub auth method is easiest to use. But for servers the AppRole method is the recommended choice.
To learn more about authentication, see the authentication concepts page.
Auth methods can be enabled/disabled using the CLI or the API.
$ vault auth enable userpass
When enabled, auth methods are similar to secrets engines:
they are mounted within the Vault mount table and can be accessed
and configured using the standard read/write API. All auth methods are mounted underneath the auth/ prefix.
By default, auth methods are mounted to auth/<type>. For example, if you
enable "github", then you can interact with it at auth/github. However, this
path is customizable, allowing users with advanced use cases to mount a single
auth method multiple times.
$ vault auth enable -path=my-login userpass
When an auth method is disabled, all users authenticated via that method are automatically logged out.