Install the Vault binary

3min
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Vault
Video

You must first install Vault on your computer before you can use it. Vault is available as source code, as a pre-compiled binary, or in packaged formats.

Note

This page will not cover how to compile Vault from source. You can review how to compile your own binary in the Vault documentation.

Scenario

Before HashiCups starts their Vault proof-of-concept project, they need to install Vault. The Vault binary operates as both a server, or a client. There are no additional dependencies required to run the Vault binary for either scenario.

Oliver will install the Vault for macOS using Homebrew. When the installation is complete, they will be able to run the vault command from the terminal.

Install Vault

(Persona: Operations)

Note

To use Homebrew with macOS, you need to have Command Line Tools (CLT) for Xcode installed as described in the Homebrew installation documentation. If you encounter an error like xcrun: error: invalid active developer path when following these steps, ensure that you have installed the latest CLT for Xcode and try again.

Homebrew is a free and open-source package management system for Mac OS X. Install the official Vault formula from the terminal.

Install the HashiCorp tap, a repository of all HashiCorp Homebrew packages.
```
$ brew tap hashicorp/tap
```
Install Vault with hashicorp/tap/vault.
```
$ brew install hashicorp/tap/vault
```
Note
This installs a signed binary and is automatically updated with every new official release.
To update to the latest, run
$ brew upgrade hashicorp/tap/vault

Verify the installation by running the vault -help command.

$ vault -help

Usage: vault <command> [args]
Common commands:
    read        Read data and retrieves secrets
    write       Write data, configuration, and secrets
    delete      Delete secrets and configuration
    list        List data or secrets
    login       Authenticate locally
    agent       Start a Vault agent
    server      Start a Vault server
    status      Print seal and HA status
    unwrap      Unwrap a wrapped secret

Other commands:
    audit                Interact with audit devices
    auth                 Interact with auth methods
...snip...

If you get an error that the binary could not be found, then your PATH environment variable might no be properly set. Please go back and ensure that your PATH variable contains the directory where Vault was installed or restart the terminal session.

Vault Enterprise

To install Vault Enterprise, you will need a license to run it. Your customer support contact can generate a trial license for any HashiCorp enterprise product. If you are an existing HashiCorp enterprise customer, you may contact your organization's customer success manager (CSM) for information on how to get your organization's enterprise license.

$ brew install hashicorp/tap/vault-enterprise

Other operating systems

If you need to Install Vault on another operating system, please see the following:

Summary

Vault is available to install for most operating systems and through common software distribution tools such as apt and yum. In addition to the pre-compiled binaries, you can also review the Vault source code and compile your own binary.

Now that you have Vault installed, you can start the Vault server and begin to explore Vault features.