Question 1

What is Docker Secret Operator (DSO)?

Accepted Answer

Docker Secret Operator (DSO) is an open-source, CNCF Sandbox project that provides zero-persistence, event-driven secret injection for Docker containers. It allows you to securely inject secrets at runtime without ever writing them to disk.

Question 2

Is Docker Secret Operator free to use?

Accepted Answer

Yes, Docker Secret Operator is completely free and open source, licensed under the Apache License 2.0. It is available on GitHub at https://github.com/docker-secret-operator/dso.

Question 3

How does DSO compare to HashiCorp Vault?

Accepted Answer

DSO is a lightweight, Docker-native alternative to HashiCorp Vault. While Vault requires complex infrastructure setup, DSO works directly with Docker using a simple CLI. It supports local encrypted vaults as well as cloud providers like AWS Secrets Manager and Azure Key Vault with zero-persistence secret injection.

Question 4

Which cloud providers does Docker Secret Operator support?

Accepted Answer

Docker Secret Operator supports AWS Secrets Manager, Azure Key Vault, HashiCorp Vault, Huawei Cloud Secret Manager, and a local encrypted vault mode. All providers use the same CLI workflow.

Question 5

How do I install Docker Secret Operator?

Accepted Answer

Install DSO with a single command: curl -fsSL https://dso.skycloudops.in/install.sh | sudo bash. Then run 'docker dso init' to initialize. Full documentation is available at https://dso.skycloudops.in/docs/guide/installation.

Question 6

What is zero-persistence secret management?

Accepted Answer

Zero-persistence means secrets are injected directly into container memory at runtime and never written to disk, environment files, or Docker layers. This eliminates the risk of secrets being exposed through file system access, docker inspect, or image layer scanning.

Category	Docker Secret Operator	Infisical
Architecture	Docker-native agent, self-hosted only	SaaS or self-hosted, SDK-based polling
Rotation Mechanism	Automatic detection of secret changes → new container spawn → health check → atomic swap	App polls for changes (push available via webhooks), app must restart to apply
Downtime	0 seconds (atomic swap)	App-dependent (typically 30s-5m, depends on restart time)
Health Checks	Mandatory before swap	Not provided by platform
Docker Support	Native, no SDK required	Requires language-specific SDK or webhook implementation
Self-Hosting	Docker-based deployment	Docker-based deployment (community edition available)
Kubernetes	Works but not optimized for K8s	Works with K8s, also supports other platforms
Pricing	Free (Apache 2.0 open-source)	Free tier + paid plans ($10-99/month)

DSO vs Infisical

The Problem

Feature Comparison

Docker Secret Operator

Infisical

Recovery

DSO

Infisical

Health Checks

DSO

Infisical

Docker Support

DSO

Infisical

Operational Burden

DSO (Low)

Infisical

Use Cases

Best for DSO

Best for Infisical

Recommendations

Choose DSO when:

Choose Infisical when: