Question 1

What is Docker Secret Operator (DSO)?

Accepted Answer

Docker Secret Operator (DSO) is an open-source 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://raw.githubusercontent.com/docker-secret-operator/dso/main/scripts/install.sh | bash. Then run 'docker dso init' to initialize. Full documentation is available at /docs/guide/getting-started.

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.

DSO Documentation

Getting Started

Configuration

Providers

Examples

Operations

Architecture

Validation

CLI Reference