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.

Examples

Development

Local Mode

Cloud

AWS Secrets Manager

Azure Key Vault

Huawei Cloud CSMS

Self-Hosted

HashiCorp Vault

Advanced

Multi-Provider Setup

What's Included in Each Example

dso.yaml Configuration

docker-compose.yaml Stack

Setup Instructions

Expected Output

Troubleshooting

Security Notes

Getting Started