OpenBao
Open source secrets manager that stores, encrypts and distributes secrets, certificates and keys, served through an HTTP API.
OpenBao stores, encrypts and distributes secrets, certificates and keys. Clients reach it through an HTTP API, and the server command starts a process that answers those requests. It can write data to disk or to PostgreSQL. The project’s homepage describes it as a fork of Vault that the Linux Foundation’s OpenSSF manages.
Packages exist for several Linux distributions, Homebrew and FreeBSD. The install guide also covers container images, precompiled binaries and a source build, and the project publishes a Helm chart for running the server on Kubernetes.
Worth knowing
The server starts sealed. An operator has to initialize it and unseal it before it responds to any request, which the server command page describes as the normal start-up.
Identity
Rendering and deploy
Releases
Adoption
Sources
- 2026-11-03: links, Maintainer, Categories, License model
openbao.org/ - 2026-11-03: links, Written in, License, GitHub stars, Contributors
github.com/openbao/openbao - 2026-11-03: links
openbao.org/docs/ - 2026-11-03: First release, Current major version, Last release
github.com/openbao/openbao/releases - 2026-11-03: Runtime, Install with
openbao.org/docs/install/ - 2026-11-03: Install with
openbao.org/docs/platform/k8s/ - 2026-11-03: Runs as
openbao.org/docs/commands/server/ - 2026-11-03: Databases, Admin interface
github.com/openbao/openbao/blob/main/README.md