HashiCorp Certified: Vault Associate Exam
The HashiCorp Certified: Vault Associate certification exam is for Cloud Engineers specializing in security, development, or operations who know the basic concepts, skills, and use cases associated with open source. The certification helps candidates for this exam with professional experience using Vault in production, but performing the exam objectives in a personal demo environment may also be sufficient. Moreover, it gives an understanding of enterprise features that exist and what can and cannot be done using the open-source offering. Upon passing the exam, you can easily communicate your proficiency and your employers can quickly verify your results.
Prerequisites
For the HashiCorp Certified: Vault Associate there are a few prerequisites:
- Firstly, Basic terminal skills
- Secondly, Basic understanding of on-premise or cloud architecture
- Thirdly, Basic level of security understanding
Exam Details | HashiCorp Certified: Vault Associate
Before you jump in to pursue the HashiCorp Certified: Vault Associate exam you must have a complete understanding of the exam format. It is always important to be thorough with your research about the exam. This is a big time and monetary investment, so you need to be sure it’s the right certification for you.
The HashiCorp Certified: Vault Associate exam questions are in Multiple Choice format. You get 60 minutes to complete this Online proctored. Moreover, the exam can be taken in the English language only and is valid for 2 years. Also, HashiCorp Certified: Vault Associate cost is $70.50 USD plus locally applicable taxes and fees.
| Exam Name | HashiCorp Certified: Vault Associate |
| Question Type | Multiple choice |
|---|---|
| Exam Type | Cloud Computing |
| Format | Online proctored |
| Duration | 1 hour |
| Price | $70.50 USD plus locally applicable taxes and fees |
| Language | English |
| Expiration | 2 years |
HashiCorp Certified Vault Associate Interview Questions
Scheduling the exam
To schedule or purchase your HashiCorp Certified: Vault Associate Exam follow these steps:
- Firstly, Navigate to the Cloud Engineer Certification Exam Portal and log in
- Secondly, Click the Schedule Exam button for your chosen exam
- If this is your first time using PSI, enter your name into the Personal Information modal
- Then, Select your country and time zone
- Next, Select the date and time most convenient for you and schedule your exam. You must complete your transaction within 30 minutes to secure your chosen time slot
- Then, Enter your payment information. Also, if you have a valid voucher or coupon Apply it now
- Read and acknowledge the Terms & Conditions
- Lastly, Click the Pay Now button and you are good to go.
Exam Rescheduling
The HashiCorp Certified: Vault Associate Exam can be rescheduled or cancelled up to 48 hours before your appointment time. Follow these steps to reschedule the exam:
- Navigate to the Cloud Engineer Certification Exam Portal and log in
- Find the exam you want to reschedule, click the View Details button
- Click the Reschedule button and follow the onscreen prompts to choose a new appointment time.
- Alternatively, you can select the Cancel Schedule appointment button. A pop up will appear, click Yes, cancel my scheduled exam to cancel your exam.
Also, your exam fee will only be refunded if you have cancelled the exam more than 48 before your appointment.
Exam Policies
If you are not able to clear the exam on your first attempt then don’t worry as HashiCorp Certified: Vault Associate Exam allows you to retake the exam. However, you can only attempt an exam three times total in a one year period. Also, you must wait seven days between the exam attempts. But once you have passed the exam, you can not retake it.
Exam FAQ
To gain more clarity about the exam policies you must visit the HashiCorp Certified: Vault Associate Exam FAQ
HashiCorp Certified: Vault Associate Course Outline
The Official Exam Guide covers the details about the exam domains. These domains cover various subtopics. This is to help candidates prepare for the exam by identifying specific content within each topic that may be tested. Further, there are 10 domains in this exam-
1. Compare authentication methods
- 1a. Describe authentication methods ( HashiCorp Documentation: Auth Methods )
- 1b. Choose an authentication method based on use case ( HashiCorp Documentation: Authentication )
- 1c. Differentiate human vs. system auth methods ( HashiCorp Documentation: Authentication )
2. Create Vault policies
- 2a. Illustrate the value of Vault policy ( HashiCorp Documentation: Policies )
- 2b. Describe Vault policy syntax: path ( HashiCorp Documentation: Policy Syntax)
- 2c. Describe Vault policy syntax: capabilities ( HashiCorp Documentation: Capabilities )
- 2d. Craft a Vault policy based on requirements
3. Assess Vault tokens
- 3a. Describe Vault token ( HashiCorp Documentation: Tokens )
- 3b. Differentiate between service and batch tokens. Choose one based on use-case ( HashiCorp Documentation: Tokens )
- 3c. Describe root token uses and lifecycle ( HashiCorp Documentation: Root Tokens )
- 3d. Define token accessors ( HashiCorp Documentation: Token Accessors )
- 3e. Explain time-to-live ( HashiCorp Documentation: Token Accessors )
- 3f. Explain orphaned tokens ( HashiCorp Documentation: Token Hierarchies and Orphan Tokens )
- 3g. Create tokens based on need
4. Manage Vault leases
- 4a. Explain the purpose of a lease ID ( HashiCorp Documentation: Lease, Renew, and Revoke )
- 4b. Renew leases ( HashiCorp Documentation: Lease, Renew, and Revoke )
- 4c. Revoke leases ( HashiCorp Documentation: Lease, Renew, and Revoke )
5. Compare and configure Vault secrets engines
- 5a. Choose a secret method based on use case ( HashiCorp Documentation: Secrets Engines )
- 5b. Contrast dynamic secrets vs. static secrets and their use cases ( HashiCorp Documentation: Secrets Management )
- 5c. Define transit engine ( HashiCorp Documentation: Transit Secrets Engine )
- 5d. Define secrets engines ( HashiCorp Documentation: Secrets Engines Overview )
6. Utilize Vault CLI
- 6a. Authenticate to Vault ( HashiCorp Documentation: Authentication )
- 6b. Configure authentication methods
- 6c. Configure Vault policies
- 6d. Access Vault secrets
- 6e. Enable Secret engines ( HashiCorp Documentation: Secrets Engines )
- 6f. Configure environment variables ( HashiCorp Documentation: Environment Variables )
7. Utilize Vault UI
- 7a. Authenticate to Vault ( HashiCorp Documentation: )
- 7b. Configure authentication methods ( HashiCorp Documentation: )
- 7c. Configure Vault policies ( HashiCorp Documentation: )
- 7d. Access Vault secrets ( HashiCorp Documentation: )
- 7e. Enable Secret engines ( HashiCorp Documentation: )
8. Be aware of the Vault API
- 8a. Authenticate to Vault via Curl ( HashiCorp Documentation: Auth Methods )
- 8b. Access Vault secrets via Curl ( HashiCorp Documentation: Secrets Engines )
9. Explain Vault architecture
- 9a. Describe the encryption of data stored by Vault ( HashiCorp Documentation: Introduction to Vault )
- 9b. Describe cluster strategy
- 9c. Describe storage backends ( HashiCorp Documentation: Storage Stanza )
- 9d. Describe the Vault agent ( HashiCorp Documentation: Vault Agent)
- 9e. Describe secrets caching ( HashiCorp Documentation: Vault Agent )
- 9f. Be aware of identities and groups
- 9g. Describe Shamir secret sharing and unsealing
- 9h. Be aware of replication ( HashiCorp Documentation: Vault Enterprise Replication )
- 9i. Describe seal/unseal
- 9j. Explain response wrapping ( HashiCorp Documentation: Response Wrapping )
- 9k. Explain the value of short-lived, dynamically generated secrets
10. Explain encryption as a service
- 10a. Configure transit secret engine
- 10b. Encrypt and decrypt secrets
- 10c. Rotate the encryption key
Preparatory Guide for HashiCorp Certified: Vault Associate
Preparing for an exam is quite a difficult task. There goes a lot of hard work and consistency in HashiCorp Certified: Vault Associate preparation. It is the key to your lucrative career and opens various opportunities for you. But remember before anything else, preparation is the key to success. So we present to you our HashiCorp Certified: Vault Associate Preparatory Guide that will smoothen your journey for this exam.
Step 1: Review the Exam Objectives
Before heading towards your preparation journey, you must get yourself familiar with the main objectives of the exam. So, make sure you visit the Official website of the exam to have a clear view. Since it is the most authentic site to provide any information regarding the exam. After you’ve gone through the basic exam details. It’s time to hit the exam guide. A thorough analysis will let you align yourself more deeply with the chief objectives of the exam. And hence, enabling you to gain the required command to earn your desired certification. The exam objectives are:
- Compare authentication methods
- Create Vault policies
- Assess Vault tokens
- Manage Vault leases
- Compare and configure Vault secrets engines
- Utilize Vault CLI
- Utilize Vault UI
- Be aware of the Vault API
- Explain Vault architecture
- Explain encryption as a service
Step 2: Explore your Learning Resources
The importance of choosing the right learning resources is really high. As a matter of fact, there are various resources to choose from. This makes it difficult to select authentic and genuine ones. To help you out here is a list of highly suggested resources that will supplement your learning experience and exam preparation
Study Guide
The HashiCorp Certified: Vault Associate Study Guide includes descriptive insights about the exam domains. It helps you familiarise with the exam concepts to score well in the exam.
Review Guide
The HashiCorp Certified: Vault Associate Review Guide covers Documentations and Tutorials to help you access a detailed explanation of various concepts.
- Documentations: Vault Documentations are more of a reference guide for all available features and options of Vault.
- Tutorials: The Vault Tutorials help you Extend your knowledge of Vault features and use cases. They are designed to give you a space to engage more actively with the course content.
Interactive Labs
Hands on experience for the HashiCorp Certified: Vault Associate exam is really important. Therefore you must learn by doing with Interactive Labs. They help you Use Vault on real infrastructure in your web browser and gain practical knowledge.
Books your go to Resource
Books have been an age old tradition and essential ingredient when it comes to preparing for any exam. They provide a deep understanding of the exam concepts. Also, books offer real life scenarios that help you prepare for a practical exam. As a result, you can strengthen your knowledge about the application of these concepts. You should include the Running HashiCorp Vault in Production book by Dan McTeer and Bryan Krausen.
Step 3- Join an Online Community
Joining an Online Community is certainly an ideal way to know your actual stand in the competition. Here, you can interact with your competitors, and keep yourself focused. The prospects of getting resolutions to an issue increase steeply when a greater number of people are involved. Also, multiple viewpoints make the stuff more dynamic. Moreover, these groups will help you stay up to date with the exam.
Step 4- Self Evaluate your Preparations
Finally, we’re on the last step for the preparation. But before you start practising, make sure you have completed the entire course and are well versed. Self-evaluation, as we say, will provide you with better insight if you are well skilled or not. Most importantly, self-evaluation will assist you to acknowledge the areas where you lack. Therefore, we recommend practising as much as you can. Remember the more you practice, the better the result. So Start Practicing Now!
