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Overview

The External Secrets CLI (esi-cli) is a versatile command-line tool that empowers you to interact with secrets managed by the External Secrets Operator (ESO). It’s primarily designed to fetch these secrets and make them readily available to your applications, either as environment variables or as files on the filesystem. esi-cli is a cornerstone for integrating applications with ESO, commonly run within Kubernetes init containers to prepare the secret environment before an application starts, or as a sidecar container to provide and refresh secrets while an application runs. It Allows you to effectively run applications without creating a Kubernetes Secret beforehand, while still leveraging all of ESO’s powerful features such as combination and templating. It features distinct modes of operation, a comprehensive set of command-line flags for granular control, and robust support for ESI Federation, allowing secret access from centralized ESI servers.

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Key Capabilities

  • Multiple Operating Modes: Choose between init mode for pre-flight secret injection and daemon mode for continuous secret availability and refreshing.
  • Flexible Injection: Inject secrets as environment variables or write them to files in various formats.
  • Direct & Federated Access: Fetch secrets directly from ExternalSecret resources in a Kubernetes cluster or from a remote ESI Federation server.
  • Granular Control: Utilize a wide array of command-line flags to customize behavior, including secret selection, naming, and output formatting.

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Explore ESI CLI

Dive deeper into the functionalities of esi-cli through the following sections:

Modes of Operation

Understand the init and daemon modes and their use cases.

Command-Line Flags

A comprehensive reference for all available CLI flags.

Injection Mechanisms

Learn how esi-cli injects secrets as environment variables and files.

Federation

Configure and use esi-cli with ESI Federation servers.

Usage Examples

Practical examples to get you started quickly.

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Getting Started

If you’re new to esi-cli, begin with understanding its Modes of Operation and then explore the Command-Line Flags to see how you can tailor it to your needs.