vault:tldr:7961d

The command "vault unseal ${key-share-x}" is a command used to unseal or unlock the Vault server in HashiCorp Vault.

In Vault, the data is encrypted at rest and in transit, and to access the encrypted data, the server needs to be unsealed. By default, Vault is in a sealed state when initially started or after a restart, which means it cannot be accessed until unsealed.

To unseal Vault, a certain number of key shares (typically referred to as "unseal keys") are required. These key shares are usually generated during the initialization phase of Vault and distributed to authorized personnel. Each key share represents a portion of the master key needed to unseal Vault.

In the command "vault unseal ${key-share-x}", ${key-share-x} represents one of the unseal keys. When executing the command with the value of a key share, Vault will use the provided key share to reconstruct the master key and unseal itself. This process requires a certain threshold of key shares to be provided, depending on the configuration (e.g., 3 out of 5 key shares required).

By repeating the unseal command with different key shares until the required threshold is met, Vault can be unsealed and become accessible for operations like reading and writing data securely.