HA mode and Raft snapshots

Vault
1

Vault documentation on vault operator raft snapshot save states:

Note: Snapshot is not supported when Raft is used only for ha_storage.

What exactly does that mean?

We operate a Vault cluster of 3 replicas in HA mode using the Raft storage back end, deployed via Helm.

  server:
    ...
    ha:
      enabled: true
      replicas: 3
      raft:
        enabled: true
        setNodeId: true
        config: >
          ...
          listener "tcp" {
            tls_disable = true
            address = "[::]:8200"
            cluster_address = "[::]:8201"
            ...
          }

          storage "raft" {
            path = "/vault/data"
          }

          service_registration "kubernetes" {}

Does the mentioned quote apply to the above configuration? Or else: will a vault operator raft snapshot save (on the active instance) produce a usable / sensible result?

2

ha_storage is a special keyword you use in the Vault configuration file when you’re using a rare configuration of using one storage backend for actual storage, and a different storage backend just for coordination of the active HA node.

You’re not doing that, so you’re fine - you’re using a single storage backend, raft, to fill both roles.

3

Excellent, thank you for clarification. :slight_smile: