Comprehensive and Detailed In-Depth Explanation:
After authenticating with AppRole using the role-id and secret-id via the API (e.g., POST /v1/auth/approle
/login), Vault returns a response containing a client_token. This token must be extracted for subsequent requests, such as retrieving a PKI certificate. The Vault documentation states:
"When you use the Vault API to authenticate, the Vault API response will include a client_token that is tied to a specific policy. Once you receive that response, it is up to the user (or application) to parse that response and retrieve the token. Once the token is retrieved, a second API request needs to be sent to Vault to request the new PKI certificate."
-Vault API: AppRole
* A: Correct. The client_token from the response (e.g., under .auth.client_token) is required for the next request (e.g., POST /v1/pki/issue/<role>):
"The client token is necessary to make subsequent requests to Vault, including requesting the new PKI certificate."
-Vault API Documentation
* B: Incorrect. Authentication doesn't return a PKI certificate; a separate request is needed.
* C: Incorrect. The role-id and secret-id are for authentication, not certificate retrieval:
"Authentication and interaction with a secrets engine are separate actions."
-Vault API: AppRole
* D: Partially true but vague; it omits the critical step of retrieving the token first.
References:
Vault API: AppRole
Vault PKI Secrets Engine