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HashiCorp Vault Associate Study Roadmap

VA-002 · 8-week plan · Free

Last updated: September 29, 2026

Content note. The domain breakdown below is for Vault Associate exam version 002. HashiCorp's current version is 003, which has 9 domains instead of 8, including encryption as a service and Vault architecture. See the Vault 003 study guide for the current curriculum.
Progress:
0/8

Domain Weight Distribution

D1: Compare Authentication Methods
~15%
D2: Create Vault Policies
~15%
D3: Assess Vault Tokens
~12%
D4: Manage Vault Leases
~10%
D5: Compare and Configure Secret Engines
~18%
D6: Utilize the Vault CLI
~12%
D7: Utilize the Vault UI
~8%
D8: Be Aware of Vault Enterprise Features
~10%

Week-by-Week Study Plan

Week 1

Domain 1: Authentication. Auth methods (Token, AppRole, LDAP, OIDC, AWS, Kubernetes), method configuration

Week 2

Domain 2: Vault Policies (HCL policy syntax, path-based rules, capabilities, default/root policies)

Week 3

Domain 3: Tokens. Token types (service/batch), token hierarchy, TTL, orphan tokens, periodic tokens

Week 4

Domain 4: Leases (Lease IDs, TTL management, lease renewal, lease revocation, max TTL)

Week 5

Domain 5: Secret Engines (KV v1/v2, Transit, PKI, Database, AWS, SSH, TOTP secret engines)

Week 6

Domain 6: Vault CLI (vault read/write/list/delete, vault login, vault operator, environment variables)

Week 7

Domain 7: Vault UI (UI navigation, secrets browsing, policy management, auth method configuration)

Week 8

Full Review: Practice exams, Hands-on Vault labs, CLI drills, Exam logistics

Free Resources

HashiCorp Tutorials

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