Skip to main content
In this guide, you’ll learn how to use systemd journal logs to troubleshoot and verify your HashiCorp Vault server deployment. We’ll cover common errors, AWS KMS auto-unseal issues, and how to interpret Vault’s operational logs.

​
Table of Contents

  1. Scenario
  2. Attempt to Start Vault
  3. Inspect Journal Logs
  4. Vault Configuration
  5. Attach IAM Role and Restart Vault
  6. Verify via Journal
  7. Initialize and Unseal Vault
  8. Common Errors & Resolutions
  9. References

​
Scenario

You have deployed a Vault server on AWS EC2. All configurations are in place, but the instance lacks an IAM role, so Vault cannot access the AWS KMS key for auto-unsealing.

​
1. Attempt to Start Vault

Run: 
sudo systemctl start vault
You’ll see an immediate failure: 
Job for vault.service failed because the control process exited with error code.
See "systemctl status vault.service" and "journalctl -xe" for details.

​
2. Inspect Journal Logs

Query Vault’s journal entries: 
sudo journalctl -u vault
Example error: 
Error parsing Seal configuration: error fetching AWS KMS wrapping key information: NoCredentialProviders: no valid providers in chain
Vault reports NoCredentialProviders—it can’t find IAM credentials to access the KMS key.
Missing IAM permissions is the most common cause of AWS KMS seal failures. You can also provide AWS credentials via environment variables (AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID, AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY), but using an IAM role is recommended.

​
3. Vault Configuration

Relevant snippet from /etc/vault.d/vault.hcl: 
storage "raft" {
  path    = "/opt/vault"
  node_id = "vault-3"
}

listener "tcp" {
  address         = "0.0.0.0:8200"
  cluster_address = "0.0.0.0:8201"
  tls_disable     = true
}

seal "awskms" {
  region     = "us-east-1"
  kms_key_id = "arn:aws:kms:us-east-1:003674902126:key/8bc6b2ab-840a-4eef-8f2d-5616a3e67900"
}

api_addr     = "http://10.1.100.60:8200"
cluster_addr = "http://10.1.100.60:8201"
ui           = true
log_level    = "INFO"

​
4. Attach IAM Role and Restart Vault

  1. In the AWS Console, navigate to EC2 → Instances and select your Vault instance.
  2. Choose Actions → Security → Modify IAM Role, and attach a role (e.g., VaultAutoUnseal) with kms:Decrypt and kms:GenerateDataKey permissions.
  3. Restart Vault:
sudo systemctl restart vault
sudo systemctl status vault
Expected output: 
● vault.service - "HashiCorp Vault - A tool for managing secrets"
   Active: active (running) since …

​
5. Verify via Journal

Tail the latest logs to confirm successful boot: 
sudo journalctl -u vault | tail -n 5
Sample output: 
Storage: raft (HA available)
Version: Vault v1.10.3+ent
=> Vault server started! Log data will stream in below:
2022-05-12T13:56:17.553Z [INFO]  proxy environment: http_proxy="" https_proxy="" no_proxy=""

​
6. Initialize and Unseal Vault

Set the Vault address: 
export VAULT_ADDR='http://127.0.0.1:8200'
Initialize: 
vault operator init
You’ll receive unseal keys and the initial root token. Store them securely!
Never commit unseal keys or the root token to source control. Use a secure secret-management workflow.
Watch initialization in the journal: 
sudo journalctl -u vault | tail -n 10
Key entries: 
core: raft: creating Raft: config="ProtocolVersion:3,…"
core: post-unseal setup starting
core: Vault server started! Log data will stream in below:
On Enterprise builds, you might also see replication logs: 
replication.index.reindex: starting storage scan
core: replication setup finished

​
7. Common Errors & Resolutions

Error MessageCauseResolution
NoCredentialProviders: no valid providers in chainMissing IAM role or credentialsAttach IAM role or set AWS env vars
Error parsing Seal configuration: invalid ARNMalformed KMS key ARNVerify kms_key_id value
vault.service: main process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAILUREGeneral Vault launch failureCheck vault.hcl syntax with vault validate
listener "tcp" … tls_disable without TLS in productionInsecure listener configurationEnable TLS or restrict network access

​
References

Watch Video