[ Vault Enterprise] Describe the Benefits of Auto Unsealing with HSM VAULT-OPERATIONS-PROFESSIONAL Practice Questions (Page 4)

Questions 16–20

1. 16application · medium

   A Vault Enterprise administrator is configuring HSM auto-unseal. They have set the 'seal' stanza to use 'pkcs11' and specified the library path. The HSM is initialized and has a partition. What is the next required step to complete the integration?

   • ADisable the Shamir seal by setting 'seal' to 'shamir' in the configuration file.
   • BSpecify the HSM slot ID and PIN in the seal stanza, then restart Vault.
   • CInstall the HSM client software on all client machines that will access Vault.
   • DGenerate a new master key and store it in the HSM before starting Vault.
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2. 17foundation · easy

   In terms of availability, how does HSM auto-unsealing compare to Shamir unsealing?

   • AHSM auto-unsealing provides higher availability because Vault can unseal without waiting for operators.
   • BHSM auto-unsealing is less available because the HSM can fail, while Shamir shares are always accessible.
   • CShamir provides higher availability because it does not depend on any external hardware.
   • DBoth methods provide the same availability because they both require manual steps.
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4. 18expert · hard

   A company is deploying Vault Enterprise with HSM auto-unseal. They have two HSMs in a high-availability (HA) pair. During a failover test, the primary HSM becomes unavailable, and the secondary HSM takes over. What is the impact on Vault's ability to unseal?

   • AVault cannot unseal until the primary HSM is restored, because the key is unique to the primary.
   • BVault will automatically switch to Shamir unsealing when the primary HSM is unavailable.
   • CVault will unseal, but only after an administrator manually reconfigures the seal stanza to point to the secondary HSM.
   • DVault can unseal using the secondary HSM, provided it has the same key material as the primary.
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5. 19application · medium

   A Vault Enterprise cluster is using HSM auto-unseal. An administrator needs to perform a routine restart of a single node. What is the expected impact on the node's seal status?

   • AThe node will automatically unseal after the restart without any manual intervention.
   • BThe node will unseal, but the administrator must re-authenticate to the HSM with a PIN.
   • CThe node will unseal only if it is the active node; standby nodes will remain sealed.
   • DThe node will remain sealed until the administrator manually enters the unseal key.
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6. 20foundation · easy

   Before Vault Enterprise can use an HSM for auto-unsealing, what must be done with the HSM?

   • AIt must be assigned a static IP address that Vault can reach.
   • BIt must be initialized and have a key generated for Vault's use.
   • CIt must be connected to the internet to receive firmware updates.
   • DIt must be configured with a Shamir secret sharing scheme.
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