---
title: Filesystem secret stores
description: Store secrets in a filesystem directory with PingIDM, including encryption, versioning, and integration with third-party secret managers
component: pingidm
version: 8
page_id: pingidm:security-guide:secret-stores-filesystem
canonical_url: https://docs.pingidentity.com/pingidm/8.1/security-guide/secret-stores-filesystem.html
llms_txt: https://docs.pingidentity.com/pingidm/llms.txt
docs_for_agents: https://developer.pingidentity.com/build-with-ai/docs-for-agents.md
superseded_by: https://docs.pingidentity.com/pingidm/8.1/security-guide/secret-stores-filesystem.html
section_ids:
  fs-automatic-encryption: Configuring automatic encryption
  fs-create-new-user-example: "Example: Create a new user type"
  fs-configure-purpose-versions: Configuring purpose versions
---

# Filesystem secret stores

A filesystem secret store maps to a directory storing an arbitrary number of files that each contain one secret. When filesystem secret stores are used, IDM reads the contents of a file with a name matching the `secretId` field in the secret store's mapping list.

Filesystem secret stores are useful to provide secrets from third-party secret stores like AWS Secrets Manager or Google Secrets Manager. They can also be used to separate your secrets from your configuration files.

Filesystem secret stores may be encoded with the following encoding schemes:

* PLAIN

* PEM

* BASE64

* BASE64URL

The following configuration is an example of a filesystem secret store which is configured to use the `/secrets` directory and contains a mapping for the `idm.admin.password` secret:

```json
{
    "name":"secretVolume",
    "class": "org.forgerock.openidm.secrets.config.FileSystemStore",
    "config": {
        "format": "PLAIN",
        "directory": "&{idm.install.dir}/secrets",
        "mappings": [
          {
            "secretId": "idm.admin.password",
            "types": [
              "GENERIC"
            ]
          }
        ]
    }
}
```

## Configuring automatic encryption

You can add automatic encryption to the filesystem secret store by adding the `encryptionKey` field. The following example demonstrates encrypting the Prometheus password with the `idm.default` encryption key:

```json
{
    "name": "fileSystemStore",
    "class": "org.forgerock.openidm.secrets.config.FileSystemStore",
    "config": {
        "directory": "&{idm.install.dir}/secrets",
        "format": "PLAIN",
        "encryptionKey": "idm.default",
        "mappings": [
            {
                "secretId": "idm.prometheus.password",
                "types": [
                    "GENERIC"
                ]
            }
        ]
    }
}
```

By default, IDM uses `AES Key Wrap with a 128-bit key` for JWT key management and `AES_128_CBC_HMAC_SHA_256` for content encryption. These can be configured by setting the `encryptionAlgorithm` and `encryptionMethod` fields on the store config respectively.

## Example: Create a new user type

The following example creates a new type of static user, `openidm-super`, with a new secret, `idm.super.password`, kept in the filesystem secret store. To configure the user:

1. In `conf/authentication.json`, add the following new user configuration:

   ```json
   {
       "name": "STATIC_USER",
       "properties": {
           "queryOnResource": "internal/user",
           "username": "openidm-super",
           "password": {
               "$purpose": {
                   "name": "idm.super.password"
               }
           },
           "defaultUserRoles": [
               "internal/role/openidm-authorized",
               "internal/role/openidm-admin"
           ],
           "enabled": true
       }
   }
   ```

2. In `conf/secrets.json`, add a new mapping for the `idm.super.password` secret:

   ```json
   {
       "secretId": "idm.super.password",
       "format": "PLAIN",
       "types": [
           "GENERIC"
       ]
   }
   ```

   |   |                                                                                                                                |
   | - | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
   |   | Only use the optional `format` parameter if the secret is encoded using a different scheme than the rest of the secret volume. |

3. In the directory that you've configured to be your filesystem secret store, create a file named `idm.super.password` and populate it with your secret data.

## Configuring purpose versions

The filesystem secret store supports multiple versions of the same purpose. To configure this, specify the `versionSuffix` property in the store's definition in `conf/secrets.json`. The following example adds the `.v` suffix to a purpose called `idm.pem.purpose`:

```json
{
  "name": "pemStore",
  "class": "org.forgerock.openidm.secrets.config.FileSystemStore",
  "config": {
    "format": "PEM",
    "directory": "&{idm.install.dir}/secrets",
    "versionSuffix": ".v",
    "mappings": [
      {
        "secretId": "idm.pem.purpose",
        "types": [
          "ENCRYPT",
          "DECRYPT"
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}
```

Once `versionSuffix` is defined, you can version your purpose files by adding it to the file name. Following the example above, the files could be named `idm.pem.purpose.v1`, `idm.pem.purpose.v2`, and so on. The highest version number is the active secret.