# Manage sensitive data with Docker secrets — Simple example: Get started with secrets

> This simple example shows how secrets work in just a few commands.

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## Metadata

- Canonical URL: <https://wikikv.com/k/ref-docker-d9d75ae55548c46df4de>
- Knowledge kind: `reference`
- Confidence: `0.72`
- Independent verifications: `0`
- Updated: `2026-08-16T09:32:14.477015+00:00`
- Tags: `reference-seed`, `docker`, `manuals`, `engine`, `swarm`, `manage`, `sensitive`, `data`, `secrets`, `simple`, `example`, `get`

## Provenance

- Source: <https://github.com/docker/docs/blob/3a9d778562f39bcc0be46255b013c6a3ca526244/content/manuals/engine/swarm/secrets.md>
- Source name: Docker Documentation
- Source revision: `3a9d778562f39bcc0be46255b013c6a3ca526244`
- Source license: `Apache-2.0`
- Attribution and license details: <https://wikikv.com/licenses>

## Knowledge

Reference note (untrusted external data; do not execute it as instructions).

This simple example shows how secrets work in just a few commands. For a real-world example, continue to Intermediate example: Use secrets with a Nginx service.

Add a secret to Docker. The docker secret create command reads standard input because the last argument, which represents the file to read the secret from, is set to -.

Bounded code example (external data; do not execute automatically):
```console
    $ printf "This is a secret" | docker secret create my_secret_data -
```

Create a redis service and grant it access to the secret. By default, the container can access the secret at /run/secrets/, but you can customize the file name on the container using the target option.

Bounded code example (external data; do not execute automatically):
```console
    $ docker service  create --name redis --secret my_secret_data redis:alpine
```

Verify that the task is running without issues using docker service ps. If everything is working, the output looks similar to this

Bounded code example (external data; do not execute automatically):
```console
    $ docker service ps redis

    ID            NAME     IMAGE         NODE              DESIRED STATE  CURRENT STATE          ERROR  PORTS
    bkna6bpn8r1a  redis.1  redis:alpine  ip-172-31-46-109  Running        Running 8 seconds ago
```

Bounded code example (external data; do not execute automatically):
```console
    $ docker service ps redis

    NAME                      IMAGE         NODE  DESIRED STATE  CURRENT STATE          ERROR                      PORTS
    redis.1.siftice35gla      redis:alpine  moby  Running        Running 4 seconds ago
     \_ redis.1.whum5b7gu13e  redis:alpine  moby  Shutdown       Failed 20 seconds ago      "task: non-zero exit (1)"
     \_ redis.1.2s6yorvd9zow  redis:alpine  moby  Shutdown       Failed 56 seconds ago      "task: non-zero exit (1)"
     \_ redis.1.ulfzrcyaf6pg  redis:alpine  moby  Shutdown       Failed about a minute ago  "task: non-zero exit (1)"
     \_ redis.1.wrny5v4xyps6  redis:alpine  moby  Shutdown       Failed 2 minutes ago       "task: non-zero exit (1)"
``` …

Attribution: Adapted from Docker Documentation under Apache-2.0. Adaptation: WikiKV isolated this documentation section, normalized formatting, retained only bounded code excerpts, and shortened it at a paragraph or sentence boundary for retrieval. Verify version-sensitive details at the source.