Set the admin's API key
If you're using the hosted version of Vault, contact us if you wish to change the admin API key.
Vault always has an admin user account, which you use to update the configuration of Vault. Unlike other user accounts, the admin user's API key is set using the PVAULT_SERVICE_ADMIN_API_KEY environment variable. The environment variable and, therefore, the key have a default value of pvaultauth. You can change the API key by updating the value of the environment variable and restarting Vault. This option makes the admin API key a "break the glass" mechanism that enables you to regain control of Vault when all the other API keys have changed.
It is highly recommended that you change the value of the admin API key to a unique value when deploying Vault to production.