For AI agents: a documentation index is available at the root level at /llms.txt and /llms-full.txt. Append /llms.txt to any URL for a page-level index, or .md for the markdown version of any page.
      • AstroFully-managed data operations, powered by Apache Airflow.
      • Astro Private CloudRun Airflow-as-a-service in your environment.
      • Professional ServicesExpert Airflow services for your enterprise's success.
    • Tools
      • Cosmos
      • Orbiter
      • CLI
      • AI SDK
      • Agents
      • Blueprint
      • UpdatesThe State of Airflow 2026See the insights from over 5,800 data practitioners in the full report. Download Now ➔
  • Customers
  • Docs
    • Insights
      • Blog
      • Webinars
      • Resource Library
      • Events
    • Education
      • Academy
      • What is Airflow?
  • Pricing
Get Started Free
    • Overview
      • Create a Deployment
      • Execution mode
        • Overview
        • Shared responsibility model
        • Get started
          • Configure Remote Execution Agents
          • Configure secrets backend
          • Configure XCom backend
          • Configure DAG sources
        • Deploy Remote Execution project
        • Deploy a dbt project
        • Helm chart reference
      • Worker queues
      • Environment variables
      • Secrets backend
    • Book Office Hours

Product

  • Platform Overview
  • Astro
  • Astro Observe
  • Astro Private Cloud
  • Security & Trust
  • Pricing

Tools & Services

  • Cosmos
  • Docs
  • Professional Services
  • Product Updates

Use Cases

  • AI Ops
  • Data Observability
  • ETL/ELT
  • ML Ops
  • Operational Analytics
  • All Use Cases

Industries

  • Financial Services
  • Gaming
  • Retail
  • Manufacturing
  • Healthcare
  • All Industries

Resources

  • Academy
  • eBooks & Guides
  • Blog
  • Webinars
  • Events
  • The Data Flowcast Podcast
  • All Resources

Airflow

  • What is Airflow
  • Airflow on Astro
  • Airflow 3.0
  • Airflow Upgrades
  • Airflow Use Cases
  • Airflow 2.x End of Life

Company

  • Our Story
  • Customers
  • Newsroom
  • Careers
  • Contact

Support

  • Knowledge Base
  • Status
  • Contact Support
GitHubYouTubeLinkedInx
  • Legal
  • Privacy
  • Terms of Service
  • Consent Preferences

  • Do Not Sell or Share My Personal information
  • Limit the Use Of My Sensitive Personal Information

Apache Airflow®, Airflow, and the Airflow logo are trademarks of the Apache Software Foundation. Copyright © Astronomer 2026. All rights reserved.

LogoLogo
Manage DeploymentsRemote ExecutionCore configuration

Configure secrets backend

Edit this page
Built with

Remote Execution Agents require a secrets backend to securely access Airflow connections and variables. A secrets backend stores sensitive information like passwords, API keys, and database credentials outside of your Deployment and agent configuration files.

secretBackend is the Airflow secrets backend class to use for the Agent. Each supported integration includes the Remote Execution Agent-specific implementation steps:

  • AWS Secrets Manager
  • AWS Systems Manager (SSM) Parameter Store
  • Azure Key Vault
  • Google Cloud Secret Manager
  • HashiCorp Vault

It is not recommended for production use cases, but you can also use Airflow’s local filesystem backend as a simpler alternative to an external secrets provider by setting:

1secretBackend: "airflow.secrets.local_filesystem.LocalFilesystemBackend"

and setting the following environment variable in the Remote Execution Agent’s Helm chart:

1AIRFLOW__SECRETS__BACKEND_KWARGS: '{"variables_file_path": "/files/var.json", "connections_file_path": "/files/conn.json"}'
The rest of the configuration should be passed as environment variables to the Agent components.