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website/source/docs/concepts/dev-server.html.md

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+---
+layout: "docs"
+page_title: "Dev Server Mode"
+sidebar_current: "docs-concepts-devserver"
+description: |-
+  The dev server in Vault can be used for development or to experiment with Vault.
+---
+
+# "Dev" Server Mode
+
+You can start Vault as a server in "dev" mode like so: `vault server -dev`.
+This dev-mode server requires no further setup, and your local `vault` CLI will
+be authenticated to talk to it. This makes it easy to experiment with Vault or
+start a Vault instance for development. Every feature of Vault is available in 
+"dev" mode. The `-dev` flag just short-circuits a lot of setup to insecure 
+defaults.
+
+~> **Warning:** Never, ever, ever run a "dev" mode server in production.
+It is insecure and will lose data on every restart (since it stores data
+in-memory). It is only made for development or experimentation.
+
+## Properties
+
+The properties of the dev server:
+
+  * **Initialized and unsealed** - The server will be automatically initialized
+    and unsealed. You don't need to use `vault unseal`. It is ready for use
+    immediately.
+
+  * **In-memory storage** - All data is stored (encrypted) in-memory. Vault
+    server doesn't require any file permissions.
+
+  * **Bound to local address without TLS** - The server is listening on
+    `127.0.0.1:8200` (the default server address) _without_ TLS.
+
+  * **Automatically Authenticated** - The server stores your root access
+    token so `vault` CLI access is ready to go. If you are accessing Vault
+    via the API, you'll need to authenticate using the token printed out.
+
+  * **Single unseal key** - The server is initialized with a single unseal
+    key. The Vault is already unsealed, but if you want to experiment with
+    seal/unseal, then only the single outputted key is required.
+
+## Use Case
+
+The dev server should be used for experimentation with Vault features, such
+as different authentication backends, secret backends, audit backends, etc.
+If you're new to Vault, you may want to pick up with [Your First 
+Secret](http://vaultproject.io/intro/getting-started/first-secret.html) in 
+our getting started guide.
+
+In addition to experimentation, the dev server is very easy to automate
+for development environments.