# AWX - Handling Vault Secrets Using Inventory From Source

**URL:** <https://forum.ansible.com/t/awx-handling-vault-secrets-using-inventory-from-source/45364>\
**Category:** Get Help\
**Tags:** ansible-vault, ansible-project, awx\
**Created:** [February 19, 2026, 3:25pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/awx-handling-vault-secrets-using-inventory-from-source/45364 "2026-02-19T15:25:07Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Lukas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e9a140/32.png) [@Lukas](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Lukas)\
**Post date:** [February 19, 2026, 3:25pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/awx-handling-vault-secrets-using-inventory-from-source/45364/1 "2026-02-19T15:25:07Z")

</div>

I’m trying to use an `inventory.ini`file as a source in AWX (version 24.6.1), but I’m running into issues when the inventory references variables stored in an Ansible Vault.

My `inventory.ini` looks like this:

```auto
[my_servers]
prod01 ansible_host=X.X.X.X cluster_private_ip=10.10.20.1 private_ip_for_ceph=10.10.10.1

[hetzner_servers:vars]
ansible_user=admin
ansible_ssh_private_key_file=./ansible/ssh_keys/{{ ansible_host }}_key
ansible_port=2222
ceph_network=10.10.10.0/24

[all:vars]
ssh_user=admin
ansible_python_interpreter=/usr/bin/python3
db_user=postgres

```

My project structure is:

```auto
.
├── group_vars
│ └── all.yml (encrypted using Ansible vault)
├── inventory.ini
├── inventory_root.ini

```

The structure of my all.yml file is:

```auto
robot_user: "secret"
robot_pass: "secret!"
hetzner_api_token: "secret"
proxmox_api_token: "secret"
haproxy_password: "secret"
db_password: "secret"

root_passwords:
  "X.X.X.X": "secret"

admin_passwords:
  "X.X.X.X": "secret"

```

When I try to add this inventory in AWX as a “Project” source, I get the following error:  
`ERROR! Attempting to decrypt but no vault secrets found`

I’ve tried pointing AWX to the vault password file, but it still fails to decrypt the variables.

**Questions:**

1. How can I configure AWX to properly use an inventory that references vault variables?

2. Should I add the vault credentials somewhere in AWX, and if so, where?

3. Is it possible to use `inventory.ini` directly with vaulted variables, or do I need to restructure it?

 ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/original/2X/3/343697a3a53372d28184357c5b8c1a9c45c1bcfa.png)

 ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/original/2X/5/576941657e8f85edc7531fdca1cc81859a5ed06d.png)

 ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/original/2X/8/8c3de6aabad8cb6c6b776330a1110db5eb0eb941.png)