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---
stage: Enablement
group: Distribution
info: "To determine the technical writer assigned to the Stage/Group associated with this page, see https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/ux/technical-writing/#designated-technical-writers"
type: reference
---
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# Encrypted Configuration **(FREE SELF)**
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> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/45712) in GitLab 13.7.
GitLab can read settings for certain features from encrypted settings files. The supported features are:
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- [LDAP `user_bn` and `password` ](auth/ldap/index.md#use-encrypted-credentials ).
- [SMTP `user_name` and `password` ](raketasks/smtp.md#secrets ).
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In order to enable the encrypted configuration settings, a new base key needs to be generated for
`encrypted_settings_key_base` . The secret can be generated in the following ways:
**Omnibus Installation**
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Starting with 13.7 the new secret is automatically generated for you, but you need to ensure your
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`/etc/gitlab/gitlab-secrets.json` contains the same values on all nodes.
**GitLab Cloud Native Helm Chart**
Starting with GitLab 13.7, the new secret is automatically generated if you have the `shared-secrets` chart enabled. Otherwise, you need
to follow the [secrets guide for adding the secret ](https://docs.gitlab.com/charts/installation/secrets.html#gitlab-rails-secret ).
**Source Installation**
The new secret can be generated by running:
```shell
bundle exec rake gitlab:env:info RAILS_ENV=production GITLAB_GENERATE_ENCRYPTED_SETTINGS_KEY_BASE=true
```
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This prints general information on the GitLab instance, but also causes the key to be generated in `<path-to-gitlab-rails>/config/secrets.yml` .
