Store and access password using Apache airflow

Question

We are using Airflow as a scheduler. I want to invoke a simple bash operator in a DAG. The bash script needs a password as an argument to do further processing.

How can I store a password securely in Airflow (config/variables/connection) and access it in dag definition file?

I am new to Airflow and Python so a code snippet will be appreciated.

Answer 1

You can store the password in a Hook - this will be encrypted so long as you have setup your fernet key.

Here is how you can create a connection via the UI:

Then:

To access this password:

from airflow.hooks.base_hook import BaseHook  # Deprecated in Airflow 2  connection = BaseHook.get_connection("username_connection") password = connection.password # This is a getter that returns the unencrypted password. 

Update since Airflow 2 launch

The library airflow.hooks.base_hook has been deprecated and you must use airflow.hooks.base instead.