1--- 2layout: docs 3page_title: operator seal - Command 4sidebar_title: <code>seal</code> 5description: >- 6 The "operator seal" command seals the Vault server. Sealing tells the Vault 7 server to 8 9 stop responding to any operations until it is unsealed. When sealed, the Vault 10 11 server discards its in-memory master key to unlock the data, so it is 12 13 physically blocked from responding to operations unsealed. 14--- 15 16# operator seal 17 18The `operator seal` seals the Vault server. Sealing tells the Vault server to 19stop responding to any operations until it is unsealed. When sealed, the Vault 20server discards its in-memory master key to unlock the data, so it is physically 21blocked from responding to operations unsealed. 22 23If an unseal is in progress, sealing the Vault will reset the unsealing process. 24Users will have to re-enter their portions of the master key again. 25 26This command does nothing if the Vault server is already sealed. 27 28For more information on sealing and unsealing, please the [seal concepts 29page](/docs/concepts/seal). 30 31## Examples 32 33Seal a Vault server: 34 35```text 36$ vault operator seal 37Success! Vault is sealed. 38``` 39 40## Usage 41 42There are no flags beyond the [standard set of flags](/docs/commands) 43included on all commands. 44