How and where are credential data and address information usually stored for automated scripts or playbooks?

For automated scripts and playbooks (for example, in Ansible), account data and address information are usually stored in special locations with security considerations:

• Variable files — YAML or JSON files where parameters are specified, but it is not recommended to store passwords in plain text.

• Vault (e.g., Ansible Vault) — a tool for encrypting secret data within playbooks.

• Secrets managers — HashiCorp Vault, AWS Secrets Manager, Azure Key Vault, and others, which allow centralized and secure storage and retrieval of secrets.

• Environment variables — sometimes used to pass secrets during execution.

• Inventory files — for address information (IP, hosts), usually static or dynamic inventory files are used.

Example of using Ansible Vault:

ansible-vault create secrets.yml
ansible-playbook playbook.yml --ask-vault-pass

Thus, data storage should ensure security and ease of access for automation.