The auto-config feature in Consul is a highly scalable method to distribute secure properties and configuration settings to all Consul agents in a datacenter, reducing the technical overhead associated with securing an environment. Consul clients configured with auto-config use JSON web tokens (JWTs) to securely retrieve gossip encryption keys, TLS certificates, ACL settings, and other configuration properties from Consul servers, which are generated and validated using production-grade tools such as HashiCorp Vault. The auto-config workflow involves configuring the Consul server cluster as a JWT authorizer, generating a JWT with claims data, setting it in the Consul client auto-config configuration file, and submitting an auto-config request to the Consul server cluster for validation, which then sends security settings to the Consul client, merging them into existing client settings. To get started, check out the Automate Consul Agent Security with auto-config tutorial or explore other resources such as the Consul Reference Architecture and Docker documentation.