CreateKey
Creates a unique customer managed KMS key in your Amazon Web Services account and Region.
In addition to the required parameters, you can use the optional parameters to specify a key policy, description, tags, and other useful elements for any key type.
Amazon KMS is replacing the term customer master key (CMK) with Amazon KMS key and KMS key. The concept has not changed. To prevent breaking changes, Amazon KMS is keeping some variations of this term.
To create different types of KMS keys, use the following guidance:
- Symmetric encryption KMS key
-
To create a symmetric encryption KMS key, you aren't required to specify any parameters. The default value for
KeySpec
,SYMMETRIC_DEFAULT
, and the default value forKeyUsage
,ENCRYPT_DECRYPT
, create a symmetric encryption KMS key.If you need a key for basic encryption and decryption or you are creating a KMS key to protect your resources in an Amazon service, create a symmetric encryption KMS key. The key material in a symmetric encryption key never leaves Amazon KMS unencrypted. You can use a symmetric encryption KMS key to encrypt and decrypt data up to 4,096 bytes, but they are typically used to generate data keys and data keys pairs. For details, see GenerateDataKey and GenerateDataKeyPair.
- Asymmetric KMS keys
-
To create an asymmetric KMS key, use the
KeySpec
parameter to specify the type of key material in the KMS key. Then, use theKeyUsage
parameter to determine whether the KMS key will be used to encrypt and decrypt or sign and verify. You can't change these properties after the KMS key is created.Asymmetric KMS keys contain an RSA key pair or an Elliptic Curve (ECC) key pair. The private key in an asymmetric KMS key never leaves Amazon KMS unencrypted. However, you can use the GetPublicKey operation to download the public key so it can be used outside of Amazon KMS. KMS keys with RSA key pairs can be used to encrypt or decrypt data or sign and verify messages (but not both). KMS keys with ECC key pairs can be used only to sign and verify messages. For information about asymmetric KMS keys, see Asymmetric KMS keys in the Amazon Key Management Service Developer Guide.
- HMAC KMS key
-
To create an HMAC KMS key, set the
KeySpec
parameter to a key spec value for HMAC KMS keys. Then set theKeyUsage
parameter toGENERATE_VERIFY_MAC
. You must set the key usage even thoughGENERATE_VERIFY_MAC
is the only valid key usage value for HMAC KMS keys. You can't change these properties after the KMS key is created.HMAC KMS keys are symmetric keys that never leave Amazon KMS unencrypted. You can use HMAC keys to generate (GenerateMac) and verify (VerifyMac) HMAC codes for messages up to 4096 bytes.
HMAC KMS keys are not supported in all Amazon Web Services Regions. If you try to create an HMAC KMS key in an Amazon Web Services Region in which HMAC keys are not supported, the
CreateKey
operation returns anUnsupportedOperationException
. For a list of Regions in which HMAC KMS keys are supported, see HMAC keys in Amazon KMS in the Amazon Key Management Service Developer Guide. - Multi-Region primary keys
-
To create a multi-Region primary key in the local Amazon Web Services Region, use the
MultiRegion
parameter with a value ofTrue
. To create a multi-Region replica key, that is, a KMS key with the same key ID and key material as a primary key, but in a different Amazon Web Services Region, use the ReplicateKey operation. To change a replica key to a primary key, and its primary key to a replica key, use the UpdatePrimaryRegion operation.You can create multi-Region KMS keys for all supported KMS key types: symmetric encryption KMS keys, HMAC KMS keys, asymmetric encryption KMS keys, and asymmetric signing KMS keys. You can also create multi-Region keys with imported key material. However, you can't create multi-Region keys in a custom key store.
This operation supports multi-Region keys, an Amazon KMS feature that lets you create multiple interoperable KMS keys in different Amazon Web Services Regions. Because these KMS keys have the same key ID, key material, and other metadata, you can use them interchangeably to encrypt data in one Amazon Web Services Region and decrypt it in a different Amazon Web Services Region without re-encrypting the data or making a cross-Region call. For more information about multi-Region keys, see Multi-Region keys in Amazon KMS in the Amazon Key Management Service Developer Guide.
- Imported key material
-
To import your own key material, begin by creating a symmetric encryption KMS key with no key material. To do this, use the
Origin
parameter ofCreateKey
with a value ofEXTERNAL
. Next, use GetParametersForImport operation to get a public key and import token, and use the public key to encrypt your key material. Then, use ImportKeyMaterial with your import token to import the key material. For step-by-step instructions, see Importing Key Materialin the Amazon Key Management Service Developer Guide . This feature supports only symmetric encryption KMS keys, including multi-Region symmetric encryption KMS keys. You cannot import key material into any other type of KMS key.
To create a multi-Region primary key with imported key material, use the
Origin
parameter ofCreateKey
with a value ofEXTERNAL
and theMultiRegion
parameter with a value ofTrue
. To create replicas of the multi-Region primary key, use the ReplicateKey operation. For more information about multi-Region keys, see Multi-Region keys in Amazon KMS in the Amazon Key Management Service Developer Guide. - Custom key store
-
To create a symmetric encryption KMS key in a custom key store, use the
CustomKeyStoreId
parameter to specify the custom key store. You must also use theOrigin
parameter with a value ofAWS_CLOUDHSM
. The Amazon CloudHSM cluster that is associated with the custom key store must have at least two active HSMs in different Availability Zones in the Amazon Region.Custom key stores support only symmetric encryption KMS keys. You cannot create an HMAC KMS key or an asymmetric KMS key in a custom key store. For information about custom key stores in Amazon KMS see Custom key stores in Amazon KMS in the Amazon Key Management Service Developer Guide .
Cross-account use: No. You cannot use this operation to create a KMS key in a different Amazon Web Services account.
Required permissions: kms:CreateKey (IAM policy). To use the
Tags
parameter, kms:TagResource (IAM policy). For examples and information about related
permissions, see Allow a user to create
KMS keys in the
Amazon Key Management Service Developer Guide.
Related operations:
Request Syntax
{
"BypassPolicyLockoutSafetyCheck": boolean
,
"CustomerMasterKeySpec": "string
",
"CustomKeyStoreId": "string
",
"Description": "string
",
"KeySpec": "string
",
"KeyUsage": "string
",
"MultiRegion": boolean
,
"Origin": "string
",
"Policy": "string
",
"Tags": [
{
"TagKey": "string
",
"TagValue": "string
"
}
]
}
Request Parameters
For information about the parameters that are common to all actions, see Common Parameters.
The request accepts the following data in JSON format.
In the following list, the required parameters are described first.
- BypassPolicyLockoutSafetyCheck
-
A flag to indicate whether to bypass the key policy lockout safety check.
Important Setting this value to true increases the risk that the KMS key becomes unmanageable. Do not set this value to true indiscriminately.
For more information, refer to the scenario in the Default Key Policy section in the Amazon Key Management Service Developer Guide .
Use this parameter only when you include a policy in the request and you intend to prevent the principal that is making the request from making a subsequent PutKeyPolicy request on the KMS key.
The default value is false.
Type: Boolean
Required: No
- CustomerMasterKeySpec
-
This parameter has been deprecated.
Instead, use the
KeySpec
parameter.The
KeySpec
andCustomerMasterKeySpec
parameters work the same way. Only the names differ. We recommend that you useKeySpec
parameter in your code. However, to avoid breaking changes, Amazon KMS will support both parameters.Type: String
Valid Values:
RSA_2048 | RSA_3072 | RSA_4096 | ECC_NIST_P256 | ECC_NIST_P384 | ECC_NIST_P521 | ECC_SECG_P256K1 | SYMMETRIC_DEFAULT | HMAC_224 | HMAC_256 | HMAC_384 | HMAC_512
Required: No
- CustomKeyStoreId
-
Creates the KMS key in the specified custom key store and the key material in its associated Amazon CloudHSM cluster. To create a KMS key in a custom key store, you must also specify the
Origin
parameter with a value ofAWS_CLOUDHSM
. The Amazon CloudHSM cluster that is associated with the custom key store must have at least two active HSMs, each in a different Availability Zone in the Region.This parameter is valid only for symmetric encryption KMS keys in a single Region. You cannot create any other type of KMS key in a custom key store.
To find the ID of a custom key store, use the DescribeCustomKeyStores operation.
The response includes the custom key store ID and the ID of the Amazon CloudHSM cluster.
This operation is part of the custom key store feature feature in Amazon KMS, which combines the convenience and extensive integration of Amazon KMS with the isolation and control of a single-tenant key store.
Type: String
Length Constraints: Minimum length of 1. Maximum length of 64.
Required: No
- Description
-
A description of the KMS key.
Use a description that helps you decide whether the KMS key is appropriate for a task. The default value is an empty string (no description).
To set or change the description after the key is created, use UpdateKeyDescription.
Type: String
Length Constraints: Minimum length of 0. Maximum length of 8192.
Required: No
- KeySpec
-
Specifies the type of KMS key to create. The default value,
SYMMETRIC_DEFAULT
, creates a KMS key with a 256-bit symmetric key for encryption and decryption. For help choosing a key spec for your KMS key, see Choosing a KMS key type in the Amazon Key Management Service Developer Guide .The
KeySpec
determines whether the KMS key contains a symmetric key or an asymmetric key pair. It also determines the cryptographic algorithms that the KMS key supports. You can't change theKeySpec
after the KMS key is created. To further restrict the algorithms that can be used with the KMS key, use a condition key in its key policy or IAM policy. For more information, see kms:EncryptionAlgorithm, kms:MacAlgorithm or kms:Signing Algorithm in the Amazon Key Management Service Developer Guide .Important Amazon services that are integrated with Amazon KMS
use symmetric encryption KMS keys to protect your data. These services do not support asymmetric KMS keys or HMAC KMS keys. Amazon KMS supports the following key specs for KMS keys:
-
Symmetric encryption key (default)
-
SYMMETRIC_DEFAULT
(AES-256-GCM)
-
-
HMAC keys (symmetric)
-
HMAC_224
-
HMAC_256
-
HMAC_384
-
HMAC_512
-
-
Asymmetric RSA key pairs
-
RSA_2048
-
RSA_3072
-
RSA_4096
-
-
Asymmetric NIST-recommended elliptic curve key pairs
-
ECC_NIST_P256
(secp256r1) -
ECC_NIST_P384
(secp384r1) -
ECC_NIST_P521
(secp521r1)
-
-
Other asymmetric elliptic curve key pairs
-
ECC_SECG_P256K1
(secp256k1), commonly used for cryptocurrencies.
-
Type: String
Valid Values:
RSA_2048 | RSA_3072 | RSA_4096 | ECC_NIST_P256 | ECC_NIST_P384 | ECC_NIST_P521 | ECC_SECG_P256K1 | SYMMETRIC_DEFAULT | HMAC_224 | HMAC_256 | HMAC_384 | HMAC_512
Required: No
-
- KeyUsage
-
Determines the cryptographic operations for which you can use the KMS key. The default value is
ENCRYPT_DECRYPT
. This parameter is optional when you are creating a symmetric encryption KMS key; otherwise, it is required. You can't change theKeyUsage
value after the KMS key is created.Select only one valid value.
-
For symmetric encryption KMS keys, omit the parameter or specify
ENCRYPT_DECRYPT
. -
For HMAC KMS keys (symmetric), specify
GENERATE_VERIFY_MAC
. -
For asymmetric KMS keys with RSA key material, specify
ENCRYPT_DECRYPT
orSIGN_VERIFY
. -
For asymmetric KMS keys with ECC key material, specify
SIGN_VERIFY
.
Type: String
Valid Values:
SIGN_VERIFY | ENCRYPT_DECRYPT | GENERATE_VERIFY_MAC
Required: No
-
- MultiRegion
-
Creates a multi-Region primary key that you can replicate into other Amazon Web Services Regions. You cannot change this value after you create the KMS key.
For a multi-Region key, set this parameter to
True
. For a single-Region KMS key, omit this parameter or set it toFalse
. The default value isFalse
.This operation supports multi-Region keys, an Amazon KMS feature that lets you create multiple interoperable KMS keys in different Amazon Web Services Regions. Because these KMS keys have the same key ID, key material, and other metadata, you can use them interchangeably to encrypt data in one Amazon Web Services Region and decrypt it in a different Amazon Web Services Region without re-encrypting the data or making a cross-Region call. For more information about multi-Region keys, see Multi-Region keys in Amazon KMS in the Amazon Key Management Service Developer Guide.
This value creates a primary key, not a replica. To create a replica key, use the ReplicateKey operation.
You can create a multi-Region version of a symmetric encryption KMS key, an HMAC KMS key, an asymmetric KMS key, or a KMS key with imported key material. However, you cannot create a multi-Region key in a custom key store.
Type: Boolean
Required: No
- Origin
-
The source of the key material for the KMS key. You cannot change the origin after you create the KMS key. The default is
AWS_KMS
, which means that Amazon KMS creates the key material.To create a KMS key with no key material (for imported key material), set the value to
EXTERNAL
. For more information about importing key material into Amazon KMS, see Importing Key Material in the Amazon Key Management Service Developer Guide. This value is valid only for symmetric encryption KMS keys.To create a KMS key in an Amazon KMS custom key store and create its key material in the associated Amazon CloudHSM cluster, set this value to
AWS_CLOUDHSM
. You must also use theCustomKeyStoreId
parameter to identify the custom key store. This value is valid only for symmetric encryption KMS keys.Type: String
Valid Values:
AWS_KMS | EXTERNAL | AWS_CLOUDHSM
Required: No
- Policy
-
The key policy to attach to the KMS key. If you do not specify a key policy, Amazon KMS attaches a default key policy to the KMS key. For more information, see Default key policy in the Amazon Key Management Service Developer Guide.
If you provide a key policy, it must meet the following criteria:
-
If you don't set
BypassPolicyLockoutSafetyCheck
toTrue
, the key policy must allow the principal that is making theCreateKey
request to make a subsequent PutKeyPolicy request on the KMS key. This reduces the risk that the KMS key becomes unmanageable. For more information, refer to the scenario in the Default Key Policy section of the Amazon Key Management Service Developer Guide . -
Each statement in the key policy must contain one or more principals. The principals in the key policy must exist and be visible to Amazon KMS. When you create a new Amazon principal (for example, an IAM user or role), you might need to enforce a delay before including the new principal in a key policy because the new principal might not be immediately visible to Amazon KMS. For more information, see Changes that I make are not always immediately visible in the Amazon Identity and Access Management User Guide.
A key policy document can include only the following characters:
-
Printable ASCII characters from the space character (
\u0020
) through the end of the ASCII character range. -
Printable characters in the Basic Latin and Latin-1 Supplement character set (through
\u00FF
). -
The tab (
\u0009
), line feed (\u000A
), and carriage return (\u000D
) special characters
For information about key policies, see Key policies in Amazon KMS in the Amazon Key Management Service Developer Guide. For help writing and formatting a JSON policy document, see the IAM JSON Policy Reference in the Amazon Identity and Access Management User Guide .
Type: String
Length Constraints: Minimum length of 1. Maximum length of 32768.
Pattern:
[\u0009\u000A\u000D\u0020-\u00FF]+
Required: No
-
- Tags
-
Assigns one or more tags to the KMS key. Use this parameter to tag the KMS key when it is created. To tag an existing KMS key, use the TagResource operation.
Note Tagging or untagging a KMS key can allow or deny permission to the KMS key. For details, see ABAC in Amazon KMS in the Amazon Key Management Service Developer Guide.
To use this parameter, you must have kms:TagResource permission in an IAM policy.
Each tag consists of a tag key and a tag value. Both the tag key and the tag value are required, but the tag value can be an empty (null) string. You cannot have more than one tag on a KMS key with the same tag key. If you specify an existing tag key with a different tag value, Amazon KMS replaces the current tag value with the specified one.
When you add tags to an Amazon resource, Amazon generates a cost allocation report with usage and costs aggregated by tags. Tags can also be used to control access to a KMS key. For details, see Tagging Keys.
Type: Array of Tag objects
Required: No
Response Syntax
{
"KeyMetadata": {
"Arn": "string",
"AWSAccountId": "string",
"CloudHsmClusterId": "string",
"CreationDate": number,
"CustomerMasterKeySpec": "string",
"CustomKeyStoreId": "string",
"DeletionDate": number,
"Description": "string",
"Enabled": boolean,
"EncryptionAlgorithms": [ "string" ],
"ExpirationModel": "string",
"KeyId": "string",
"KeyManager": "string",
"KeySpec": "string",
"KeyState": "string",
"KeyUsage": "string",
"MacAlgorithms": [ "string" ],
"MultiRegion": boolean,
"MultiRegionConfiguration": {
"MultiRegionKeyType": "string",
"PrimaryKey": {
"Arn": "string",
"Region": "string"
},
"ReplicaKeys": [
{
"Arn": "string",
"Region": "string"
}
]
},
"Origin": "string",
"PendingDeletionWindowInDays": number,
"SigningAlgorithms": [ "string" ],
"ValidTo": number
}
}
Response Elements
If the action is successful, the service sends back an HTTP 200 response.
The following data is returned in JSON format by the service.
- KeyMetadata
-
Metadata associated with the KMS key.
Type: KeyMetadata object
Errors
For information about the errors that are common to all actions, see Common Errors.
- CloudHsmClusterInvalidConfigurationException
-
The request was rejected because the associated Amazon CloudHSM cluster did not meet the configuration requirements for a custom key store.
-
The cluster must be configured with private subnets in at least two different Availability Zones in the Region.
-
The security group for the cluster (cloudhsm-cluster-<cluster-id>-sg) must include inbound rules and outbound rules that allow TCP traffic on ports 2223-2225. The Source in the inbound rules and the Destination in the outbound rules must match the security group ID. These rules are set by default when you create the cluster. Do not delete or change them. To get information about a particular security group, use the DescribeSecurityGroups operation.
-
The cluster must contain at least as many HSMs as the operation requires. To add HSMs, use the Amazon CloudHSM CreateHsm operation.
For the CreateCustomKeyStore, UpdateCustomKeyStore, and CreateKey operations, the Amazon CloudHSM cluster must have at least two active HSMs, each in a different Availability Zone. For the ConnectCustomKeyStore operation, the Amazon CloudHSM must contain at least one active HSM.
For information about the requirements for an Amazon CloudHSM cluster that is associated with a custom key store, see Assemble the Prerequisites in the Amazon Key Management Service Developer Guide. For information about creating a private subnet for an Amazon CloudHSM cluster, see Create a Private Subnet in the Amazon CloudHSM User Guide. For information about cluster security groups, see Configure a Default Security Group in the Amazon CloudHSM User Guide .
HTTP Status Code: 400
-
- CustomKeyStoreInvalidStateException
-
The request was rejected because of the
ConnectionState
of the custom key store. To get theConnectionState
of a custom key store, use the DescribeCustomKeyStores operation.This exception is thrown under the following conditions:
-
You requested the CreateKey or GenerateRandom operation in a custom key store that is not connected. These operations are valid only when the custom key store
ConnectionState
isCONNECTED
. -
You requested the UpdateCustomKeyStore or DeleteCustomKeyStore operation on a custom key store that is not disconnected. This operation is valid only when the custom key store
ConnectionState
isDISCONNECTED
. -
You requested the ConnectCustomKeyStore operation on a custom key store with a
ConnectionState
ofDISCONNECTING
orFAILED
. This operation is valid for all otherConnectionState
values.
HTTP Status Code: 400
-
- CustomKeyStoreNotFoundException
-
The request was rejected because Amazon KMS cannot find a custom key store with the specified key store name or ID.
HTTP Status Code: 400
- DependencyTimeoutException
-
The system timed out while trying to fulfill the request. The request can be retried.
HTTP Status Code: 500
- InvalidArnException
-
The request was rejected because a specified ARN, or an ARN in a key policy, is not valid.
HTTP Status Code: 400
- KMSInternalException
-
The request was rejected because an internal exception occurred. The request can be retried.
HTTP Status Code: 500
- LimitExceededException
-
The request was rejected because a quota was exceeded. For more information, see Quotas in the Amazon Key Management Service Developer Guide.
HTTP Status Code: 400
- MalformedPolicyDocumentException
-
The request was rejected because the specified policy is not syntactically or semantically correct.
HTTP Status Code: 400
- TagException
-
The request was rejected because one or more tags are not valid.
HTTP Status Code: 400
- UnsupportedOperationException
-
The request was rejected because a specified parameter is not supported or a specified resource is not valid for this operation.
HTTP Status Code: 400
Examples
The following examples are formatted for legibility.
Example Request
This example illustrates one usage of CreateKey.
POST / HTTP/1.1 Host: kms.us-east-2.amazonaws.com Content-Type: application/x-amz-json-1.1 Authorization: AWS4-HMAC-SHA256\ Credential=AKIAI44QH8DHBEXAMPLE/20170705/us-east-2/kms/aws4_request,\ SignedHeaders=content-type;host;x-amz-date;x-amz-target,\ Signature=8fb59aa17854a97df47aae69f560b66178ed0b5e1ebe334be516c4f3f59acedc X-Amz-Target: TrentService.CreateKey X-Amz-Date: 20170705T210455Z Content-Length: 62 { "Tags": [{ "TagValue": "ExampleUser", "TagKey": "CreatedBy" }] }
Example Response
This example illustrates one usage of CreateKey.
HTTP/1.1 200 OK Server: Server Date: Wed, 05 Jul 2017 21:04:55 GMT Content-Type: application/x-amz-json-1.1 Content-Length: 335 Connection: keep-alive x-amzn-RequestId: 98b2de61-61c5-11e7-bd87-9fc4a74e147b { "KeyMetadata": { "AWSAccountId": "111122223333", "Arn": "arn:aws:kms:us-east-2:111122223333:key/1234abcd-12ab-34cd-56ef-1234567890ab", "CreationDate": 1.499288695918E9, "CustomerMasterKeySpec": "SYMMETRIC_DEFAULT", "Description": "", "Enabled": true, "EncryptionAlgorithms": [ "SYMMETRIC_DEFAULT" ], "KeyId": "1234abcd-12ab-34cd-56ef-1234567890ab", "KeyManager": "CUSTOMER", "KeySpec": "SYMMETRIC_DEFAULT", "KeyState": "Enabled", "KeyUsage": "ENCRYPT_DECRYPT", "MultiRegion": false, "Origin": "AWS_KMS" } }
See Also
For more information about using this API in one of the language-specific Amazon SDKs, see the following: