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AWS Key Management Service
API Reference (API Version 2014-11-01)
AWS Documentation » AWS KMS » API Reference » Actions » CreateKey
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CreateKey

Creates a customer managed customer master key (CMK) in your AWS account.

You can use a CMK to encrypt small amounts of data (up to 4096 bytes) directly. But CMKs are more commonly used to encrypt the data keys that are used to encrypt data.

To create a CMK for imported key material, use the Origin parameter with a value of EXTERNAL.

To create a CMK in a custom key store, use the CustomKeyStoreId parameter to specify the custom key store. You must also use the Origin parameter with a value of AWS_CLOUDHSM. The AWS CloudHSM cluster that is associated with the custom key store must have at least two active HSMs in different Availability Zones in the AWS Region.

You cannot use this operation to create a CMK in a different AWS account.

Request Syntax

{
   "BypassPolicyLockoutSafetyCheck": boolean,
   "CustomKeyStoreId": "string",
   "Description": "string",
   "KeyUsage": "string",
   "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.

Note

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 CMK 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 AWS 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 CMK.

The default value is false.

Type: Boolean

Required: No

CustomKeyStoreId

Creates the CMK in the specified custom key store and the key material in its associated AWS CloudHSM cluster. To create a CMK in a custom key store, you must also specify the Origin parameter with a value of AWS_CLOUDHSM. The AWS 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.

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 AWS CloudHSM cluster.

This operation is part of the Custom Key Store feature feature in AWS KMS, which combines the convenience and extensive integration of AWS 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 CMK.

Use a description that helps you decide whether the CMK is appropriate for a task.

Type: String

Length Constraints: Minimum length of 0. Maximum length of 8192.

Required: No

KeyUsage

The cryptographic operations for which you can use the CMK. The only valid value is ENCRYPT_DECRYPT, which means you can use the CMK to encrypt and decrypt data.

Type: String

Valid Values: ENCRYPT_DECRYPT

Required: No

Origin

The source of the key material for the CMK. You cannot change the origin after you create the CMK.

The default is AWS_KMS, which means AWS KMS creates the key material in its own key store.

When the parameter value is EXTERNAL, AWS KMS creates a CMK without key material so that you can import key material from your existing key management infrastructure. For more information about importing key material into AWS KMS, see Importing Key Material in the AWS Key Management Service Developer Guide.

When the parameter value is AWS_CLOUDHSM, AWS KMS creates the CMK in an AWS KMS custom key store and creates its key material in the associated AWS CloudHSM cluster. You must also use the CustomKeyStoreId parameter to identify the custom key store.

Type: String

Valid Values: AWS_KMS | EXTERNAL | AWS_CLOUDHSM

Required: No

Policy

The key policy to attach to the CMK.

If you provide a key policy, it must meet the following criteria:

  • If you don't set BypassPolicyLockoutSafetyCheck to true, the key policy must allow the principal that is making the CreateKey request to make a subsequent PutKeyPolicy request on the CMK. This reduces the risk that the CMK becomes unmanageable. For more information, refer to the scenario in the Default Key Policy section of the AWS 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 AWS KMS. When you create a new AWS 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 AWS KMS. For more information, see Changes that I make are not always immediately visible in the AWS Identity and Access Management User Guide.

If you do not provide a key policy, AWS KMS attaches a default key policy to the CMK. For more information, see Default Key Policy in the AWS Key Management Service Developer Guide.

The key policy size limit is 32 kilobytes (32768 bytes).

Type: String

Length Constraints: Minimum length of 1. Maximum length of 32768.

Pattern: [\u0009\u000A\u000D\u0020-\u00FF]+

Required: No

Tags

One or more tags. Each tag consists of a tag key and a tag value. Tag keys and tag values are both required, but tag values can be empty (null) strings.

Use this parameter to tag the CMK when it is created. Alternately, you can omit this parameter and instead tag the CMK after it is created using TagResource.

Type: Array of Tag objects

Required: No

Response Syntax

{
   "KeyMetadata": { 
      "Arn": "string",
      "AWSAccountId": "string",
      "CloudHsmClusterId": "string",
      "CreationDate": number,
      "CustomKeyStoreId": "string",
      "DeletionDate": number,
      "Description": "string",
      "Enabled": boolean,
      "ExpirationModel": "string",
      "KeyId": "string",
      "KeyManager": "string",
      "KeyState": "string",
      "KeyUsage": "string",
      "Origin": "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 CMK.

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 AWS 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 AWS CloudHSM CreateHsm operation.

    For the CreateCustomKeyStore, UpdateCustomKeyStore, and CreateKey operations, the AWS CloudHSM cluster must have at least two active HSMs, each in a different Availability Zone. For the ConnectCustomKeyStore operation, the AWS CloudHSM must contain at least one active HSM.

For information about the requirements for an AWS CloudHSM cluster that is associated with a custom key store, see Assemble the Prerequisites in the AWS Key Management Service Developer Guide. For information about creating a private subnet for an AWS CloudHSM cluster, see Create a Private Subnet in the AWS CloudHSM User Guide. For information about cluster security groups, see Configure a Default Security Group in the AWS CloudHSM User Guide .

HTTP Status Code: 400

CustomKeyStoreInvalidStateException

The request was rejected because of the ConnectionState of the custom key store. To get the ConnectionState 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 is CONNECTED.

  • 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 is DISCONNECTED.

  • You requested the ConnectCustomKeyStore operation on a custom key store with a ConnectionState of DISCONNECTING or FAILED. This operation is valid for all other ConnectionState values.

HTTP Status Code: 400

CustomKeyStoreNotFoundException

The request was rejected because AWS 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 limit was exceeded. For more information, see Limits in the AWS 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

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

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,
    "Description": "",
    "Enabled": true,
    "KeyId": "1234abcd-12ab-34cd-56ef-1234567890ab",
    "KeyManager": "CUSTOMER",
    "KeyState": "Enabled",
    "KeyUsage": "ENCRYPT_DECRYPT",
    "Origin": "AWS_KMS"
  }
}

See Also

For more information about using this API in one of the language-specific AWS SDKs, see the following: