create-access-key

Creates a new AWS secret access key and corresponding AWS access key ID for the specified user. The default status for new keys is Active.

If you do not specify a user name, IAM determines the user name implicitly based on the AWS access key ID signing the request. This operation works for access keys under the AWS account. Consequently, you can use this operation to manage AWS account root user credentials. This is true even if the AWS account has no associated users.

For information about limits on the number of keys you can create, refer to Limitations on IAM Entities in the IAM User Guide.

Warning

To ensure the security of your AWS account, the secret access key is accessible only during key and user creation. You must save the key (for example, in a text file) if you want to be able to access it again. If a secret key is lost, you can delete the access keys for the associated user and then create new keys.

Refer to AWS API Documentation.

Refer to AWS help for descriptions of global parameters.

Synopsis

create-access-key
  [--user-name <value>]

Options

--user-name (string)

The name of the IAM user that the new key will belong to.

This parameter allows (through its regex pattern) a string of characters consisting of upper and lowercase alphanumeric characters with no spaces. You can also include any of the following characters: _, +, =, ,, ., @, and -.

Refer to AWS help for descriptions of global parameters.

Examples

To create an access key for an IAM user

The following create-access-key command creates an access key (access key ID and secret access key) for the IAM user named Bob

aws iam create-access-key --user-name Bob

Output example:

{
    "AccessKey": {
        "UserName": "Bob",
        "Status": "Active",
        "CreateDate": "2015-03-09T18:39:23.411Z",
        "SecretAccessKey": "wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfiCYzEXAMPLEKEY",
        "AccessKeyId": "AKIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE"
    }
}

Store the secret access key in a secure location. If it is lost, it cannot be recovered, and you must create a new access key.

For more information, refer to Managing Access Keys for IAM Users in the Using IAM guide.

Output

AccessKey -> (structure)

A structure with details about the access key.

UserName -> (string)

The name of the IAM user that the access key is associated with.

AccessKeyId -> (string)

The ID for this access key.

Status -> (string)

The status of the access key. Active means that the key is valid for API calls, while Inactive means it is not.

SecretAccessKey -> (string)

The secret key used to sign requests.

CreateDate -> (timestamp)

The date when the access key was created.