AWS KMS Key

This page shows how to write Terraform and CloudFormation for AWS KMS Key and write them securely.

aws_kms_key (Terraform)

The Key in AWS KMS can be configured in Terraform with the resource name aws_kms_key. The following sections describe 5 examples of how to use the resource and its parameters.

Example Usage from GitHub

source1.tf#L3
resource "aws_kms_key" "sourcekey1" {
    provider                = aws.source1
    description             = "This key is used to encrypt source bucket objects"
    deletion_window_in_days = 10
}

kmskey.tf#L19
resource "aws_kms_key" "kmsKeyExposedPolicy" {
  description = "KMS key 2"
  policy      = <<EOF
{
  "Version": "2012-10-17",
  "Statement": [
aws_kms_key.tf#L24
resource "aws_kms_key" "kmsKeyExposedPolicy" {
  description         = "KMS key 2"
    policy = <<EOF
{
  "Version": "2012-10-17",
  "Statement": [
40_kms.tf#L1
resource "aws_kms_key" "root" {
  description             = "Boundary root key"
  deletion_window_in_days = 10

  tags = merge(var.tags, {
    Name = var.name
wildcard_policy.tf#L9
resource "aws_kms_key" "kms_key_allow_no_wildcard" {
  description             = "Example Key"
  deletion_window_in_days = 10

  policy = <<EOF
{

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Parameters

Explanation in Terraform Registry

Manages a single-Region or multi-Region primary KMS key.

AWS::KMS::Key (CloudFormation)

The Key in KMS can be configured in CloudFormation with the resource name AWS::KMS::Key. The following sections describe 10 examples of how to use the resource and its parameters.

Example Usage from GitHub

template.yml#L9
    Type: AWS::KMS::Key
    Properties:
      Description: Symmetric key for demo
      Enabled: True
      EnableKeyRotation: True
      KeySpec: SYMMETRIC_DEFAULT
07-kms.yml#L6
    Type: AWS::KMS::Key
    Properties:
      Description: KMS Key used for protecting Kolide Fleet's SSL private key
      EnableKeyRotation: true
      KeyPolicy:
        Version: '2012-10-17'
kms_key_with_single_statement.yml#L5
    Type: "AWS::KMS::Key"
    Properties:
      KeyPolicy:
        Version: "2012-10-17"
        Statement:
          Effect: "Allow"
kms_key_without_key_policy.yml#L5
    Type: "AWS::KMS::Key"
    Properties:
      EnableKeyRotation: true
cloud_trail_tests.yml#L30
      {"arn":"arn:aws:kms:us-west-2:888888888888:key/72c37aae-1000-4058-93d4-86374c0fe9a0","accountId":"888888888888","type":"AWS::KMS::Key"}
    ],
    "eventType":"AwsApiCall",
    "recipientAccountId":"777777777777",
    "sharedEventID":"238c190c-1a30-4756-8e08-19fc36ad1b9f"
  }
AWS-Customer-Master-Key-rotation-is-not-enabled.json#L6
   "rule":"$.Resources.*[?(@.Type=='AWS::KMS::Key')].Properties.EnableKeyRotation any null or $.Resources.*[?(@.Type=='AWS::KMS::Key')].Properties.EnableKeyRotation anyFalse",
   "id":"6ae8d0a5-4794-438c-aafa-200f94b45f1f",
   "enabled":true,
   "recommendation": {
      "name": "Recommended solution for enabling Customer Master Keys.",
      "description": "It is recommended that Customer Master Keys rotation is enabled. Please make sure your template has \"EnableKeyRotation\" attribute and it is set to \"true\"",
integ.key.expected.json#L4
      "Type": "AWS::KMS::Key",
      "Properties": {
        "KeyPolicy": {
          "Statement": [
            {
              "Action": "kms:*",
positive2.json#L4
      "Type": "AWS::KMS::Key",
      "Properties": {
        "Enabled": false,
        "KeyPolicy": {
          "Id": "key-default-1",
          "Statement": [
positive2.json#L4
      "Type": "AWS::KMS::Key",
      "Properties": {
        "Enabled": true,
        "KeyPolicy": {
          "Version": "2012-10-17",
          "Id": "key-default-1",
kms.json#L12
      "CloudTrailEvent": "{\"eventVersion\":\"1.05\",\"userIdentity\":{\"type\":\"IAMUser\",\"principalId\":\"AIDAXGJAWKEZ3D5NC2A3X\",\"arn\":\"arn:aws:iam::494526681395:user/hzhuang\",\"accountId\":\"494526681395\",\"accessKeyId\":\"ASIAXGJAWKEZ5R4FWDTG\",\"userName\":\"hzhuang\",\"sessionContext\":{\"sessionIssuer\":{},\"webIdFederationData\":{},\"attributes\":{\"mfaAuthenticated\":\"false\",\"creationDate\":\"2020-05-14T01:47:32Z\"}}},\"eventTime\":\"2020-05-14T01:47:46Z\",\"eventSource\":\"kms.amazonaws.com\",\"eventName\":\"GetKeyPolicy\",\"awsRegion\":\"ap-southeast-1\",\"sourceIPAddress\":\"202.66.38.130\",\"userAgent\":\"aws-internal/3 aws-sdk-java/1.11.742 Linux/4.9.184-0.1.ac.235.83.329.metal1.x86_64 OpenJDK_64-Bit_Server_VM/25.242-b08 java/1.8.0_242 vendor/Oracle_Corporation\",\"requestParameters\":{\"keyId\":\"aa5b2dc0-88ba-4e21-b339-82d8a18e9e6b\",\"policyName\":\"default\"},\"responseElements\":null,\"requestID\":\"dbd92b4e-b29e-493d-bd21-8fdd63806075\",\"eventID\":\"16731af3-a991-4b56-a7ad-348a1a2a73b6\",\"readOnly\":true,\"resources\":[{\"accountId\":\"494526681395\",\"type\":\"AWS::KMS::Key\",\"ARN\":\"arn:aws:kms:ap-southeast-1:494526681395:key/aa5b2dc0-88ba-4e21-b339-82d8a18e9e6b\"}],\"eventType\":\"AwsApiCall\",\"recipientAccountId\":\"494526681395\"}"
    },
    {
      "EventId": "5adb4de1-2822-451e-adb4-dd92bf6a84a5",
      "EventName": "ListAliases",
      "ReadOnly": "true",

Parameters

Explanation in CloudFormation Registry

The AWS::KMS::Key resource specifies a symmetric or asymmetric KMS key in AWS Key Management Service (AWS KMS).

Note AWS KMS is replacing the term customer master key (CMK) with AWS KMS key and KMS key. The concept has not changed. To prevent breaking changes, AWS KMS is keeping some variations of this term.

You can use symmetric KMS keys to encrypt and decrypt small amounts of data, but they are more commonly used to generate data keys and data key pairs. You can also use symmetric KMS key to encrypt data stored in AWS services that are integrated with AWS KMS. For more information, see What is AWS Key Management Service? in the AWS Key Management Service Developer Guide.

You can use asymmetric KMS keys to encrypt and decrypt data or sign messages and verify signatures. To create an asymmetric key, you must specify an asymmetric KeySpec value and a KeyUsage value.

Important If you change the value of a Replacement property, such as KeyUsage or KeySpec, on an existing KMS key, the existing KMS key is scheduled for deletion and a new KMS key is created with the specified value. While scheduled for deletion, the existing KMS key becomes unusable. If you don't cancel the scheduled deletion of the existing KMS key outside of CloudFormation, all data encrypted under the existing KMS key becomes unrecoverable when the KMS key is deleted.

Frequently asked questions

What is AWS KMS Key?

AWS KMS Key is a resource for KMS of Amazon Web Service. Settings can be wrote in Terraform and CloudFormation.

Where can I find the example code for the AWS KMS Key?

For Terraform, the Venkateshg07/s3crossreplication, storebot/pr_demo_flat and kanchwala-yusuf/aws-terraform source code examples are useful. See the Terraform Example section for further details.

For CloudFormation, the MarkBiesheuvel/demo-templates, PokaInc/kolide-aws-samples and stelligent/cfn-model source code examples are useful. See the CloudFormation Example section for further details.