How to create a new Amazon AWS access key

Last updated on September 20, 2020 by Dan Nanni

Amazon AWS security credentials are used to authenticate you and authorize any third-party application to access your AWS account. There are different types of AWS security credentials available, e.g., password, access key, multi-factor authentication, X.509 certificates, etc.

If you want to create a new access key (access key ID and secret access key), here is how to do it.

First, log in to AWS console.

Choose Security Credentials menu from the top bar.

In the next page, choose Access Keys (Access Key ID and Secret Access Key) option.

In the next page, you will see a list of existing access key IDs (if any). Note that you cannot retrieve secret access keys of existing access key IDs. For security reason, a secret access key is visible only at the time you create a new access key.

Click on Create New Access Key, and it will create a new pair of access key ID and secret access key instantly.

Either download a key file which contains a new access key, or copy and paste a new access key information. Again remember. Once you close this window, the secret access key will not be available again unless you download a key file.

Multi-User AWS Account

If you are a corporate which has a corporate AWS account shared by multiple employees, you may want to use Identity and Access Management (IAM) to create and manage their access keys.

IAM is a web service which allows a corporate to manage multiple users and their associated security credentials under a single AWS account. Using IAM, multiple users can sign in as different identities under a single AWS account, and manage their own security credentials without tampering with each other's keys.

To manage IAM users, click on Users menu on the Security Credentials page.

Then you can create a new IAM user and manage their security credentials such as access keys.

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