--- layout: docs page_title: AWS - Secrets Engines description: |- The AWS secrets engine for Vault generates access keys dynamically based on IAM policies. --- # AWS Secrets Engine The AWS secrets engine generates AWS access credentials dynamically based on IAM policies. This generally makes working with AWS IAM easier, since it does not involve clicking in the web UI. Additionally, the process is codified and mapped to internal auth methods (such as LDAP). The AWS IAM credentials are time-based and are automatically revoked when the Vault lease expires. Vault supports three different types of credentials to retrieve from AWS: 1. `iam_user`: Vault will create an IAM user for each lease, attach the managed and inline IAM policies as specified in the role to the user, and if a [permissions boundary](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/access_policies_boundaries.html) is specified on the role, the permissions boundary will also be attached. Vault will then generate an access key and secret key for the IAM user and return them to the caller. IAM users have no session tokens and so no session token will be returned. Vault will delete the IAM user upon reaching the TTL expiration. 2. `assumed_role`: Vault will call [sts:AssumeRole](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/STS/latest/APIReference/API_AssumeRole.html) and return the access key, secret key, and session token to the caller. 3. `federation_token`: Vault will call [sts:GetFederationToken](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/STS/latest/APIReference/API_GetFederationToken.html) passing in the supplied AWS policy document and return the access key, secret key, and session token to the caller. ## Setup Most secrets engines must be configured in advance before they can perform their functions. These steps are usually completed by an operator or configuration management tool. 1. Enable the AWS secrets engine: ```text $ vault secrets enable aws Success! Enabled the aws secrets engine at: aws/ ``` By default, the secrets engine will mount at the name of the engine. To enable the secrets engine at a different path, use the `-path` argument. 1. Configure the credentials that Vault uses to communicate with AWS to generate the IAM credentials: ```text $ vault write aws/config/root \ access_key=AKIAJWVN5Z4FOFT7NLNA \ secret_key=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 \ region=us-east-1 ``` Internally, Vault will connect to AWS using these credentials. As such, these credentials must be a superset of any policies which might be granted on IAM credentials. Since Vault uses the official AWS SDK, it will use the specified credentials. You can also specify the credentials via the standard AWS environment credentials, shared file credentials, or IAM role/ECS task credentials. (Note that you can't authorize vault with IAM role credentials if you plan on using STS Federation Tokens, since the temporary security credentials associated with the role are not authorized to use GetFederationToken.) ~> **Notice:** Even though the path above is `aws/config/root`, do not use your AWS root account credentials. Instead generate a dedicated user or role. 1. Configure a Vault role that maps to a set of permissions in AWS as well as an AWS credential type. When users generate credentials, they are generated against this role. An example: ```text $ vault write aws/roles/my-role \ credential_type=iam_user \ policy_document=-< ``` Each invocation of the command will generate a new credential. Unfortunately, IAM credentials are eventually consistent with respect to other Amazon services. If you are planning on using these credential in a pipeline, you may need to add a delay of 5-10 seconds (or more) after fetching credentials before they can be used successfully. If you want to be able to use credentials without the wait, consider using the STS method of fetching keys. IAM credentials supported by an STS token are available for use as soon as they are generated. 1. Rotate the credentials that Vault uses to communicate with AWS: ```test $ vault write -f aws/config/rotate-root Key Value --- ----- access_key AKIA3ALIVABCDG5XC8H4 ``` ~> **Note:** Due to AWS eventual consistency, after calling the `aws/config/rotate-root` endpoint, subsequent calls from Vault to AWS may fail for a few seconds until AWS becomes consistent again. See the [AWS secrets engine API](/api-docs/secret/aws#rotate-root-iam-credentials) for further information on `config/rotate-root` functionality. ## Example IAM Policy for Vault The `aws/config/root` credentials need permission to manage dynamic IAM users. Here is an example AWS IAM policy that grants the most commonly required permissions Vault needs: ```json { "Version": "2012-10-17", "Statement": [ { "Effect": "Allow", "Action": [ "iam:AttachUserPolicy", "iam:CreateAccessKey", "iam:CreateUser", "iam:DeleteAccessKey", "iam:DeleteUser", "iam:DeleteUserPolicy", "iam:DetachUserPolicy", "iam:GetUser", "iam:ListAccessKeys", "iam:ListAttachedUserPolicies", "iam:ListGroupsForUser", "iam:ListUserPolicies", "iam:PutUserPolicy", "iam:AddUserToGroup", "iam:RemoveUserFromGroup" ], "Resource": ["arn:aws:iam::ACCOUNT-ID-WITHOUT-HYPHENS:user/vault-*"] } ] } ``` Vault also supports AWS Permissions Boundaries when creating IAM users. If you wish to enforce that Vault always attaches a permissions boundary to an IAM user, you can use a policy like: ```json { "Version": "2012-10-17", "Statement": [ { "Effect": "Allow", "Action": [ "iam:CreateAccessKey", "iam:DeleteAccessKey", "iam:DeleteUser", "iam:ListAccessKeys", "iam:ListAttachedUserPolicies", "iam:ListGroupsForUser", "iam:ListUserPolicies", "iam:AddUserToGroup", "iam:RemoveUserFromGroup" ], "Resource": ["arn:aws:iam::ACCOUNT-ID-WITHOUT-HYPHENS:user/vault-*"] }, { "Effect": "Allow", "Action": [ "iam:AttachUserPolicy", "iam:CreateUser", "iam:DeleteUserPolicy", "iam:DetachUserPolicy", "iam:PutUserPolicy" ], "Resource": ["arn:aws:iam::ACCOUNT-ID-WITHOUT-HYPHENS:user/vault-*"], "Condition": { "StringEquals": { "iam:PermissionsBoundary": [ "arn:aws:iam::ACCOUNT-ID-WITHOUT-HYPHENS:policy/PolicyName" ] } } } ] } ``` where the "iam:PermissionsBoundary" condition contains the list of permissions boundary policies that you wish to ensure that Vault uses. This policy will ensure that Vault uses one of the permissions boundaries specified (not all of them). ## STS credentials The above demonstrated usage with `iam_user` credential types. As mentioned, Vault also supports `assumed_role` and `federation_token` credential types. ### STS Federation Tokens ~> **Notice:** Due to limitations in AWS, in order to use the `federation_token` credential type, Vault **must** be configured with IAM user credentials. AWS does not allow temporary credentials (such as those from an IAM instance profile) to be used. An STS federation token inherits a set of permissions that are the combination (intersection) of four sets of permissions: 1. The permissions granted to the `aws/config/root` credentials 2. The user inline policy configured in the Vault role 3. The managed policy ARNs configured in the Vault role 4. An implicit deny policy on IAM or STS operations. Roles with a `credential_type` of `federation_token` can specify one or more of the `policy_document`, `policy_arns`, and `iam_groups` parameters in the Vault role. The `aws/config/root` credentials require IAM permissions for `sts:GetFederationToken` and the permissions to delegate to the STS federation token. For example, this policy on the `aws/config/root` credentials would allow creation of an STS federated token with delegated `ec2:*` permissions (or any subset of `ec2:*` permissions): ```javascript { "Version": "2012-10-17", "Statement": { "Effect": "Allow", "Action": [ "ec2:*", "sts:GetFederationToken" ], "Resource": "*" } } ``` An `ec2_admin` role would then assign an inline policy with the same `ec2:*` permissions. ```shell-session $ vault write aws/roles/ec2_admin \ credential_type=federation_token \ policy_document=@policy.json ``` The policy.json file would contain an inline policy with similar permissions, less the `sts:GetFederationToken` permission. (We could grant `sts:GetFederationToken` permissions, but STS attaches attach an implicit deny that overrides the allow.) ```javascript { "Version": "2012-10-17", "Statement": { "Effect": "Allow", "Action": "ec2:*", "Resource": "*" } } ``` To generate a new set of STS federation token credentials, we simply write to the role using the aws/sts endpoint: ```shell-session $ vault write aws/sts/ec2_admin ttl=60m Key Value lease_id aws/sts/ec2_admin/31d771a6-fb39-f46b-fdc5-945109106422 lease_duration 60m0s lease_renewable false access_key ASIAJYYYY2AA5K4WIXXX secret_key HSs0DYYYYYY9W81DXtI0K7X84H+OVZXK5BXXXX security_token AQoDYXdzEEwasAKwQyZUtZaCjVNDiXXXXXXXXgUgBBVUUbSyujLjsw6jYzboOQ89vUVIehUw/9MreAifXFmfdbjTr3g6zc0me9M+dB95DyhetFItX5QThw0lEsVQWSiIeIotGmg7mjT1//e7CJc4LpxbW707loFX1TYD1ilNnblEsIBKGlRNXZ+QJdguY4VkzXxv2urxIH0Sl14xtqsRPboV7eYruSEZlAuP3FLmqFbmA0AFPCT37cLf/vUHinSbvw49C4c9WQLH7CeFPhDub7/rub/QU/lCjjJ43IqIRo9jYgcEvvdRkQSt70zO8moGCc7pFvmL7XGhISegQpEzudErTE/PdhjlGpAKGR3d5qKrHpPYK/k480wk1Ai/t1dTa/8/3jUYTUeIkaJpNBnupQt7qoaXXXXXXXXXX ``` ### STS AssumeRole The `assumed_role` credential type is typically used for cross-account authentication or single sign-on (SSO) scenarios. In order to use an `assumed_role` credential type, you must configure outside of Vault: 1. An IAM role 2. IAM inline policies and/or managed policies attached to the IAM role 3. IAM trust policy attached to the IAM role to grant privileges for Vault to assume the role `assumed_role` credentials offer a few benefits over `federation_token`: 1. Assumed roles can invoke IAM and STS operations, if granted by the role's IAM policies. 2. Assumed roles support cross-account authentication 3. Temporary credentials (such as those granted by running Vault on an EC2 instance in an IAM instance profile) can retrieve `assumed_role` credentials (but cannot retrieve `federation_token` credentials). The `aws/config/root` credentials must have an IAM policy that allows `sts:AssumeRole` against the target role: ```javascript { "Version": "2012-10-17", "Statement": { "Effect": "Allow", "Action": "sts:AssumeRole", "Resource": "arn:aws:iam::ACCOUNT-ID-WITHOUT-HYPHENS:role/RoleNameToAssume" } } ``` You must attach a trust policy to the target IAM role to assume, allowing the aws/root/config credentials to assume the role. ```javascript { "Version": "2012-10-17", "Statement": [ { "Effect": "Allow", "Principal": { "AWS": "arn:aws:iam::ACCOUNT-ID-WITHOUT-HYPHENS:user/VAULT-AWS-ROOT-CONFIG-USER-NAME" }, "Action": "sts:AssumeRole" } ] } ``` When specifying a Vault role with a `credential_type` of `assumed_role`, you can specify more than one IAM role ARN. If you do so, Vault clients can select which role ARN they would like to assume when retrieving credentials from that role. Further, you can specify both a `policy_document` and `policy_arns` parameters; if specified, each acts as a filter on the IAM permissions granted to the assumed role. If `iam_groups` is specified, the inline and attached policies for each IAM group will be added to the `policy_document` and `policy_arns` parameters, respectively, when calling [sts:AssumeRole]. For an action to be allowed, it must be permitted by both the IAM policy on the AWS role that is assumed, the `policy_document` specified on the Vault role (if specified), and the managed policies specified by the `policy_arns` parameter. (The `policy_document` parameter is passed in as the `Policy` parameter to the [sts:AssumeRole] API call, while the `policy_arns` parameter is passed in as the `PolicyArns` parameter to the same call.) Note: When multiple `role_arns` are specified, clients requesting credentials can specify any of the role ARNs that are defined on the Vault role in order to retrieve credentials. However, when `policy_document`, `policy_arns`, or `iam_groups` are specified, that will apply to ALL role credentials retrieved from AWS. Let's create a "deploy" policy using the arn of our role to assume: ```shell-session $ vault write aws/roles/deploy \ role_arns=arn:aws:iam::ACCOUNT-ID-WITHOUT-HYPHENS:role/RoleNameToAssume \ credential_type=assumed_role ``` To generate a new set of STS assumed role credentials, we again write to the role using the aws/sts endpoint: ```shell-session $ vault write aws/sts/deploy ttl=60m Key Value lease_id aws/sts/deploy/31d771a6-fb39-f46b-fdc5-945109106422 lease_duration 60m0s lease_renewable false access_key ASIAJYYYY2AA5K4WIXXX secret_key HSs0DYYYYYY9W81DXtI0K7X84H+OVZXK5BXXXX security_token AQoDYXdzEEwasAKwQyZUtZaCjVNDiXXXXXXXXgUgBBVUUbSyujLjsw6jYzboOQ89vUVIehUw/9MreAifXFmfdbjTr3g6zc0me9M+dB95DyhetFItX5QThw0lEsVQWSiIeIotGmg7mjT1//e7CJc4LpxbW707loFX1TYD1ilNnblEsIBKGlRNXZ+QJdguY4VkzXxv2urxIH0Sl14xtqsRPboV7eYruSEZlAuP3FLmqFbmA0AFPCT37cLf/vUHinSbvw49C4c9WQLH7CeFPhDub7/rub/QU/lCjjJ43IqIRo9jYgcEvvdRkQSt70zO8moGCc7pFvmL7XGhISegQpEzudErTE/PdhjlGpAKGR3d5qKrHpPYK/k480wk1Ai/t1dTa/8/3jUYTUeIkaJpNBnupQt7qoaXXXXXXXXXX ``` [sts:assumerole]: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/STS/latest/APIReference/API_AssumeRole.html ## Troubleshooting ### Dynamic IAM user errors If you get an error message similar to either of the following, the root credentials that you wrote to `aws/config/root` have insufficient privilege: ```shell-session $ vault read aws/creds/deploy * Error creating IAM user: User: arn:aws:iam::000000000000:user/hashicorp is not authorized to perform: iam:CreateUser on resource: arn:aws:iam::000000000000:user/vault-root-1432735386-4059 $ vault revoke aws/creds/deploy/774cfb27-c22d-6e78-0077-254879d1af3c Revoke error: Error making API request. URL: POST http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/sys/revoke/aws/creds/deploy/774cfb27-c22d-6e78-0077-254879d1af3c Code: 400. Errors: * invalid request ``` If you get stuck at any time, simply run `vault path-help aws` or with a subpath for interactive help output. ### STS federated token errors Vault generates STS tokens using the IAM credentials passed to `aws/config`. Those credentials must have two properties: - They must have permissions to call `sts:GetFederationToken`. - The capabilities of those credentials have to be at least as permissive as those requested by policies attached to the STS creds. If either of those conditions are not met, a "403 not-authorized" error will be returned. See http://docs.aws.amazon.com/STS/latest/APIReference/API_GetFederationToken.html for more details. Vault 0.5.1 or later is recommended when using STS tokens to avoid validation errors for exceeding the AWS limit of 32 characters on STS token names. ### AWS Instance Metadata Timeouts @include 'aws-imds-timeout.mdx' ## API The AWS secrets engine has a full HTTP API. Please see the [AWS secrets engine API](/api-docs/secret/aws) for more details.